Evening,
After school,
Kakashi strolled quietly through the streets of the Uchiha clan.
Unlike the tense and wary atmosphere that had filled the district in the past,
Today, the Uchiha compound felt peaceful.
Everyone he passed carried a faint smile on their faces.
At this moment, Kakashi suddenly stopped walking and lifted his gaze toward a house ahead.
There was a rusted lock hanging on the door,
The lock already covered in pale cobwebs.
Clearly,
This home had not been lived in for a very long time.
This was Obito's home…
After Obito's supposed death during the Kannabi Bridge mission, his grandmother passed away shortly afterward.
Since then,
The house remained empty.
Standing in front of the familiar building again pulled Kakashi back into an old memory,
One from when they were still members of Team Minato.
During one gathering, Obito had been late again, and Kakashi had gone to Obito's house to look for him.
When he climbed up to the second-floor balcony and peeked inside, he caught sight of Obito holding a photo of Team Minato. Obito had closed his eyes and was shyly leaning toward the photo, preparing to kiss it.
Just as he puckered up, he noticed Kakashi watching through the window.
Startled, he jerked back and hid the photo behind him as fast as possible.
That face like he'd been caught doing something terribly embarrassing, wanting to sink straight into the floor
Recalling it now, Kakashi couldn't help but smile faintly beneath his mask.
He muttered, "Only that idiot would do something like that…"
But at this moment,
Perhaps because it had been abandoned for so long, the house looked painfully lonely in the evening light.
Empty just like the hollow place inside Kakashi's own heart…
"Kakashi-sensei!"
As Kakashi drifted in his thoughts, a clear young voice suddenly called out.
He turned and saw a boy of seven or eight years old walking hand in hand with his mother toward him.
The moment the boy recognized Kakashi, he waved enthusiastically and greeted him.
Then he proudly introduced him to his mother:
"Mom, this is Kakashi-sensei! He teaches us Lightning Style at school he's really strong!"
"So you're Kakashi-sensei. This child Xiaoguang must be troubling you often."
The boy's mother bowed politely, then took a freshly picked fruit from the basket and offered it to him.
Kakashi refused at first, but he couldn't resist her insistence, and finally accepted it.
"See you tomorrow, Kakashi-sensei."
After the mother and son left, Kakashi looked at the fruit tucked into his pocket, and a faint smile quietly formed at the corner of his mouth.
This is… the feeling of being respected?
…
Since becoming an instructor at the new school,
Kakashi had been interacting with members of the Uchiha clan almost every day.
And during those encounters,
Kakashi came to understand personally that, in truth, the Uchiha were no different from the rest of the village.
Each person had their own personality.
Some were proud and blunt, not fond of socializing.
Some were warm and polite, treating you as a friend the moment you met them.
And some were hopelessly foolish he even met one who was just as idiotic as Obito in his childhood days.
Danzo constantly muttered about the Uchiha being dangerous and corrupt.
But were the Uchiha really evil?
Kakashi no longer felt that way.
And this was the conclusion he reached from his own experiences.
...
"Kakashi-sensei? Why are you still out so late?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind him.
He turned around, and seeing Senya, he was just about to respond when his eyes narrowed suddenly, fixing on Naruto standing at the boy's side!
"Kakashi-sensei, it's fine,"
"This little guy sneaked into the new school today to play with Sasuke."
"It's getting late, so I'm taking him out for ramen."
Chiya smiled as he spoke, signaling Kakashi not to be so tense.
But realistically
One was the village's jinchūriki,
One possessed the Sharingan.
A sudden encounter between the two was not something that could be taken lightly.
Especially with the 'history' of the Nine-Tails' Attack still lingering.
Even without sensory abilities, Chiya knew that multiple ANBU were surely watching them from the shadows.
Hearing this, Kakashi slowly shifted his gaze away.
He understood
If Chiya had any harmful intentions,
He wouldn't have waited until now to act.
"Kakashi-sensei, would you like to come with us?"
Chiya asked with a gentle smile.
Kakashi hesitated briefly, then nodded.
...
"Boss! I want a bowl of tonkotsu ramen!!"
The moment he stepped inside, Naruto eagerly raised his hand and shouted.
He hadn't eaten ramen in a long time,
His stomach was growling.
So when the bowl arrived, Naruto immediately buried his head and devoured it.
After a full afternoon of training, Sasuke was starving as well, so when his bowl was placed before him, he didn't care about his image and ate in huge mouthfuls!
Five minutes later
Naruto/Sasuke: "Boss, another bowl!"
The two slammed their empty bowls down at the exact same time!
"Huh?"
Their gazes met, neither willing to back down, and in an instant a competitive spark ignited
The two immediately began a contest to see who could eat more ramen…
Seeing this, Chiya couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Then he turned to Kakashi and said, "Kakashi-senpai, there's something that's been bothering me. Could you help me understand it?"
Kakashi: "Go ahead."
He was curious
What kind of question could a sharp kid like Chiya not figure out?
Chiya: "I'm curious… why do the village leaders keep suppressing us?"
The chopsticks in Kakashi's hand stopped abruptly
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