Naruto did not sleep much the night he became a genin.
The headband lay on his bedside table, catching moonlight through the cracked window. Every few minutes he rolled over and checked to make sure it was still there.
It was real.
He had passed.
Iruka's words still echoed in his chest. You're Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf.
For once, the silence in his apartment didn't feel like rejection. It felt like anticipation.
When morning came, Naruto burst out the door before the sun had fully risen.
He arrived at the Academy classroom early — then waited impatiently as it slowly filled. The mood was different now. Students who had once mocked him were quieter. Some glanced at his headband and looked away.
Sasuke Uchiha entered without a word and sat by the window. The air around him felt heavy with attention. Sakura hovered nearby, nervous and excited.
Naruto dropped into the seat beside Sasuke with exaggerated confidence.
"Looks like we're both ninja now," he said.
Sasuke didn't respond.
Naruto opened his mouth to complain — then paused.
Sasuke's fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
There was rhythm there.
Naruto felt it.
A subtle anticipation, as if he could sense when the next tap would land before it did.
He blinked.
It faded.
The instructor cleared his throat and began announcing teams.
When Naruto heard "Team Seven," he shot up instantly.
"Yes!"
Sakura groaned when she realized she was assigned to Naruto.
Sasuke remained silent.
Their jōnin instructor was late.
Very late.
Naruto paced dramatically, complaining about disrespect and laziness. He set a chalkboard eraser trap above the classroom door out of petty revenge.
When the door finally slid open, the eraser fell cleanly onto silver hair.
The man standing there blinked once.
Slowly.
Chalk dust drifted around him.
Naruto braced for anger.
Instead, the man sighed.
"My first impression," he said lazily, "is that you're all idiots."
This was Kakashi Hatake.
Naruto didn't know why, but something about him felt measured. His posture was relaxed, but nothing about him was careless. Even brushing the chalk from his shoulder seemed economical.
On the rooftop, Kakashi asked them to introduce themselves.
Naruto declared his dream loudly.
Sakura spoke mostly about Sasuke.
Sasuke stated calmly that he had ambitions — and they were not trivial.
Kakashi's visible eye studied them carefully.
Then he told them to meet him at Training Ground Three the next morning.
"No breakfast," he added. "You'll throw up."
Naruto ignored that advice completely.
The next morning, he arrived early again.
Sasuke stood nearby, composed.
Sakura looked nervous.
Kakashi arrived late, offering a ridiculous excuse about helping an old woman.
He placed two small bells on his hand.
"Your task is simple," he said. "Take these before noon."
Naruto frowned immediately.
"There's three of us."
"Yes," Kakashi said evenly. "Which means at least one of you will fail."
The words hit harder than Naruto expected.
Fail?
After finally becoming a ninja?
The test began.
Sasuke disappeared instantly into the trees.
Sakura followed more cautiously.
Naruto charged directly at Kakashi with a battle cry.
Kakashi stepped aside effortlessly.
Naruto stumbled but twisted mid-fall, throwing a punch from a corrected angle.
Kakashi blocked it.
His eye narrowed slightly.
That adjustment hadn't been random.
Naruto attacked again, more aggressively. Each time Kakashi avoided him with minimal motion.
Naruto tried to force it.
Tried to feel that strange division of seconds.
Nothing.
He grew frustrated.
Kakashi disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind him, tying him up casually.
"Too straightforward," Kakashi said.
Naruto struggled.
Meanwhile, Sasuke attacked from concealment. His shuriken came from blind angles, forcing Kakashi to engage properly.
For a few moments, Sasuke pushed him.
Naruto watched from where he was bound.
Sasuke moved differently.
Deliberate.
Calculated.
Kakashi eventually countered with a textbook substitution and trapped Sasuke as well.
Sakura attempted to track Sasuke's movements — and fell instantly into genjutsu. She screamed as she imagined Sasuke dying in front of her.
When Kakashi released the illusion, she collapsed.
Naruto's stomach tightened.
They were completely outmatched.
Kakashi checked the time.
"Almost noon."
Naruto clenched his fists.
He hated this feeling.
Being behind.
Being powerless.
He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly.
The forest quieted in his ears.
He didn't try to force the strange sensation.
He listened.
Kakashi shifted weight.
A branch creaked faintly.
Naruto moved before fully thinking.
The second stretched slightly.
Not fully divided.
Just structured enough.
He lunged toward Kakashi's predicted position.
For a flicker—
Movement aligned.
His fingers brushed metal.
A faint chime rang.
Kakashi's hand caught his wrist instantly.
"Almost," he said again.
Naruto's heart pounded.
He had felt it.
But it wasn't enough.
Moments later, Kakashi triggered a trap Naruto hadn't seen. The ground gave way beneath him, and he dropped into a pit, tied securely.
By noon, all three of them were restrained.
Kakashi stood before them calmly.
"No one succeeded."
Naruto's chest felt hollow.
"Which means," Kakashi continued, "you fail."
The word echoed.
Naruto's head dropped.
Not again.
Kakashi untied Sasuke and Sakura first.
"You may eat lunch."
Naruto looked up.
"What about me?"
"You tried to work alone," Kakashi replied evenly. "You disobeyed instructions. You don't eat."
The smell of food drifted toward him.
His stomach growled painfully.
Sasuke sat quietly with his lunch box.
Sakura hesitated.
Naruto stared at the ground.
The world did not split.
It did not slow.
It simply hurt.
After a long silence, Sasuke stood and walked toward him.
He set his lunch down.
"Eat," he said quietly.
Naruto blinked.
"But he said—"
"I don't care."
Sakura followed, kneeling beside Naruto and offering her portion too.
"If we're a team," she said softly, "we can't let you starve."
Naruto stared at them.
Something warm rose in his chest.
He had spent years alone.
Years wanting acknowledgment.
And now—
They were choosing him.
He took the food with trembling hands.
Before he could eat more than a bite, Kakashi appeared in front of them.
They froze.
"You disobeyed orders," Kakashi said.
Naruto braced himself.
But Kakashi's eye curved into a faint smile.
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum."
He paused.
"But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
The ropes around Naruto fell away.
"You pass."
Naruto stared at him.
"…We do?"
"Yes."
Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura.
For the first time since graduation, he didn't feel like the weakest member.
He didn't feel like a burden.
He felt part of something.
And deep inside him, that quiet rhythm pulsed steadily.
It wasn't about speed.
It wasn't about winning.
It responded to purpose.
To protecting.
To bonds.
As Team Seven walked back toward the village that afternoon, the distance between them felt smaller than before.
Naruto walked in the middle.
Not ahead.
Not trailing behind.
And for the first time in his life, the seconds of his world did not feel fragmented.
They felt shared.