Chapter 210: Kakashi, You Are My Nemesis
So, it was just a question.
To be perfectly honest, an ordinary ninja academy student could never solve this kind of advanced problem; otherwise, it wouldn't be a specialized paper meant for the Elite Class. Kakashi had likely gotten his hands on it through Sakumo Hatake. Stelle remembered giving Sakumo a scroll of these exact test papers a while back, and it seemed the White Fang hadn't managed to finish them all.
Stelle lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the complex formulas scrawled across the parchment. She kept her voice deliberately faint, playing up her timid persona. "I'm... I'm not entirely sure if what I wrote is correct, but if Kakashi-kun wants to listen, I will certainly do my best to explain."
Picking up a pencil, she carefully walked him through her thought process, breaking down the convoluted chakra theories step by step. As she finished the final equation, Kakashi suddenly felt a deep sense of enlightenment wash over him. The theoretical roadblocks that had previously clouded his mind instantly cleared away, leaving behind a sharp, perfect understanding.
The way he looked at Stelle shifted slightly, his visible eye narrowing in quiet assessment.
"You can't even throw a basic shuriken accurately," Kakashi pointed out, his tone laced with genuine confusion. "How did you manage to solve these difficult problems? They cover an incredibly wide range of advanced topics."
Stelle had already prepared a flawless excuse for this exact scenario. She shrank back slightly and spoke in a soft, hesitant whisper.
"The Konoha library has all kinds of books. There's a restricted archive section that only students officially registered in Konoha Village can access; even those from District One or District Two aren't allowed inside. You can find a lot of special, highly theoretical materials there. As long as you take the time to truly understand the reading material, you can solve these problems."
"You just read some books, without a single instructor teaching you, and you learned it all?" Kakashi asked, his usual cool composure cracking to reveal a flash of pure surprise.
Stelle scratched her cheek and offered a shy, self-deprecating smile. "Just... consider it a small talent of mine. Just like your natural talent for throwing shuriken."
For the very first time, Kakashi gained a direct, obvious understanding of the sheer excellence of a peer. The only reason he could even attempt to solve these problems was because half a room in his house was currently filled with his father's personal, highly classified analytical notes on chakra manipulation, ninjutsu, and kenjutsu. Yet, the girl sitting beside him had figured it out entirely on her own.
Taking advantage of the moment, he pointed out two other problems he had been stuck on. Stelle patiently explained them to him, one by one.
This was exactly why geniuses preferred making friends with other geniuses; it simply didn't take much talking. A single, concise explanation was more than enough for the other person to understand the concept perfectly, allowing them to immediately apply the underlying logic to other scenarios, even those far beyond the standard academy curriculum.
The final question on the paper, however, was particularly brutal. Kakashi frowned at the complex phrasing and asked her to go over it one more time.
Without thinking, Stelle unconsciously slipped right back into her former, authoritative attitude from when she used to lecture the Elite Class. She reached out and casually ruffled his fluffy, silver-white hair.
"You haven't figured it out yet? It's okay," she said, her tone suddenly smooth and reassuring. "I'll explain it a couple more times and you'll get it. No rush. Look at this part right here..."
She froze.
'Cough, cough!'
Stelle coughed violently, staring at her own palm in absolute horror before slowly shifting her gaze to Kakashi. The boy was staring at her, his visible eye widened to the size of a saucer. She had just casually pet the future Copy Ninja like a stray dog.
She was completely stunned.
'Oh my god,'she screamed internally. After explaining so many consecutive problems, her brain had gone on autopilot. Seeing that gravity-defying, silver-white hair sitting right next to her, looking so incredibly soft and rub-able... she had just done it on pure instinct!'What do I do?! I think I just broke character!'She took a deep, silent breath.'It's okay, stay calm. Geniuses are naturally proud in their own specific fields. A-Mu is just a proud little theory expert who got carried away. Yes, let's go with that.'
Forcing a massive blush onto her cheeks, she spun around, fully intending to run away to sell the embarrassment. But Kakashi's reaction speed was far superior to hers. He lunged forward with a single, decisive stride, completely blocking her escape route.
