A damp night breeze swept through the narrow alley, rustling Kei's collar. He pulled his coat a fraction tighter against the chill and took the initiative, breaking the heavy, suffocating silence.
"Please. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. Assuming I know the answers, of course."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. He was genuinely puzzled by the blind doctor's absolute lack of apprehension. Normally, when an ANBU operative materialized out of the shadows to block a civilian's path, the reaction was terror, or at least profound confusion. Kei, however, radiated the calm patience of a man waiting for a delayed train.
The Third Hokage was right, Kakashi mused behind his mask. This man is not simple.
After a prolonged, calculated silence meant to unnerve his target yielded no results, Kei spoke again. "What is it? Have you not formulated your interrogation strategy yet? It is quite alright. We can take our time."
"No," Kakashi replied, his voice a lazy, detached drawl that masked his lethal readiness. "I simply don't understand. You don't seem remotely surprised by my arrival."
Kei maintained his warm, infuriatingly serene smile. "That is correct. You see, several other… intense individuals have already ambushed me for questioning this week. The first few times, I was suitably startled. Now, it has simply become a routine part of my commute."
Kakashi processed the intelligence. "Who came to question you? And what did they ask?"
"Hmm..." Kei tilted his head, making a grand show of pondering the request before his smile vanished, replaced by a mask of stern refusal. "Forgive me, but I must absolutely refuse to answer that question."
Kakashi frowned. "Didn't you just state you would answer my questions?"
"I did," Kei nodded, before shaking his head vehemently. "However, the individuals who visited me are highly dangerous and possess significant influence within the village. Until I can verify your true identity and intentions, I cannot surrender such sensitive intelligence."
Kakashi took a slow, deliberate step forward, stopping barely half a meter from Kei. The killing intent in the air thickened. "Why?"
Kei's face instantly shifted into a portrait of righteous, unwavering indignation. "Why? Because I am a shinobi of Konohagakure!" he declared, puffing out his chest. "How could I casually leak vital village intelligence to an unidentified rogue lurking in the shadows?"
Before Kakashi could even process the sudden shift in tone, Kei took a defensive step back, raising his metal cane like a makeshift sword. "Do you not understand basic operational security? I am beginning to severely doubt your allegiance. Who sent you?"
Kei assumed a wary, exaggerated stance, looking for all the world like a loyal, panicked citizen preparing to scream for the Konoha Military Police.
Staring at the blind man, even the famously stoic Kakashi felt a violent twitch in his eyelid. He took a deep, steadying breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to sigh. His orders were to conduct a covert inquiry, not trigger a neighborhood panic.
"My name is Kakashi," he stated flatly. "I am currently acting on the direct authority of the Third Hokage."
"Lord Third?" Kei gasped, instantly dropping his defensive posture. He hurriedly bowed, his face a perfect picture of flustered apology. "So it is Kakashi-senpai! My deepest apologies. As you can see, my eyes are entirely useless. I could not verify your identity!"
Kei hastily straightened his collar, his demeanor shifting from vigilant citizen to starstruck zealot. "Since you represent Lord Hokage, I will naturally disclose everything I know!"
A look of absolute, starry-eyed admiration washed over Kei's face. "But to think Lord Third would personally send someone to inquire about me! This is the greatest honor of my life! If only my eyes worked, so I could personally gaze upon his wisdom..."
Kakashi stared blankly.
"'Wherever tree leaves dance, one shall find flames,'" Kei quoted passionately, raising a hand to his chest. "'The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew.' Senpai, do you not feel it every day? It is solely because of Lord Third's magnificent Will of Fire that our village continues to thrive and prosper..."
Kakashi listened to the blind doctor enthusiastically spout propaganda for a full minute before his patience officially expired. "Could you please pause your recitation," Kakashi interrupted smoothly, "and allow me to finish my interrogation?"
"My deepest apologies," Kei said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "I simply became overwhelmed with patriotic fervor. Lord Third is my personal idol, you see."
I can tell, Kakashi thought dryly. He knew if he didn't steer the conversation back on track, he would be trapped in this alley listening to historical eulogies until dawn. "First. Tell me who has visited you, and exactly what they asked."
This time, Kei offered no resistance. With crisp, professional detachment, he recounted the chilling visit from Fu Yamanaka, and the midnight interception by Orochimaru.
Finishing his report, Kei offered a helpful shrug. "If you truly wish to uncover the root of this sudden interest in my humble clinic, I suggest you interrogate Shisui Uchiha directly. I assure you, he is the epicenter of this entire headache."
