A Little Joke

The stream reflected the morning glow. Kingfishers skimmed the water's surface, and when the wind rose, ripples shimmered in the light.

"Rustle, rustle..."

Figures followed the rising sun across the treetops. Leaves fell, leaving circular ripples behind.

Konoha's morning carried a touch of freshness. Countless people had gathered outside the towering walls, craning their necks in anticipation.

In a corner of the crowd, a red-haired woman's eyes seemed full of expectation. Her body, which contained limitless strength, seemed to have lost control of its Chakra. She kept rising onto her toes, trying to see farther.

"Kushina... Didn't Minato already send you word? He'll be returning with the main force. The ones coming back early are all wounded..."

The black-haired woman beside her had gentle eyes and softly curved brows, her expression serene. Her smooth black hair was loosely pinned up, and her plain kimono carried an unhurried, elegant dignity.

"Mikoto... I know... I just couldn't help it... so I came over... What if something changes at the last minute... If Minato comes back early, I'll get to see him sooner..."

Kushina kept standing on tiptoe. Seeing how anxious she was, Mikoto Uchiha smiled faintly and teasingly said, "I heard that after a war ends, lots of people choose to marry the ones they love... Tell me, what if Minato comes back and proposes to you in front of everyone..."

"P-proposes???"

Kushina froze for a moment, then turned to stare blankly at Mikoto Uchiha. Her hands seemed to have nowhere to go. One moment they were behind her back, the next they were raised slightly, but she stammered without managing to say anything.

"I... get married... I'm getting married???"

Kushina, who was usually so carefree that she seemed never to know embarrassment, suddenly blushed as if she had thought of something.

Mikoto Uchiha could only catch fragments like "boy" and "name," and she covered her mouth as she burst into laughter.

"Little Itachi, when your sister's child is born, will you play with them?"

Kushina's emotions came quickly and left just as quickly. In what seemed like an instant, she had transformed from Minato's girlfriend into Minato's wife. She unconsciously reached over and stroked the head of the black-haired child beside her, who was six or seven years old.

That was Mikoto's child.

"Okay..."

The black-haired child had two deep lines beside his mouth, like a peculiar birthmark. His voice was clear, and there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes, but he seemed to speak very little. He merely answered softly and nodded.

"Itachi, no girl will like you if you can't talk..."

"I don't need that..."

Mikoto smiled and ruffled Itachi's hair. Then she frowned slightly. Itachi had been obedient and independent ever since he was little. He almost never asked her for anything. By all rights, a child like that should have been her pride, yet it also left her with almost none of the joy of being a mother.

He was even cold and rarely smiled, even at his parents. She did not know what she and Fugaku Uchiha had done wrong to make their child develop such a personality.

"They're here..." A sudden shout erupted from the crowd, and everyone's eyes focused on the ninja force slowly approaching them.

As Itachi watched the ninja force gradually draw closer in the distance, an indescribable light appeared in his eyes.

Cheers and sobs began to rise one after another. Along with the joy of victory, the first thing to arrive was often news of a loved one's death.

Perhaps the lively atmosphere made Itachi uncomfortable, or perhaps he had simply never experienced a scene like this before. Itachi Uchiha's face suddenly flushed slightly, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Mixed into the crowd, no one other than Mikoto Uchiha noticed that something was off about Itachi's expression—it looked no different from anyone else's around him.

"Itachi, you're so excited for once. Is it because you're about to see your father?"

Mikoto Uchiha's eyes brightened as well. So Itachi likes this kind of lively atmosphere... I should take him to more gatherings in the future. Maybe his personality will change...

"Mother, I want to go to war..."

"I need an answer..."

Mikoto Uchiha did not hear Itachi's quiet words afterward. The instant he said that he wanted to go to war, she could no longer hear anything else. An inexplicable pain instantly filled her heart.

In that first instant, she imagined Itachi being hurt in battle. Countless chaotic scenes flooded her mind, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around him, as though she would lose him the very next moment.

"No! I absolutely won't allow you to go!"

"At least... at least... You absolutely can't go now..."

A mother's natural instinct was to protect her child. Anyone who wanted to take her child from her hands was her greatest enemy.

"I understand..."

Itachi did not persist, but he knew that if he spoke to his father, Fugaku Uchiha would definitely agree.

There were questions troubling him, and he had to find someone who understood them.

Looking apologetically at his mother, Itachi rarely showed a faint smile, but no one saw it.