Reaching into the cloth-wrapped lunch box he was carrying, he pulled out a giant, perfectly shaped rice ball and shoved it toward her. He stubbornly looked everywhere except directly at her face.
"This is payment for explaining the problems to me."
"Then you..." Stelle stammered.
"I've already eaten!" he interrupted quickly.
Stelle stared at the massive ball of rice. As expected of Kakashi; no matter how cold and aloof he tried to appear on the outside, he was genuinely gentle at heart.
The problem was, on her way to this secluded spot, she had already secretly devoured a large portion of tempura fried chicken, a stick of limited-edition sweet dango, and two entire strawberry daifuku that she had stored away in her System Space. She was completely stuffed.
Tearfully, Stelle accepted the heavy rice ball, thanking him in a small, trembling voice that wasn't entirely fake.
Then, under Kakashi's strict, unyielding gaze, she painfully struggled to force the rice ball down her throat, bite by agonizing bite. As for the matter of rubbing his head just moments ago, she firmly decided not to bring it up. For things that simply couldn't be explained, it was always best to keep your mouth shut; otherwise, you only made the situation infinitely worse.
Back in the noisy cafeteria, Obito immediately cornered her. Without a doubt, he demanded to know why she always disappeared the second the lunch bell rang.
"I... I just prefer to be alone when I eat," Stelle lied smoothly, clutching her overly full stomach. "Besides, aren't you having a lot of fun hanging out with Shiranui Genma and the others?"
Obito, completely misinterpreting the situation, assumed she was actively avoiding the crowded cafeteria because it was too inconvenient for her to constantly lift her heavy scarf to eat around strangers. He puffed out his cheeks in a massive pout.
"But I don't want to be away from A-Mu for a single moment! No matter what I'm doing, I want to be with A-Mu!"
Stelle blinked, momentarily caught off guard. Was Obito's possessiveness really this intense?
She analyzed the boy's stubborn expression. Because she was technically his only real friend so far, and neither of them had parents, combined with the fact that her current persona looked incredibly frail and pitiful... it must have completely triggered Obito's latent protective instincts. Was that why he was acting so incredibly dependent on her?
She glanced across the room. Rin Nohara was currently gathered with a small group of girls, laughing at something with a gentle, warm smile.
Because Obito had met her first, and spent his entire day either following her around or actively looking for her, he hadn't even had the chance to interact much with Rin.
"Obito, I'm a girl, so of course I can't be with you all the time," Stelle reasoned gently. "You really should try to make more friends so you won't always be looking for me."
"I don't want to play with them," Obito huffed, crossing his arms. "It's not nearly as interesting as going hunting and fishing with A-Mu in the woods. The traps A-Mu makes are super interesting!"
Sitting directly across the table, Shiranui Genma—who had been happily chatting with Obito just moments prior—stared blankly at the Uchiha.
Genma slowly picked up his tray. '...Right. Then I'll just leave.'
Later that evening, inside the quiet Hatake compound.
After Sakumo Hatake picked his son up from the academy, he immediately set to work in the kitchen, preparing Kakashi's absolute favorite meal: perfectly salt-grilled pacific saury and rich miso eggplant. The savory aroma filled the warm house.
Despite the generous portions, Kakashi still felt a lingering emptiness in his stomach after finishing his fish. Without a word, he reached over, took two pieces of sweet inari sushi directly from his father's bowl, and quickly finished them off before finally setting down his chopsticks.
Sakumo watched this happen, a pang of guilt hitting his chest. He assumed the lunch he had packed earlier simply hadn't been enough for a growing boy.
"I didn't expect your appetite to grow quite so quickly," Sakumo noted warmly. "The lunch I prepared actually didn't fill you up today."
The mental image of A-Mu, her eyes squinted in absolute misery as she struggled to swallow that giant rice ball, suddenly flashed through Kakashi's mind.
"Dad," Kakashi said, his voice completely flat. "From now on, please prepare a double portion of bento for me every single day."
Sakumo raised an eyebrow. "Can you really eat all of that?"
"I can."
