Comforting Kakashi

News of White Fang's death spread quickly through the village, helped along by those eager to share it.

"Did you hear? Lord White Fang took on a dangerous mission to recover what the village had lost. He completed it, but he was badly wounded and died."

"See? What did I tell you? I said all along Lord White Fang wasn't selfish. None of you believed me. Convinced now?"

"Oh, give it a rest. You cursed him louder than anyone. I was the one defending him."

"Bullshit! You were the one with the filthy mouth! You stood outside his house yelling abuse for days, and you've got the nerve to blame me?"

The two men argued until they came to blows.

The woman with them tried to break it up.

"Stop fighting! Please, stop!"

A passerby nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, stop fighting. At this rate, neither of you is going to kill the other."

The two men, who had been dancing up a storm...

No, wait.

The two men, who had been fighting up a storm, stopped their little dance and glared at him.

The passerby adjusted the Forehead Protector on his head and said flatly, "What are you looking at? You want to fight me too?"

One man's expression changed at once.

"You must be joking, sir. We've simply never seen such a handsome face and couldn't help taking another look."

The other man put on a broad smile.

"Exactly!"

The ninja waved them off, unwilling to waste any more time on them.

"Get lost!"

"Right away!"

The two men and the woman fled as though granted a pardon, ready to find something to calm their nerves.

The ninja spat in disdain and muttered, "Fickle commoners. They're insufferable."

His companion gave a helpless smile.

"Don't take it out on them. They're just poor fools being played like puppets."

"We should think about how to comfort our little teammate instead. He hasn't seemed himself these past few days."

The first ninja replied irritably, "You think I haven't tried? That kid keeps to himself. He won't give me the time of day!"

"Everything I say goes in one ear and out the other. If I ever try to help him again, I'll take his last name!"

The second ninja's smile grew even more helpless.

"Come on, don't say that. You may admire Lord White Fang, but you don't need to change your name."

"Anyway, let's get going."

The setting sun dyed the clear sky red, like a fire burning overhead.

Yellow leaves danced on the cool breeze, lending the world an air of sorrow.

A small figure stood by the lake.

As Kakashi watched the blood-red sunset and listened to the water lap at the shore, his feelings tangled inside him.

Before, whenever his father had time, he would bring Kakashi here for a spring outing and teach him so much about how to live.

The green hills still stood, and the water still flowed, but his father would never return.

Kakashi clenched his fists.

A fire burned in his chest, and he had nowhere to let it out.

"Kakashi..."

Obito looked at the figure not far away, his expression troubled.

He had spent the past few days looking for Kakashi.

But Kakashi seemed to be avoiding him and had never once shown himself.

Obito had searched several places today before finally finding him.

He hurried to Kakashi's side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Kakashi, have you been avoiding me?"

Kakashi turned and looked at Obito without a word.

Seeing him like that, Obito sighed. "Kakashi, I know you're hurting, but..."

Kakashi shoved his arm away, his emotions threatening to spill over.

"Stop acting like you know! How could you possibly understand what I'm going through?!"

Obito lifted his face. His black eyes turned red in an instant.

"Believe me. I do understand. Really."

Kakashi froze, then asked hesitantly, "You awakened your Sharingan... When?"

Obito looked him straight in the eye and said, one word at a time, "The moment I learned Uncle Sakumo had died."

Kakashi lowered his gaze and fell silent again.

He had never imagined that his father's death would awaken Obito's Sharingan...

Obito gently wrapped an arm around him.

"I understand how you feel. I really do."

"But you're not alone. I'm here."

"Please, try to pull yourself together. Uncle Sakumo wouldn't want to see you like this."

Kakashi's expression finally softened.

After a moment's hesitation, he whispered in Obito's ear, "Will you fight me?"

Obito nodded firmly.

"Yeah!"

The two boys faced off by the lake.

They traded punches and kicks.

Neither tried to dodge.

Each let the other's blows land, then struck back just as hard.

Before long, they looked like two little pandas.

As they kept fighting, Kakashi began to roar. Obito howled along with him.

By the time they had let it all out, both of them felt much better.

They sat on the ground, panting.

Then they saw each other's bruised, swollen faces and burst out laughing.

Kakashi said earnestly, "Thank you, Obito."

Obito waved it off and slung an arm around Kakashi.

"No need to thank me. We're brothers, right, little brother?"

Kakashi: "..."

That evening, Obito came home with bumps all over his head. He felt like a giant pill capsule.

When Grandmother saw him, her voice trembled with concern.

"Oh, my dear Grandson, what happened to you this time?"

"Did you get into a fight at school?"

Obito shook his head with a grin.

"No, Grandmother."

"I was practicing Taijutsu with someone and took a few punches by accident."

Grandmother finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's what I thought. The children at your school seem well-behaved. Surely no one would bully you."

Obito didn't quite agree.

Grandmother's way too innocent!

At our school, even a tough guy would be begging to go home after class!

Grandmother brought out some ointment. As she applied it, she scolded him.

"You never take care of yourself. All you do is make me worry."

Obito chuckled and nuzzled against her.

"I'm your precious Grandson. Who else are you going to worry about?"

Grandmother poked his forehead in mock irritation.

"You little troublemaker! I'm not making you anything tasty for dinner."

"Ah!" Obito immediately turned on the charm.

"Don't say that, Grandmother. I'm sorry, okay?"

Pretending to be angry, Grandmother asked sternly, "Then tell me what you did wrong."

Obito scratched his head.

"What did I do wrong?"

Grandmother: "...I'll heat up some food for you. There's braised pork tonight."

Obito threw his arms around her.

"Yay! Grandmother's the best!"

This world isn't hopeless yet, Obito thought.

He still had wonderful people like Grandmother, Kakashi, and Rin to protect.

As for the schemers trying to drag the Shinobi World into the abyss—get ready for Earth Boy's judgment!