Naruto has now returned to the village. He wakes up and has some breakfast before heading out to meet Sasuke and Sakura for a mission. Naruto arrives at a bridge where he sees Sakura and Sasuke waiting for Kakashi to wake up. Naruto and Sasuke give each other a weird glance and then look away from each other. Sakura gets mad because of the way they’re acting. Eventually Kakashi shows up and tells them he is late because he got lost on the path of life. Naruto tells Kakashi he is ready for a real mission so he can prove what he has got. Naruto looks at Sasuke and thinks to himself that he has to rescue Sasuke for once so he looks good. Kakashi tells Naruto to stop fantasizing and they all go on a mission. Their mission is to weed a lady’s lawn. Naruto gets chewed out by the lady for also pulling up her herbs. They then go on another mission to clean trash out of a river. Naruto slips and falls over a waterfall. Sasuke manages to save him before he falls to his death. Their next mission is to walk a bunch of dogs. Naruto chooses the biggest dog. Naruto is dragged into a mine field by his dog and blows ups. Later that day, Sasuke and Sakura carry Naruto on their shoulders because of his injuries. Naruto and Sasuke get into an argument about who is stronger. They’re about to fight each other but Kakashi tells them they should call it a day. Kakashi leaves to file a report on their Land of Waves mission. Sasuke leaves to train but Sakura stops him and says they should do something together. Sasuke tells her she is worst than Naruto and should go train so the team is stronger. Naruto tells Sakura they can do something together which just makes Sakura mad. A box looking like some rocks appears and chases Naruto. Naruto finally stops running from it and tells the box it is the worst disguise ever. The box blows up and we see Konohamaru and his two friends, Moegi and Udon (Konohamaru Ninja Squad). Naruto asks about the kid’s goggles and Konohamaru says they’re wearing what he used to wear before he became a genin. He then asks what they want and they tell him they want to play ninja. Sakura tells Naruto and the Ninja Squad that ninja playing ninja is pathetic. Naruto turns red because Sakura is starring right at him and Konohamaru believes Sakura is Naruto’s girlfriend. Sakura gets pissed and then punches Naruto into the fence. Konohamaru calls Sakura and ugly witch which makes Sakura even more pissed off. Sakura then walks away leaving Naruto and Konohamaru with big bumps. Konohamaru tells everyone he doesn’t think Sakura is human because of how wide her forehead is. Sakura overhears this and chases the group. Konohamaru runs into two strangers.

In the mission office, Iruka thanks Kakashi for handing in the report. Iruka then asks Kakashi about how Naruto is doing. Kakashi says that because Sasuke is in the group Naruto is pushed to try harder.

The boy Konohamaru ran into picks him up. Naruto tells him to put Konohamaru down. Naruto rushes the boy and the boy somehow makes him fall with a wiggle of his fingers. Sakura notices they must be from outside of the village because she doesn’t recognize them. Naruto says he is going to take the boy apart but Sakura holds him back. The boy says he just wants to break Konohamaru apart because he likes to shoot his mouth off. The boy’s friend says she doesn’t want to be a part of this. Naruto rushes the boy to stop him from punching Konohamaru but Sasuke appears and throws a rock at the boy, causing him to drop Konohamaru. Sasuke tells the boy to get lost. Konohamaru asks Naruto why he isn’t cool like Sasuke which just angers Naruto because he is looking bad in front of everyone. The boy tells Sasuke to get down from where he’s at so they can fight. A figure appears behind Sasuke and tells the boy (He calls him Kankuro) to back off and that he is an embarrassment to the village. Kankuro tells the boy behind Sasuke (he calls him Gaara, and the girl with Kankuro is Temari) that he is sorry. Sasuke is shocked that Gaara was able to come up on him without making a sound.

In the Hokage’s office, all the jounin have gathered. The third hokage informs everyone that in seven days the chunin exam will begin and the jounin need to begin preparing their genin if they are ready to take the exam.