Early in the morning, Shin-chan stepped out of the house with his school bag on his back and noticed that the adults on the street were all whispering among themselves.
The vegetable seller lady and one of her customers were huddled together, talking in very low voices.
Two ninja walking along the roadside were discussing something too, both wearing unusually serious expressions.
Even the dumpling shop owner, who was normally all smiles, had a stiff face today, his brows knit so tightly they looked like they could pinch a fly to death.
Shin-chan tilted his head and watTorud for a while, but couldn't make any sense of it, so he kept heading to school.
After all, he never understood grown-up stuff anyway.
And yet—
The atmosphere in the classroom was strange too.
The classmates who were usually noisy and chattering today were much quieter, gathered in little groups whispering to one another.
When Shin-chan came in, a few people glanced at him, then quickly looked away.
Shin-chan didn't pay it much mind and walked to his seat.
Uchiha Toru was already there, head lowered over a book, but he kept turning the same page over and over.
Shin-chan leaned over. "Morning, Toru."
Uchiha Toru looked up, his expression a little complicated.
"Shin-chan."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Uchiha Toru paused, then lowered his head again.
Shin-chan blinked, a little baffled, and turned to look the other way.
Kakashi was sitting in the corner, and he looked different from usual too. It felt like he had shrunk completely into a shell, shutting everyone else outside of it.
Shin-chan stood up and walked over to him.
"Kakashi."
Kakashi didn't look up.
Shin-chan poked him on the shoulder.
"Kakashi."
Only then did Kakashi lift his head and glance at him. There was no emotion at all in his eyes.
"What is it?"
"Why aren't you talking today?"
Kakashi was silent for two seconds. "I don't want to."
Then he lowered his head again and ignored him.
Shin-chan scratched his head and went back to his seat. "Toru, Kakashi's weird today."
Uchiha Toru looked up, glanced at Kakashi, then lowered his head again.
"Yeah."
"Do you know why?"
Uchiha Toru was quiet for a while before saying softly, "You... haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
Uchiha Toru opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Nothing."
Now Shin-chan was even more confused.
During class, Teacher Ibuki was acting strange too.
As he taught, his eyes would unconsciously drift toward Kakashi, then quickly move away again.
A few times, he even zoned out completely, staring blankly out the window before suddenly snapping back to himself.
Shin-chan raised his hand.
"Teacher."
"What is it?"
"You're weird today too."
Teacher Ibuki coughed dryly and tapped the blackboard. "Pay attention in class. Stop overthinking."
But Shin-chan had clearly seen him glance toward Kakashi again.
After school, Shin-chan packed up his things and walked over to Kakashi.
"Kakashi, let's go train."
Kakashi was in the middle of packing his bag. His hands paused for a second. "I have something to do today."
"What?"
Kakashi didn't answer. He simply slung on his bag and walked out.
Shin-chan watched his back and scratched his head.
"Why is everyone weird today?"
On the way home, Shin-chan noticed even more people on the street whispering to each other, and their voices seemed a little louder now too.
"Did you hear? The White Fang this time..."
"Seriously?"
"Absolutely. My cousin's teammate's younger brother is in that unit..."
"Then doesn't that mean..."
"Shh. Keep your voice down."
Whenever Shin-chan passed by, those people would glance at him and lower their voices again.
Without thinking, Shin-chan sped up and ran home.
He pushed open the door.
"I'm home!"
The familiar words came out automatically, but no one answered.
In the living room, Hiroshi and Misae were sitting at the table. The tea in front of them had already gone cold, untouched.
The atmosphere was so heavy it felt like water could drip from it.
Shin-chan tilted his head and walked over. "Dad? Mom?"
Hiroshi looked up at him.
Misae looked up too, forcing a strained smile.
"Shin-chan, you're back."
Shin-chan looked at his dad, then at his mom.
"What's wrong with you?"
Hiroshi was silent for a while, then patted the tatami beside him.
"Shin-chan, come sit here."
Shin-chan obediently walked over and sat down.
Hiroshi looked at him, opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Misae said softly from the side, "Hiroshi..."
"I know." Hiroshi nodded, then took a deep breath. "Shin-chan, Dad has something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"It's about Lord White Fang."
Shin-chan blinked.
Hiroshi fell silent again, as if choosing his words carefully.
"There are some rumors going around the village today. They're about Lord White Fang."
Shin-chan blinked again.
"Lord White Fang?"
"Yeah." Hiroshi nodded. "During a mission, he gave up the mission in order to save his teammates."
Shin-chan listened seriously.
"As a result, the mission failed, and the village suffered a major loss." Hiroshi paused. "Right now, everyone is talking about it."
After listening, Shin-chan nodded, then raised his hand and asked, "Who is Lord White Fang?"
Hiroshi's expression froze.
Misae's expression froze too.
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Then a little cross-shaped vein popped out on Misae's forehead. "You trained under him in swordsmanship for so long, and you don't know his name?"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it.
"I know him as Silver-Haired Mister."
"Silver-Haired Mister is Lord White Fang." Misae pressed a hand to her forehead. "Hatake Sakumo. Konoha's White Fang."
"Oh." Only then did Shin-chan realize. "So it's Kakashi's dad."
"Yes." Misae nodded.
"That silver-haired mister," Shin-chan added.
"Yes..."
"I haven't seen him in a while." Shin-chan said, "Has he been busy lately?"
Misae and Hiroshi were both silent for two seconds.
"He... hasn't come back yet."
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded. "Then when he comes back, I'll go play with him."
Looking at how carefree he seemed, Hiroshi didn't know what to say for a moment.
Misae sighed softly from the side. "Lord White Fang is a good man. He taught Shin-chan for so long and even gave him a wooden sword. And now something like this has happened..."
Hiroshi's brows were faintly furrowed.
There were things he didn't say aloud.
This news had spread too fast—unnaturally fast.
As if someone were stirring things up from behind the scenes.
But he didn't want to say that kind of thing at home. Neither Misae nor Shin-chan was a ninja. They shouldn't be dragged into matters like this.
"Shin-chan," Hiroshi suddenly said.
"Yeah?"
"If... I mean if..." Hiroshi carefully chose his words, "if anyone asks you about Lord White Fang, just say you don't know anything."
Shin-chan tilted his head. "Why?"
"Because..." Hiroshi paused, "grown-up matters are complicated. You only need to know one thing: Lord White Fang is a good man."
Shin-chan thought about it, then nodded.
"Oh."
He didn't really understand what grown-ups were thinking, but he remembered the way Silver-Haired Mister looked when he taught him how to swing a sword, remembered his voice saying, "Put your heart into the blade," remembered the warmth of his hand on his shoulder.
Silver-Haired Mister was a good person.
That much, he knew.
Outside the window, the moon was half-hidden behind the clouds.
Night in Konoha was quieter than usual.
~~~
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