A New Look at Them

Kakashi's fish-like eyes finally widened, surprise flashing through them. In all his years, this was the first time he had met a team of freshly graduated Genin who worked together from the start.

But Kakashi was still Kakashi. He reached his left arm behind him, caught Naruto by the back of the neck as he lunged, and swung him around into a hold in front of him.

With a Kunai in his right hand, he knocked aside the Shuriken flying toward him in a rapid series of clangs.

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi had escaped the danger and taken control of the situation again.

"Heh, heh!"

But Naruto, trapped in his hold, and Sasuke and Sakura in front of him looked anything but discouraged. Their mouths curled into smiles of triumph.

Not good!

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. A sudden sense of foreboding seized him.

Poof!

The yellow backpack on Naruto's back suddenly turned into another Naruto!

That was the real Naruto!

That had been Naruto's true trump card. Everything before it had only been a setup!

As a yellow backpack, he had been pressed right against Kakashi's stomach. Now that he had returned to his own form, he only had to shoot out his right hand to grab the two bells at Kakashi's waist.

Kakashi reacted in time, twisting his waist sharply to pull the bells away from Naruto.

But Naruto already had one bell in a firm grip. Kakashi could only snap the cord, sending the second bell tied to it flying. With a jingle, it landed right in Sakura's hand.

"YEAH!"

Sakura jumped up and down with joy.

"Jingle, jingle! Kakashi-sensei, does this mean we've completed the task?"

Standing before Kakashi, Naruto smugly shook the bell in front of his eyes, making it ring with a bright, clear sound.

"Phew!" Kakashi let out a weary breath, and his fish-like eyes drooped again. But the look he gave the three of them was full of astonishment.

This was the first time a team of newly graduated Genin had managed to take the bells from him.

This Genin team really was different!

"All right, all right." Kakashi spread his hands and said weakly, "But you've only completed half the task. I told you there were only two bells, and there are three of you."

Only then did Sasuke and Sakura realize how serious the problem was. They exchanged a glance, then looked at Naruto.

Naruto twisted his mouth. He knew what Kakashi was trying to do, but this was the moment he had been waiting for.

He was getting used to acting.

Now Naruto and Sakura each held a bell. That meant Sasuke, who had none, would be eliminated and sent back to school.

Naruto pretended to be torn. He clenched his fists tight, as though he wanted to offer up his bell but could not bear to part with it.

Sakura hesitated too. Graduating was not what mattered most to her; staying with Sasuke was. But whether she gave him her bell or not, the two of them would be separated. So she turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, you—" Sakura was cut off before she could finish.

"I'll withdraw!" Sasuke said through clenched teeth, his fists balled tight.

The thought of his dream being delayed another year, and of being sent back to school in humiliation, cut through him like a knife.

But what else could he do?

Have Naruto give up his bell for him, as Sakura was thinking?

Impossible!

He would never accept something handed to him out of pity. Besides, they had only managed to get the bells because of Naruto's plan and his grab at the crucial moment.

How could he ask Naruto to withdraw now?

Just as Sasuke lowered his head and turned to leave, Naruto handed his bell back to Kakashi. Under everyone's astonished gaze, he grinned and said:

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura, and I were a three-person team from the start. If one of us has to withdraw, we might as well all withdraw together!"

"You... what?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto, dumbfounded. For the first time, the dead-last seemed... noble and selfless?

His cold heart was touched.

He decided that when he got home, he would bring all his family's Ninjutsu Scrolls for Naruto to read.

Sakura stared at Naruto in surprise too. For the first time, she thought he might not be so annoying after all.

Naruto now wore a sharp, stylish outfit. He had beaten Sasuke twice in a row and shown even more talent than Sasuke at Tree-Walking.

What was more, Naruto had come up with their entire plan and made the decisive grab for the bells.

Maybe Naruto really has changed. Maybe I misjudged him all this time.

Sakura realized that, for the first time, she felt a fleeting spark of attraction to him. She quickly shook her head. But I already have Sasuke...

"Kakashi-sensei, I'll withdraw too. Naruto's right. We're a three-person team." With that, Sakura returned the second bell to Kakashi.

Kakashi had watched in silence. Only now did he ask, "Who organized that plan of yours?"

Sasuke and Sakura both looked at Naruto.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Heh, I was just making it up as I went. I didn't expect it to actually work."

Surprise flickered in Kakashi's eyes again. Naruto had changed so much that it caught him off guard. Then again, it did fit the boy who had always come up with the most unexpected pranks.

His Sexy Technique, for example, had even given Lord Third a nosebleed.

"You've made up your minds? You're all withdrawing?" Kakashi asked, fixing the three of them with a stern look.

"Yeah. We can graduate next year and keep working toward our dreams together," Naruto said casually.

Sasuke and Sakura said nothing. Their solemn faces showed they each had their own thoughts, but neither objected.

"Well, if you all want to go back to school, then..." Kakashi's tone suddenly changed. Smiling at the three of them, he said, "Congratulations. You've passed the exercise!"

"What?" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at Kakashi in surprise.

"I said you all passed!" Kakashi said, his eyes narrowing. "You're the first team I've ever passed. The ones before you were fools who only knew how to do what I told them."

"A Ninja has to see through a trick within a trick!"

Kakashi looked up at the sun and the blue sky beyond the clouds. His eyes filled with memories and an unshakable sadness as he spoke with longing and conviction:

"In the Ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. But those who don't value their comrades are worse than scum!"

Naruto, who knew the whole story behind those words, lowered his head and said nothing. Comrades? Do I really have comrades?

Sasuke pondered Kakashi's last words and looked thoughtfully at Naruto and Sakura beside him.

Sakura paid none of that any mind. She was overjoyed: she could stay with Sasuke after all.

At last, Kakashi announced:

"All right! I hereby declare: Team 7 will start taking missions tomorrow!"