Who was Sakumo Hatake? He was the legendary White Fang, a veteran Anbu Captain. Every single operative in the Anbu Black Ops was a master at reading micro-expressions. He saw straight through his son's blatant lie in a fraction of a second.
A double bento? It seemed his usually solitary son had finally managed to make a suitable friend at the academy. How wonderful. He would make sure tomorrow's lunch was extra hearty to properly celebrate the occasion.
After helping his father clear the table and tidy up the dishes, Kakashi moved to the sink to wash the remaining bowls. Once the kitchen was spotless, he turned back to Sakumo.
He held his hand out, asking for a few more of the advanced test papers.
"You already finished the papers I gave you yesterday?" Sakumo asked, genuinely surprised.
"One of them is finished, but just one isn't nearly enough. Prepare more for me." Kakashi reached into his bag, pulled out the completed paper, and spread it flat on the wooden table. "I asked the principal to look it over; it's all correct."
This time, Sakumo was truly taken aback. He wouldn't have been overly surprised if his prodigy son had managed to solve a few of the problems, but getting a perfect score on the entire sheet was simply excessive. Some of those theoretical questions touched upon advanced concepts that were completely outside of Kakashi's current blind spots.
However, the moment Sakumo leaned in and actually looked at the paper, his surprise vanished. The neat, precise handwriting filling the answer blocks definitely didn't belong to Kakashi.
Instead, Kakashi's familiar scrawl was relegated to the margins, where he had made extensive annotations and written down his own personal reflections on the solved formulas. Sakumo slowly shifted his gaze toward his son.
Sensing the silent question, Kakashi proactively explained.
"My desk mate, A-Mu, did this. It's all correct. She also took the time to explain the ones I couldn't figure out on my own."
Sakumo's eyes softened. So, the request for the double bento was directly related to this 'A-Mu'. To be able to perfectly solve such complex, high-level theory papers at her age, she had to be an incredibly excellent person. It was no wonder she had managed to attract Kakashi's attention and respect.
"Then Kakashi, make sure you get along well with your new desk mate," Sakumo advised with a warm smile. "If you have time in the future, bring her by the ramen shop. I'll treat her to a bowl."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kakashi muttered, looking away. "Just give me the new papers first."
The very next day, during the quiet lunch hour, Stelle was presented with a brand-new test paper. Kakashi had already attempted to solve it himself, resulting in a messy mix of right and wrong answers.
This time, Stelle was incredibly restrained while explaining the corrections. She kept her hands firmly to herself, desperately reining in the flamboyant, teacher-like attitude that had slipped out yesterday.
Once she finally finished her thorough explanation, Kakashi reached into his bag. Instead of a single rice ball, he pulled out a massive, beautifully wrapped lunch box and pushed it onto her lap.
Stelle opened the lid. It was an incredibly hearty, two-tiered bento box, absolutely packed to the brim with perfectly cooked meat, fresh vegetables, and glazed fish.
Uh... she had made a terrible miscalculation. She really shouldn't have secretly eaten three meat buns in the bathroom beforehand.
Kakashi, completely unaware of her internal crisis, hadn't expected that simply asking his dad to prepare an extra bento would result in something quite this extravagant. He quickly offered a lame, transparent excuse.
"Guests came over to the house last night, so we made way too much food."
Stelle lowered her head halfway, her voice trembling slightly. "I actually... I'm really not hungry..."
As her desk mate, Kakashi had already developed a somewhat accurate understanding of her personality. When she started acting hesitant and timid like this, there was no need to waste time arguing. He just needed to be a bit firm, and this overly timid desk mate of his would immediately comply.
He narrowed his eye and sharpened his tone into a strict command. "Eat!"
Stelle flinched. "Oh... okay..."
Holding the massive, heavy lunch box in her lap, Stelle's eyes welled up with genuine, unfeigned tears. Maintaining this 'pitiful little bun' persona was getting way too hard!
Kakashi was her absolute nemesis.
Staring down at the mountain of food, she swore to the heavens that she would never, ever eat lunch in secret again. At this rate, she was going to eat until her stomach literally burst.
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