"Kakashi? Kakashi?"
"Rin?"
Beneath the brilliant starry sky, the white-haired boy lying on his back on the rooftop, staring at the stars, tilted his head.
He looked at the girl standing under the eaves and greeting him, then tilted his head listlessly.
"I just finished checking on the other wounded in the outpost. When I came back, I noticed you weren't in your room, so I thought you might have come here to space out again…"
The short-haired girl leaped up lightly and landed beside the masked boy.
Looking at his one black eye and one red eye exposed to the air, she frowned slightly and asked, "Are you thinking about Obito again, Kakashi?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking about Obito."
Kakashi Hatake shifted his body, making space for Rin Nohara to sit beside him and look up at the stars.
As the girl sat down with a sigh, he murmured quietly, "The war will end soon, won't it?"
"It should." Rin Nohara brushed aside her hair, looking at Kakashi Hatake with some heartache as he wasted his chakra. "After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Iwagakure no longer had much desire to continue fighting us. I heard from Minato-sensei that Lord Third has already sent an envoy to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth to prepare for peace negotiations with the Land of Earth."
"As for Kumogakure, with Minato-sensei's activity, they were already at a disadvantage. They probably don't have the strength to keep the war going either. Although we still need to station enough shinobi on the borders of the Land of Lightning and Land of Earth to maintain deterrence, the large-scale war should already be over."
"So fast… It's only been a few months since that battle, right?"
Kakashi Hatake sighed.
He closed his right eye, turned his face, and looked down at the outpost below with the Sharingan that came from his close friend, Obito Uchiha.
Listening to the not-so-peaceful snoring carried by the wind, he said emotionally, "The situation on the front line has already eased enough for the less severely wounded to withdraw to the rear while recovering and serve part-time in the outpost. Kumogakure and Iwagakure will soon enter peace negotiations with us too… The arrival of peace is so fast it almost feels like a dream."
"Kakashi…"
Rin Nohara looked at the scar that could not be erased from Kakashi's face.
Her expression could not help becoming somewhat downcast.
"The Third Shinobi World War has lasted a long time. Every village has lost many, many people. Everyone has almost reached the point where they have to stop and recuperate… The peace that is about to arrive did not come suddenly."
"Yeah. It was barely exchanged through the bloody sacrifices of Obito and our other seniors…"
"Kakashi!"
Seeing Kakashi Hatake begin sinking once again into his excessive longing for Obito Uchiha, even ignoring the burden that the Sharingan he could not close placed on his body, Rin Nohara decisively turned and grabbed his hand.
Kakashi Hatake, who had been about to blame himself once again for surviving back then, could not help being startled.
Then, he saw a pair of strong and sincere eyes.
"Kakashi, Obito entrusted his Sharingan to you because he wanted you to use that eye to clearly see the road ahead and the scenery of the future. He absolutely, absolutely would not want you to keep drowning in guilt toward him and self-blame toward yourself."
Rin Nohara tightened her grip around Kakashi's rough hand.
Her small, soft hands brought a warmth that made Kakashi's body and heart tremble.
"If you really want Obito's spirit in heaven to feel comforted, then use his eye more to look at the peace and future he traded his life for. Protect the things he wanted to protect in his place… Obito loved smiling so much. He wouldn't want to see you keep wearing such a gloomy face."
"Rin…"
Kakashi looked a little stunned.
He had not known that his low mood had made his companion worry to such an extent.
Just as he did not know how to respond, Rin Nohara reached out and covered his right eye.
Then she showed a sunny smile that made others feel at ease and spoke lightly to the red-and-black eye in Kakashi's eye socket.
"Obito, can you see this? I'm still alive and well, okay? The war is about to end. After we return to Konoha, we should have time to visit those grandpas and grandmas you always helped, together with Kakashi, right? Don't worry. I'll drag Kakashi along and take up your responsibility to look after them properly…
Although Kakashi is a jonin, so he might not have much time to stay in the village, I'm a rare medical-nin. I should spend much more time in the village than he does. I'll definitely help you do those things well."
