Chapter 318: Naruto's Plea for Mercy: How Should Sasuke Be Dealt With?
Iruka took a slow, steadying breath, gathering his scattered thoughts. The dust of the training ground still hung in the air as he stepped before the four standing figures.
"The assessment..." He paused, a faint, almost imperceptible hoarseness catching in his throat. "...is passed."
Reaching into his flak jacket, he withdrew four gleaming, freshly polished Konoha forehead protectors. The engraved leaf symbol caught the afternoon sunlight.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Here!" Naruto barked, stepping forward with boundless energy.
Iruka offered a warm smile, lifting the first headband and stepping close to personally tie it around the boy's forehead.
"From today onward, you are officially a Genin of Konohagakure," Iruka said softly. "Congratulations, Naruto."
Naruto's fingers drifted up, tracing the cool, solid metal resting against his skin. A massive, blinding grin split his face from ear to ear.
"Hehe! Thank you, Iruka-sensei!"
Iruka moved down the line. He handed the next protector to Hinata. She accepted the metal plate with both hands, a deep, rosy flush spreading across her cheeks. She bowed at a strict ninety-degree angle.
"Thank you... Iruka-sensei."
Temari was next. She took the headband with a casual flick of her wrist, wrapping the dark fabric securely around her right thigh. She flashed Iruka a bold, confident smirk.
"Thanks, Examiner-sama."
Finally, Iruka stopped before Gaara. The air around the red-haired boy was still heavy, but the hostility had faded. Iruka extended the final headband. Gaara accepted it in total silence. His pale green eyes flicked toward Naruto for a brief second, studying the blonde's posture, before he mirrored the motion, tying the protector firmly around his own forehead.
With the distribution complete, Iruka's expression shifted. The warm teacher vanished, replaced by the solemn authority of a Konoha chunin. He locked eyes with Gaara and Temari.
"There is one more thing," Iruka announced, his voice carrying across the quiet training ground. "By the direct order of the Fifth Hokage-sama... from this day forward, former Sunagakure shinobi, Gaara and Temari, are officially recognized as shinobi of Konohagakure!"
He offered a respectful nod. "Welcome to our village."
Temari's breath hitched. A sharp, brilliant light flared in her teal eyes.
Official Konoha shinobi.
The weight of those words crashed over her. It meant the invisible chains were gone. They were no longer political captives. They were no longer stray dogs seeking shelter under a foreign roof. They finally had a home.
Beside her, Gaara's rigid posture broke. A minute tremor ran through his shoulders. His fingers brushed against the cold metal of the leaf symbol resting against his skin. A storm of complex, unfamiliar emotions swirled in his pale eyes—relief, confusion, and a strange sense of belonging.
"That's awesome! Gaara! Temari!" Naruto cheered, throwing his fists into the air. "From now on, we're really comrades!"
Gaara lowered his hand. A faint, almost invisible upward curve graced the corner of his mouth. He offered a single, silent nod.
Iruka watched the harmonious scene unfold, but a heavy stone of anxiety settled in his gut. The image of Sasuke's cold, furious face forced its way into his mind.
During the graduation assessment, the Uchiha heir had openly attacked a fellow examinee. Worse still, the victim was Uzumaki Naruto—the Fifth Hokage's personal disciple. Knowing the Fifth Hokage's ruthless, unyielding methods, Sasuke's fate was something Iruka dreaded to even imagine.
The cheering died down. Naruto scratched the back of his head, the radiant joy on his face slowly dissolving into a tight knot of hesitation. His blue eyes darted toward the ground.
"Iruka-sensei... what's gonna happen to that jerk, Sasuke?"
Iruka's chest tightened. He let out a long, weary sigh.
"I don't know, Naruto." He crossed his arms, his tone grave. "The offense he committed today is incredibly severe. Everything rests entirely on the Hokage-sama's judgment."
The words hit Naruto like a physical blow.
He hated Sasuke's guts. He hated the arrogant smirks, the conceited attitude, and the way the Uchiha had just ambushed him with lethal intent, nearly taking his head off. But the thought of Sasuke being dragged away in chains, thrown into the dark cells of the Interrogation Department, or worse—stripped of his rank and banished from the village entirely...
An inexplicable, burning irritation flared in Naruto's chest.
"Damn it!" Naruto kicked at the dirt, his fists clenching tight. "That guy is a complete bastard! Why the hell am I even worrying about him?!"
He shook his head violently, trying to rattle the image of Sasuke's sneering face out of his brain.
It didn't work.
Annoying or not, they had sat in the same classroom for years. They had bled on the same training grounds. They were Academy comrades.
"Naruto-kun."
