Drunk, the Winds of the Shinobi World Begin to Blow

Uzuki Yugao clearly remembered that Naruto had instructed her beforehand to immediately protect Ino and Hinata if anything unusual happened in the village. Then... then nothing happened, but Rin Nohara was resurrected.

Although she was aware of this relationship, she didn't mention it.

Naruto once said that opportunity comes when the wind blows, is that what he meant? Does the wind only rise when the dead are brought back to life and day and night are reversed? She pondered, and then thought of Baki from Sunagakure, and her eyelids twitched involuntarily.

At the dinner table, Rin Nohara responded to the well-wishes from her friends by frequently raising her glass.

Might Guy was still the same as always, chatting and joking with Kakashi, livening up the atmosphere. Their friendship was truly enviable, pure and unadulterated, just simple good friends.

Downstairs.

When it came time to pay the bill, Neji remained honestly; the others had long since made excuses to slip away. Choji had gone out to sober up while Naruto was in the restroom, and hadn't returned an hour later.

Neji was very generous; he simply smiled, got up to pay the bill, and helped Kiba Inuzuka, who was really drunk, back home.

Choji, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba—these Konoha F4 members have more cunning than half the Konoha. They aren't short of money, but Naruto single-handedly dragged down the overall quality of the F4.

So much so that whenever they went to a dinner party, the F4 members would each use their unique talents and abilities.

Upstairs.

Kakashi paid the bill early and looked around to see that his friends had all left. Asuma and Kurenai were the first to leave; they had daughters to take care of at home and couldn't stay out too late. Next was Might Guy, who was doing his daily extra training without fail.

The others dispersed, leaving the two of them alone.

Rin Nohara's face was flushed, and she looked somewhat drunk and incoherent. Kakashi sighed and tried to shake her awake, only to find that she was truly intoxicated. Her neck was red, yet she kept insisting she wasn't drunk.

Although the idea of someone dying and coming back to life is somewhat eerie, it's always a good thing that someone is safe and sound. Especially since everyone knows how lonely Kakashi usually is and how profoundly his early experiences have affected him.

It's not so much that he's uninterested in real-life women, but rather that he has no expectations for the future. He's lost too much and doesn't want to have anything more, so he's simply choosing to live alone, avoiding everyone.

In this situation, Rin Nohara suddenly came back to life, and Kakashi was no longer alone.

It was quite late at night outside, and a light rain had started to fall.

Raindrops mingled with the lamplight under the streetlights, the misty rain making Konohagakure Street appear even darker. The street stretched seemingly endlessly ahead, the dim streetlights scattered here and there, and a red Fox-dog ran wildly through the rain.

Hmm? Wait a minute, is something weird mixed in?

Before Kakashi could get a good look, the street fell silent again. If he were alone, Kakashi would have already strolled into the rain, gotten soaked on his way back, taken a shower, and then gone to bed to read a book before finally falling asleep.

But now he's dragging along a drunk Rin Nohara, and he needs to figure out how to get her home. But it's raining, and where can he find an umbrella?

Just as he hesitated, he suddenly saw a figure rushing past. This time he saw it clearly. So he didn't freeze at that moment, but decisively called out to the blond-haired man running wildly in the rain.

"Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the darkened corner of the street.

On the dimly lit steps, he saw Kakashi supporting a limp person, and immediately realized that the person probably didn't have an umbrella. He had been busy chasing after that Nine-Tails brat and had drunk the fruit vinegar from his refrigerator.

Now, suddenly interrupted by Kakashi, he had no choice but to walk over awkwardly.

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't have an umbrella? I do, take it." He reached into his Sealing Space and pulled out an umbrella. Actually, he had a whole bunch of umbrellas stored in his Sealing Space, but he didn't take them out purely out of wisdom.

"Uh, yeah." Kakashi hesitated for a moment, and before he could say anything Naruto spoke for him.

And where did this umbrella come from?

He didn't dwell on it too much, with a drunk Rin Nohara lying beside him. Kakashi took the umbrella, thanked him, and hurriedly left, supporting Rin Nohara as they plunged into the deep night.

Naruto stood there, squinting as he watched the two figures disappear, a gossipy smile on his face.

The wind is picking up.

