EPISODE FOUR: A Swap?!

"Good morning, everybody!" Naruto called, arriving last at the bridge, but still with several minutes to spare. Kakashi nodded approvingly and settled into his hiding place in a nearby tree, curious to see how his team interacted after the minor debacle of their genin exam. Naruto's cheerfulness relieved him, since it meant he wouldn't have to try and get everyone to work around a grudge.

Kakashi was less pleased that Sasuke and Sakura didn't seem interested in playing along. Sasuke grunted something unintelligible to Naruto, and Sakura merely looked at him in disgust for a moment before returning her attention to the Uchiha boy. Naruto didn't appear to be disturbed by this at all, but Kakashi noted to himself that he'd have to have a private discussion with Sakura about the importance of courtesy in keeping a team functioning smoothly.

As for Sasuke, he didn't appear too interested in either of his teammates. He listened to Sakura's inane babble with a distracted expression on his face, clearly paying her little attention. He kept adjusting his weapons holsters, his thoughts probably focused on training or what he might do as his first mission. Kakashi couldn't help but smirk at that thought. Their work for the village probably wouldn't start for at least another week, and when it did it wouldn't be anywhere near as glamorous as whatever Sasuke was imagining.

My own first mission was weeding a garden, Kakashi remembered, and I was pissed. He expected his own team would have similar sentiments. Naruto, particularly, was overeager for combat; something that might change once he actually got into a lethal situation. Sakura probably wouldn't like D-level missions, but her thoughts were almost certainly too focused on Sasuke for her to care what she did as long as she was near him. As for the Uchiha boy, he'd resent the menial labor the most, but possessed too much pride and restraint to let his annoyance show to the other two.

So Naruto will be the first to blow up, Kakashi thought. Well, it happens to every team. Seeing that the situation on the bridge was stable and still rather uninformative, Kakashi resigned himself to staying in this position for a while. He wished he could go visit the cenotaph instead of spying on these kids, but resolved to make it up by doubling his usual visit tomorrow.

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto said several minutes later, "Kakashi-sensei did say to meet him here at 7AM, right?"

Even Sakura wasn't rude enough to disregard a direct question. "Yes, Naruto," she replied.

"Then why ain't he here?"

"How the hell should I know!?" she snapped, "Stop asking stupid questions, idiot!"

Naruto recoiled a few steps, then stomped off to the other end of the bridge, muttering under his breath. Relieved though he was that Sakura's attitude hadn't provoked a fight, Kakashi was concerned about how brazenly she displayed it. A scolding of some kind was definitely in order... though Kakashi hoped she wouldn't cry. He never knew what to do when women started getting emotional.

Sasuke looked rather irritated by the whole exchange, and said, "Yelling about things won't make him arrive any sooner. We simply have to wait and be patient."

"Yeah, well..." Naruto said, "when I'm a jounin I'm gonna show up on time."

"And when you become a jounin you can give me a ride on your flying pig," Sasuke commented, smirking, "They should be available by then."

"Why would I wanna fly on a pig?" Naruto asked, obviously confused.

"Idiot!" Sakura shouted, "He means you'll become a jounin when pigs fly, which is never!"

"Oh," Naruto said, "I get it now." Then the meaning really sank in and he shouted, "Hey! I did way better than either of you yesterday! So you can't talk!"

Sakura subsided, but Sasuke just said, "You got lucky, dunce."

"In a fight, luck's as good as a blade!" Naruto retorted.

"But you can't rely on it," Sasuke said, "just like we can't rely on you."

"You don't know nothin' about me!"

"I know you're a slacker who wastes all his time playing pranks instead of training, and brags about a goal he can never reach. What did I miss?"

"Why you..!"

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted. "Naruto, stop bothering Sasuke!"

"Botherin' Sasuke?" Naruto screamed. "He's the one who insulted me! If he doesn't wanna get in a fight, then he shouldn't pick one!"

"Fighting you would waste my time, dunce," Sasuke said. "But you're right. We should be quiet and wait for our lazy instructor."

Naruto looked like he was about to say something else, but subsided, muttering under his breath again. At this distance, Kakashi couldn't hear, but he could read lips well enough to make a guess at the mantra Naruto seemed to be repeating. He wondered, though, why Naruto would keep mumbling, "Just for today."