"Also, you don't need to worry about feeling lonely or anything. Kakashi and I promised that whenever we have time, we'll go to the Memorial Stone and tell you about the things we encounter on missions and in daily life.
Although retelling things will inevitably leave out some details, your eye should be able to see part of it through Kakashi, right? I'll fill in the parts you didn't see. That should restore things more or less…"
"Kakashi and I will both live properly. We'll carry you with us and go see the scenery after peace arrives… So please bless Kakashi, and let this guy who will keep running around outside on missions in the future live properly, okay?"
"Rin…"
"Kakashi, you should also make a promise to Obito. Promise that you won't keep trapping yourself in his matter and walking around with your head down forever."
Gazing at Rin Nohara's energetic, cute, strong, understanding face so close to him, Kakashi Hatake smiled faintly for the first time in a long while.
Then he raised his hand and covered his right eye, imitating Rin Nohara as he swore to his friend.
"I will definitely protect Rin, Obito."
"Hey, Kakashi! Promise Obito about your own attitude toward life too!"
"Ah, that part isn't necessary, right? Obito would probably be pretty happy to see me looking gloomy and depressed…"
Kakashi awkwardly avoided Rin Nohara's dissatisfied gaze and tugged at his forehead protector, preparing to end this extravagant act of seeing the world through a Sharingan that could not close.
But just as he was about to cover his left eye with his forehead protector, he unexpectedly caught sight of a layer of water mist that looked like thin gauze under the moonlight, slowly surrounding the outpost.
Was tonight the kind of night that would grow foggy?
No.
It should not be.
Then this fog—
Kakashi Hatake's eyes widened sharply.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Everyone on guard! It's Kirigakure's—"
Whoosh.
A black shadow that nearly merged into the wind shot toward Kakashi Hatake, who was shouting, from an extremely tricky angle.
The enemy was fast.
But not fast enough to evade the insight of a two-tomoe Sharingan.
In the moment between life and death, Kakashi Hatake drew the kunai from his ninja tool pouch and accurately blocked the masked figure's close-range surprise attack.
"Eh. As expected of the Sharingan, I suppose? I was clearly very careful when using the Hiding in Mist Technique, yet you still noticed."
The attacker wearing the mask of Kirigakure's assassination unit had a very young voice.
He also possessed tremendous strength that made Kakashi Hatake frown deeply.
Under the moonlight, Kakashi saw the weapon the attacker was using.
It was longer than a kunai, but if it were called a short sword, its shape was far too strange.
It was a bone.
Its surface looked clear and smooth like jade, but it possessed steel-like hardness and sharpness.
"Dead Bone Pulse… Is Kirigakure planning to start an all-out war!?"
"With Wind and Fire exhausted, Lightning and Earth lacking strength, and we Kirigakure watching from the sidelines, coming out at the end of the war to reap the fisherman's benefit is… only natural, isn't it?"
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique."
Kakashi's gaze sharpened.
By instinct, he clashed kicks with the attacker in front of him, then borrowed the force to flip backward, preparing to protect Rin Nohara, who lacked close combat ability, and find a way to deal with this Kirigakure Anbu whose entire body emitted a chilling aura.
But during his backflip, he only saw the attacker's hands rapidly forming the seals for the Water Prison Technique.
He did not see any heavy current soaked in chakra rising and coiling from in front of the enemy.
"Damn it, Rin!"
When he turned around, another figure dressed exactly the same as the attacker had already inserted one hand into a huge water sphere that had appeared from thin air.
And Rin Nohara, whom Kakashi Hatake wanted to protect, was now staring at him from within the Water Prison with a face full of panic and worry.
"All right. What will you do now, Kakashi Hatake, hero of the Sharingan?"
Behind the expressionless mask, Rei Kaguya looked at Kakashi Hatake's gaze, which had suddenly become sharp, and asked calmly.