The Mole Revealed

Kakashi walked on, following Tsukimi's instructions. He let the exhaustion and worry weighing on him show, looking every bit like someone caught in a storm of public opinion and fighting to clear his father's name.

Before long, Inoue Toru's home came into view. Kakashi stopped at the door and knocked softly.

A moment later, the door opened a crack. Inoue Toru's gentle face appeared behind it. Days of worry had drained his old vigor, and he looked thinner than before.

He froze slightly when he saw Kakashi outside. A complicated look crossed his face.

"Kakashi? What brings you here?"

Inoue Toru's voice was low, his exhaustion impossible to hide.

Kakashi looked up at him earnestly. "Uncle Inoue, I came to ask you for a favor."

"Rumors are spreading all over the village. Since half of the mission file was leaked, everyone thinks my father abandoned the mission and harmed the village's interests."

Kakashi's voice trembled, but there was defiance in it. "I know that mission wasn't so simple. Please come forward and tell everyone the whole story. Help clear my father's name."

Inoue Toru's heart tightened. He instinctively looked up and discreetly scanned the surrounding streets. His gaze passed over the dense treetops in the distance, where a threat to his entire family lay hidden.

He lowered his eyes to the hopeful boy before him. Deep-seated pain and guilt nearly swallowed him whole.

He had been there. Better than anyone, he knew how much courage it had taken Hatake Sakumo to choose to save him when all seemed lost.

He had spent the past few days in torment, watching his savior's name dragged through the mud while he could only keep silent.

But with his family's lives in someone else's hands, he had no choice.

After a brief inner struggle,