Kakashi thought about it for several minutes and came to the conclusion that Naruto was going to try to quit. Then he spent another hour thinking of ways to talk him out of it... a difficult proposition, given the way he was treated by his teammates. Kakashi had the sinking feeling that these arguments would start to become a daily occurrence. If so, then bland reassurances that things would get better would have to be avoided—even if they somehow managed to convince Naruto, the inevitable failure of the prediction would ruin his trust in Kakashi.

Damn that girl, Kakashi thought, glaring at Sakura through the obscuring shield of leaves. She'll make this at least twice as hard.

Kakashi realized the situation on the bridge was not going to improve, and might get worse. Naruto was beginning to fidget, and if he started talking again it would just give the other two another way to ruin their team before it really got formed. With a quick twitch of his muscles and a puff of smoke, Kakashi moved to the bridge. "Yo!" he called.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto yelled together.

"Sorry," Kakashi said, grinning, "A fat woman got caught in a narrow alley and I had to take the long way around."

"LIAR!"


"Excuse me, Umino-san, could I have a moment?"

Iruka looked up from the ledger he was filling out to see a pale boy with near-white eyes standing in front of his desk. He looked like a member of the Hyuuga clan, in his early teens... and a headband, which meant he was already a genin. That suggested the genius boy, Neji... he'd been one of Mizuki's students.

Suppressing a scowl at the thought of the traitor who'd nearly killed him and Naruto, Iruka nodded and said, "Certainly, Hyuuga-kun. How may I help you?"

"I was hoping I could ask you for some information about some of the recent graduates," Neji said.

"I don't see why not, Hyuuga-kun. Which ones do you want to know about?"

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha..."

"Sasuke and Haruno Sakura," Iruka concluded for him, realizing exactly what was going on. "Really, if Maito-san is so interested in knowing about Hatake-san's team, he should ask me himself."

"What?" Neji looked confused for a moment, but his face quickly slid into impassivity. He shrugged and continued, "Gai-sensei called it information-gathering training, but yes, he wants to know about Hatake's team. Of course."

Iruka shook his head. "Well, I won't get you in trouble with your sensei just because I don't approve of this rivalry behavior," he said. "Still, I'm going to keep it to generalities—your skills will improve much more if you spy on them. And Hatake-san will catch you."

"Whatever," Neji replied, though he looked a little frustrated. "What can you tell me?"

"Well, Sakura is a very bright student... best in her class at book-work," Iruka said, "She also has good chakra control. In terms of her physical skills, she needs significant work. As for Naruto... his physical skills are good, and his ninjutsu is passable. In all other areas he is the worst student in many years to successfully graduate. To be honest, though, his grades don't reflect his potential."

"And what about the Uchiha?"

"Sasuke?" Iruka asked, smiling. "I think you'll be very excited to eventually meet him. Like you, Hyuuga-kun, he's the best in his class—a genius. As far as I know, he doesn't have the ability to use the Sharingan, but he still possesses some very advanced skills. He'll provide quite a challenge for you one day—in what I hope will be friendly sparring." Iruka used his best schoolmaster voice as he continued, "If Maito-san wishes to compete with Hatake-san, then that's no business of mine. However, if I learn that either of them is using a genin team as a proxy for their rivalry, then he will be hearing both from me and the Hokage."

Neji held up his hands. "I have no objection, Umino-san," he said, "I would refuse that sort of order anyway. There's no need to bring this to the attention of the Hokage."

"Very well," Iruka agreed, then relaxed back into a friendly smile. "Is there any other way I can help you, Hyuuga-kun?"

"No. Thank you, Umino-san."

"It was a pleasure, Hyuuga-kun."


Thank god she's being quiet, Sasuke thought as he trudged back to town, dirty and sweaty from a long day of training. Sakura's unending chatter had set his nerves on edge that morning long before Naruto showed up, and then he'd gotten into that argument with the blonde. He hadn't really intended to start a fight at first, but the lingering anger from yesterday afternoon had made him unnecessarily snide. That and Sasuke had really needed to blow off some steam after the irritation of what passed for conversation with Sakura.

Now, though, walking back in companionable silence, being around Sakura was... nice. Somehow, she still managed to look pretty after that workout—though in truth, she'd worked far less than her teammates. And when she was quiet like this, she was definitely easier to be around than Naruto or Kakashi.

Just as Sasuke turned to glance at those two, who'd been walking a several paces behind, Kakashi halted and raised his hand. "Hey!" he called, "Sasuke, Sakura, come back here a moment."

Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who shrugged, then turned and walked back towards their sensei. Sasuke followed a moment later, asking, "What is it?" when he reached the other three.

"Naruto just made a request I think you should know about," Kakashi said. "Naruto, please repeat what you said to me."

"Um..." Naruto mumbled, pawing the ground with his foot, "I asked... I wanna switch to team 8."

"What?" Sasuke asked, genuinely surprised. Then he remembered the angry conversation he'd had with Naruto yesterday after the 'survival training', and realized this had been inevitable.

"Just... you guys don't like me, right? And Shikamaru and I get along pretty good," Naruto explained, "and Chouji's okay with me too. So I could swap with Ino... she's your friend, right Sakura? And she likes Sasuke too, so..." He trailed off and started kicking the dirt again.

God, another girl with a crush on me, Sasuke thought, That would be a disaster. He glanced over at Sakura, and saw that she had a frown on her face... probably from thinking about having a romantic rival. He could just imagine it now, the two of them screaming at each other all the time, and talking... Crap! They'd both want to talk to him all the time...

"Anyway," Kakashi said, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts, "I wanted your input on this idea. Your opinions won't decide things, but I promise to take them into consideration."

For Sasuke, the answer was immediate. "I am opposed," he said quickly.

"Me too," Sakura added.

Kakashi stared at them for a moment. "Care to elaborate?" he asked calmly.

He's not going to pay my opinion much attention if I tell him the main reason, Sasuke realized. He took a deep breath, resigned himself to the necessity of complimenting Naruto, and said, "I believe Naruto's skills are superior to Ino's. Swapping him out would weaken the team." He was taking a gamble, of course; he didn't actually know anything about Ino's abilities. Still, Naruto had turned out to be pretty good over the past two days, and Ino probably couldn't compete with his stamina. Sasuke hoped those observations would be enough to support his case.

The gamble failed. "Actually," Kakashi said, "from what I remember, Ino is the strongest member of her team, and was fairly highly ranked in the Academy."

"I don't get along with Ino anymore," Sakura interjected. "I said so the first day we met, remember?"

"Well, you don't get along with Naruto either, so that's neither here nor there. Sasuke, do you get along with Ino?"

"I... I don't really know her," Sasuke admitted, unwilling to outright lie. He would not be like his father.

"An unknown quantity. Well, generally, I'd have to say this favors the swap," Kakashi said. "However, I have to confer with Team 8's leader, as well as Miss Ino. I may also need to speak with your parents about this, to get their opinions. And of course, the Hokage must be consulted."

"When will we find out?" Sakura asked.

"I think I should be able to tell you all the answer tomorrow afternoon at the end of training," Kakashi said, "See ya!" He vanished, leaving behind only a puff of smoke.

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who had started to walk off towards town. "Hey, Naruto!" he called, realizing the whole thing would go away if he could change the blonde's mind...

"Don't wanna hear it!" Naruto shouted without turning around, and flipped Sasuke the bird.

Of course, there wasn't much chance of that happening.


"...so you've got to talk Kakashi out of it, alright?" Sasuke concluded, a pleading look on his face. Itachi sighed and shook his head, bemused by the rambling tale of his brother's brief, antagonistic relationship with the Uzumaki boy, and the fact that Sasuke apparently didn't want it to end.

"From what you've said so far, I would have expected you to ask for precisely the opposite thing," Itachi commented. "Besides, most boys your age would kill to be on a genin team with two girls."

"Sakura's bad enough," Sasuke retorted, "she's pretty and all, but the way she keeps talking... it drives me crazy. It wouldn't be so bad if she talked about weapons, or tactics, or training, but she just goes on and on about nothing! And Ino's family owns a flower shop—I'll bet she talks about that all the time. And I never know what to say, so I'm stuck sitting there and nodding and wishing Sakura would just shut up!"

"All men do that," Itachi informed his brother, "It's a necessary skill for dealing with the opposite sex. Most women don't really want you to talk to them; they just want you to listen. So you smile, and nod, and keep quiet."

"But I don't want to listen! At least with Naruto I get to say something! Please, can't you talk to Kakashi for me?"

"Sa-chan, you backed yourself into this corner," Itachi said. "If you didn't piss Naruto off so badly, you wouldn't have this problem."

"Well, it's not my fault I get under his skin!"

"It isn't? You were peeved because he kissed you, so you treated him like trash during your genin exam. When you tried to apologize, he rejected you, and that made you angry enough to get in a pointless argument with him the next morning. Seems like he gets under your skin just as easily as you get under his."

