"Naruto-kun!"
Hinata's voice came out sweet and clear. She immediately abandoned her training forms and ran over, stopping before him with a shy expression.
Naruto looked down at the girl who barely reached his chest. Her tight training suit highlighted her developing figure—at twelve, she was beginning to show the first signs of approaching womanhood. He smiled warmly. "Hinata, seeing you always makes me feel better."
"Th-thank you for the compliment, Naruto-kun." The girl ducked her head, face flushing pink. In that moment, she couldn't see her own feet—an inexplicable obstacle just below her neck blocked the view.
Naruto watched her look down and felt amusement bubble up. Five years of friendship and Hinata was still adorably shy, blushing at the slightest thing.
His gaze drifted briefly to that obstacle before he forcibly looked away, swallowing hard. "Come on, Hinata. Let's walk together."
They strolled side by side along a cobblestone path. Flower beds bordered both sides, blooms in full color filling the air with sweet fragrance. The rounded stones massaged their feet through their sandals with each step.
The whole experience was remarkably peaceful.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata's voice was hesitant. "Are you in a bad mood?"
She'd caught the implication in his earlier words—seeing you makes me feel better—and her analytical mind had done a full reading comprehension exercise. Something was bothering him.
Naruto didn't stop walking, but his tone shifted. "Hinata, can I ask you something?"
"Of course!" She answered immediately, happily.
For Naruto, she wouldn't refuse anything. Probably. Maybe. She tried not to think too hard about what "anything" might entail.
"I have a friend," Naruto began slowly, "who lived through a painful, lonely childhood. He was completely alone, no relatives, desperate for family."
Kakashi's face flashed through his mind. Despite everything, Naruto still thought of him as family.
"But then," he continued, "my friend discovered that a relative had been nearby the entire time. This relative knew who he was but never acknowledged him. Kept avoiding him." He paused. "My friend asked me—if I were in his position, would I forgive that relative? What about you, Hinata? Would you choose to forgive?"
Hinata fell into deep thought. The "friend" Naruto mentioned was almost certainly Naruto himself.
She turned to look at him. She knew pieces of his story—the isolation, the loneliness, the village's cruel indifference during his early years. Thinking about what Naruto had endured made her chest ache. She wanted to pull him into her arms and comfort him, protect him from all that past pain.
But how should she answer? The fact that he was asking meant he yearned for that family connection. Otherwise, why bring it up?
"Hinata?" Naruto met her pale eyes directly. "What would you do?"
Her white eyes wavered with emotion. "If that's the situation... maybe that relative has reasons? Difficulties they couldn't overcome?"
"Reasons..." Naruto rolled the word around in his mind. If Kakashi really had legitimate reasons... would I forgive him?
The answer came immediately. Yes. I would.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said gently, "I think your friend is already inclined to forgive. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked the question in the first place."
Naruto looked at Hinata's sincere expression and thought ruefully, She's adorable, but way too perceptive. Girls shouldn't be this straightforward. A little mystery is good.
"Okay, Hinata. Let's drop this topic." Naruto deliberately shifted the conversation. He already had his answer. The knot in his heart was loosening.
What happened next depended on what Kakashi chose to do.
They continued their walk, chatting about lighter things, before eventually parting ways.
Naruto needed to get back for lunch.
When he returned to the back mountain, Naruto wore a genuine smile. A burden he'd carried for five years had lifted. He felt lighter, freer.
Now he just needed to wait and see how Kakashi would respond.
After lunch, Naruto and Sasuke headed back to the Academy gates to wait for their afternoon session with Kakashi.
The jonin might have broken fingers, but work was work. Konoha's Will of Fire demanded dedication, after all.
Sakura arrived shortly after, clearly in high spirits. Probably because she'd eaten a full lunch.
"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" She greeted them with an enthusiastic smile.
Both returned polite acknowledgments.
Naruto found a bench and settled in to wait. With Kakashi's habitual lateness, they'd probably be here a while.
The reason Kakashi was always late stemmed from his pre-class ritual: visiting the Memorial Stone to see his teammate Obito. As for his other teammate, Rin...
Kakashi couldn't bring himself to visit her name.
The guilt was too heavy. Even though he'd made the right choice—the only choice possible in that moment—was it really correct?
Every time he thought of Rin, that final scene replayed in his mind, and doubt crept in.
Was it correct?
He wasn't sure anymore.
If Obito knew that Rin—the teammate we risked our lives to save—died by my hand... would he forgive me?
But what else could Kakashi have done in that situation?
Standing before the Memorial Stone, Kakashi lost himself in dark memories. Eventually, he raised his hands with difficulty. Both index and middle fingers were encased in plaster.
He smiled bitterly. "Obito, see my hands? Uzumaki Naruto did this. That kid's grown to a level I didn't even know about. He completely countered my Secret Taijutsu Technique: Thousand Years of Death."
