Author's Note: Flashbacks will appear in underlined, italicized text. Just thought I should make a note of that.


EPISODE THREE: An Honest Smile!

Let's see if they figure it out, Kakashi thought, slipping into a tree where he could see and hear his team without them sensing him. None of them had skills quite good enough to detect him, but just for good measure Kakashi slid into the slow muscle rhythm of perfect stillness and suppressed his chakra flow. Only a very good chuunin would have a chance to locate him in this state, and despite Sasuke's self-assessment, nobody on team 7 was at that level.

The aristocrat and the girl ate silently for a few moments, but the stillness was broken by a loud growl from Naruto's stomach. "Ah, I'm okay, really," the blonde protested, his statement punctuated by another growl.

"If you keep doing that, we will have a difficult time defeating Hatake this afternoon," Sasuke said. A moment later, Kakashi's eyes widened in anticipation as the dark-haired boy said, "Here."

Maybe this is the time, Kakashi thought. Maybe I've finally got a team worth teaching.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked. "You could get disqualified!"

"Don't be alarmed," Sasuke replied, "I cannot sense Hatake-san anywhere."

"But he's a jounin!" Sakura countered. "He probably has all kinds of hiding techniques we'd never be able to penetrate. I'll bet he's listening in right now, to see if we disobey his orders and feed Naruto! Don't risk yourself for him! He's worthless!"

Blinded by a crush and personal animosity, Kakashi thought. Teenage girls are so useless. He wondered if Sasuke would be smart enough to disregard her opinion.

He wasn't. "You have a point," the Uchiha said, "Even with a full stomach, Naruto probably would not be much help."

"Hey! I'm right here, jerk! Quit talkin' like I'm not! And I did way more than..."

"Than whom?" Sasuke asked, his sly voice suggesting he knew exactly what Naruto had been about to say.

"Nobody," Naruto said, his broken voice almost too quiet for Kakashi to hear.

Even after that little outburst, he still seems to like her, the jounin thought. He'd rather take undeserved abuse than point out that Sakura gave the poorest effort this morning.

The children were silent for a moment, and Sasuke said, "In truth, Naruto, if I could be sure that Hatake wasn't nearby, I would happily share my lunch with you. But Sakura-chan is correct—with his level of skill, we cannot be sure. The risk is too great to bear."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto replied. "Look, couldja just... I dunno, move or somethin'? So I don't hafta watch you?"

"Don't, Sasuke!" Sakura interjected, and Kakashi almost smacked himself in the face. How cruel and stupid could this girl be? "Hatake-san said to stay here and eat. What if he meant for us to stay in the same spots? We can't risk it. Naruto, just close your eyes."

"You gotta be kiddin'!"

"You've got only yourself to blame!" the girl snapped. "If you hadn't tried to break the rules, you wouldn't be tied up like that!"

That's my cue, Kakashi thought, and vaulted down from the tree branch. Moving with his true speed, he had crossed the clearing and snatched the children's' lunches before they even registered his appearance. "I forgot something," Kakashi said, spilling the food onto the ground, "I said that the person who didn't get the bells wouldn't get any lunch. Since none of you got the bells, none of you should be eating. I was being kind to let Sakura and Sasuke have a meal, but that was a sort of test in itself." The silver-haired jounin ruefully noted that Sakura and Sasuke had managed to eat most of their food anyway, but some things couldn't be helped.

"I knew it!" Sakura crowed, "You were watching!"

"Yes, I was," Kakashi said, smiling, "You failed. Again." The crestfallen look on Sakura's face was delicious—almost worth the trouble of listening to her annoying lunchtime rants.

"But we obeyed all your rules!" Sakura said.

"Some rules must be ignored," Kakashi retorted, "People who disobey our laws are called trash, but a person who ignores a teammate's suffering—even if ordered to do so—is worse than that. You disgust me."

By now, Sakura looked absolutely stricken, and no doubt feared she'd be summarily dismissed from the exam. The idea of breaking a rule had probably not occurred to her, at least not under these circumstances, and Kakashi wondered for a moment if the team would be in this position if anyone other than Naruto was tied up. Naruto would certainly have given up his food for Sakura, and she might well have given up hers for Sasuke—rule or no. In a way, they were unlucky that Naruto had been at the center of the test. Then again, that bad luck probably made the assessment more accurate.

