The Hobby Is Subduing Demons...

Kakashi found an unoccupied chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other as he flipped through his book.

"Sensei, couldn't you at least apologize first..." Sakura pressed a hand to her forehead.

Kakashi lowered his book a little, revealing one narrowed eye. "Anyway—"

"Wait!" Naruto thrust out his hand and slapped it on Kakashi's desk.

"I, for one, never accept a teacher who's late for no reason!"

"Well..." Kakashi drawled, "an old lady asked me for directions on the way here, so I helped her."

"Liar!" Naruto jabbed a finger at Kakashi's nose.

"There's a Dango Shop receipt in your book! You made three future elite ninja wait here just so you could eat dumplings!"

Kakashi took out the receipt and slipped it into his pocket. "Good observation."

"Of course!"

"However, I'm the teacher, and you're the students. If I say I helped an old lady find her way, then that's what I did."

A vein pulsed on Naruto's forehead. He was about to step forward and settle things with Kakashi, but Sasuke held him by the shoulder.

"Wait until he's finished speaking," Sasuke said.

Kakashi looked at the hand on Naruto's shoulder, then at Naruto, who had obediently shut his mouth. His right eye curved into an even narrower smile.

"Then let's start with introductions." Kakashi rested his book on his knee.

"I'll go first. Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and dislike... I'd rather not tell you. My dreams are a secret. As for my hobbies, all sorts of things."

"So you didn't tell us anything!" Naruto shouted.

"Your turn." Kakashi pointed at Sakura. "Starting from the right."

Sakura pinched the strap of her Forehead Protector and took a small breath.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. Things I like... um... there's nothing in particular I dislike. My hobby right now is training."

She turned to look at Sasuke, then at Naruto, before continuing to Kakashi.

"My goal is to become a ninja my teammates can rely on and feel safe with."

Kakashi nodded and shifted his gaze to Naruto.

Naruto planted his hands on his hips and stood on the chair.

"Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ichiraku Ramen! And the ramen Iruka-sensei treats me to!"

"What I hate is waiting three minutes for instant ramen. And people who aren't punctual."

Kakashi's eye twitched, but he didn't feel like explaining himself.

"My hobby right now is training, too. Because my dream is to become Hokage and make everyone acknowledge me!"

Naruto pointed at Sasuke.

"Especially you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke shook his head. "I never said I didn't acknowledge you."

"That counts as acknowledging me? That's just brushing me off!" Naruto jabbed his finger forward again.

"You're trying to get away with saying, 'Naruto, you've gotten stronger.' You call that acknowledgment?"

"All right, Naruto, enough talking for now. Next, it's your turn, Sasuke." Kakashi pointed at Sasuke with the spine of his book.

Sasuke took his hands out of his pockets and stood up.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"I like people I consider good. I hate people I consider bad. My hobby is subduing demons... Never mind, that's not important."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

Sasuke seemed to have a secret.

But it didn't matter. The Uchiha Clan had always been full of secrets, and Sasuke was no exception.

"My short-term dream is to obtain Impure World Reincarnation."

Sakura's lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but she didn't.

Naruto furrowed his brows. This wasn't the first time he'd heard Sasuke mention it, but every time he did, it still made Naruto feel uneasy.

Kakashi rested his book on his knee.

Sasuke's dream seemed to fit his background.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre had happened years ago. If anything could be more painful than a blood feud, it was an attachment one couldn't let go of.

He didn't want power to protect Konoha, nor did he want revenge. He simply wanted to see the dead again.

Kakashi sighed and stood the book on Sasuke's desk.

"That's a pretty terrible dream."

Sasuke looked away. "You have no right to judge my dream. I'm just stating a fact."

"All right, all right." Kakashi waved a hand. "That's enough introductions. Since you've all gotten to know one another, meet at Training Ground 3 tomorrow morning."

He stood up from his chair and rolled his shoulders.

"Oh, right. This is a test with a failure rate of 66%. Anyone who can't get a bell will have to return to the Ninja Academy and repeat a year. Remember not to eat breakfast, or you'll throw up."

After saying this, he looked at the three students in front of him.

Naruto had his hands behind his head. Sakura was twirling the end of her ponytail around a finger. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window at something unseen.

Not one of them looked nervous or afraid.

"You... don't have anything to say?"

Naruto lowered his arms and tilted his head at Kakashi.

"Because we're definitely going to pass."

"That confident?"

"If there were someone else in our class, I might not be so sure." Naruto grinned.

Sakura picked up where he left off. "But if the three of us are in the same class..."

She looked at Kakashi, her voice even more certain than it had been during her introduction.