Sasuke scowled, saying, "I thought you were on my side."

Itachi sighed again, and rubbed his temples in irritation. "I am on your side, Sasuke," he explained, "but you can't go through life letting others fix your mistakes. That will only make you weak."

"But there's nothing I can do now!"

"There's nothing I can do, either. I don't know Kakashi very well—frankly, I only know him by reputation—so I'm in no place to tell him what to do with his students. Besides, he's already come and talked to father, who opposed the idea. Nothing I could say would be more convincing."

"Okay," Sasuke said, looking resigned. He turned to leave Itachi's room.

"Sa-chan," Itachi called, and his brother paused and turned. "If Naruto stays on your team, maybe you should make an effort to prevent this kind of thing from recurring."

Sasuke nodded sullenly, then continued out of the room. What were you thinking, old woman? Itachi wondered, remembering what the crone had said about the red strand.

Then it occurred to him that Sasuke had talked more about Naruto in the past three days than he had about all his classmates combined in the past three years.


"Nori opposed it vehemently, you say?" the Sandaime asked, sitting cross-legged in front of a scroll. As he spoke, he moved the brush carefully, his calligraphy still smooth and beautiful despite his age. Kakashi always found it impressive that the man's body worked so well despite the vast period of history it had witnessed.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, "though I'm not sure of his real reasons. He claimed to regret failing the Yondaime's legacy, but his words seemed insincere. I'm not willing to take his opinion seriously if he's not willing to tell me the truth."

"A fair assessment," the Hokage said, studying his scroll. "Asuma, what was Inoshin's opinion?"

"Well, I'd be stretching things quite a bit if I said he approved of the idea," Asuma said, his cigarette dangling from his lips as usual, "but he's not exactly opposed either. Apparently, Ino has been complaining nonstop ever since she got assigned to this team." He took a long drag from his cig and continued, "And not just to Inoshin either. Shikamaru, Chouji, and I have gotten more than an earful for three days running. If they hadn't worked so well together in the genin test, I'd be all for this, if only to get rid of the little nag."

"So they did function capably as a team," the Sandaime noted. "Kakashi, how well did your team work?"

"I would say poorly," Kakashi admitted. "They executed a good strategy, but only succeeded because of luck in the end. Though Naruto is ultimately the reason they passed, Sasuke and Sakura continue to antagonize and belittle him. In all honesty, I don't see things improving if he stays with the team. Sakura and Sasuke are getting along well, and at this rate he'll end up completely isolated. On the other hand, I can't say I'd expect Ino to fare any better. I think Sakura views her as a rival for Sasuke's affection."

"Young love," Asuma snorted, smoke streaming from his nostrils. "Does anything cause more trouble?"

"Kakashi," the Hokage interjected before Asuma could truly get started, "can you imagine any steps that would rectify the situation?"

Kakashi sighed, admitting, "In terms of preventing Naruto from becoming isolated... no, there's nothing. I can quell the overt acrimony, by command if need be, but I can't force them to truly accept him as a companion."

The Hokage nodded, his hand continuing the calligraphy almost as if it knew the words itself and needed no conscious direction. "We cannot command the heart," he said, "though I have often wished to have that power. With it, I might have fulfilled the Fourth's dream of having Naruto honored and loved by the villagers."

As always, Kakashi felt a pang in his heart at the mention of his former teacher. I'm failing you, sensei, he thought, we're all failing you.

"Well, I think it's clear that your team has the most critical situation, Kakashi," the Hokage said, gathering more ink on his brush. "I leave this decision in your hands. If you feel we must give up on this arrangement, I will approve it."

Give up? Kakashi asked himself, and his fist clenched involuntarily. If he did, Naruto would go to a team of kids that already liked him. For once, something would be easy for the poor guy. But in the end, that wouldn't help him, because what Naruto needed was to learn how to counter the prejudice of others. By letting Naruto go, Kakashi wouldn't just be quitting for himself... he'd be helping Naruto quit, too. Could he honestly do that, after what he had promised himself, promised his dead sensei?

No. Master, Kakashi decided, I will not be so easily defeated. If there is anything to be respected in Naruto, I will help him make them see it. He stood abruptly, saying, "I will send my decision in a message tomorrow morning. Please confirm that you received it sometime after noon."

The Hokage smiled, and Kakashi could tell that the old man already knew what choice he'd made. "Very well, Kakashi," he said. Then, his smile twisting into more of a wry grin, he added, "Don't be late."