From the moment Obito Uchiha decided to revive Rin Nohara, the wheels of fate began to turn. The dead were brought back to life, Obito dug up graves, Kakashi couldn't remain uninvolved, and his Hokage Position teetered on the brink of collapse.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire has overstepped his bounds, and the nobles are eager to try their luck. Let them have their turn.

When Kakashi mentioned those people to him earlier, he knew that sooner or later he would clash with those nobles of the Land of Fire and even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Last time, he found a pretext and forcefully suppressed a rising star from the Land of Fire. It seemed satisfying, but in reality, it was just a case of everyone kicking someone when they're down.

The ten old noble families of the Land of Fire didn't just stand by and watch; they secretly communicated with the Daimyo. Naruto vented his anger, and the Four Great Noble Families divided the bodies of the newly risen nobles.

There's no justice being served; it's just a situation where everyone's happy.

Although the nobles were trying to curry favor with Naruto at that time, it was just their survival wisdom, not because they were truly afraid.

The Daimyo come and go, but the nobles remain; they don't want to make enemies with a madman. Even if they offend Naruto, they can kneel down openly, sincerely apologize, and offer compensation.

It's not that they are cultured; rather, in their eyes, face is not about kneeling or offering up one's wife and daughters. Face is about wealth, connections, and supreme power.

Behind Daimyo, which official in the Capital City of the Land of Fire doesn't have the shadow of one of the Four Great Noble Families? The martial world isn't just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and social interactions.

Naruto was someone they could appease, someone they wouldn't offend, and they'd agree to his conditions if possible. But this didn't stop them from expressing their dissatisfaction with Kakashi and trying to use him to interfere in Konohagakure's internal affairs.

To put it bluntly, nobles care about their reputation, but when the benefits are great enough, reputation becomes unimportant.

Naruto knew the nature of those nobles all too well. It was precisely because he knew how troublesome they were that he had kept that matter aside.

They were waiting for Kakashi to make a mistake, and Naruto was waiting for them to act. Their methods against the new elites last time were too crude; this time they needed to be more meticulous.

The night is somewhat dark.

Kakashi was unaware that his student had just watched him leave with a complicated expression, as he struggled to walk down the street, holding an umbrella in one hand and supporting Rin Nohara with the other.

After finally getting her home, he was stumped as he stood downstairs. He couldn't help her up the stairs; while Rin Nohara wasn't unable to walk, climbing stairs was clearly beyond her capabilities.

He helped her stand downstairs; the black umbrella wasn't large, just enough to shield them both. To avoid getting wet, Kakashi had to stay close to Rin Nohara.

Behind them lay a silent street, the surroundings utterly still, though the streetlights were more numerous than elsewhere. The Anbu had already spotted Kakashi, but immediately turned away, refusing to look.

The drizzle was still falling. Rin Nohara groaned twice, her eyelids fluttering open, as if she was about to wake up. Kakashi, seeing this, tried to wake her.

"Lin?"

"Hmm?" She weakly opened her eyes, stared at him for a while, then lowered her eyes and called out in a soft, indistinct voice, as if she had a glutinous rice ball in her mouth.

"Kakashi?"

"Lin, are you alright now? We need to go upstairs."

"Okay, don't worry about me, I can go up by myself." She said, and took a step, but cried out and bumped into the wall.

Kakashi: "."

"Let me do it, don't move." Kakashi said, casually putting his hand under her armpits, pulling her back and carrying her on his back.

What should have been a simple act of carrying someone on one's back turned into a dawdling, unsteady movement of Rin Nohara's hands and feet, causing the two to linger on the stairs for ten minutes without ever finishing.

Until a door upstairs was finally pulled open with all its might, and a person came out whose appearance was unclear, but whose voice was filled with boundless resentment.

"What are you guys doing, whining and moaning like that for the middle of the night?"

"Sorry, we're leaving right away!" Kakashi dragged Rin Nohara upstairs sheepishly, then quickly closed the door.

With a click, the door was locked from the inside. Kakashi froze, glancing down at the lock before looking up at Rin Nohara.

Her face was flushed, and she reeked of alcohol. She was looking at Kakashi with a smug look on her face, as if to say, "How about that? Pretty good, huh?"

"Why did you lock it from the inside?" Kakashi was stunned.

"It's safe and sound," Rin Nohara said with a burp, sounding perfectly justified.

