My Father...

After sending Orochimaru away, Danzo got down to business.

He summoned a subordinate and asked whether the Uchiha had made any unusual moves.

On that point, he and Hiruzen had thought alike.

Once he confirmed that Fugaku Uchiha was genuinely investigating the matter, Danzo's impression of him changed somewhat.

What a textbook appeaser Uchiha. It looked like some appropriately heavy-handed policies could be adopted.

Danzo stroked his chin, scheming to himself.

"If I ever come out to play with you again, I'm a damn grandson!"

Lying flat on the ground, Obito closed his eyes. He looked utterly resigned to being mocked and did not want to move at all.

"Phew, phew... Obito, y-you... you're way too pathetic..." Kazashiro was doing relatively well beside him, merely bracing himself against his legs as he gasped for breath.

Only Kakashi looked calm and composed, as though he had not just climbed halfway up the mountain and back down using one arm.

He was freaking four?!

Kazashiro looked at his uncontrollably trembling arm, then at Kakashi, who looked as though nothing had happened. He could only blame all this absurdity on omnipotent Chakra.

"Why did a plan to go have fun turn into training in the end?!" Obito laboriously rolled over, found himself uncomfortable, then rolled back, complaining all the while.

"Didn't you say you wanted to compete? Climbing a mountain is a competition too, isn't it?" Kakashi put on a smug expression, shoved both hands into his pockets, and walked over to Obito.

In the three-way one-armed mountain-climbing contest, Kazashiro came in dead last. The moment his arm began to ache, he declared defeat. Obito alone had a stubborn refusal to lose. He gritted his teeth and kept climbing, nearly falling when he ran out of strength. Kazashiro had blocked him with his body, preventing Obito from dying young.

"Besides, if you don't work hard now, you might not even pass the Ninja Academy assessment, Obito." As though he had thought of something, Kakashi suddenly bent down and looked at Obito with disdain.

"You..." Obito really wanted to punch Kakashi in the face, but he could barely even turn over right now. There was no way he had the strength to fight Kakashi, so he could only try to kill him with his glare.

"By the way, Kazashiro didn't make it up either. He slipped away before even reaching halfway. Why aren't you mocking him?" Unable to bear the ridicule any longer, Obito suddenly remembered Kazashiro beside him and struggled to raise a hand to point at him.

Kakashi froze at that, and Kazashiro did too.

The two exchanged an awkward glance. A moment later, Kakashi cleared his throat, took the initiative to look away, and asked Obito a fatal question. "Do you think he won't get into the Ninja Academy?"

Obito fell silent.

Kazashiro fell even more silent.

That was right. No matter how weak he was, there was no way he would fail to get into the Ninja Academy.

When it came time for others to assess him, all he had to say was, "My father is Shimura Danzō," and his admission would be guaranteed, okay?

Obito also grasped the key point and glared at the two of them indignantly. "You evil second-generation ninja brats!"

After resting for a while longer, Obito finally had the strength to stand, though he still could not walk normally.

As the sky grew darker, the other two had no choice but to support Obito back to the streets of Konoha.

"Did you have fun, Kakashi?" Sakumo, waiting at their agreed meeting place, was briefly stunned when he saw Obito. Then he stepped forward to support him and greeted Kakashi.

"Well, it was all right, if not for these two burdens." Kakashi let go and handed Obito over to Sakumo.

"Uncle Sakumo." Kazashiro politely greeted Sakumo.

Sakumo nodded in return, then crouched down to examine Obito's injuries.

"The swelling on his face has gone down. The rest is muscle strain from overtraining. A night's rest should more or less take care of it." Only after seeing that Obito was all right did Sakumo stand, preparing to take him back to the Uchiha compound.

"Dad..." Hearing that Sakumo intended to personally go to the Uchiha compound, Kakashi frowned and prepared to explain what had happened today.

But Sakumo gently patted Kakashi's head and nodded with a smile. "I know, Kakashi. The Third Hokage already told me about what happened today. It was just children fooling around."

Seeing that Sakumo already knew the reason, Kakashi said no more. The group chatted and laughed as they brought Obito to the outskirts of the Uchiha compound.

At this time, Konoha had not yet suffered the Nine-Tails' disaster, so the Uchiha compound was not too far from Konoha's center. It was merely somewhat more secluded than the other Ninja Clans, with no neighbors around. Only the Military Police Force headquarters and a prison stood beside the compound.

"Lord Sakumo." The two Military Police Force members standing guard at the entrance straightened when they saw Sakumo.

"I'm bringing this child home." Sakumo pointed at Obito beside him.

"Please leave him to me." Not intending to let Sakumo enter the compound, one of the Military Police Force members stepped forward and took Obito from him.

Sakumo did not insist. He promptly released his hold and watched as Obito was led into the compound.

"L-let's play together again tomorrow?" Obito suddenly turned his head, laboriously raised an arm, and tentatively bid them farewell.

Kakashi turned his head away and did not look at Obito. Only Kazashiro smiled and raised his hand in reply. "Sure. Same place, then."

"Mm, mm!" Obito visibly brightened at the response, while the surrounding Military Police Force members alone looked somewhat grim.

Next...

As the only adult present—at least on the surface—Sakumo still needed to escort the "all-alone" Kazashiro home.

Even though Konoha had excellent public safety, even though they had already sent Obito off, even though Konoha's number one kidnapper was Danzo himself, even though there were probably two squads of Root ninja nearby...

Amid Kakashi's disdainful sounds, Sakumo took Kazashiro's hand and prepared to escort him home.

"Uncle Sakumo, you seem pretty free lately. Don't you need to do ANBU missions anymore?" Seeing that Sakumo actually had time to take him home, Kazashiro asked curiously.

"F-free..." Sakumo stopped in his tracks, clearly choked by Kazashiro's words.

"Well, Kazashiro, I'm actually no longer an ANBU member." Sakumo gave Kazashiro a complicated look, sighed, and explained.

"The Third Hokage has already removed me from the ANBU ranks. Now, I'm just an ordinary jonin of Konoha. Mm, and an ordinary father." Sakumo glanced at Kakashi beside him as he added that last part.

An ordinary jonin?

If Konoha's White Fang, whose reputation overshadowed even the Three Sannin, was an ordinary jonin, then wouldn't that old bastard Danzo be an ordinary old man of Konoha, and the Third Hokage an ordinary village chief of Konoha?

"Who knew that, despite those thick brows and big eyes, Uncle Sakumo, you're pretty good at humblebragging too." Kazashiro could not help but remark.