Kakashi winked, knowing he would be. He had a lot to tell Obito, after all. But first, he had to figure out a way to sell his decision to Naruto, because the blonde would definitely not be pleased when he found out he was staying on Team Seven.


Iruka frowned when he recognized the man on his doorstep as Hatake Kakashi. "Don't tell me you've come to ask about Maito's team, Hatake," he said, too irritated by a long, boring day in the office to care that he was being impolite.

"Why would I ask about them?" Kakashi asked, a baffled look on what Iruka could see of his face. "I came to talk to you about Naruto. I've gotten the impression that there's some sort of... relationship between the two of you."

Iruka shrugged and stepped out of the way, beckoning Kakashi into his small apartment. "It's not very close," Iruka said, closing the door as the silver-haired jounin removed his sandals. "I try to look after his interests, and I check up on him once in a while. In truth I don't see him all that often, though I do care about him. To Naruto, however, it must seem like a lot, since he doesn't have anyone else."

Kakashi nodded, sitting when Iruka indicated a chair he could use—one of the few not serving as an impromptu table for papers from the school. Graduations came and went, but the Konoha Ninja Academy held classes year-round. As soon as Iruka had waved goodbye to the last batch of students, the next batch had come in.

"I need to know the best way to get through to him... to improve his training," Kakashi explained. "I would appreciate your insight."

"Honestly, I don't know," Iruka said, taking a seat himself. He lifted the sake bottle he'd been drinking from and glanced towards the jounin, but Kakashi shook his head. Lowering the bottle, Iruka continued, "Naruto takes praise to heart too easily, so it's best to avoid it, or mix it with some deserved criticism. But criticism is a tricky thing, too. When I was harsh with him, Naruto could learn a skill quickly and near-perfectly, but he would accomplish that by neglecting everything else."

Iruka sighed, and refilled his sakazuki. "Naruto can be very stupid," he said, taking a sip of the sake, "about many things, but when he truly starts analyzing something he can be very intelligent. His emotions often cripple him, because they prevent him from thinking." He paused, then added, "At the same time, his emotions bring him great strength. You've seen his Shadow Replication?"

"Indeed. It seems to be his favorite trick."

"In the Academy, replication was his worst skill. And yet, when he had to defend me, he filled up a rather large clearing with copies of himself. There must have been at least 500... maybe even a thousand."

The jounin's visible eye widened. "Astonishing," he commented, "I would have thought 10 would be his limit, or at most 20."

Iruka swirled his sake, and said, "He achieved that because he cares for me, because he believes I care for him."

"All for love?"

"Corny as that sounds, yes. But there's something else, too... hope. The fact that I could care for him gave Naruto hope that his dreams could become real, that people really could acknowledge him. If you can give him hope, then he will excel."

Kakashi nodded, saying, "I think I understand your meaning." He stood up and added, "You've certainly cleared some things up for me, Umino-san."

"Please, call me Iruka," the chuunin said, ushering Kakashi to the door. "I imagine we'll be seeing each other a good deal, if Naruto has anything to say about it."

"Probably," Kakashi said, and Iruka could almost see him smirk through his cloth mask. The tall jounin leaned forward, so that his cheek was almost touching Iruka's, and continued in a throaty voice, "You should call me Kakashi."

Pleasant shivers ran up and down Iruka's spine at the sound of that low voice in his ear, and he stammered, "Y-yes... of course..."

"Next time, maybe I'll try some of that sake," Kakashi said, then pulled away and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Next time..." Iruka whispered.

It was several minutes before he remembered to close the door.


"That's enough for today," Kakashi called, and the three genin members of Team 7 relaxed and dropped off the narrow poles they'd been standing on for three hours. The whole exercise had been lame, in Naruto's opinion. Stillness and balance were of course extremely important skills for a ninja to have, but he'd mastered them long ago. After all, executing a good prank often required an extended wait, and often resulted in needing to hide for a good long time. So Naruto hardly needed any more practice. Besides, stillness training was boring.

Then, of course, there was the company. Sasuke and Sakura had been carefully polite to him as they waited for Kakashi in the morning, and had barely spoken to him all day. Doubtless they thought they were staying on Naruto's good side by not yelling at him, but that kind of grudging tolerance was the same thing he received from most of the villagers. In its own way, it angered him more than outright insults.