Sasuke had managed to keep a neutral expression, but his darting eyes betrayed a certain level of panic. Naruto, surprisingly enough, also looked distressed. Of course, Naruto hadn't gotten a chance to show his worth in this test, so Kakashi would have to keep his word.

"Right now, you're wondering if I'm just going to ship you all back to the Academy," Kakashi said, "and to tell you the truth, I'm quite tempted to do just that. However, I think it would be pretty unfair of me to flunk Naruto because of his teammates' failure. So I'll give you one more chance." He hardened his gaze and continued, "But you guys have really tried my patience, so this time I'm serious about what the bells mean. No matter what, at most two of you can pass the test this afternoon."

"On the bright side," Kakashi added, smiling, "consider this: I've had two students manage to take bells from me in the past, so things aren't completely hopeless."

"So when do we start?" Naruto asked, eagerness showing on his face.

Kakashi winked and casually hurled a shuriken at the post he'd tied the blonde to. The blade snapped the critical rope, and the whole coil fell down almost before Kakashi had reset the alarm and walked halfway to the stream. "You have one hour, starting right now," the jounin called over his shoulder.


"We need a plan," Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto's shoulder before he could go charging at Hatake again.

To Sasuke's surprise, the blonde didn't struggle—he just jerked himself out of the taller boy's grasp and sat down, rubbing his legs to get the blood flowing properly again. "I've got an idea," Naruto suggested.

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. "Those who have brains should do the planning, dunce," he retorted, "Just obey the orders Sakura-chan and I give you and we will get the bells. We can decide how to divide them up later."

Naruto scowled and muttered something under his breath, but subsided when Sakura glared at him. At least that girl was good for something—Naruto'd had the right idea, though he lacked the nerve to criticize her. As far as Sasuke could tell, the only thing Sakura had done this morning that was of any use was digging him out of that damned hole.

"So what's your great plan, almighty Sasuke?" Naruto sneered.

"Our only chance is to surprise him," Sasuke said, "He almost certainly expects us to keep attacking him one-on-one."

"So we attack in a group!" Naruto suggested.

"No," Sasuke growled through gritted teeth, "We don't know enough about each other's styles and habits to make a properly coordinated assault. We'd just end up hurting each other. So we give him exactly what he expects, and lay a trap."

"But Sasuke-kun," Sakura objected, "Hatake-sensei is a jounin. He'll detect any trap we lay."

"Not if he has no time to scout the area," Sasuke replied. "In this respect, you will play a key role," he continued, pointing at Naruto, "This morning I noticed a clearing 20 meters off to the east. You must keep Hatake away from it for the next half hour while Sakura and I set traps. When that time is up, lead him back there. I will then take over and try to force him into one of the traps. Understand?"

"Sure," Naruto said, "I'm a great distraction!" He performed that strange version of the replication technique and a moment later five of him were bounding off into the woods.

Sasuke headed for the clearing, but stopped when he felt Sakura's hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke-kun," she asked, "what are we going to do about the bells?"

"Let us worry about that when we the time comes, shall we?" Sasuke suggested. "After all, Hatake might be lying again."

"But what if he isn't?" Sakura asked. "I don't want to go back to the Academy, and you don't deserve to go back either. And I definitely don't want to be on a team with that obnoxious halfwit loser."

All right, if it'll make you shut up... Sasuke thought, and said, "Consider this, Sakura... Naruto ate no lunch, and he will fight Hatake—or run away from him—for the better part of an hour. By then he will be completely exhausted, so he won't be able to stop you and me from just taking the bells. We get a bell each, and he gets nothing... no loss when you think about it. He could probably use another year at the Academy anyway."

"I thought that's what you would say," Sakura commented, smiling. "I just wanted to be sure."

"Very well," Sasuke said, turning back towards the clearing. He paused for a moment, thinking he saw a flash of orange in the underbrush. He decided to ignore it, though—the only thing bearing that particular color in this area was Naruto, and he was almost certain the blonde couldn't move silently.


With a crash and a yell, Naruto flew into the clearing, bouncing a few times on the grass before he finally collapsed. Hatake raced in after him, stopping over the exhausted boy and snatching an orange book out of his hands. "That book is not for children," he said calmly, tucking it back into his pouch.

"Pervert!" Naruto wheezed, but he didn't have a chance to say anything more before Sasuke launched his attack.

