The preliminaries ended, and everyone went their separate ways.
Naruto went to find Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"What is it, Naruto?"
Kakashi looked at Naruto, curious about why the boy had come to him on his own.
Naruto chuckled.
"Hehehe, Kakashi-sensei, I'm the only one in Team 7 who passed the preliminaries!"
"Yes, yes, I know. Congratulations. As a reward, I'll treat everyone to Ichiraku Ramen."
"Ichiraku Ramen! Awesome!"
Naruto immediately jumped for joy.
But he soon remembered that this wasn't what he'd come to talk to Kakashi about.
Still, since things had turned out this way, they might as well eat first.
Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto dashed excitedly into the Ramen Shop and shouted.
"Teuchi, give me an extra-large bowl of your signature ramen!"
"Oh, little Naruto! I heard you had your Chunin Exams today. How did it go?"
Naruto grinned proudly.
"Hehehe, Teuchi, I passed the preliminaries and made it to the finals!"
"Oh, really? Now that's worth celebrating! Hahaha!"
Teuchi cheerfully headed into the kitchen to start making ramen.
"Honestly, Naruto, why did you run so fast?"
Just as Naruto sat down, Kakashi arrived with Hinata and Sakura.
"Teuchi, three more bowls of ramen."
"Sure, just a moment. The ramen will take a little while."
"That's fine. We've got time."
Kakashi sat beside Naruto, while Sakura and Hinata found seats nearby.
"Naruto, you had something else you wanted to say earlier, didn't you? Go ahead."
Naruto stared at Kakashi without saying a word. He just kept staring.
Seeing his expression, Kakashi sighed.
"Don't worry. This one's on me."
"Hehehe, there is something I wanted to talk to you about, Kakashi-sensei."
"You little rascal. How did I never notice how sneaky you were?"
"It's called being smart, not sneaky."
"All right, all right. Get to the point."
Naruto turned serious.
"Kakashi-sensei,