The Moon Is Beautiful Tonight

"Kakashi-senpai, looking at you like this, I'm starting to wonder if that Obito Uchiha is your lover?"

Dōmeki stroked his chin, looking at the other person's haggard appearance, and naturally spoke up.

"Obito is a man, lover my ass!"

Kakashi Hatake's deadpan eyes immediately seemed to spit fire; he couldn't understand why this brat could always so easily provoke his anger.

"Eh? Senior, you're not worried that I'll discriminate against you, are you? You're completely overthinking it!"

"Although I have a 'good' relationship with your three disciples, you don't need to worry about me saying anything inappropriate!"

Dōmeki waved his hand with a sharp look in his eyes, but quietly took a step back.

(ꐦÒ‸Ó)

Enraged, Kakashi stepped forward and grabbed the boy by the collar. "You bastard, why are you backing away?"

"This is a natural reaction. Although I don't discriminate against seniors, I must make it clear to you that my preference is for women!"

"There's absolutely no way we can be together!"

Dōmeki tilted his body to the side, trying to get as far away from Kakashi as possible, who was standing right next to him.

"Why are you blushing? My taste is also in women!"

Kakashi's loud shouts immediately attracted the attention of many customers in the ramen shop.

"That's hard to say. At your age, you're clearly handsome, powerful, and a total 'tall, rich, and handsome' type, yet you're still single. It's suspicious no matter how you look at it!"

Dōmeki immediately widened his eyes and pointed his finger at Kakashi.

"New machine, wow, Izmo, so many times!"

"Or how about you start dating Miss Ayame? They'd be a perfect match!"

Just then, Ayame stormed over and berated two difficult customers. One of them had gone to the ramen shop to eat watermelon, while the other was loudly declaring in the shop that he liked women. They were all a bunch of bastards!

But upon hearing the boy's words, Ms. Ayame's face immediately turned crimson. Having had the good fortune to see Kakashi Hatake's true face once, she was already a little fangirl.

However, after stealing a glance at Kakashi, who still had a deadpan expression, Ayame sadly turned and ran away.

"Tsk! The moonlight is so beautiful tonight, yet you're so oblivious to romance!"

Dōmeki looked at the night scene outside the shop and sighed with great melancholy.

"Someone like me doesn't deserve happiness!"

Kakashi Hatake, showing no mercy, looked melancholy, but his expression immediately turned serious a moment later.

"Young man, you know perfectly well what I'm going to ask, don't you?"

"Back in Kirigakure, the mastermind behind the Fourth Mizukage —I remember you clearly identified him Uchiha!"

Kakashi stared intently at the red-haired boy. Although the boy was a good friend of Kakashi's, the mystery surrounding him remained completely unshaken.

"Alright, out of respect for you, senior, I'll tell you some secret information!"

Dōmeki broke free from Kakashi's grasp and also became serious.

"According to information from one of my teachers, whose name I can't reveal, the Uchiha who controlled Kirigakure is a super missing-nin member known as 'Akatsuki'!"

"Dawn?"

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He had been traveling the Shinobi World for many years but had never heard of this organization before, and he could tell from the boy's tone that the Akatsuki.

"That's right. It's said that every member of each organization is an S-rank missing-nin from their respective ninja villages!"

"And that Uchiha only has one right eye for some reason, and..."

"And what?" Kakashi pressed urgently, his ominous feeling growing stronger!

"Moreover, he seems to utterly loathe Kirigakure —no, to be more precise, he hates it!"

"They resolutely implemented the indiscriminate mutual slaughter policy of the Bloody Mist Village. I wonder who that Uchiha was who died at the hands of Kirigakure."

Kakashi's face gradually lost its color as Dōmeki spoke, until it became as pale as a lifeless ghost!

"Hate for Kirigakure... the one-eyed Uchiha... Obito!!!"

Kakashi confirmed that it was a wish he had never even dared to dream of before.

Dōmeki glanced at a few underlings who were quietly approaching, and then uttered another earth-shattering secret.

"If you're interested in verifying this, I've heard that the Itachi who wiped out his clan... is also in Akatsuki!"

The Konoha Konoha 12 had gone through a tough battle, were having Ichiraku Ramen. Although they had won and lost against each other in the selection battle, they had formed a camaraderie on the battlefield. Although none of them were particularly sociable, they managed to get through this gathering, except for Rock Lee was unfortunately absent due to being in the hospital.

"Wide Forehead, although I lost to you today, I won't admit defeat when it comes to winning over handsome guys!"

Ino Yamanaka took a big gulp of juice and shouted loudly at Sakura.

"Ino Pig! You!"

The two girls, who could be described as either best friends or rivals, immediately started fighting.

The other cockroaches also indulged their own nature. Some ate bowl after bowl of food with gusto, while others sipped their tea like retired old men, and still others casually fed their dogs.

The timid girl secretly stared at her brother and the boy she secretly admired, wanting to speak to them but unable to utter a word.

The two girls, who were being watched by the girl, exchanged fierce, defiant glances in mid-air.

"Oh, isn't that Kakashi-sensei and that Dōmeki?"

Shino stood up, holding the juice, and looked at the rather eye-catching duo with surprise.

"Shino, when did you get here?"

Naruto stared wide-eyed at his friend, as if Shino had teleported to his side. The other Konoha members also turned to look.

"I've been here since the beginning of the party! I'm really sorry for having such a low profile!"

Shino Aburame felt increasingly tense as she noticed even her two classmates looking at her with surprise.

"That's not the important thing right now!" Naruto Uzumaki waved his hand dismissively. "Looking at Kakashi-sensei's unprecedented expression, I'm certain there's something going on between them."

"Shikamaru, what do you think?"

Shikamaru Nara pushed up his glasses and said in a low voice.

I suspect there's something fishy about this!

Driven by their curiosity, the group quietly approached the two who were engaged in passionate conversation.

I kept hearing phrases like "handsome guy" and "perfect couple."

Ino asked Sakura curiously, "What does Kakashi-sensei really look like?"

"Huh? Always covering half his face, I bet Kakashi-sensei must have sausage lips and buck teeth!"

Sakura said confidently.

Sasuke, who was shaking his head and preparing to leave, was drawn to the Uchiha!

He saw Dōmeki smile at him and suddenly remembered his self-proclaimed title of "information expert"!