A gloomy night.
The Hokage's Office was pitch-black. At this hour, even the chickens and dogs in the village were asleep.
A figure quietly slipped into the archive vault, holding a dim flashlight as he searched shelf after shelf for something.
The vault was deathly silent, save for the sounds of him turning pages and unrolling scrolls.
"What are you looking for?"
A powerful beam suddenly shone over, making Kakashi squint reflexively at the blinding light.
The man stood behind the light source. Both his silhouette and voice unquestionably belonged to someone Kakashi knew very well.
"Kamado..."
Kakashi tightened his grip on the scroll.
Click.
The flashlight across from him switched off, easing the strain on Kakashi's eyes.
"Were you following me?"
Kakashi had remained on high alert the entire time, yet he had not noticed at all when the other man approached.
Kamado said impassively, "Your recent state and behavior have been far too suspicious."
Kakashi slowly closed the scroll. "I merely have something to investigate. It has nothing to do with you."
Kamado gave a cold snort. "Have you forgotten my position? How can you say something so ridiculous?"
He was directly under the Hokage's command in the Anbu and served as a personal guard. He had every right to arrest Kakashi for breaking into the archive vault like this.
"You're wasting your time. What you seek isn't here," Kamado added.
"You know what I'm investigating?" Kakashi frowned.
"I don't," Kamado said.
"But the things in an archive are meant to be seen. Any secret truly worth preserving would never be put into writing."
That was true, but precisely because what he was investigating was secret, he had to search these confidential files for traces of it.
Kakashi switched off his own flashlight as well, his gaze fixed