"I will include your assessment in my report," Kakashi said, having finally extracted the required intelligence. He slipped back into his icy, detached persona. "Please keep the contents of this conversation strictly confidential."
Knowing Kei's penchant for dramatics, Kakashi quickly added the magic words: "This is Lord Third's direct order."
"Understood!" Kei snapped to attention, saluting sharply. "I would rather die than disappoint the Hokage!"
Satisfied, Kakashi turned. He channeled chakra to his feet, preparing to launch himself onto the rooftops and vanish into the night.
"Kakashi-senpai," Kei's voice suddenly cut through the gloom, dropping the fanatical act entirely. His tone was now the resonant, soothing baritone of a clinical psychologist. "Although we are not formally acquainted... as a medical professional, I strongly advise you to visit my clinic during operating hours. Your mental state is... profoundly unstable."
Kakashi's foot, poised to launch, froze mid-air.
Slowly, he turned his head back over his shoulder. His visible eye glared at the blind doctor, defensive anger flaring in his chest. "I am not sick."
Kei offered a sad, knowing smile. "Only the deepest drunks insist they are perfectly sober, Senpai. There is no need for shame or deflection. I specialize in treating the kind of sorrow that haunts you..."
Before Kei could finish the diagnosis, the air snapped. With a frantic, almost desperate Shunshin, Kakashi completely vanished, unwilling to remain in the alley for a single second longer.
Kei 'looked' up at the empty rooftop, a faint chuckle vibrating in his chest. He adjusted his grip on his cane and resumed his leisurely walk home.
Deep within the Hokage's tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his massive desk, his weathered face illuminated by the warm glow of a desk lamp. Spread before him was a comprehensive dossier detailing every known fact about Kei Hyuga.
Kakashi stood silently in the center of the room, having just delivered his verbal report. "According to my investigation, Kei Hyuga appears to be a civilian casualty of circumstance. He inadvertently became entangled in Shisui Uchiha's internal crisis."
Kakashi reached into his tactical vest, retrieving a small scroll, and placed it on the desk. "This is the complete, verbatim transcript of my conversation with the subject."
Hiruzen picked up the scroll, unrolling it slowly. As his eyes scanned the meticulously recorded dialogue, a faint, intrigued smile touched his lips. "He initially refused to surrender his intelligence out of loyalty to the village... but the moment you revealed you represented me, his attitude completely reversed?"
Reading Kei's impassioned, albeit slightly unhinged, recitation of the Will of Fire, Hiruzen easily pictured an idealistic young man whose spirit remained unbroken despite his tragic physical disability.
Setting the scroll down, Hiruzen reached for his old wooden pipe. "Tell me, Kakashi. In your professional assessment... do you believe his patriotic sentiments were sincere?"
Kakashi lowered his head slightly, his single eye staring blankly at the polished floorboards. "I do not know, Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen paused, packing tobacco into the bowl of his pipe. He looked up, studying the suffocating aura of apathy clinging to his best ANBU operative. He frowned. "Kakashi. You cannot continue like this."
The Third Hokage knew exactly why the silver-haired prodigy was drowning in the dark. Obito. Rin. Minato. The boy had buried everyone he had ever loved. Hiruzen had hoped that assigning Kakashi to the ANBU would provide him with structure, that time would eventually heal the gaping wounds in his psyche.
Instead, Kakashi was only sinking deeper into the black, blood-soaked abyss of the assassination corps. He was a peerless, razor-sharp blade, but if a blade was not properly maintained, it would inevitably shatter.
Hiruzen's gaze drifted back to the transcript, lingering on the final paragraph. Kei's impromptu psychological diagnosis of Kakashi.
Perhaps the boy did need a doctor of the mind.
But more importantly, Hiruzen was considering the political utility of Kei Hyuga himself. Recent intelligence indicated shifting, volatile undercurrents within the Hyuga compound. With the Uchiha clan already teetering on the brink of open rebellion, Konoha could absolutely not afford a secondary civil crisis within its other foundational noble house.
If Kei Hyuga's fervent devotion to the Will of Fire was genuine, he could prove to be an invaluable asset. A loyalist within the Hyuga ranks.
If handled correctly, Hiruzen mused, lighting his pipe with a small flare of chakra, this blind boy could become a second Shisui.
Exhaling a thick plume of gray smoke, the Third Hokage made his decision.
"Kakashi," Hiruzen commanded, his voice carrying the absolute authority of the Kage. "You are hereby reassigned. You will take responsibility for the covert surveillance of Kei Hyuga. I want to know his every movement."