Red Eyes

Naruto said, "We're going to be late," for the one hundred and seventeenth time.

Sasuke said nothing. But when the count reached fifty, his brow twitched into a frown.

Ringo stood beside the railing. Not leaned against it—stood. They had not come here to train today. They had come to be assessed.

The training ground was not quiet in the morning. Birdsong drifted down from the trees. Whenever Naruto shouted, the birds flew away. Three flocks had already gone. A few gray feathers lay on the ground, though no one knew what bird had dropped them.

Ringo nudged one with the tip of his shoe, but it did not move. It was stuck in the mud. Beside it was an empty water bottle someone had thrown away, its opening facing down, with a little rainwater from last night gathered inside.

The bottle bore the words "Konoha Convenience." The label had faded in the sun, its edges curling up. A patch of paint had peeled from the railing, revealing the wood beneath. It was darker than the surface, old.

Kakashi appeared from somewhere that was not the path, but the treetops. He did not walk over. He drifted over.

"I got lost again."

Naruto snapped, "Who are you trying to fool?!"

Sasuke: "..."

Ringo: "..."

Kakashi took two bells from his pocket. They were not new; their edges were worn, and dust clung to the strings. "Anyone who fails to get a bell goes back to the Academy and repeats the year."

Ringo did not move. He thought that if the bell rule was real, then the Third Hokage and Iruka were both liars. The first thing an orphan learned was not trust, but to doubt every "definitely" anyone said. But he did not say it aloud. If he did, then the test would no longer be a test.

Kakashi put away his book. It was not Make-Out Paradise, just one he had picked up at random. "Begin."

Naruto charged first. He got hit with Thousand Years of Death and was tied to a wooden post.

Sasuke used Fireball Jutsu. He was forced back by Earth Release and held at bay by kunai.

Ringo did not make a move. He was in a tree, in the shadows. His Wind Cutter had only one chance. If he wasted it at anything less than the best moment, the entire test would confirm that he "could not judge the right timing."

Kakashi's movements were not fast, but every one of them was perfectly timed. It was not speed, but calculation. As though his eye could see the future—but it was not his eye. It was experience.

Naruto was not quiet because he had been tied to the post. He had simply cursed himself tired. Toward the end, his voice grew softer. Not because he had surrendered, but because he was hoarse.

Kakashi did not attack Ringo first, because he was waiting for Ringo to make a move. He wanted to see what Ringo had.

Ringo was waiting too. Waiting for an angle Kakashi would never expect him to come from.

Ants crawled along the tree. Not black ones, but tiny red ones. Ringo watched one crawl from a branch onto a leaf, then crawl back. It was not boredom. He was counting time. One round trip took about ten seconds. He counted thirty trips. Five minutes.

The sound of a blacksmith's shop rang out in the distance, clanging away at something unknown. It was faint by the time it reached here, but it never stopped. Listening to it gave Ringo a sense of time. He had seen the old blacksmith once, pushing a cart down the street filled with iron goods that clanged together. The sun had been just as fierce that day. The old man limped slightly; his left leg was half an inch shorter than his right, and his body leaned to the right as he pushed the cart.

Noon. Kakashi said, "No eating."

Naruto was tied up, and his stomach growled. Three times. The first was loud, the second softer, and the third cut off halfway through because it was too embarrassing.

Ringo was not tied up. Kakashi had not tied him up.

"Because you seem to understand what a team is."

Ringo handed Naruto his boxed lunch. "Eat."

It took Naruto two seconds to react. "You—"

"Hunger affects combat ability."

The lunch was not fresh. Ringo had brought it from his apartment that morning. When he opened it, a grain of rice was stuck to the lid. The way he offered it was not warm or enthusiastic. He merely moved something from his own hand into someone else's, like handing over a kunai on the training ground.

Naruto did not take the lunch so much as snatch it. He was hungry, and he did not know how to say thank you—but he would remember.

Sakura looked over, then offered hers as well. "Don't eat too much, Naruto."

Sasuke said nothing, but he placed his own lunch beside the wooden post. He hesitated when he put it down, not because he was reluctant to give it away, but because he did not know where it belonged. In the end, he set it on the earthen ridge at the foot of the post. Ants crawled over it, and Sasuke made sure not to disturb them.

Kakashi watched. A bird flew past overhead. Then he said, "You disobeyed orders, but you are a team."

