“Cool.” Genma stretched his legs out in front of him and nodded a greeting to Aoba’s Intel friends. “Hi. I’m Genma. Thanks for not spoiling my surprise.”

“Wait, you saw him?” Aoba said. “Riei, Susuki, Momoe, how could you do this to me? I’m hurt, deeply hurt.”

“Of course we saw him,” the Hyuuga said with a dry smile. “But why deprive ourselves of entertainment?” She turned her milky gaze on Genma with an approving nod. “It was a good takedown. Riei, I believe you owe me thirty ryou.”

“Aoba can pay it,” Riei said.

“Me? Why?” Aoba asked. “I was the victim here.”

“You were the one who was bragging about his excellent chakra sense. I’m sure Genma-san is skilled, but really, Aoba, you should have noticed him. He wasn’t exactly masking his presence with a jutsu.”

“She has a point,” the Yamanaka said. She swished her long hair back over one shoulder and tucked one leg up under herself.

“Now you’re just ganging up on me,” Aoba said. He turned to appeal to Genma and Katsuko. “Back me up here, Gen.”

“I didn’t do anything a genin couldn’t do,” Genma said. “You failed stealth in your first year at the Academy, didn’t you?”

“Maybe it’s the sunglasses,” Katsuko suggested. “They do tend to block peripheral vision.”

Aoba shrugged. “Not these.” He tapped the curved glass at one temple. “They wrap, see?” He uncapped a beer and took a swig. “I still think you’re all terrible people, especially after I camped out all day so we could have this perfect spot for our party.”

“You camped out?” Genma said.

“I hired a genin to camp out,” Aoba admitted. “It was a good D-rank. She picked up a little extra money, and we got our excellent position under the weeping cherries.”

“That sounds more like you.”

The kunoichi from Intel chuckled. Aoba rustled in a bag for a moment, pulling out a slender-necked blue bottle of cloudy sake. “Here, Gen. Don’t ever say I never gave you anything.”

“You’re a good man, Aoba.” Genma uncapped the sake and took an appreciative swig, then tipped his head back, peering at the canopy of baby pink above them. The sun was all the way down, now, leaving just a hint of orange in the western sky. Paper lanterns danced on strings between the trees, bathing revelers and blossoms alike in a warm glow.

At his side, Katsuko opened one of the chu-hai cocktails and turned to the Yamanaka. “You want to share?” she asked, leaning in with a smile.

“Sure,” Susuki said. She scooted over, hip to hip with the wild-haired stray Genma had picked up. Aoba nudged Genma in the side, and got a kick in the ankle from one of the other girls.

Genma sighed happily, taking another long drink of sake, and feeling every tension just melt away. No more missions for a week was something to look forward to—Trials started day after tomorrow, and that was going to be fun. Of course he’d also be meeting his new captain. It’d be hard to get someone as awesome as Hajime, but there were some excellent leaders in ANBU. Maybe he’d luck out and get assigned to Nara Shikaku’s team. Or get someone good looking. Either way, it could wait. Tonight he was just a guy with a bottle of sake in his hand and friends at his side, under a ceiling of stars and sakura blossoms.