Silver hair, a wolf-style Anbu mask, and an ever-present aura of solitude.
Hatake Kakashi, a genius who had also shouldered pain and darkness from a young age.
The Third Hokage's thoughts drifted back to a short while ago.
That day, Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi... almost all the Jonin from Kakashi's generation stood before him, pleading for him to release Kakashi from the Anbu.
"Lord Hokage, please let Kakashi leave the Anbu. If this continues, the flames of his youth will be devoured by darkness!"
Yes, Guy and the others were right.
And now...
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of Sasuke.
One was the last Uchiha, shrouded in the hatred of a clan massacre.
The other was a genius ninja, trapped in the pain of losing his comrades.
Two souls, both robbed of their childhood too early, entangled by shadows.
Perhaps...
Instead of letting one beam of light illuminate another patch of darkness, it would be better to let two similar darknesses try to find each other's light.
"Kakashi," Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice echoed in the quiet office.
"Here," the figure in the shadows responded.
"As of today, you are relieved of all your duties in the Anbu."
Kakashi's masked head tilted up slightly, seemingly taken aback, but he did not ask why.
The Third Hokage slowly stood up and walked over to him.
"I have a long-term mission for you."
Kakashi stood silently, waiting for the rest.
"Uchiha Sasuke. You should know of him."
The Third Hokage's tone grew heavy. "This child, as you've seen, is in a very special situation right now. I need someone to guide him."
He paused, looking at the eye hidden behind Kakashi's mask, and continued:
"This mission has no clear objective and no completion deadline."
"I want you to become his teacher, to discover his true inner thoughts, and most importantly..."
"Before he is completely consumed by hatred, make him understand that besides revenge, there are other things in this world worth protecting."
A long silence fell in the office.
"Why me?" Kakashi's hand tightened slightly as he asked his first question.
"You are very much like him, Kakashi."
"You both carry shadows, walking in the darkness."
The Third Hokage's tone softened a little. "I hope that while guiding him, you can also find your own path."
"Teaching a student, feeling the bonds between comrades... perhaps this can help you rediscover what your own teacher once hoped you would possess."
"Comrades..." Kakashi repeated the word in a low voice, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes under the mask.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," he finally accepted.
"Very well," the Third Hokage nodded, sitting back down in his chair. "Starting tomorrow, you can try to approach him."
"Understood."
Kakashi's figure flickered and once again blended into the shadows, disappearing.
In the office, the Third Hokage looked at the Hokage Rock outside the window and picked up his pipe again.
However, for some reason, he had an ominous premonition.
...
The night grew deeper.
Sasuke walked out of the Uchiha clan compound alone. There was no point in staying here any longer.
Go to some ninja academy and play boring house games with a bunch of brats?
Just the thought of it was annoying.
He was going to leave the village and search for Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts.
Once this thought took root, it could no longer be suppressed. He identified the direction and prepared to leave the village under the cover of night.
But just as he was about to set off, a slightly comical sight caught his attention.
On the distant Hokage Rock, a small figure was dangling from a rope, holding a paint can and a brush. Under the moonlight, he was engaged in some artistic creation on the stone faces of the Hokage.
It was that blond kid, Uzumaki Naruto.
The First Hokage's face was painted with spiral-shaped blush marks, the Second Hokage was given a comical mustache, and the Third Hokage's face was covered in circles.
But the funniest was the Fourth Hokage's statue. Not only was it painted with crossed snot lines, but it was also covered in various meaningless ghost-face symbols, as if he held some deep grudge against him.
Sasuke's steps halted. Looking at the scene, a rare hint of speechlessness flickered in his eyes.
What a complete and utter idiot...
Just as he was about to look away, an accident happened.
"Whoa!"
Perhaps Naruto got too carried away. His foot slipped, and the rope tied to the railing snapped instantly.
"Aaaah—!"
With a blood-curdling scream, Naruto plummeted straight down from the Hokage Rock, which was dozens of meters high.
At the same time, on another hidden rooftop, Hatake Kakashi was secretly observing Sasuke's every move.
When he saw Naruto fall from the Hokage Rock, his heart clenched.
That was... Minato-sensei's son!
Without a second thought, Kakashi's body turned into an afterimage in an instant.
He pushed his Body Flicker Technique to its limit, rushing towards the spot where Naruto was falling.
But the distance was too great. Even for him, it would be difficult to save him in time.
Damn it, faster, just a little faster!
Kakashi's mind was blank, with only the instinct to save him remaining.
A few seconds later, when he rushed to the open space below the Hokage Rock, the scene before him left him completely stunned.
The bloody mess he had expected was not there.
Uzumaki Naruto was lying safely on the ground, seemingly having just fainted from the shock, without even a scratch on him.
And next to Naruto stood his mission target, Uchiha Sasuke.
Kakashi's pupils contracted.
What had Sasuke just done?
He was certain that before he had made his move, Sasuke had been standing hundreds of meters away.
How did he save Naruto, who was falling from such a height, from so far away?
A Body Flicker Technique faster than mine?
A hint of gravity flashed in Kakashi's eyes.
As if sensing his gaze, Uchiha Sasuke slowly raised his head. Across the distance of several dozen meters, they locked eyes silently in the night.
In the end, it was Kakashi who broke the silence.
He leaped down from the rooftop and slowly walked towards the two.
He shifted his gaze from Sasuke to the unconscious Naruto, a complex emotion hidden in his eyes.
Sasuke glanced at him, then looked away, turning to leave.
"Wait," Kakashi called out to him.
Sasuke stopped and turned back. "What is it?"
"I'm Hatake Kakashi."
He gave a simple self-introduction, then pointed at Naruto. "You could say I'm... an old friend of this kid's father. Thank you for saving him."
He crouched down, checked on Naruto's condition, and after confirming he was only unconscious, he looked up at the messy graffiti on the Hokage Rock and sighed with a bit of a headache.
"Honestly, causing trouble again. Why does he always have to do things like this?"
Sasuke followed his gaze, also looking at the comical graffiti, and then said something that Kakashi completely unexpected.
"Because he wants to be seen."