"Hmm~ I've only been gone a short while, but I didn't expect the village to have changed this much."
Kakashi leaned against the railing, staring at the stream running through the village. The usual lifeless expression still clung to his face—but now, there was an added layer of helpless melancholy.
Just one meal costs several times more than before…
Thinking back to tonight's bill… no, better not. The more he thought about it, the more it hurt.
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Beside him, Asuma lit a cigarette, took a puff, then exhaled slowly. He too leaned over the railing.
"It hasn't even been that long since the war ended, but everything's already changed. Mini 4WD races, spinning tops, arcade games… they're popping up all over the place. Oh—and don't forget the kiddie rides. A lot of the kids in my clan love them. Haha!"
He took another drag and laughed.
"Honestly, I've been tempted to try them myself, but there are always so many kids around—it'd just be embarrassing. Still, they do look pretty fun."
"You should ask Jiraiya about that."
"Huh?" Asuma looked at Kakashi in confusion, but when he saw that Kakashi was still slumped against the railing with that dead-eyed look, he didn't press the issue. He shrugged it off. "Forget it. Probably best I stay away anyway. I heard you entered a 4WD race not long ago and dropped out halfway."
"..."
I don't want to talk about it.
Kakashi gave Asuma a flat look from the corner of his eye.
"So it's true, huh~?" Asuma blinked, then chuckled as he stubbed out his cigarette. "Which means that rumor about you getting punched into the hospital by Lady Tsunade wasn't fake either?"
"..."
Shut. Up.
"Yup. Definitely true." Asuma nodded, then grinned at Kakashi's raised brow. "Sounds like the race was a blast. Shame I had a mission and couldn't watch. Next time, I'll go check it out myself. Oh, and that arcade game—they actually put me in it! The art's kinda ugly, though. What a waste."
Didn't do justice to my handsome face.
He shook his head with mock regret.
"After I got back from my mission, I played for two days straight, only got to 15th on the leaderboard. Probably dropped a few ranks by now. Funny thing, though—today, for some reason, the old man shut down the whole arcade. No idea if it'll reopen tomorrow."
"..."
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Kakashi's expression turned even more confused as he listened to Asuma casually refer to his own father by name. Normally, this guy only ever said "old man" or "the geezer." Never "Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Kakashi frowned and stayed quiet for a moment.
"Arcade game?"
The hell is that?
"Oh, right, you just got back." Asuma lit another cigarette and exhaled lazily. "There's a new Beyblade shop and arcade down in the commercial district. You need to use coins to play. Hard to explain it all here. There's even a version of you in it—but the 'Copy Ninja' is crazy hard to use. Hardly anyone picks you."
He took another puff, laughing.
"Your gimmick is being able to perfectly mimic the opponent's jutsu, even their ultimates. But the controls are super complicated. Most people get KO'd before they can even pull it off. Way easier to pick Hiruzen Sarutobi. Tons of jutsu, simple inputs, and even button mashing gets you something decent."
"So what are you even talking about?"
The more Kakashi listened, the less sense it made.
"Copy Ninja?"
"Yeah, that's you." Asuma nodded. "Guy loved using your character when he wasn't on missions. But he sucks at it. Messed up the controls so bad he broke several joysticks—and once even cracked the screen. The owner almost banned him."
"…He played as me?"
A chill ran down Kakashi's spine as horrifying images of Guy grinning while "studying" filled his head.
Too terrifying.
"Commercial district arcade?"
"Yup. If you're looking to relax, you should check it out." Asuma exhaled smoke and spoke casually. "You'll need to go early, though. Otherwise, all the machines will be taken. Unless you're a kid who can only afford one or two coins, most of the shinobi hog the machines all day. There are only fifteen of them, you know. Apparently, the whole arcade, the Mini 4WD races, the Beyblade stuff, and that fancy new Grand Sail Restaurant—they're all Danzo's businesses. Who knew the old guy had such plans? Still, only fifteen machines? Come on, he could've added more."
He finished another cigarette.
"Oh, right. You can enter your name before the match. It'll record your score, so you can use the same name next time."
But just as he finished—
"..."
Kakashi fell silent again, then shook his head.
"Forget it. I'll see for myself tomorrow."
Still completely lost, he turned and shoved his hands into his pockets, heading back toward the Hatake residence.
"I'm going home to read."
"Reading, huh? I've got nothing tomorrow either. Want to meet up early and… challenge me to a match?"
Asuma watched Kakashi walk off with a wave and chuckled, then turned his gaze toward the peaceful nighttime river.
"Still… this feeling isn't so bad."
He whispered to himself, glancing at the cigarette burning between his fingers.
"Guess I'll finish this one before heading back."
…
As for the arcade's feedback data, they probably wouldn't receive anything until next year.
With winter deepening, the nighttime temperatures in the Land of Wind were dropping fast.
The daytime heat and nighttime cold made construction work even harder. Road paving had to be put on hold for now.
Paving roads through a desert was never easy to begin with. Without proper equipment—and now with environmental constraints—the progress was nowhere near what they had hoped.
Fortunately, they had shinobi.
Even though things were slow due to technological limitations, the presence of ninja meant the pace was still acceptable by Sunagakure's standards.
And now that a dedicated research department had been set up for infrastructure tools and machinery, there was hope that the tech would eventually catch up.
At this moment, Rasa was huddled under the kotatsu for warmth, watching as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—who for once wasn't being doted on by Kana—sat off to the side.
Kana was working late tonight, trying to finish some backlog. So Kaguya had no choice but to linger around here for a while.
Come to think of it, she really was kind of pitiful.
She could only appear at night, and in all of Sunagakure—or really the entire shinobi world—there weren't many people who went out for fun after dark.
Unless you had a mission, why wouldn't you just enjoy a cozy night's sleep at home?
So…
Thinking of the lonely Kaguya, who only had thousands of White Zetsu to keep her company…
"How about... we play games all night tonight?"
Time to practice my skills so I can bring glory to Sunagakure!