Hinata stepped into his peripheral vision, her voice a gentle murmur. She looked at him with perceptive, pale eyes. "Are you... worried about Sasuke-kun?"
"No way!" Naruto barked, his voice cracking slightly with defensive volume. "I'd be thrilled if that arrogant jerk got the beating of a lifetime!"
But his restless pacing and the tight pinch of his brow completely betrayed his words.
Gaara tilted his head, his expression utterly blank as he analyzed Naruto's distress.
"He attacked you with intent to harm. That makes him an enemy," Gaara stated, his voice flat. "Why do you worry for an enemy?"
In Gaara's brutal world, the logic was absolute: kill or be killed. Black and white.
"He's not an enemy!" Naruto roared, the sudden outburst echoing across the field.
But the moment the shout left his lungs, all the fight drained out of him. He deflated, his shoulders slumping heavily. He dug both hands into his spiky blonde hair, tugging at the roots as he paced in tight, agitated circles.
He couldn't just let this go. No matter how much Sasuke pissed him off, Naruto knew he couldn't just stand by and watch the guy's life get ruined.
"I'm going to find Sensei!"
Naruto snapped his head up. The hesitation vanished from his blue eyes, replaced by a fierce, burning resolve. Without waiting for a single word of protest, he pivoted on his heel and launched himself toward the center of the village, sprinting madly in the direction of the Hokage Building.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out, taking a half-step forward in alarm.
Temari crossed her arms, her brow furrowing in genuine bewilderment. "What is wrong with that idiot? That Uchiha brat clearly brought this entirely upon himself."
...Inside the Hokage Office.
The atmosphere was stiflingly quiet, thick with the scent of ink and burning tobacco.
"Hokage-sama." A masked Anbu operative knelt on one knee in the center of the room, his head bowed in absolute reverence. "Uchiha Sasuke has been successfully escorted to the Interrogation Department. He is currently secured and awaiting your final judgment."
Seated behind the massive oak desk, Uchiha Akira did not look up from the scroll he was reading. His voice was a flat, emotionless drawl that chilled the air.
"Keep him under strict guard. No one is permitted to visit him without my explicit authorization."
"Understood," the Anbu murmured. A faint swirl of leaves danced across the floorboards, and the operative vanished without a sound.
Less than a minute later, the heavy wooden doors of the office were violently shoved open.
"Sensei!" Naruto burst into the room, his chest heaving. Fine beads of sweat coated his forehead, a clear sign he had sprinted at top speed all the way from the training grounds.
Akira slowly lifted his gaze. His dark eyes locked onto the panting blonde. He didn't look the least bit surprised by the intrusion.
"Naruto," Akira said smoothly, leaning back in his leather chair. "The assessment is over. How do you feel?"
"Sensei, I don't have time for that right now!" Naruto practically threw himself across the room, slamming both hands down onto the edge of the Hokage's desk. He leaned in, his eyes wide and desperate.
"I'm here about Sasuke! I know he screwed up big time! But... but please, he's just a kid! He was just acting on impulse! Could you... could you maybe go easy on him?"
As he spoke, Naruto's booming voice began to shrink, losing its volume and confidence with every syllable. He wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what he was asking. Sasuke hadn't just broken a rule; by attacking the Hokage's personal disciple during an official exam, the Uchiha had directly challenged the absolute authority of the Fifth Hokage himself.
Akira stared at the boy. A faint, razor-thin smile touched the corners of his mouth. It did not reach his eyes.
"You are pleading for him?" Akira asked, his tone dangerously soft. "He just tried to kill you."
The blunt truth of the statement hit Naruto like a brick wall. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stood there, completely speechless, struggling to formulate a defense. After a long, agonizing silence, he finally squeezed out a desperate plea.
"No matter what... he's still my classmate!"
Naruto opened his mouth to say more, but Akira cut him off with a single, raised finger.
The Hokage leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and intertwining his fingers. The shadows in the room seemed to stretch, deepening the dark, calculating abyss of his gaze.
"Naruto. You must remember one fundamental truth," Akira said, his voice dropping to a chilling, authoritative register. "Rules are rules."
"Uchiha Sasuke openly disrupted an official assessment. He launched an unprovoked, lethal attack against a fellow Konoha shinobi. These are obvious facts." Akira's eyes narrowed, pinning Naruto in place. "If he is not severely punished for this transgression, the laws of Konohagakure become nothing more than empty words."
The sheer, icy weight of those words caused Naruto's heart to plummet straight into his stomach.
It was over.
His sensei wasn't just annoyed. He was coldly, methodically furious.
That guy Sasuke was completely done for this time.
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