Sakura almost gasped at the graceful beauty of the raven-haired boy's moves; he ducked and wove around Hatake's counterattacks like his body had turned to water. She imagined how his muscles would look, rippling under his skin as he fought, and felt her heart start pounding. Maybe Hatake-san will cut Sasuke's shirt open, she thought, watching the two of them fight. A girl can hope.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as the two combatants neared the first trap. Hatake seemed to sense the large, shallow pit before he could tumble into it, but Sakura had expected that. She stared as he shifted his right foot away from the large trap and it fell through what looked like solid ground into a small, deep hole—the trap disguised by the first trap. We got him! Sakura thought triumphantly, but slumped when Kakashi swapped himself with Sasuke and hit the boy with a vicious uppercut.

Sasuke kept his wits, though, and swapped himself with a branch near one of their trap controls. He cut through a wire that launched a barrage of shuriken, then jumped back into the fray behind them as Hatake deflected the whirling blades with his kunai. Sakura cut a wire of her own, causing a makeshift net to rise around the jounin, but he jumped just out of its perimeter.

Minutes passed as Sasuke furiously attacked Hatake, driving him into traps that sprung themselves, or luring him near traps that he or Sakura activated. Each time Hatake seemed just about to finally get caught, he would duck, dodge, or roll out of the way at the last instant. Shuriken, rope, metal strings, logs, twigs, and grass filled the air, making it difficult to see Sasuke and Hatake as they continued to battle.

We're running out of time, Sakura thought as she heard a wooden foot-trap snap shut on empty air. There couldn't be too many traps left anymore, not at the rate they'd been sprung. In fact, if she'd kept an accurate count, there was only one. I have to act, Sakura thought, or else we're all going back to the academy.

Drawing her kunai, Sakura jumped out of the tree where she'd hidden herself and charged across the clearing towards Sasuke. Hatake seemed to wave at her, and then she was on the ground, realizing too late that the jounin had thrown a bolo at her, two shuriken with a wire in between that had wrapped around her legs. Sakura sat up, trying to work the wires loose with her kunai.

Sasuke, meanwhile, had taken advantage of the opening created when Hatake threw his shuriken. He seized the jounin's hand and forced him back towards the final trap—one very much like the first. Hatake seemed to sense the similarity and moved his foot to avoid both the shallow pit and the deep, ankle-twisting hole.

Sakura smiled as Hatake's foot landed straight in another deep pit—a trap within the trap within the trap. With one hand seized by Sasuke, he couldn't form seals to swap himself away. We've won! Sakura thought.

Then Hatake's free leg slammed up into Sasuke's stomach, launching the boy into the air. Sasuke pulled hard on Hatake's arm, but because both of them were off their feet, the jounin was able to swing him to the side. Hatake had already brought his free leg down to push his trapped leg out of its hole. Sasuke's chance was wasted...

And then Hatake was gone, replaced by Naruto. Sakura yanked her head around just in time to see a kunai—thrown by another Naruto—fly past Hatake's waist before the jounin was replaced by yet another Naruto, who dove towards the ground.

The alarm rang, signaling the end of the exam.

The two extra Narutos in the clearing disappeared, and the real one lay motionless in the grass.

Sakura sagged in defeat. I'm going back to the Academy, she thought, All my hard work was for nothing. Then she was jerked back to reality by a noise—a sound that under these circumstances she absolutely shouldn't have been hearing.

Naruto was laughing.


Naruto laughed, eyes closed as the feeble afternoon breeze wafted across the clearing. The tiny metal spheres were cold in his hand, jingling quietly as he brought it up to his chest.

He'd gotten the bells.

He was sore, dirty, sweaty, tired, and nearly sick with hunger, but he'd gotten the bells.

"Good work, Naruto," Kakashi said, "though it was mostly luck."

Naruto didn't even have the energy to yell at the guy. Hell, he was right anyway; Naruto had just been guessing where the bells would end up when his replica swapped places with Kakashi. When he'd made the second swap, getting Kakashi away from the (hopefully) falling bells, he'd honestly been surprised to feel them drop into his palm.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto sat up, still clutching the bells, and opened his eyes to see the jounin standing in front of him. "I suppose you have a decision to make," Kakashi said, dusting off his vest. "You've got two bells, but you're only one person. So... you get to decide who passes the test with you."

