One sentence from Mrs. Nohara made the three of them fall silent for a moment.
Indeed, the ninjas who were Rin's peers were either Kakashi, or the Green Beast of Konoha, or the Fourth Hokage's guard, or the Fifth Hokage's secretary, or ANBU captains, or the Gate Guardians of Konoha.
In the eyes of ordinary people, each one of them was already a big shot.
The man who first spoke coughed lightly, with a somewhat evasive look in his eyes.
"Madam, what you said is true. We are indeed just the most ordinary ninjas, not even qualified to participate in the current ninja alliance."
"We really just came to visit you, with no other intentions."
Mrs. Nohara asked somewhat suspiciously, "Is that so?"
No one offers kindness for no reason. Either a thief or a swindler. Especially since she sensed that the man speaking seemed inexplicably guilty when facing her.
But soon, the woman beside the man spoke, "We're truly sorry. Because of some reasons, we only came to see you now. All these years, it must've been very hard for you, right?"
Mrs. Nohara felt a kind of indescribable closeness from the woman. If Rin were still alive, she'd be about this age too.
Strangely, she opened her mouth to comfort, "It's alright. We've actually lived quite well these years. Kakashi has always taken care of us, and often sends money and supplies. Our life has actually been very comfortable."
"Let's not stand at the door talking. Please come in."
Because of the woman, Mrs. Nohara lowered her guard and led the three into the house.
At this moment, Nohara Haruki also came over, "You are… Rin's classmates?"
The three nodded in confirmation.
Nohara Haruki looked at the woman among the three, and just like Mrs. Nohara, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
He believed their words and quickly shifted his attention to the two men.
When the two men saw him, they inexplicably became a bit nervous. As a man, he suddenly understood something and teased them.
"Back in school, did you guys have a crush on our little Rin?"
The two of them instantly went silent, neither saying a word.
Nohara Haruki laughed, "What's the big deal? Back in school, I liked my wife too, but I never dared to tell her. It wasn't until I grew up that I realized she had me in her heart too."
Speaking of this, Nohara Haruki suddenly changed the topic, "But the pity is, little Rin has already died. Even if she hadn't, the chances of her being with you two were basically zero. Hahaha. After all, the one she liked was the famous Kakashi, you guys had no chance."
Although he clearly said this in a humorous way to lighten the slightly heavy atmosphere when talking about Rin's death, there was still a bit of dissatisfaction in the eyes of the two men.
Seeing this, Nohara Haruki laughed even more, "What, you think you're better than Kakashi?"
Both men thought at the same time, "We are."
But because they were currently in disguise and trying not to reveal their identities, they didn't dare say much.
Instead, the woman beside them couldn't help it anymore, "How can you joke about your daughter with outsiders like that? Besides, they're very outstanding too."
Nohara Haruki looked at the woman a bit strangely. The way she spoke sounded exactly like little Rin's tone, was it just his imagination?
That sense of closeness increased again. He couldn't help but ask, "Since you're Rin's classmate and seem to have had a good relationship with her, do you know who she liked?"
The woman blushed for a moment and stammered, "That kind of thing is private, how would I know?"
Nohara Haruki smiled, "Really? But even my wife knows. Rin liked Kakashi. But just now, she said that if Rin hadn't died, maybe she would've ended up with Obito."
As soon as these words were spoken, the two men immediately paid attention.
But Nohara Haruki then changed the subject, "But that's just my wife's opinion. I don't think it was likely."
"After all, even though Uchiha Obito was from the Uchiha clan, he was just a bottom-tier ninja. If it were me, I wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting Rin to him."
"Besides, the Uchiha have now gone completely silent, which just proves I was right."
These words left the two men at a loss.
At the side, the woman couldn't help but laugh and said to Nohara Haruki, "Alright, stop teasing them. We're just here to see you. Seeing that you've already moved on from your daughter's death, we're relieved."
After all, if they hadn't moved on, they wouldn't be joking about it like this.
Mrs. Nohara then came over, took the woman's hand and said, "Come, I'll show you Rin's room. After all these years, we've kept it the same, as a kind of remembrance."
"I won't invite your companions along. Two grown men going into my daughter's bedroom just wouldn't be proper. Let them stay and chat with my husband."
With that, she took the woman away, leaving the two men looking at each other.
Nohara Haruki, however, noticed the two men's feelings toward the woman and couldn't help but say, "So, you guys like that young lady too? Really quite fickle, can't forget Rin, yet thinking of someone else already."
"But, since Rin has already been dead for years, I advise you to cherish the people in front of you. At your age, still not married, keep delaying like this, and it won't be good."
When he said this, one of the men was fine, showing no particular reaction. But the other man's expression suddenly became somber.
He murmured, "I will work hard… as long as I complete that goal."
Nohara Haruki noticed the man's sorrow and didn't continue rubbing salt in the wound. Joking too much would become inappropriate.
As a man, he preferred to talk about more serious matters, so he changed the topic to the current state of the ninja world.
"Even though you weren't able to participate in this ninja alliance, what are your thoughts on the Fourth Great Ninja War?"
This question… wasn't easy to answer, especially for the two of them.
The less sorrowful man said, "Uncle, what's your opinion?"
Nohara Haruki fell into a bit of a daze, "To be honest, I don't know. I just know that war brings danger. Like the last time Konoha was attacked, we almost died."
"So I really hate the guys who start wars. After all, if there hadn't been a war, little Rin wouldn't have died."
The sorrowful man spoke up, "But what if the person who started this war did it to bring more peace to the ninja world? What if it was to prevent things like Rin's death from ever happening again?"
Nohara Haruki, hearing this, couldn't help but take on the attitude of an elder and warned him.
"Every pitiful person must have something hateful about them. But wrong is wrong, you absolutely must not empathize with such lunatics."
"When giving examples, don't use my daughter. My daughter wasn't so great that someone would start a world-scale war just because of her death."
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