A Skewer of Long-Awaited Dumplings

"If you'd been one minute later, you'd have died..."

Kakashi Hatake lay on the bed, staring blankly at the empty ceiling with lifeless eyes, lost in thought. Yet the first words he had heard upon waking still echoed in his ears.

"One minute..."

"It really was so long..."

Whenever he was alone, he always sank into silence. He had long grown used to this silence within loneliness.

"Ding-ding-ding..." The hospital room's doorbell suddenly rang.

Like a boneless lump of rotten flesh, Kakashi Hatake heard the doorbell ringing incessantly. He slightly turned his head and numbly looked toward the door, but did not move at all.

"Kakashi! Open up!"

Obito Uchiha kept pounding on the hospital room door, anger written across his face.

"I know you're in there! Rin and I came to see you!"

"Xu came too!"

As though he had heard something worth caring about, Kakashi Hatake slightly regained his senses. He slowly got out of bed and opened the door.

He did not look at Obito Uchiha or Rin Nohara. He merely glanced at Kato Xu before silently returning to his bed.

"Kakashi! It's already been a month! Isn't it time you pulled yourself together?!"

"You were only almost killed! It's not like you haven't..."

Seeing Kakashi Hatake like this, Obito Uchiha could not help shouting. Rin Nohara looked at Kakashi Hatake's still-pale face and tugged at Obito Uchiha's arm. Obito Uchiha gave a light snort and turned his head away, refusing to look at Kakashi Hatake.

"Well, what a pity..."

"Some people have been lying in a hospital bed for so long that they probably have no idea what the three of us have been through lately..."

No one responded to Obito Uchiha's words. Kakashi Hatake thought of the news that had recently spread and slightly turned his gaze, quietly watching the seemingly harmless youth before him—the one faintly bearing the title Blue Asura, who had recently risen to fame and begun to be called a genius.

"Are you blaming me for saving you?"

Kato Xu looked at the deathly still Kakashi Hatake and could not help sneering. He roughly understood Kakashi Hatake's state of mind, but understanding did not mean agreeing. In his eyes, this was nothing more than running away.

He hated running away, and he hated those who ran away.

"Before I ever met you, someone mentioned you to me. The son of Konoha's White Fang, the genius ninja Kakashi Hatake..."

The mention of White Fang's name seemed to displease Kakashi Hatake. His hands involuntarily clenched the white bedsheets, and his gaze at Kato Xu sharpened.

"Don't mention that man's name!"

Kakashi Hatake stared at Kato Xu, his eyes growing colder and colder.

"Why not? A pitiful wretch just like you, capable only of waiting humbly in a corner for death..."

"Xu! Stop it! You're going too far!"

Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha had not expected the two to clash so sharply the moment they met. Even Kato Xu, who normally remained silent, had suddenly said such things.

They knew about White Fang as well, but Kato Xu's words made them frown deeply.

"Don't insult him!"

Before Rin Nohara could stop Kato Xu from continuing, Kakashi Hatake vanished from the bed in an instant. A hand crackling with lightning suddenly appeared before Kato Xu, and a piercing roar thundered through the room.

Kato Xu vanished, and the violent lightning-nature chakra slammed into the wall behind him. Under the fierce lightning blast, the sturdy wall formed by Earth Release collapsed with a boom.

"Do you know what a coward's greatest talent is?"

"Meek before outsiders, but merciless toward those close to them..."

"Unable to face external hardships and choosing to flee from difficult decisions, yet venting their anger and darkness on those around them."

"Are you begging for other people's sympathy and pity? Are you standing there waiting for death, hoping someone else will come save you?"

"Aren't you just a coward?"

Having evaded Kakashi Hatake's Raikiri, Kato Xu slowly appeared on the windowsill. His gaze was cold as he narrowed his eyes at Kakashi Hatake's lightning-wreathed hand.

"If it hadn't been for me, you'd be lying beneath the Memorial Stone with your father, Konoha's White Fang..."

Kakashi Hatake slowly withdrew the lightning from his hand and clenched his fist. His indifferent eyes carried a coldness that seemed eternal and unchanging.

"I didn't need you to save me, you scheming bastard..."

"Xu, stop talking!"

Rin Nohara looked at Kato Xu with a hint of anger. Kato Xu ignored her and snorted. He did not think there was anything wrong with what he had said.

People died every day in the Shinobi World, but White Fang was the only top-tier expert who had committed suicide.

