I lay in the open-air hot spring at the border cabin, surrounded by warm steam.
Morning sunlight fell on my face, and [Photosynthesis] cycled lazily through my body.
Unexpectedly, a faint crack suddenly sounded deep inside my head.
The Wood Clone I had left in Konoha had completely shattered into rotten bark.
A jumble of lingering memories came flooding in after it.
In those memories, Konoha's temporary Hokage's Office looked like a kennel.
Broken rubble, scraps of paper, and half-eaten apple cores littered the floor.
Kakashi sat on a wooden chair cobbled together from a broken one, his white hair sticking up.
Two huge, bluish dark circles hung beneath his dead-fish eyes.
He clutched a pencil with a broken tip, his wrist trembling nonstop.
"Sen! You goddamn wooden bastard! I hate your guts!"
His roar rang through the memory, making my temples buzz.
Documents were piled like a small mountain on the desk, with bits of debris spilling off them.
Shizune stood beside him holding a stack of battered scrolls, her face as white as flour.
"Lord Sixth, this is the budget for greening South Street. It needs your signature."
Kakashi snatched the document through gritted teeth, his hand shaking like a leaf.
"Fine! I'll sign! I've written my name so much I barely recognize it anymore!"
He scrawled a name across it, snapping the pencil tip clean off.
"Well, well. That's some grip you've got, Kakashi-sensei."
Lying in the water, I slapped its surface in delight, sending ripples spreading outward.
The hot spring was piping hot, soaking my skin rosy red. It felt wonderful.
A plate of sweet, fully ripened red grapes sat on the wooden tray beside me.
I picked one up, popped it into my mouth, and pushed a seed out with the tip of my tongue.