A laugh escaped despite the pain. "That's a finishing move even you couldn't withstand, remember?"
The memory of Obito clutching his rear end and howling after taking a Thousand Years of Death brought genuine amusement.
After his laughter faded, Kakashi continued. "My original plan this morning was to have them skip breakfast, then compete for two bells. With three people and two bells, someone would go hungry. I wanted to see what they'd choose—abandon a partner to eat, or work together?"
His visible eye narrowed. "But Naruto and Sasuke, those brats, completely ignored my instructions. Came over after eating breakfast. I'm certain that was Naruto's idea."
"Don't worry, though. The morning test failed, but I'll try again this afternoon. That Haruno Sakura girl seems weakest. After class, I'll disguise myself as a masked attacker and grab her. Let's see how Naruto and Sasuke react."
Kakashi glanced at his plastered fingers and sighed. "Alright, I've been talking for over an hour. Time for class."
He looked at the Memorial Stone one last time. "Obito, I really wish you were still here. I'd love to hit you with Thousand Years of Death one more time, watch you scream and grab your butt..."
The longing in his voice was genuine.
Finally, Kakashi departed.
When he arrived at the Academy gates, he found Sasuke and Sakura sitting on benches. Naruto had claimed a third bench and was fast asleep.
With both hands' fingers in casts, Kakashi could only hold his Icha Icha book awkwardly between his palms. Reading was nearly impossible. None of the three students had noticed his arrival.
He coughed pointedly.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura jumped up immediately.
"Sensei," Sasuke acknowledged coolly, rising more slowly.
The cough penetrated Naruto's nap. He sat up leisurely, rubbed his eyes, and yawned. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei. How are your fingers?"
Kakashi's calm evaporated instantly.
Before he could respond, commotion erupted nearby. "Don't move! Stay quiet!"
Two ANBU operatives escorted a ninja in a green vest past them. The prisoner's face showed stubborn defiance.
"Isn't that Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, genuine surprise in his voice. "What happened?"
Mizuki's expression remained hard as stone as the ANBU led him away.
Naruto felt a pang of regret. Mizuki had almost become his friend once.
Kakashi glanced over. "Mizuki stole a forbidden technique last night. ANBU caught him. He's been tried and is heading to prison now."
"That's unfortunate," Naruto murmured quietly.
He'd wanted another chance to befriend Mizuki properly.
"Come on, stop gawking." Kakashi turned away, awkwardly holding his book. "Let's go."
The three fell into step behind him.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called out, "are we grabbing bells again today?"
Kakashi stopped mid-stride. The corner of his mouth twitched beneath his mask. He turned back. "No bells today. I've accepted a mission for you instead."
"Aw, I thought the bell exercise was fun," Naruto said with apparent disappointment.
In the forest clearing, Kakashi struggled to extract a photograph from his pocket. His plastered fingers made even simple tasks frustrating.
"This is Tora," he said, holding up the photo. "He's lost somewhere in this area. Tora belongs to Lady Shijimi, wife of the Fire Country's feudal lord. She's offering a reward of fifty thousand ryō for his safe return."
He fumbled three pagers from another pocket with visible difficulty. Damn these casts.
After distributing the devices, he continued, "Contact me if anything happens. Start searching. Got it?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" they chorused.
"Go."
Kakashi watched them disappear into the trees, then found a comfortable spot to lean against. He'd barely settled when his expression changed.
Sakura's panicked voice crackled through the pager: "Kakashi-sensei! Emergency! Naruto hugged Tora to death!"
Kakashi's eye went wide with horror.
He arrived at the scene to find Tora lying motionless on the ground, blood trickling from his mouth. Very clearly dead.
Kakashi's dead-fish eye locked onto Naruto.
"I saw Tora running away," Naruto explained sheepishly, scratching his head. "So I hugged him to stop him. I didn't know he was so fragile! He just... died."
This is too difficult, Kakashi thought despairingly. He studied Naruto with new eyes. Aside from the golden hair and blue eyes, this kid resembled Minato Namikaze in absolutely no way whatsoever.
If Kakashi hadn't been secretly watching Naruto grow up from infancy, he'd suspect someone had switched babies.
Looking at Naruto—who now matched Kakashi's own height—the jonin felt profoundly uncomfortable.
"My precious Tora!" Lady Shijimi wailed, cradling the cat's corpse. "You died so tragically!"
Kakashi stood awkwardly to the side.
Naruto maintained an expression of pure innocence.
In the end, Team Seven paid one hundred thousand ryō in compensation to Lady Shijimi. The dead deserved respect, after all.
Kakashi was speechless. This was the first time in his career he'd paid compensation for completing a mission. He looked at his three students expectantly.
All three shook their heads in unison. "We're just children. We don't have money."
There was no choice. Kakashi paid.