Naruto glanced over to his teammates. Sasuke, crouching and breathing heavily, was glaring at him, and Sakura, still pulling halfheartedly at the wire with her kunai, simply looked shocked. Neither of them said anything. Then again, maybe they'd said enough.

"Well, we can't stay here all afternoon," Kakashi said. "Pick: Sasuke or Sakura."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke again and got a steady, almost threatening glare in return.

"As for things I hate... well, I hate liars. And I guess... I hate Naruto, too."

"Those who have brains should do the planning, dunce."

Even now, when I could send you packin' back to the Academy, you still hate me, Naruto thought. Maybe you hate me even more.

Turning from the Uchiha, Naruto saw that Sakura was smiling at him, but he could tell it wasn't sincere. It wasn't like the smile she gave Sasuke, the smile she had given Naruto in his dreams—though he doubted he'd be dreaming of her ever again, after all the things he'd heard her say today.

"Well, I hate that pig Ino... and Naruto."

"Don't risk yourself for him! He's worthless!"

They both hate me, Naruto realized. He'd given their plan his all, then saved their sorry butts with his own plan, and he couldn't get a true smile from either one of them. Instead he got an honest glare and a false smile—no acknowledgement, no approval, nothing that he'd dreamed he'd find as a ninja. Just the same things he'd gotten all his miserable life.

That thought made the choice easier. Naruto liked to make trouble, but he didn't like to make people feel bad. He knew all too well how awful real unhappiness was, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone... not even Sasuke. Whoever got sent back to the Academy would be completely dejected, and Naruto was used to misery in a way the other two simply couldn't be. I'll find my own way, Naruto thought, Even if Kakashi says I can't be a Konoha ninja, I'll find some way to become Hokage.

In his heart, Naruto wasn't really sure he believed that. Still, even though he knew for a fact that Sakura and Sasuke didn't have any qualms about ruining his life, he couldn't bring himself to ruin theirs. Taking a deep breath, Naruto stood up, dropping one of the bells into his empty hand.

"Made your decision?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, and threw both bells to his teammates.

Sakura's jaw dropped. Sasuke's legs gave out and he sat down hard on his ass. And then, very slowly, they reached out and picked the bells up. Naruto turned away, not wanting to watch his dream die, even if he'd been the one to choose it. Feeling a little wobbly, he started to leave the clearing, only to run into Kakashi's chest.

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet," the jounin said.

"What?" Naruto asked, then realized the obvious. "Oh, yeah." With a heavy heart, he reached up and untied his headband with a quick pull, holding it out towards Kakashi without looking at the man. "Iruka-sensei gave me this," he said quietly, blinking tears out of his eyes. "Please return it to him?" Naruto felt the headband being lifted from his hand, and stepped to the left to go around Kakashi.

He bumped into Kakashi's chest again. "What?!" he shouted, finally looking up at the masked jounin's face, "Why won't you let me leave?"

Kakashi's hands moved forward in a blur, and Naruto suddenly felt the weight of the headband on his forehead again. "Because you passed."

"W-what?"

"I told you before that two students had successfully taken a bell from me," Kakashi said, "but what I did not tell you was that even those students failed my test."

"What? Why?"

"Because they selfishly kept what they had captured, choosing to deny others' dreams rather than risk their own," Kakashi explained. "A ninja's life is full of hard battles, and hard choices. Sometimes, we have to give up our lives and our dreams for our teammates. Those who are unable... or unwilling... to make that kind of sacrifice aren't worthy of being called ninjas."

The jounin gestured towards the engraved stone, hidden behind the trees. "The people whose names are on that monument gave up their lives for the sake of others. We honor them because they displayed what it truly takes to be a ninja; the willingness to accept any cost to help out their comrades."

Kakashi sighed. "All in all, you did very poorly today," he said, "but you worked as a team, and you showed the right kind of spirit in the end. You three pass. Meet me at the prayer bridge at 7 AM tomorrow... ninjas." Then, without so much as a gust of wind, he was gone.

Naruto uncertainly fingered his headband, and whispered, "Ninja." The word was like a huge weight being lifted from his shoulders. He was still tired, and he was still very hungry, but he was a ninja, and Kakashi had praised him. Well, Sakura and Sasuke too, but he'd been the one to sacrifice; he'd been the one to show the 'right kind of spirit'. And suddenly, it didn't seem like his dream was so unattainable.

With something like a bounce in his step, Naruto started on his way back home.


