Utatane Koharu and Asuma

"I can say that nothing happened between us and that I'm still pure, can't I?!" Looking at the shameless Kakashi and Guy, Hikari decided to argue for his innocence.

Might Guy nodded with a look of agreement. "Don't worry. No one said your innocence was fake."

Kakashi sat up as well, his eyes gleaming as he looked at him. "Hikari, Guy told me who you are. I've collected every single one of your masterpieces. When will the next one be out?"

He was urging him to update.

"It's not that I don't want to update. It's just that I haven't had any inspiration lately, you know?" Hikari casually came up with an excuse.

Inspiration was something that simply did not exist for him.

Having debuted with a book called 'Young Bai Jie,' he had quite a few classic stories stored away in his head.

It was just that Hikari himself was rather lazy. He generally kept the same update schedule as Jiraiya, joining in whenever there was excitement and taking the opportunity to compete with him for a bit of fame.

Later, there was no longer any need for that. As Holy Light, the only author in the ninja world capable of rivaling Jiraiya, Hikari could guarantee that whenever one of his works came out, people would rush to snatch it up.

But by then, he had already made enough money and no longer had much motivation to write.

Naturally, the matter kept being put off.

"Fine." Kakashi still found it quite regrettable.

Originally, Jiraiya had been the only master he acknowledged. Now that Hikari had appeared, that meant double the happiness.

As a single older man, this was the kind of happiness ordinary people could never enjoy.

"My body has mostly recovered, so it's time for me to return to work. Honestly, lying here has felt pretty great." Kakashi smiled and rubbed his head. In the hospital, he had felt a long-lost sense of ease.

"Come to think of it, where are your lousy disciples? Why haven't they come to see you?" Hikari asked curiously.

Kakashi did not need to answer. Might Guy, standing nearby, answered for him.

"Naruto is training with Lord Jiraiya, while Sasuke is practicing Chidori on his own. As for Sakura and Tenten, they're studying the Healing Technique at the hospital! I heard it was Lady Tsunade's idea. She wants to find someone among the younger generation to inherit her legacy. Hinata, Kurenai's student, and Ino, Asuma's student, are both there too."

"I see. I really didn't know. Matters only the Hokage can get involved in are better left alone by a small fry like me," Hikari explained.

He could hardly say that being in the office was even easier than guarding the gate, and that he spent every day slacking off while living a truly comfortable life.

A person had to keep a low profile.

Never flaunt your wealth—those were the truths of life.

"Then you two stay here. I'll head back to work first."

"Take care!" Might Guy walked Hikari to the stairwell before returning.

Kakashi Hatake got out of bed and walked to the window, looking outside.

"Guy, how much do you know about Hikari?"

Guy scratched his head and looked at Kakashi in confusion. "Well, aside from being a little weak, he's quite enthusiastic. He's Kotetsu Hagane's younger brother, and he spends most of his time guarding the gatehouse. I often see him when I go out for morning training."

"You won't be seeing him lately. Lady Tsunade transferred him to the Hokage Building."

"Is there a problem?"

Might Guy trusted Kakashi instinctively.

The two of them were old friends, able to talk about anything and everything.

Kakashi frowned. He recalled the layer of white mist shrouding Hikari when he had first regained consciousness, as seen through his left eye.

At first, he had thought it was merely an illusion caused by just waking up. But as time passed, he increasingly felt that something was wrong.

This eye could even clearly see Tsunade's Chakra, so why did it fail when it came to Hikari?

Something had to be off.

Yet Hikari's identity could withstand scrutiny, and his post was guarding the gate. If he were a spy from another village, the information he could gather there would not even compare to what he could discover by wandering around the village.

"It's nothing. I was just feeling sentimental. I never expected someone like Hikari, a writer, to emerge from our classes."

The Sarutobi Clan.

Asuma looked at Utatane Koharu, who had appeared before him, with puzzlement in his eyes.

"Lady Koharu, what brings you here?"

Utatane Koharu looked at Asuma with a smile. "I came to give you a reminder, so that one day you won't die without even knowing how you died."

Asuma blinked, looking confused.

"Lady Koharu, I'm a jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, and I'm in the village now. Who could possibly harm me here?"

"If that's truly what you think, then I have nothing more to say! Pretend you never saw me today." Utatane Koharu was a woman of few words and decisive action. She turned to leave immediately, leaving Asuma standing there.

Watching Koharu's retreating back, Asuma felt his heartbeat become unstable. For a jonin like him, that was rare.

Could this be... love?

Shaking his head, Asuma tried hard to clear his mind. This was Utatane Koharu, an old fool. The person he liked was Kurenai Yuhi. Don't get your thoughts tangled up—damn it, don't mix things up.

"Lady Koharu, please wait. It's windy outside. Let's speak indoors." In the end, Asuma decided to hear what Utatane Koharu had to say.

Utatane Koharu said nothing further. After looking around, she entered Asuma's private room.

One old and one young, the two sat facing each other.

Utatane Koharu got straight to the point. "Asuma, have you noticed any changes around you lately?"

Asuma nodded. "Back when my old man was Hokage, there were more people flattering me. Now that he's dead, those people are naturally gone."

"What else?" Utatane Koharu pressed.

She needed to see what Asuma had noticed so she could fool him from that angle.

"There don't seem to be any other changes. Maybe the Sarutobi Clan has been taking on a few more missions, but isn't that normal? They took missions before too. Other than that, I don't think there's anything else."

Utatane Koharu smiled happily.

She knew Asuma would not notice so many things.

"Haven't you noticed that the Ino-Shika-Cho families are no longer as warm toward you?"

Asuma frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't felt anything."

"Still refusing to admit it, huh?" Utatane Koharu had found a breakthrough, and she became considerably happier.

"Everyone knows the Ino-Shika-Cho families are the Hokage's trusted forces. Hiruzen originally brought you in and even made you the teacher of this generation's Ino-Shika-Cho. His intentions were obvious. We old folks all agreed to it as well."

"But no one expected that bastard Orochimaru to kill Hiruzen during the Chunin Exams, turning all his preparations into nothing."

Hearing this, Asuma's heart could not help but tremble.

If he had not misunderstood, Utatane Koharu was implying that she wanted him to become Hokage.

This was the Hokage!