Four years passed quietly in the day-to-day routine of training.
Sasuke's physical age reached twelve, but if one counted the time spent in the Soul Society, he had lived a total of fifteen years.
Training Ground 3 was long gone from its former state.
The earth was crisscrossed with slash marks and deep pits, silently recounting the experiences of these four years.
Whoosh…!
A condensed streak of black-and-white lightning tore through the air like a spear, instantly piercing through the center of a massive rock dozens of meters away.
There was no violent explosion, only a smooth, circular hole left in the stone. The edges of the hole were wreathed in faint, crackling black and white arcs of electricity, exuding an aura of destruction.
"Chidori Sharp Spear..."
Sasuke slowly retracted his finger, his pitch-black eyes calmly observing his handiwork.
Over these four years, he had developed the Chidori Current series of techniques to their extreme.
Whether it was the Chidori Sharp Spear for long-range piercing, or the Chidori Flow that wreathed his entire body to enhance his speed and could be used for defense, he could use them all with ease.
And his mastery over Indra's power had also grown increasingly proficient. He could now perfectly attach those unquenchable black flames to Fire Release techniques or Kido like Sokatsui, its power enough to make even Kakashi take notice.
He had grown stronger, without a doubt.
But whenever the night was deep and all was quiet, Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan would still come like a nightmare, reminding him that his current strength was still far from enough.
"Hey, Sasuke!"
Naruto suddenly walked over from a distance, staring at Sasuke, "Training's over for today. Let's go get ramen together? My treat!"
Sasuke glanced at him, didn't respond, and turned to leave.
"Not going."
"Don't be like that! Consider it celebrating my two-year graduation anniversary..."
"Idiot."
Sasuke's figure flickered slightly, already having used Shunpo to vanish from the training ground's edge, leaving behind a dejected Naruto.
"Tch, ran off alone again..."
Naruto kicked a pebble at his feet, the smile on his face slowly fading. In the end, he walked towards the village alone.
Two years ago, Naruto had graduated early from the Academy with excellent grades and was considered a minor genius within the village.
But the life he had hoped for had not arrived.
Naruto had initially thought that once he became stronger, he could be like Sasuke… no longer looked at with strange eyes, able to make many friends, and be liked by everyone.
But...
It seemed nothing had changed.
Villagers on the street would still instinctively avoid him when they saw him, whispering amongst themselves.
Most of his classmates were still unwilling to be his friends. The teachers' eyes when they looked at him still held unconcealed disgust.
Even...
Some radical girls infatuated with Sasuke treated him even worse than before.
"Hey, fox demon, stay away from Sasuke-sama!"
"Yeah, someone like you, what right do you have to train with Sasuke-sama?!"
Similar harsh words seemed to still echo in his ears.
Naruto lowered his head deeply, feeling disappointed and confused.
'Why?'
He couldn't understand it.
'Why did they hate me so much?'
'Because I am an orphan?'
'But there were plenty of orphans at the Academy, and none were rejected by the entire world like I was.'
'Because I used to be mischievous and cause trouble?'
'But ever since I started training with Kakashi-sensei, I had clearly corrected all my bad habits and was trying so hard to change...'
'Then what was the reason?'
This question, like an unsolvable tangled mess, had troubled him for a long time.
Until he could no longer bear the loneliness, studying desperately just to graduate early from that suffocating Academy.
…
Late at night, in the restricted section of the Konoha Archives.
Kakashi stood alone before a dusty bookshelf, using a dim light to read through a long-yellowed, top-secret scroll.
Four years.
Ever since being awakened by Sasuke that day, he had begun a secret investigation into the truth of his father's death.
However, what he faced was an impenetrable wall.
All records of that mission from back then had been classified as top secret, completely sealed away by Danzo in the name of protecting the village.
All details regarding his father's mission had been erased. The Shinobi who had participated in that mission had all strangely 'died in the line of duty' in the following years.
The deeper he went, the more he could feel an intangible darkness shrouding Konoha.
All clues pointed to one person… Shimura Danzo.
But Kakashi had no evidence.
He had once tried to question Hiruzen, but all he got was a cold, "Sigh, Kakashi, some things are better left unknown."
All he could do was search through these old documents for any tiny, overlooked clues.
"Again... cut off here."
Kakashi looked at the deliberately erased client information on the scroll and wearily rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
Over these four years, he had thought more than once about whether he should just storm into the Root's Headquarters and confront that man hidden in the shadows.
But he couldn't.
He knew that if he did that, not only would he likely be branded a traitor by the village, but he might also implicate Sasuke and Naruto.
Once, deep at night after getting drunk, he had even confided a sliver of his inner confusion to his dear friend Might Guy. Guy had just slapped him heavily on the shoulder.
"Kakashi! No matter what decision you make, I will support you! That is youth!"
Guy's passion gave him comfort, but it couldn't give him answers.
Kakashi closed the scroll, returned it to its place, and his figure flickered, disappearing into the darkness of the archives.
When he reappeared, he was before the village's Memorial Stone.
On the cold stone tablet was carved a name all too familiar to him.
Hatake Sakumo.
"Father..."
Kakashi reached out, gently brushing the fallen leaves off the stone, "I'm sorry. I still haven't been able to accomplish anything."
He leaned against the cold stone tablet, slowly sitting down. He raised his head, his gaze shifting to the other side, towards the Uchiha Clan's cemetery.
'Itachi... what exactly was your reason?'
He didn't know the answer.
He only knew he couldn't stop.
Because he had a feeling that the same darkness had already begun to quietly descend upon his two students with vastly different personalities.
One is an avenger bearing the blood feud of his entire clan.
The other is a Jinchuriki carrying the hatred and fear of the entire village.
'I had to find the answers before they were completely swallowed by this darkness.'
Kakashi slowly straightened up. Those always half-droopy, dead-fish eye now shone with an unprecedented determination.
This was his promise to his teacher, Namikaze Minato.
And also... his atonement to his father, Hatake Sakumo.
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