The branch yielded beneath Sasuke's feet briefly before snapping back into place, and the pale boy added its elastic force to his own speed, flying into the next tree. Every motion made the bell in his pouch jingle, a bright sound totally incongruous with the darkness it created in his conscience. Naruto had just saved Sasuke's dream, even after all the day's unpleasantness. And I just stood there like a moron and let him walk off without even thanking him, Sasuke thought, vaulting off another branch. Not to mention the other things...

Sasuke caught a glimpse of blonde hair through the trees and shouted, "Hey! Uzumaki!" He swung around a thin tree trunk and launched himself in a high arc over the trail, this time getting a clear view of the blonde, who continued walking steadily back towards Konoha. "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as he landed on a branch and immediately leaped forward again, "Wait up!"

The blonde continued heedlessly marching along the dusty path, but Sasuke had built up plenty of momentum. Within a minute he passed Naruto, skidding to a halt just in front of the orange-clad genin. "Hold up!" he repeated, and Naruto finally stopped. "Didn't you hear me?" Sasuke asked, a bit upset that the other boy hadn't obeyed him earlier.

"I hear lots of things," Naruto replied. "Whaddaya want?"

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. Obviously Naruto had no proper idea of respect. Still, Sasuke was indebted to him, and nobody could say Sasuke had been raised like a vagabond. "Look," he said, "Could I buy you a snack or something... a late lunch, maybe?"

"Oh, so I'm good enough for your food now?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke immediately sensed that he'd made some kind of misstep.

Still, there was nothing to do but go forward. "Sure," Sasuke said, hoping none of his uncertainty was showing in his voice. "I'll even take you to that place you said you liked... the Ichiratai, was it?"

Naruto stared at him for a long moment, then said, "I don't want anything from you." It would have been very intimidating, if his stomach hadn't chosen that precise moment to growl.

Loudly.

"I know you're hungry, Naruto, so..."

"Oh you know, huh?!" Naruto shouted. "Maybe 'cause you ate your lunch right in front of my face while I starved?!"

This isn't going quite as well as I hoped, Sasuke thought, and said, "I understand why you might be upset..."

"You don't understand shit, Uchiha! You think I threw you that bell because I like you? 'Cause I thought we'd be friends? Fuck you! I gave those bells away because I don't wanna be near you! I'd rather go back to the academy than team up with you a-and Sakura, but that fuckup Kakashi went and got it all wrong!"

Sasuke was at a loss. "You wanted me to pass because you hate me?" he asked.

Naruto scowled. "Anything—anything would be better than bein' on a team with you two," he said. "I'd rather have Shino, or even that dog-boy Kiba. But if I kept that damn bell, I'd've had to be with one of you. And now... now I'm stuck with both."

"You hate us that much?"

"What goes around, Uchiha, comes around. Or don't you remember that plan you made with Sakura?"

This is definitely going badly, Sasuke thought as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I heard, asshole. Your little plan... in the end, it worked out, didn't it? You and Sakura each got a bell, and I got nothin'."

Sasuke said, "Look, I didn't mean that..."

"I thought you hated liars."

"I'm not lying!"

"Oh, so you lied to Sakura. That makes it all better!"

Sasuke finally lost his temper. "What do you want from me?!"

"I told you I don't want anything from you, Uchiha!" Naruto shouted. "I don't want your food, I don't want your company, I don't want your lies, and I don't want your bullshit! So go to hell, asshole!"

And then he was gone, leaving behind only the growl of a very empty stomach.

Sasuke stared at the cloud of dust hanging in the air where Naruto had been, and wondered, What the fuck did I do wrong?


A loud noise Shikamaru knew well made him pause in mid-step. The street was empty, but sounds like that didn't come from nowhere—in fact, they only came from Naruto's stomach. That meant the blonde boy was somewhere nearby, and also very hungry. Shikamaru sighed and let his curiosity get the better of him, peering into the alleys on either side of the narrow street.

The second one Shikamaru looked into turned out to hold the guy, standing doubled over with his hand against a wall for support. "Oi, Naruto!" the taller boy called.

The blonde looked up, grinning slightly. "Hey Shikamaru," he said, wobbling back and forth a little, "Couldja give me a hand?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but stepped into the alley and looped one arm around Naruto's shoulders. "You sure make a lot of trouble for me," he grumbled, helping the blonde stand upright. When they staggered out of the shadowed alley and Shikamaru got a clear look at the other boy, he let out a low whistle. "Jeez, you look like you got rolled under a cart."

