“You all… pass.”
“Eh?”
Hinata stared at Kakashi in surprise.
Confusion flickered across her face, followed almost immediately by an unexpected rush of joy.
Kakashi explained—
“The purpose of this exercise was to test your awareness of teamwork as genin.”
“Taking the bells through cooperation was only the first step.
How you chose to divide those bells was the far more important second step.”
His visible eye curved slightly.
“I’m glad to say that all three of you succeeded.
Even when your own futures were at stake, you chose the good of the team over your personal interests.”
After a brief pause, Kakashi’s voice became solemn.
“Shinobi missions are normally carried out in teams.
Of course, exceptional individual skill is important, but acting alone without considering your teammates can place them in danger.”
“In the worst case, it can lead to disastrous consequences.”
Kakashi slipped both hands into his pockets and raised his gaze toward the sky.
A gentle breeze stirred his unruly silver hair.
“Those who break the rules of the shinobi world are called scum…”
His lone visible eye sharpened.
“But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.”
Hinata stared at him in a daze.
Sasuke silently listened until the end, then lowered his head and returned his short sword to the sheath behind his waist.
Naruto, meanwhile, was grinning like an idiot.
“Anyway, this is great!”
He jumped to his feet and walked over with a laugh, raising one hand to celebrate with Sasuke and Hinata.
Sasuke simply closed his eyes.
“Idiot.”
With a quiet snort, he turned aside and avoided Naruto’s hand entirely.
Hinata was even worse.
Like a startled fawn, she stared at Naruto’s raised palm with a bright-red face, completely unsure of what she was supposed to do.
Kakashi watched the scene from behind them, his eye narrowing in a satisfied smile.
But after a moment, the light in his gaze dimmed.
He had remembered his own former team.
There had once been three of them.
Now—
He was the only one still standing here.
Obito…
You should have been remembered as a hero of Konoha.
How did things ever come to this?
Kakashi reached up and touched the forehead protector covering his left eye.
I will stop you.
Naruto awkwardly lowered his hand.
He was especially annoyed that Sasuke had refused to give him any face in front of Hinata.
After rubbing his nose in embarrassment, Naruto immediately took the lead and declared—
“To celebrate passing the exercise, let’s go eat yakiniku!”
He pointed enthusiastically at Kakashi.
“Kakashi-sensei is paying!”
What is this brat deciding all by himself?
Kakashi could already feel a headache coming on.
To think he had ended up with such a shameless subordinate…
Still, as their jōnin instructor, he had already expected to treat them to a meal sooner or later.
Rather than an unspoken tradition of Konoha, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the village’s children simply never treated their teachers like outsiders when food was involved.
“All right. New chapters come out on g.com first.
I’ll treat you to yakiniku.”
Kakashi turned toward the exit.
“Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will begin taking missions.”
Thank goodness none of my students are from the Akimichi clan…
“Yeah!”
Naruto immediately perked up and followed beside him.
Maintaining Kurama’s chakra cloak consumed a tremendous amount of stamina, and his stomach was already growling.
Hinata hurried after them.
Sasuke returned to the tree, picked up his backpack, brushed away the dust, and leisurely followed the other three from behind.
…
When Team Seven arrived at Yakiniku Q, they discovered that Team Ten was already inside.
“Yo, Asuma.”
Kakashi lifted the entrance curtain and casually raised a hand in greeting.
Asuma turned around.
A painfully forced smile was plastered across his face.
“Oh, Kakashi.
Hahaha…”
Kakashi wondered why Asuma’s laughter sounded so unnatural.
Then he looked more carefully.
Two tall stacks of empty plates had already accumulated in front of Chōji, and the round-faced boy was still frantically transferring grilled meat into his bowl.
So the Akimichi is over here…
A massive drop of sweat rolled down Kakashi’s head.
“Huh?
Shikamaru?”
Naruto’s head appeared from behind Kakashi.
“You guys are here too?”
“Oh, Naruto.”
Shikamaru smiled lazily in response.
He still looked as though he were suffering from a terminal case of laziness.
Judging by the nearly untouched chopsticks and bowl in front of him, he had apparently become too lazy even to eat more than a few pieces of grilled meat.
Because Naruto possessed the memories of his seventeen-year-old self, he had an unusually favorable impression of Shikamaru.
After all, among their generation, this lethargic boy had been the first—and initially the only one—to pass the Chūnin Exams and become a chūnin.
Shikamaru had also performed brilliantly during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Because of that, Naruto had already treated him warmly during their Academy years, and the two had developed a decent friendship.
“Hello, Shikamaru, Ino, Chōji… and Asuma-sensei.”
Hinata entered behind Naruto and politely greeted each member of Team Ten.
Although she had never met Asuma before, she addressed him by the name Kakashi had used.
As the eldest daughter of the Hyūga main family, proper etiquette had been instilled in her from childhood.
Sasuke was nowhere near as courteous.
He entered without saying a word and simply stood to the side.
“Sasuke!
You came too!”
Ino enthusiastically waved at him from her seat.
Unfortunately, Sasuke merely gave her an indifferent glance before offering no response whatsoever.
Ino’s shoulders immediately slumped.
But after thinking about it, she quickly accepted the situation.
It could not be helped.
After all—
That was simply how Sasuke was.
Kakashi placed their order and sat at the table beside Team Ten.
Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke took their seats in turn.
While setting his backpack aside, Naruto leaned toward Sasuke and whispered—
“Hey, come on.
A girl greeted you that enthusiastically.
Isn’t completely ignoring her a little too cold?”
Sasuke sat beside him and gave him a sidelong glance.
“Idiot.”
A vein bulged on Naruto’s forehead.
The meat arrived shortly afterward.
A server lit the grill and arranged the ingredients across the table.
By then, Kakashi had already produced a small book from somewhere and begun reading it with obvious enjoyment.
“Come to think of it…”
Naruto looked toward Shikamaru.
“Did your team also have its test around noon?
You finished really quickly.”
Shikamaru lazily moved a slice of meat around the grill with his chopsticks.
“It wasn’t anything special…”
Asuma, who was smoking beside him, suddenly looked somewhat awkward.
Without taking his eyes completely away from his risqué little novel, Kakashi glanced at Asuma’s unnatural expression, then at Shikamaru’s listless face.
Considering Asuma’s casual personality, that kind of result was hardly surprising.
At that moment, voices came from the entrance.
“Kiba, slow down…”
A gust of wind swept into the restaurant.
Kiba rushed inside with Akamaru perched atop his head.
“Of course I had to hurry!
Akamaru’s starving, right?”
He looked upward.
“Woof!
Woof!”
Akamaru barked twice in agreement.
Sakura, Shino, and Yūhi Kurenai entered behind them.
“Sasuke-kun!”
Sakura’s eyes lit up the moment she spotted him.
She immediately raised a hand and waved.
However, Sasuke sat at the other table as though he had heard nothing.
He did not react in the slightest.
Sakura dejectedly lowered her hand.
Beside Sasuke, Naruto could only spread his hands helplessly.
So the elite genin of this year’s graduating class have all gathered here…
Kurenai smiled quietly.
Meanwhile, Asuma’s gaze drifted toward her from time to time.
Team Eight ordered five servings of yakiniku and sat down.
By then, the first batch of meat at Team Seven’s table was nearly finished cooking.
Naruto eagerly pressed his chopsticks together between both palms.
“Thanks for the food—!”
Poof!
He vanished from the spot.
Everyone in the restaurant looked at one another.
Then they stared at Naruto’s empty seat.
What had just happened?
Where did Naruto go?