At dawn the next day, as the first light filtered through the thin clouds, it gently spilled across the land.
Nara Luling opened her eyes early, sprang out of bed, and quickly got dressed. Then she went to the washbasin and splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up completely.
Once she was ready, Nara Luling eagerly raced toward Kakashi's home.
She hurried along, as if an important task were waiting for her.
Before long, Nara Luling reached Kakashi's door. She stood outside and took a moment to steady her slightly ragged breathing.
She hesitated for a moment, but finally gathered her courage, raised her hand, and gently knocked on the closed door.
Her fingers had barely touched the door before the knock rang out, especially clear in the quiet morning.
The door to Kakashi's home trembled under the slightly hurried knocking, answering with a series of deep, solid thuds.
Nara Luling stood quietly outside, feeling uneasy.
She didn't know whether Kakashi was awake yet, or whether he would be annoyed that she had come by so early.
As Nara Luling's thoughts ran wild, she finally heard faint footsteps inside.
They came closer, growing clearer. Then came a creak as Kakashi's front door slowly opened.
The first thing Nara Luling saw was Kakashi's face, a little weary but still strikingly handsome.
"Oh? It's you, Luling! What brings you here so early? Is something the matter?"
Kakashi sounded surprised and puzzled. Nara Luling's sudden visit had clearly caught him completely off guard.
Nara Luling drew a deep breath and slowly let it out, as though that might help suppress the tumult of emotions within her.
But her trembling hands and tightly pressed lips still betrayed how she truly felt. Deep inside, her emotions churned like a storm-tossed sea, raging without pause.
"Um... Kakashi, I wanted to ask you something about Lord Shi Xiu. Do you have a moment?"
After working up the courage to say it, Nara Luling lowered her head, unable to meet his eyes.
Kakashi was briefly taken aback. Then his gaze settled on Nara Luling's tense expression.
Years of keen observation and an instinct for reading people's emotions let him quickly guess what she wanted to ask.
After a brief hesitation, Kakashi stepped aside and gestured toward the doorway.
"Come in, Luling. We can sit down and talk about it." With that, he turned and walked into the house.
Nara Luling followed closely behind him. Each step felt as light and insubstantial as if she were walking on cotton.
Her heart, already lodged in her throat, pounded even harder.
Warm sunlight poured through the half-open curtains, laying patches of mottled light across the wooden floor.
The patches swayed gently in the breeze, like a painting that was alive.
Nara Luling stopped by a window and, feeling awkward, took a seat nearby.
From time to time, she glanced outside, but her gaze was vacant. The lively scene beyond the window couldn't stir the slightest interest in her.
In truth, all her attention was fixed on the conversation that was about to begin.
Seeing this, Kakashi silently went to the tea table, picked up the teapot, and poured Nara Luling a steaming cup of fragrant tea.
He set the cup gently in front of her, then returned to the comfortable sofa opposite and sat down.
Kakashi casually folded his arms across his chest, relaxed yet attentive, and quietly watched Nara Luling, patiently waiting for her to break the silence.
"Actually..." Nara Luling's voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
Still, she bit her lip and tried her best to make her words sound stronger.
"I think I've fallen for Lord Shi Xiu, but I'm afraid his heart already belongs to someone else. Yesterday, when Lord Shi Xiu went to the border on a mission, he took you along. So I wanted to ask about Lord Shi Xiu and Reina..."
Kakashi nodded, looking as though he'd expected as much.
He might have been slow to pick up on matters of the heart, but that didn't mean he knew nothing about them.
Looking into Nara Luling's bright, lively eyes, Kakashi asked softly, "So you're worried that Lord Shi Xiu and Reina, the woman from the Border Guard, might end up together?"
At those words, Nara Luling leaned forward involuntarily, as if she wanted to move closer to Kakashi.
Her pale hands clutched at her pants, her knuckles whitening with tension.
At the same time, she pressed her long, slender legs tightly together, as if doing so might make her feel a little more at ease.
Kakashi noticed every small reaction and silently considered what to say.
After a moment, he finally replied, "Well... Reina is indeed in love with Lord Shi Xiu. After we completed the mission yesterday, the Border Guard's captain, Heimu Wu, specifically passed her feelings on to Shi Xiu."
When Nara Luling heard this, the little color left in her already pale face drained away, leaving her as white as paper.
Her lips parted, but for a long moment she couldn't say a word. She seemed frozen in place.
Suddenly, Nara Luling's body began to tremble, as if an invisible force had struck her hard.
Tears glimmered in her clear, beautiful eyes, like stars in the night sky, yet filled with sorrow and heartbreak.
Her lips quivered as if she had a thousand things to say. But in the end, the words she hadn't spoken faded like smoke into the air, leaving only a soft sigh.
Then Nara Luling gave a quiet nod to show she understood.
"Thank you, Kakashi. I understand." With those soft, bitter words, Nara Luling slowly stood, ready to leave.
Kakashi was taken aback. He hadn't said that Lord Shi Xiu had agreed to anything, had he?
Though he didn't understand what was going on, he stood up and said, "Wait. Lord Shi Xiu didn't accept Reina's feelings. I heard it myself yesterday while hiding in a tree nearby."
That was right. Kakashi hadn't left at the time. He had hidden where Shi Xiu couldn't see him and eavesdropped. Shi Xiu probably knew he was there, but since he hadn't said anything, Kakashi had simply pretended not to know.
When Nara Luling learned that Shi Xiu hadn't accepted Reina's feelings, she came back to life. Her hopes might be slim, but at least there was still hope.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Shi Xiu found Obito and asked him about the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki—the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.