"Ungh," Naruto grunted, nearly falling over but catching onto Shikamaru at the last moment, "You... shoulda seen... the other guy."

"If you got this fighting your team leader, he probably looks fresh as a morning daisy," Shikamaru said, "I know mine did."

"Yeah, you're right," Naruto said, "but we passed anyway." He paused and almost doubled over again as his stomach released another deafening growl.

"Yours told you not to eat breakfast, too, huh?"

Naruto nodded, his expression rather grim. "Plus," the blonde noted, "I didn't get any lunch."

"No wonder you look so rough," Shikamaru said, starting to feel a little worried for the guy. "C'mon, I'll buy you something to eat..." then he trailed off, remembering the events surrounding the last time he'd bought Naruto a meal.

Naruto apparently remembered too, for he stared at Shikamaru, his expression wavering between nervousness and excitement. His eyes, however, were sharp with suspicion, and... but perhaps Shikamaru was imagining it... anticipation.

"Not like that," Shikamaru hastily added, "just... you know, to celebrate. I passed, too."

"So why aren't you buying lunch for Chouji?"

"That guy? Sheesh, I could never afford to buy meals for him—he eats way too much."

"I eat a lot of ramen, too, though..." Naruto whispered.

"I know," Shikamaru said, smirking, "That's why we're not getting it." He yanked the boy into a small restaurant on the corner. "Two of the special," he ordered, shoving Naruto down into a booth seat, "and please be quick."

"Thanks," Naruto said, toying nervously with his chopsticks.

"No problem," Shikamaru replied, "I was pretty hungry myself."

There was an awkward pause, thankfully interrupted by the prompt arrival of the food. It was plain fare: a thick layer of rice surmounted by a ton of vegetables and a few slivers of meat, drenched in an unidentifiable sauce. Still, given their condition, the boys would have eaten anything. Naruto attacked his bowl ravenously, cleaning it in mere moments. Shikamaru took his time, frowning when he noticed Naruto looking longingly at the remaining food. Sighing, Shikamaru pushed about half of what was left of his meal into Naruto's dish, and said, "You're so much trouble; I honestly don't know why I bother."

After a few more minutes, both boys had consumed everything, and Shikamaru realized he had no idea what he'd just eaten. It had filled him up well enough, though, and judging from Naruto's more relaxed posture, it had served the other boy well also. "So what do you think of your team?" Shikamaru asked, before the atmosphere could become strained again.

"They suck," Naruto said, "Sakura's always hangin' onto Sasuke, and Sasuke's a bastard."

"I thought you liked Sakura," Shikamaru commented lightly.

"Changed my mind," Naruto replied, "hard not to when she called me 'worthless' and an 'halfwit loser'. She used some other word, too... oxbonkus or somethin' like that."

"Obnoxious?" Shikamaru suggested, and the blonde nodded. "Yeah, Ino was like that, too," Shikamaru continued. "I dunno... my dad was pretty happy she was on a team with me and Chouji, but I don't think I like it. She keeps going on about how Sasuke could do a much better job than either of us."

"She should switch with me, then," Naruto said. "I bet she'd love to be on a team with almighty Sasuke."

"Good idea," Shikamaru said, "we should ask."

"You think?"

"Yeah... can't do any harm just to ask, right? And who knows... maybe our senseis will even say yes."

"I bet mine will," Naruto said, his eyes narrowing. "Kakashi-sensei kept reading a perverted book all day... he'd probably love to have another girl on the team."

"Asuma-sensei's pretty cool," Shikamaru noted, "He asked me to come by his place tonight to play Go."

"Somebody new to beat up on, huh?"

"Well, you and Chouji aren't any kind of challenge," Shikamaru said, "and even my dad loses most of our matches these days. Some new competition would be very welcome."

Naruto was silent for a minute, then asked, "You really want me to switch?"

"Sure," Shikamaru said, "I'd like to have you on my team."

Naruto didn't say anything, just smiled—not like he usually did, not the broad, squinting, toothy grin that went with loudmouth idiot pranks. This smile was smaller, and left his eyes, sparkling in the afternoon light that filtered through the restaurant windows, open for the world to see.

And somehow, this smile seemed more honest than all the other ones Shikamaru had ever seen on Naruto's face.