As Sakura staggered against Sasuke—Naruto suspected she was faking so she'd have an excuse to touch him—Kakashi walked over towards the trio, holding a small piece of paper. "Before you go home," he said, "I should tell you that I've made a decision about Naruto's transfer request. The Hokage just sent me a note concurring with my opinion, so I think I should tell you guys..."

Please please please! Naruto thought, a little thrill running through him, Please tell me I get to be with Shikamaru!

"...that Naruto will be staying with our team."

The giddy expectation vanished, leaving shocked disappointment behind. "But sensei!" Naruto protested, "I..."

"There will be no objections," Kakashi commanded. "The decision is made, and that closes the matter."

"Well then I quit!" Naruto shouted, "I've had enough of these guys!"

"If you quit, then Sakura and Sasuke will be demoted back to the Academy," Kakashi said evenly. "You passed the genin exam as a team. If you're no longer a team, then you cannot be genin."

Blackmailing son of a bitch, Naruto cursed internally, glaring at his teammates. Both of them looked nervous, clearly understanding how little Naruto liked them.

But they didn't understand Naruto, so they didn't know that he couldn't send them back, no matter how much he hated them. That would be treating them just like the villagers treated him: as if his hopes and dreams didn't matter—as if he didn't matter. Naruto couldn't do that; he'd sworn to himself that he would never do anything like that to anyone. So he hung his head and said, "Fine. I'll stay."

Then he turned and ran, away from Sasuke and Sakura and fucking Kakashi, as fast and as far as he could go. Branches smacked against his face and pulled on his clothes, but he continued heedlessly. When he finally stopped, exhausted and dazed from a lack of oxygen, he collapsed at the base of a tree, panting and blinking back tears.

He nearly screamed when Kakashi appeared right in front of him, looking no worse than if he'd taken an afternoon stroll. Instead, he just gasped, "Go 'way."

"Not yet," Kakashi said, folding his legs beneath him as he sat. "I need to tell you something."

"What, that you don't give a fuck I'm miserable? I figured that out already."

"That is not..!" Kakashi growled, then took a deep breath. "That is not how I feel at all," he said in a calmer voice, "Please believe me, Naruto... if I thought granting your request would help you, I would have."

"How could it hurt to put me on a team with Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Because he already likes you, Naruto. He already respects you. And if you go to that team, I'm afraid you'll never learn something that's very important."

"What?"

"How to make people care about you," Kakashi said. "Think, Naruto... Sasuke and Sakura don't know... about what's inside you. They dislike you just because of the way they perceive you. If you can't change their minds, how can you change the villagers'?"

"Well, maybe I can't!" Naruto countered, "Maybe they're always gonna hate me!"

"That doesn't sound like the guy who introduced himself three days ago."

"Well, that guy was a fuckin' idiot," Naruto said. "He thought that ninjas would acknowledge him once he became a genin... but ninjas're just like everybody else. They hate me, too."

"You're wrong," Kakashi said. "That guy had the right idea."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"That guy could become the Hokage, if he worked at it," Kakashi explained. "Naruto, I think you can become a great ninja, if you put in the effort. You have some natural talent, and a lot of determination. You make a lot of stupid decisions, but you can change that if you work hard. And I think if you showed people that potential, they'd acknowledge your quality... just as I do."

"You... you really mean..."

"Yes, Naruto. That's the other reason I couldn't let you go to Asuma's team. I value you as a student, as a ninja with enormous potential, even if your expression of that potential is lousy. Asuma is a great guy, but I can't trust him with someone special like you."

Naruto felt like he was being pulled apart inside. Part of him wanted to scream with frustration, part wanted to jump for joy, and another part wanted to just run away from the hard road that Kakashi had prepared for him. Tears welled up in his eyes as the internal confusion became almost painful.

Then Naruto started sobbing in earnest as Kakashi leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder. He collapsed against his sensei, choking back a wail as the jounin wrapped a single arm around him. "I just want 'em to like me," he whispered against the man's shoulder as tears continued to spill out of his eyes despite his efforts to hold them back.

"They will," Kakashi murmured in reply. "You just have to show them who you really are. Not the little boy who used to play pranks on everyone, but a ninja; Uzumaki Naruto, who's willing to put his life—and his dreams—on the line for his village and his teammates. Once you show them that, they will accept you."

Naruto didn't know if that was true. But if Kakashi believed it, then maybe there was some hope that it could happen.

And if there was any hope at all, then Naruto was damn sure going to try.