"Eh?" Sakura said. "We passed the test? Didn't you say we had to get the bells to complete it?"
Sasuke thought to himself, "He can't be going easy on us, can he..."
"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Naruto quickly said. "It's good that we passed the test. Do you want to go back to the Ninja Academy and repeat the course?"
Kakashi said seriously with a straight face, "In the past, I've led several batches of genin. They were all so single - minded, only focusing on grabbing the bells for themselves and never considering their companions at all. So I made them go back to the Ninja Academy to repeat the course."
"They're all a bunch of idiots. They only followed the rules I set and were only thinking about grabbing the bells. They never thought about why I set up this test. My real test was to see if the three of you could work together as a team."
"According to the regulations, you can only be considered qualified after getting the bells. In the world of ninjas, those who don't follow the rules are scum. But those who don't value their companions are even worse than scum."
Although most of Kakashi's face was covered by the mask, he squinted his eyes at this moment, and it was obvious that he was smiling happily.
Kakashi said with a smile, "Congratulations. You've passed the test. From today on, you're genin."
"Ha!" Sakura showed a bright smile, and she was equally happy inside.
"Humph." Sasuke also showed a smile. He accepted Kakashi's concept. At least Kakashi didn't go easy on them.
Naruto thought to himself, "Great! It's finally over. I saved myself from a tough situation... So happy..."
At this moment, Naruto glanced at Sasuke's butt and showed a mischievous look. Just thinking about Sasuke getting hit by the One Thousand Years of Death made Naruto feel like he could laugh in his dreams. Sasuke glared angrily at Naruto, and Naruto quickly averted his gaze.
"Team 7 is officially established! Starting tomorrow, you can go to the village to receive missions!" Kakashi gave the three of them a thumbs - up.
At this moment, growls came from Sasuke and Sakura's stomachs. It seemed they were very hungry.
"Hahaha." Naruto took out two bento boxes from his backpack and handed them to Sasuke and Sakura, saying at the same time, "You didn't have breakfast, right? Hurry up and eat. I prepared these for you."
"Naruto," Kakashi questioned. "Why did you bring bento boxes?"
"Teacher Kakashi, didn't you just say?" Naruto said proudly. "It's not good to break the rules, but I brought bento boxes for my companions. This is the bond between the three of us."
"..." Kakashi had a string of black lines on his forehead and was momentarily unable to refute.
A few days later, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura came to the office of The Third Hokage and were waiting for the Hokage to assign them missions.
On the huge desk, there were stacks of papers piled up like a mountain, filling the entire table. The old Third Hokage was rummaging through the papers to select a suitable mission.
"Which mission is suitable for you exactly?" The Third Hokage flipped through each piece of paper and muttered, "This one won't do. It's too difficult for you. This mission has already been fulfilled..."
Naruto looked at the old man in front of him. Maybe because his body was hunched, the Hokage's robe seemed a bit too big on him. But he still sat in the position of the Hokage, guarding the whole village.
Naruto knew that the old man in front of him was extraordinary. The large - scale Land of Fire is the most powerful country in the ninja world. In the Land of Fire, there is a ninja village called Konoha. Konoha Village is the strongest military force in the Land of Fire, and the Hokage is the super ninja in Konoha Village, commanding all the ninjas in Konoha and protecting the entire country.
"Hey..." Naruto spoke up, saying casually, "Can you assign us some tasks with a bit more difficulty? These days, we've either been catching cats or dogs, or running errands for people. These tasks are so boring."
"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, "We're newly promoted genin. We can only take on the lowest - level D - rank tasks and help others in the village. What are you dissatisfied with?" But in her heart, she was thinking: Naruto is so right. These D - rank tasks have been really boring these days...
"Since you put it that way, then I'll assign you a C - rank task." The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe and said, "I'll have you protect someone!"
Sakura's eyes sparkled with excitement. She was overjoyed. She never thought that the Hokage would actually take Naruto's casual suggestion.
"..." Naruto kept silent, not saying a word at the moment.
"Oh?" The Third Hokage said, "Naruto, I didn't expect you to be so patient. Aren't you curious about who I'll have you protect? Don't you want to ask?"
Naruto gave him a look as if he were an idiot and said, "For a mere C - rank task, who else could we protect? It can only be an ordinary person. Do you think they'll hand over a prince, duke, or a princess for me to protect?"
The Third Hokage looked surprised. It had only been a while since he last saw Naruto, but this guy really gave him a new impression.
Naruto continued, "Even if you dared to hand over an important person to me for protection, I wouldn't dare to take on such a task. I said, Lord Hokage, are you confused? Shouldn't you consider giving up your position as Hokage to me?"
"Naruto! What are you talking about? How can you show disrespect to Lord Hokage? You should respect him." Sakura scolded him, while thinking in her heart: This is so great. That old Hokage doesn't seem so impressive after all...
Kakashi spoke up in a low voice, "You two, calm down."
Hearing this, Naruto and Sakura immediately stood up straight and behaved very obediently, losing all their previous casualness.
"Ahem..." After coughing a few times, the Third Hokage said, "Come in."
As his voice fell, the door was opened, and an elderly uncle walked in. The uncle was wearing glasses and holding a bottle of wine in his hand. He looked completely drunk.
"What? These are the kids they sent to protect me? Can they even do the job?"
What's wrong with this uncle? Sakura thought angrily in her heart: I really want to beat him up...
"Whether we can do it or not, you don't have a choice," Naruto said in a deep voice. "We, Team 7, will protect you. If you're not satisfied with us, you can pay more to change the protectors."
"I didn't expect a shorty like you to talk so big." Just then, the uncle took a few more big swigs of wine, and his face turned bright red.
"Hey, do you want to have a one - on - one fight?"
Naruto, knowing that he was the shortest in the room, said bluntly, "I'll even let you use both your hands and feet freely."
Kakashi quickly grabbed Naruto, saying, "That uncle is the one we're supposed to protect. How can you challenge him? That's just crazy."
"I'm Tazuna," the uncle then said. "A world - famous bridge - building expert. I'm planning to go back to my country to build a bridge. You guys have to protect me well from the moment we set off until the bridge is completed, and that's the mission."