Kakashi thought to himself, "You're drunk. What do you mean by safety? That's completely irrelevant." Just as he was about to help Rin Nohara towards the sofa, he suddenly felt something soft and limp on top of him.

He was completely drunk and had no energy left.

With a slight sigh, Kakashi helped her to the sofa and wiped her face with a warm towel. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and took off her shoes.

Looking at the pink socks, he was at a loss for what to do. The living room was quiet, save for the drunken Rin Nohara lying on the sofa, her mouth open, making soft wheezing sounds.

A minute later, he reached down and touched the edge of the sock, easily pulling it off. He did the same with the other sock, but Rin Nohara didn't react at all.

He didn't know how to put it, but he had noticed that Obito had feelings for Rin Nohara before. At that time, he was still immersed in the shadow of his father's suicide and hadn't paid much attention to Rin.

Many things happened afterward. Looking back on his journey, Kakashi realized that his family and friends were all left behind, leaving him all alone.

Rin Nohara's sudden resurrection was, for him, the world's response to him. It seemed to pity his recurring nightmares, so it let Rin Nohara slip through its fingers and into his hands.

He didn't mean anything by it; he just hoped Rin Nohara wouldn't die. This vague feeling was tinged with a hint of possessiveness.

At least for now, he desperately wants to check on her safety every day, and he wants to know what Rin Nohara is doing every now and then.

In general, girls perceive this as a sign of caring. This intense emotion, no matter how excessive, will not be misunderstood.

Even if others misunderstand, Rin Nohara would never presume to think that Kakashi likes her.

The whole story begins with those socks.

The living room ceiling light was on, and Kakashi, holding a pair of small pink socks, stared blankly at the sleeping Rin Nohara for a while.

He wondered if he had gone too far. Was it really necessary to take off her socks? Was that something a boyfriend should do? Should he secretly put them back on for her?

Um... Doing this seems even more perverted. As for those socks... In an instant, Rin Nohara's pink short socks were like a hot potato to Kakashi.

During this time, Rin Nohara remained unconscious; under the light, her face looked as if it had been coated with honey. Her small mouth was slightly open, but the snoring had stopped.

Kakashi scratched his head, placed the pink socks on the edge of the sofa, then turned off the lights, left the living room, and closed the door.

Only after the door clicked shut, plunging the living room into complete darkness, did Rin Nohara, who was "sleeping" on the sofa, open her eyes. Her eyes darted around in the darkness, glistening with tears.

The next day.

Naruto woke up, still groggy from washing up. He was just about to open the window to catch a glimpse of the midday sun over Konohagakure before leaving...

Suddenly, a figure appeared before my eyes.

Uzuki Yugao landed silently on the windowsill, the two separated only by a floor-to-ceiling glass window. The Nikko outside the balcony was perfect, and the autumn colors were alluring.

She gently knocked on the glass window twice, her lips moving slightly as if to silently say "open."

With a whoosh, Naruto pulled open the French windows, and a warm breeze carrying the lingering fragrance of Uzuki Yugao wafted towards him. Naruto heart fluttered slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

He thought to himself that he would probably never be able to live a life of abstinence, and that he would never be able to live without it.

"What?" he asked, leaning to one side with his arms crossed.

"Kakashi is looking for you." Uzuki Yugao conveyed the message concisely as always.

"You're already the Anbu Captain, why are you still relaying messages to Kakashi Tenten? Don't you have any dignity?" Naruto chuckled and asked casually.

"You're used to it, aren't you?" she said, turning to leave, but then paused. "When you mentioned waiting for the wind to rise last time, was that about Rin Nohara?"

"I didn't say that." He shook his head immediately in denial. "I don't remember, maybe."

Uzuki Yugao wasn't angry at his ambiguous attitude; instead, she smiled.

"I understand, you must have misheard."

Uzuki Yugao left immediately, leaping a few steps to land on a rooftop. She moved nimbly, gazing at the distant Hokage Rock.

All she could think about was revenge. She never asked Naruto about resurrection, nor did she ask Rin Nohara if he had anything to do with it.

One should have self-awareness; she knew her abilities were limited and didn't think too much about it.

Under the Nikko, Kakashi's giant head was embedded behind the Fifth Hokage.

The wind was too strong; it's normal to mishear things. Naruto didn't admit it, which actually made her feel at ease; the world really was different now.

Rin Nohara has been resurrected, and a storm is brewing in the Shinobi World.