"Then we'll definitely pass."

A strong bond, huh?

Jiraiya-sensei had mentioned that the three kids had spent three years together and already trusted one another deeply.

It seemed he hadn't just been saying that.

Kakashi shifted his gaze from the two confident faces to Sasuke, who was leaning by the window.

"What about you? Do you think so too?"

Sasuke looked away from the window and met Kakashi's gaze.

"Don't underestimate them, sensei." Sasuke stood and brushed off his pants. "They'll surprise you."

Kakashi looked into Sasuke's eyes. There was only a quiet certainty in them.

It wasn't just, I think we can win. It was, We will definitely win.

"All right." Kakashi stuffed Make-Out Paradise into his ninja pouch, turned toward the door, and casually waved a couple of times.

"Tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

The door closed behind him.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, an Uchiha orphan, and a medical Ninjutsu prodigy recognized by Tsunade.

And putting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Sasuke Uchiha on the same team—was that something the Third Hokage had deliberately arranged, or a coincidence?

"Acknowledge me, huh..." Kakashi put his book back in his ninja pouch and pushed open the teachers' office door.

Iruka was sitting by the window, flipping through a stack of Genin registration forms. He looked up when he heard the door open.

"Kakashi-senpai? You haven't left yet?"

"I just finished introducing myself. Those three kids are interesting."

Kakashi dragged over a chair from the nearby desk, straddled it, and rested both arms on the back.

Iruka put down the registration forms in his hands. "You mean Naruto and the others?"

"Do you know what Sasuke's dream is?"

Iruka froze for a moment, then shook his head.

"That boy doesn't say much. Other than training, he goes to the library. Sometimes he spends a few days outside the village."

"I was his homeroom teacher for two years, and whenever we talked, he was usually the one asking me questions."

Iruka paused.

"What's his dream...?"

"Impure World Reincarnation."

The pen in Iruka's hand slipped from his fingers and rolled to the edge of the registration forms.

Kakashi lowered his head and braced his forehead with one hand. "He said he wants to obtain Impure World Reincarnation."

Kakashi lowered his hand and looked at Iruka.

"How much do you know about the boy's situation?"

"Not much." Iruka bent down to pick up the pen and rubbed his thumb along its barrel a couple of times.

"After the massacre, he was lying in the hospital. The Third Hokage and Elder Danzo both went to see him."

"The Third Hokage said he acted far too calm at the time, not like a child who'd just lost his parents. Danzo wanted to recruit him into Root, but Sasuke refused outright."

Iruka set the pen beside the registration forms.

"He seems like he doesn't need anyone."

Kakashi was silent for a long time.

After the massacre, Sasuke had stopped trusting anyone and buried all his feelings deep inside. Only the dead could make him feel safe.

The boy seemed calm on the surface, but deep down, he must have been falling apart.

Kakashi stood up and pushed open the office door.

"I'll report to the Third Hokage after tomorrow's test." Kakashi left those words behind and walked out of the office.

Kakashi would probably never know that Sasuke's real goal was to bring back someone who was no longer in this world.

Training Ground 3.

The morning air was still fresh, and a thin layer of dew coated the grass.

Sakura crouched nearby, tightening the laces on her ninja shoes. Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground with a blade of grass in his mouth. He braced his hands behind his knees and rocked his shoulders back and forth.

Then he bit through the blade of grass and jabbed it toward the training posts.

"He's late again!"

Sakura stood up, brushed the grass off her hands, and walked to the middle of the clearing. She shaded her eyes with one hand and looked toward Konoha.

A figure ambled over from the distance.

"Yo, morning."

Kakashi tucked his book into his ninja pouch and gave them a casual wave.

Naruto sprang up and pointed straight at Kakashi.

"You're late! More than two hours past the time we agreed on!"

Kakashi said, "An old lady asked me for directions—"

"Is that the only excuse you know?"

Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar and pulled him aside. Then she watched as Kakashi took something out of his ninja pouch.

Kakashi reached into his ninja pouch and took out two little bells, tying them to his waist.

"Two bells." Kakashi held up two fingers.

"The rules are simple. If you can take the bells from me before noon, you pass. Anyone who can't will go straight back to the Ninja Academy and repeat a year."

He looked at Naruto on the ground, then at Sakura beside him, and finally at Sasuke, who was leaning against a training post.

"There's only two bells. That means—"

"That means at least one of us will be eliminated." Sakura stared at the two bells.

"Right." Kakashi's eyes curved as he lowered his hand.

"So the three of you are now each other's competitors. If you don't want to be eliminated, come at me ready to kill."