Lost in her own beautiful world of fantasy, Kushina no longer paid attention to the noisy crowd. Mikoto's words had filled her thoughts with confusion. It felt as though she suddenly had countless things to tell Minato, and she wished he were by her side right now.

She did not even notice when Mikoto Uchiha and Itachi left. She simply crouched there alone, scribbling and drawing while muttering endlessly to herself.

There were many clouds in the sky. Through the gaps between them, the sun shone warmly, making everyone feel comfortable from head to toe.

In the forest not far from Konoha, along the only route the advance team had to take, a boy's voice suddenly rang out.

"Rin, Kakashi, Osamu, we're almost at Konoha! We're going home!"

Obito's enthusiasm had always been so overflowing. Perhaps because Kakashi had unexpectedly brought him and Rin a skewer of sweet dumplings that morning, Obito seemed to be blooming all over. His entire body radiated bright energy, and he was even more passionate than usual.

"Yeah..."

Though Kakashi did not say much, he softly responded the instant Obito finished speaking.

The laughter Obito had been holding back finally burst free. He abruptly stopped on a tree, sprawled across a branch, clutched his stomach, and doubled over with laughter.

"Kakashi... Hahaha... I... Hahaha..."

Those broken words made Kakashi's face turn red at once. He recalled sneaking two skewers of dumplings out from behind his back with trembling hands, and the surprised looks in Obito and Rin's eyes as they desperately held back their laughter.

At that moment, he felt that he needed a hole stretching deep into the earth, a place where no one could find him. Only by hiding there, covering his burning face, lying on the ground and kicking his legs as he rolled around endlessly could he dispel the embarrassment surging through his heart.

"Obito... Don't make fun of Kakashi..."

Rin covered her mouth and secretly laughed as she tried to scold Obito, but she was utterly unconvincing.

"There won't... be any more..."

Kakashi's voice carried more than a hint of guilt, but he still leaped away and vanished into the forest in an instant, his feet moving as quickly as though he were fleeing.

"Hey! Kakashi... I meant the dumplings were sweet! I really liked them!"

Obito jumped into the forest after Kakashi, leaving only Rin and Kato Osamu behind.

Rin looked at Kato Osamu apologetically. She could naturally see that Kakashi still held great hostility toward him, but she had no idea what to do about it...

"Osamu... Don't mind him. Kakashi is just bad at expressing himself, he..."

Kato Osamu smiled softly and interrupted Rin.

"He's right. I'm someone with ulterior motives. I'll kill you and Obito, along with Senior Minato, then use Kakashi and make him live in pain..."

"Hm? Osamu, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Rin tilted her head slightly, unable to understand what Kato Osamu was suddenly saying. The words she had been about to say were completely scattered from her mind.

"Actually, I'm a member of Root, acting on the orders of a certain elder. Forgive me, but I can't reveal his name. My mission is to gain Team Minato's trust, then wait for an opportunity to assassinate Minato Namikaze and sabotage Minato Namikaze's important missions..."

The faint light from the sky above filtered through the clouds in a grayish-blue hue, bleakly piercing the forest and illuminating the remaining snow between the trees.

The gloomy forest buried Kato Osamu entirely in darkness. He raised his head slightly, an eerie smile appearing on his face, making Rin shudder all over.

"Osamu... You're... joking, right..."

Looking into those lake-blue eyes hidden beneath the hood, so clear and pure, Rin could not believe that the person who had fought at her side had such intentions.

"Rin... You really are innocent..."

Kato Osamu laughed freely from the shadows beneath the trees, then jumped down from the branch and landed in the snow. Crunching sounds rang out continuously, as though the previous scene had been nothing but Rin's imagination.

Rin suddenly let out a breath of relief. For a moment, she had actually believed him. Secretly mocking her own foolishness, she could not help pouting.

"Hey, Osamu! If you do that again, I won't talk to you anymore..."

With a soft snort, Rin's eyes shifted. She jumped beside Kato Osamu, secretly grabbed a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and swiftly stuffed it down the back of his collar. Then, without looking back, she leaped into the forest and ran toward Konoha.

"Hahaha, Osamu, you're so stupid..."

The icy sensation ran down Kato Osamu's spine. He looked toward the direction Rin, Obito, and Kakashi had disappeared—they were already very close to Konoha, and they could even vaguely see the peak of Hokage Rock.

In that instant, an inexplicably piercing chill left him dazed. He stared ahead without focus, his figure seeming to overlap with Kato Yuan's from years ago as he silently gazed at Hokage Rock in the distance.

"Was I... joking?"

His murmured words were heard by no one...