Perhaps it had been because of some so-called choice, perhaps because his faith had collapsed—because the Konoha he had protected his entire life was supposedly so dark—but for a strong man to be so fragile inside was truly laughable.

Without the courage to crawl humbly through darkness in search of light, what kind of warrior was he worth respecting?

He had merely been a coward blessed with great talent who had risen to fame at the right time.

There were only strong men who died in battle, never warriors who killed themselves!

Kato Xu glanced at Kakashi Hatake. Seeing his deathly appearance, he could roughly understand that the wound White Fang had left in Kakashi Hatake's heart was likely more painful than letting him live.

Even if White Fang had defected from Konoha, caused a huge scene, or hidden away while waiting for the right opportunity, any choice would have been better than letting Kakashi Hatake suffer like this and become so gloomy.

Only that so-called suicide to prove his convictions had been truly foolish. It had played right into Danzo's hands. The enemy would only trample over his corpse, toy with his son, and perhaps even laugh out loud.

He knew all of this had been Danzo's scheme. What so-called choice? It had merely been a trick manipulated by the higher-ups. But Kakashi Hatake as he was now was just a rebellious hothead. If he learned the truth, he would probably charge into Root in a fit of rage to avenge his father.

In the end, all people would know was that some rogue ninja named Kakashi Hatake had been killed on the spot for some made-up reason, like stealing secrets.

"Maybe... he can still be useful..."

Kato Xu pondered silently and said no more.

Obito Uchiha, who stood in front of Kakashi Hatake, wore an expression of disbelief. The collapsed wall was covered in scorch marks, and the impact of the lightning had even caused cracks to slowly spread through the entire room.

His gaze slowly lifted from the rubble on the ground, and he looked at Kakashi Hatake with shocked, unfamiliar eyes—if Kato Xu had not dodged in time, Chidori would have killed him!

"Kakashi... were you... trying to kill Xu?"

Obito Uchiha's voice was heavy, and the atmosphere in the hospital room instantly seemed to freeze. Rin Nohara's gaze also fell upon Kakashi Hatake.

"Hmph..."

Kakashi Hatake did not want to explain anything to Obito Uchiha. No expression could be seen beneath his mask, but his indifferent gaze made Obito Uchiha understand what he meant.

"Kakashi..."

"Xu did go too far. Even I want to punch him hard in the face... but he's our teammate now, and he saved your life!"

Seeing Kakashi Hatake still looking gloomy and utterly unconcerned, the anger Obito Uchiha had been holding inside all this time finally erupted.

"Kakashi, you bastard, you're always like this..."

"Do you know... when Rin and I were in the hospital, we looked forward to seeing you every day, only to be disappointed every day... When we learned you still hadn't been discharged, do you know how worried Rin and I were..."

"Since back then... I can't even remember when it started.

The thing we looked forward to most every day, the thing we wished for most...

Was for you to appear before us with a smile on your face, even if you only brought a single skewer of dumplings, and softly say, 'Obito, Rin, good morning!'

Then we could be happy for the whole day..."

"But... never... Never..."

"You've always been like this, cold as though you were a block of ice that would never melt. Even a stone should have warmed up by now!

But... Rin's heart and mine are nearly frozen through... do you know that?!"

Obito Uchiha let out a long breath, and his voice gradually lowered, trembling with sorrow as he rambled on.

"We all understand that you're hurting. Your father died, and it dealt you a huge blow..."

"But are we doing so well?!"

"Rin is an orphan too. Her parents also died on a mission..."

"I've never even seen my parents..."

Obito Uchiha lowered his head, and a tear fell to the floor. The always sunny and passionate Obito Uchiha seemed to be speaking in such a sorrowful voice for the first time. A trace of complexity flashed through Kakashi Hatake's eyes.

"You're a genius. You're outstanding. Everyone likes you..."

"But why... why should we endure our own pain, only to keep accommodating you like this..."

"Kakashi! Have you ever shown even the slightest concern for Rin and me?!"

Obito Uchiha said nothing more, as though he had unleashed every emotion in his heart in a single instant. Rin Nohara silently watched him, wanting to say something, yet she too fell silent.

The cold wind still blew through the cracks and holes in the shattered room, brushing over the faces of the four of them. The remaining snowflakes drifted in the wind and landed on Obito Uchiha's face. The chill pierced through his skin and into his bones, aching without end...