Chapter 10: The Ones in the Shadows
"Um… Kakashi-kun..."
Just as Kakashi turned to enter his home, Rin Nohara's voice broke the silence, her tone filled with nervous hesitation. Kakashi paused, his back still facing her, and turned slightly to glance over his shoulder. His eyes were calm, deep, and distant—utterly detached from the world around him. The look pierced through Rin's heart like a needle.
Yes, Kakashi had always been proud, aloof even. But now... it was different.
It wasn't just pride.
It was a coldness that seemed etched into his very bones.
A rejection of others that went beyond mannerism—it was an instinctual refusal to be reached.
And ironically, it only made Rin want to take a step closer.
Even though they had barely spent a few months as classmates in the Academy, the emotional distance between them now felt like an uncrossable chasm.
But just as she summoned the courage to take a step forward, Kakashi's eyes met hers—and all that courage vanished without a trace. Her foot stopped mid-step.
No words were needed.
The divide between them was painfully, brutally real.
"Go home, Rin."
Kakashi's voice softened slightly—just a touch—but that was all. He turned, opened the door, and walked inside without a second glance.
Creaaak—click.
The soft sound of the door closing seemed to echo in Rin's heart. She stared at the shut door for a long moment, her expression dimming with disappointment and quiet sorrow.
And in that moment, she realized something:
She didn't even have the right to care.
What grounds did she have to stand at his doorstep? What could she possibly say that would reach him?
After standing still for several seconds, Rin finally lowered her head and walked away.
She clearly cared about Kakashi a great deal.
But in Kakashi's mind at this moment… she was little more than a passerby.
The Third Shinobi World War was on the horizon.
There was nothing more important than getting stronger.
Only by doing that could he control his own fate.
Tomorrow… I'll need to—
As Kakashi walked toward his living quarters, he mentally organized his schedule for the next day. But just as he turned the hallway corner—
—danger.
His instincts flared.
Without hesitation, he tensed his body, flipped his hand, and drew the short chakra blade at his waist. His stance dropped into immediate combat-readiness.
"Hatake Kakashi. The Third Hokage wishes to see you."
A calm voice answered from the shadows. A masked figure stepped forward from the end of the hallway. The standard-issue gear. The full-face cat mask. A silent, icy aura.
Anbu.
The term instantly echoed in Kakashi's mind.
"The Hokage wants to see me? Now?"
Though he sheathed his blade, Kakashi's expression remained unreadable, his brow lightly furrowed as he asked the question.
"Yes. Right now."
The Anbu member's reply was succinct.
"Understood. I'll change clothes and go right away."
Kakashi nodded slightly. The Anbu gave a brief nod in return.
Whoosh—
With a flicker, the masked ninja vanished into the night. Kakashi's sensory perception picked up the rapid retreat—he was already far gone.
The Anbu—short for "Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai," or Special Assassination and Tactical Squad—was a secretive division founded by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Only the village's elite were allowed entry. At minimum, they had to be elite chunin. The one who had just visited him had chakra levels nearing that of a jonin—at least a squad captain by Anbu standards.
Technically speaking, Danzo's Root was just a subdivision of the Anbu. Danzo himself only held the title of "sub-unit leader." But with Hiruzen's tacit approval—or perhaps outright indulgence—Root had expanded into a separate and highly influential branch. It now operated almost independently, answering only to Danzo.
As for what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking?
No one could say for sure.
But in Kakashi's eyes, the very idea of decentralizing the village's supreme power was utterly foolish.
The seeds of ruin had been sown in this exact moment.
And the chaos that would bloom from it?
Only more intense with time.
Kakashi quickly cleaned himself up, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and began walking toward the Hokage Tower. His mind drifted, unbidden, to memories from the original timeline.
If one had to mark the turning point, it would be this:
The death of Sakumo Hatake and the onset of the Third Great Ninja War.
From that moment on, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped being a legendary "Shinobi no Kami"—and started becoming a "shadow of his former self."
A man who should have retired with honor and glory…
Became a living embarrassment.
If not for his final act of self-sacrifice—dying to defend the village and preserve the last shreds of his dignity—
The Third Hokage would've gone down as one of the most shameful Kage in history.
Because the crimes committed during his second tenure as Hokage—over a span of more than ten years—could not be excused by weakness or good intentions.
Whether he was truly "evil," or merely a coward and a fool…
It didn't matter.
What mattered were results, not intentions.
History didn't judge by the heart—it judged by what was done.
And if Kakashi had to guess?
He'd say Hiruzen wasn't a malicious man.
Not like Danzo.
But maybe that made it worse.
Because the destruction caused by "flexible good" often surpassed that of straightforward evil.
Kakashi arrived at the Hokage Tower.
He looked up at the top floor, lights glowing through the windows.
In his eyes: a faint glimmer of scorn.
---
"I greet you, Lord Third."
With a steady pace, Kakashi entered the familiar office. At the desk sat the aged Hokage, buried in paperwork.
Kakashi's voice was calm, distant.
He knelt on one knee, bowing his head.
"Hm? Kakashi, is it? You may rise."
As if only just noticing him, Hiruzen looked up from the documents. There was a tiredness in his expression, a weariness worn into the lines on his face.
"Yes, sir."
Kakashi stood smoothly.
"It's late, I know," Hiruzen began, folding his hands on the desk, his murky gaze fixed on the boy. "A few days ago, you mentioned wanting to join the Anbu."
He paused, his voice quiet but deliberate.
"Do you still feel the same way today?"