"You pass. Continue."

It was not something Ringo had said. It was something they had done themselves.

In the afternoon, Kakashi got serious.

Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu provided cover. Naruto circled around the flank. Clones. Four attacks.

Ringo moved through the woods. He was not fleeing. He was searching for an angle—an angle Kakashi would never expect him to appear from.

Kakashi dealt with them effortlessly, but he began using both hands. Not because Naruto and Sasuke had grown stronger, but because he needed to keep one hand ready for Ringo. He knew that the one who had not acted yet was the key.

Ringo found his chance.

Kakashi's real body was reading Make-Out Paradise. Not really reading—just pretending. But there was a Shadow Clone nearby. The flaw of a Shadow Clone was—

It would not turn the page.

Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique.

Wind extended from his fingertips, forming an invisible blade. It was not light, nor air. It was wind compressed into a line.

Cut.

Kakashi's Shadow Clone was sliced in two. It was not the real body.

"I already knew that was a Shadow Clone. Because the real one was reading Make-Out Paradise."

Kakashi's real body stood up. He put away his book and lifted his forehead protector.

Sharingan.

Red.

Three tomoe.

"You're Ringo, right? Who taught you that technique?"

"Myself."

Kakashi fell silent for three seconds.

In that second, the system popped up.

"Detected Kakashi Hatake. Special status triggered. Golden fragment 'Sharingan' dropped."

Ringo did not pick it up in that second, because Kakashi was watching him.

It was not that he did not dare. He could not. Bending down to pick something up while someone was watching was the same as telling them what he was picking up.

Kakashi lowered his forehead protector. "All three of you pass."

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash. But those who do not cherish their comrades are worse than trash."

"You all did it."

Once Naruto was untied from the post, the first thing he did was not rub his wrists, but shout, "I passed!!"

Sasuke went, "Hmph," but the corner of his mouth moved. It was not a smile. He had simply relaxed.

Ringo: "..."

It was not that he did not want to speak. The red of the Sharingan still lingered on his retinas, like he had stared at the sun. Even when he closed his eyes, everything was red.

Kakashi left. He said, "Official missions start tomorrow." It was not an announcement, but a preview.

By evening, the training ground was empty.

Ringo found the golden fragment on the ground. It had not just fallen—it was something Kakashi had deliberately left behind. Or maybe not. Maybe system-dropped fragments simply remained where they fell, waiting for him to collect them himself.

Gold weighed more than purple. More than white.

It was not joy. It was, Does this fragment mean it will become Mangekyō someday?

It was in preparation mode. He could not use it now. But he would be able to in the future.

Naruto ran back. He had not come alone—he had run back, his footsteps heavy as they crunched across the sand.

"I thought you gave me your lunch because you pitied me."

"You needed stamina, and I had an extra lunch."

Naruto said, "Oh." Then, "Thank you."

It was not a formal thank-you. It was awkward. But it was enough.

"I thought things only started tomorrow."

"Kakashi said we passed, but it starts tomorrow."

Naruto asked, "Then what was today?"

"Today was today."

Naruto ran off. Not because he was angry, but because he was going home to eat dinner.

Ringo looked at the card slots. Purple Taijutsu Mastery, golden Wind Cutter Technique, golden Sharingan fragment.

Three golds. No, two. The Sharingan was a fragment, not a complete card.

The orange was still there. The trigger condition for Kakashi's orange fragment was unknown. But today, the Sharingan had dropped as gold. That meant orange was not the Sharingan.

Then what was it?

He did not know. But he would find out someday.

The sand of the training ground turned from gray-white to dark. Not the gold of cards, but the dark color of evening. Wind blew in from the woods, carrying the earthy scent of soil. Not the smell before rain, but the scent of dry dirt after it had baked in the sun all day.

Ringo placed the Sharingan fragment into a card slot. Not to fuse it, but to store it.

"Designation color. Double-edged sword."

The system did not respond. The fragment was not a card. It could not be fused; he could only wait.

Wait for when? He did not know.

Ringo stood and brushed the sand from his pants. There was not much, only what had clung to him when he bent down to pick up the fragment. A patch at his knee was damp. He did not know whether it was sweat or dew he had brushed against while crouching.

Time to go back. Official missions started tomorrow.

Team 7. He was no longer invisible.