As they left the estate, Naruto asked brightly, "Kakashi-sensei, do you have another mission for us?"
Kakashi stared at him for a long moment before managing to speak. "Let's... call it a day. We'll continue tomorrow."
His figure retreated down the street, shoulders slumped with defeat.
Naruto and the others watched him go.
The moment Kakashi turned the corner, he ducked into an alley and pulled out a black face mask. He tied it over his features, flipped up his hood, then circled back to follow Team Seven from a distance.
Naruto and Sasuke walked Sakura to the intersection where their paths diverged.
"See you tomorrow!" Sakura waved cheerfully.
The boys turned toward the back mountain.
A scream pierced the air behind them.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances... and kept walking, completely ignoring the sound.
Kakashi, who'd just grabbed Sakura and covered her mouth, froze in disbelief. They didn't hear that?
He lowered his voice to a threatening rasp. "Scream for help, or I'll kill you."
His hand lifted from her mouth.
"Help! Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura shrieked immediately.
Naruto and Sasuke continued walking without breaking stride.
Naruto's eyes gleamed with hidden amusement. What is Kakashi trying to accomplish? Does he think I don't know he's been following us this whole time?
Watching his students' complete indifference, Kakashi felt genuine disappointment. He turned to Sakura. "Seems you're not very important to your companions after all."
Despair washed over Sakura's face.
"Who says companions aren't important to us?"
Naruto's voice came from directly behind Kakashi. The jonin's eye widened in shock. On the mountain path, the figures of Naruto and Sasuke suddenly transformed into logs and clattered to the ground.
Substitution? When did they—
Kakashi spun, still holding Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke now stood facing him, expressions fierce.
Robber act, Kakashi thought with internal relief. But good. The teacher's son really does value his companions.
"Naruto! Sasuke!" Tears of gratitude filled Sakura's eyes.
"Oh?" Kakashi pressed a kunai against Sakura's throat, playing his role. "So companions are important to you. In that case..." He let menace drip into his voice. "Are you willing to trade your lives for hers? Hehehehe..."
He added the villain's signature cackle for effect.
Naruto stared at the "masked attacker" before him and mentally tallied up Kakashi's failures. This is how you disguise yourself as a criminal? Not professional at all. Just a black face mask while keeping literally every other identifying feature—one visible eye, white hair, both hands in plaster casts...
If you're going to be this bad at acting, why even try?
But Naruto had no intention of exposing the charade. If Kakashi wanted to perform, let him perform.
"Trade our lives?" Naruto shook his head. "That won't be necessary."
"Oh? Didn't you just say companions were important? Why refuse now?" Kakashi's tone carried false curiosity.
Before the sentence finished, Naruto's figure blurred.
He materialized behind Kakashi, both hands gripping the jonin's shoulders. "Because I can save my friend without sacrificing anything."
Kakashi felt tremendous pressure on both shoulders, followed by two distinct CRACK sounds. His arms went slack, dislocated from their sockets.
The kunai clattered to the ground. Naruto scooped up Sakura with one arm and relocated them both fifteen feet away in a single motion.
He looked at Kakashi—whose arms now hung uselessly at awkward angles—and felt a stab of guilt. When he'd grabbed the shoulders, old resentment had flared. He might have used slightly more force than intended.
I hope those are just dislocations and not fractures...
Kakashi endured the pain and immediately fled the scene. Shock coursed through him. Naruto, why is he so strong?
True, Kakashi had been caught off-guard. But he was still Kakashi Hatake—Copy Ninja, former ANBU, veteran of countless battles. Nobody got the drop on him this easily.
And right now, with his face covered, Naruto didn't know his true identity. If Naruto decided to pursue and finish him off...
That would be the worst death in shinobi history.
Kakashi ran.
He limped into Konoha Hospital for the second time that day.
The same doctor who'd treated him that morning looked up in amazement. "Kakashi? Are you trying to become a permanent resident?"
"Dr. Nara," Kakashi said through gritted teeth, "please, just help me. It hurts."
Dr. Nara examined both arms carefully. Half an hour later, Kakashi's arms hung suspended from his neck in cloth slings, completely immobilized.
"Good news—just dislocations with minor fractures. You'll heal with time." Dr. Nara's expression was professionally neutral. "Bad news—no more Icha Icha for a while."
Kakashi's visible eye went hollow.
"Also," the doctor continued, "how exactly do you plan to eat like this?"
"That's my problem, isn't it?" Kakashi asked miserably.
"Indeed it is. Our hospital doesn't provide feeding assistance. That'll be seventy thousand ryō for today's treatment."
After paying—bringing his daily medical expenses to over one hundred and seventy thousand ryō—Kakashi trudged to the Memorial Stone.
He stood before Obito's name, and for the first time in years, genuine emotion threatened to overwhelm him.
"Obito," he said, voice cracking slightly, "I'm having a really hard time here."