Hatake Sakumo

Evening had fallen.

Obito was walking home.

After a while, he suddenly slapped himself.

"Damn it! Did I... get myself into trouble?!"

That afternoon,

he had gotten carried away and said quite a few good things about Konoha's White Fang.

If word of that reached a certain scheming old bastard...

A belated chill ran through him. He hunched his shoulders and glanced around.

He kept expecting a Root ninja to spring out of the shadows,

then cut him down with a vicious grin.

He warned himself silently.

Obito, Obito, keep your head down from now on.

Until you're strong enough, don't get reckless again.

People really do die in this world!!!

Man, I've had my moment. Now it's time to play it safe...

Outside a modest house,

a small silver-haired boy pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Father, I'm home."

A middle-aged man came out at the sound of his voice.

He, too, had flowing silver hair, tied in a ponytail behind his head.

He was handsome and dignified, though weariness showed in his eyes.

This was Konoha's White Fang, renowned throughout the Shinobi World.

He was also Kakashi Hatake's father—Hatake Sakumo.

At the sight of his son,

he forced a faint smile onto his bloodless face.

"How did you do at school today? You didn't embarrass your father, did you?"

Kakashi was silent for a long moment, pain flickering in his eyes.

His father used to be different.

Just standing there, he had been like a drawn blade, so sharp that people hardly dared look straight at him.

Now that once-straight back seemed slightly hunched.

The spirited look in his eyes was gone,

replaced by a shadow that never left his brow.

Kakashi spoke slowly.

"Father, someone brought up your failed mission at school today."

The smile froze on Sakumo's face.

"They... did?"

So word had already reached the Ninja Academy...

His son did not need to repeat what had been said.

Sakumo could roughly guess the words himself.

They would have blamed him for breaking the rules, abandoning the mission, and causing the village a tremendous loss.

...He had heard the same things countless times these past few days.

What hurt most was that

even the comrade he had saved had turned around and blamed him...

"Hah..."

Sakumo let out a long breath.

But the weight in his chest would not lift.

Had I... really been wrong?

Kakashi said quietly,

"Someone said you failed the mission because you were useless."

Of course.

Sakumo's eyes dimmed, and guilt rose within him.

His mistake had affected his son.

As a father, he felt terrible about it.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi..."

"Father, please let me finish."

Kakashi interrupted him and said earnestly,

"When someone called you useless, another person argued back."

"He said that if a ninja who fails a mission is useless, then someone who doesn't value his comrades is worse than useless."

"He also said that, to him, Konoha's White Fang is a true hero!"

Sakumo jolted, disbelief flashing through his eyes.

"Kakashi, you aren't lying to your father, are you?"

After all these days,

this was the first time he had heard anyone say he had done the right thing.

Kakashi nodded firmly.

"Of course I'm not. You've probably met him, too."

"His name is Obito Uchiha... He's sort of my friend."

Sakumo's expression turned complicated.

"Son, you've made a good friend."

He had never expected the first ray of light in the darkness

to come from a child his son's age.

Sakumo hardly knew whether to laugh or cry.

After his son went to his room,

Sakumo's face grew solemn.

Only in the past few days had he begun to suspect

that he had inadvertently stood in someone's way, and that was why he was being targeted at every turn.

If he could not find a way out,

he could live with his own reputation being ruined. But Kakashi...

At that thought, his gaze deepened.

In the Hokage's office,

the Third Hokage sat behind his desk.

He raised a cup of freshly brewed goji berry tea and took a satisfied sip.

"Ahh~"

Hiruzen sighed wistfully.

When he was young, he had never believed in any of this—

all that talk about middle age forcing a man to steep goji berries in his thermos.

But now he was getting older.

He had official duties to handle all day and a wife to attend to at home each night.

He simply did not have the energy he used to.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked at the door.

The Third Hokage hid his thermos and said evenly,

"Come in!"

When he saw who it was, the Third Hokage smiled.

"Kisuke, what brings you here today? You even came to see me on your own initiative."

"Come, sit down and tell me."

Kisuke Urahara was the homeroom teacher of Kakashi and Obito's class.

Kisuke nodded and sat across from the Third Hokage. After a moment's thought, he said,

"Lord Third, I may have found another promising student."

The Third Hokage looked surprised.

"Oh? Which youngster?"

"A student named Obito Uchiha," Kisuke replied.

"Today, he..."

Kisuke recounted everything Obito had done that day to the Third Hokage.

When he finished, a gleam entered the Third Hokage's eyes.

"In that case, this youngster from the Uchiha Clan does have potential."

"Kisuke, be sure to pay him more attention from now on."

Whether Sakumo had been right or wrong,

Obito had already grasped the meaning of protecting others at such a young age.

That was rare indeed.

After all, the essence of the Will of Fire lay in protection and passing it on!

"I understand, Lord Third," Kisuke Urahara said with a nod.

Then

something seemed to occur to him, and he looked puzzled.

"But..."

"Didn't you order the information about White Fang's failed mission sealed? How did the news still spread?"

Kisuke Urahara held a special position and knew things most people did not.

That was precisely why he found it so hard to understand.

The Third Hokage rubbed his brow with a headache.

"On that point, I'm as baffled as you are."

Halfway through speaking,

the Third Hokage noticed a trace of suspicion in Kisuke's eyes.

He paused, then frowned deeply.

"You think I spread the news in secret?"

Kisuke gave an awkward laugh.

"No, no. I've never suspected you. It's just..."

Kisuke hesitated, then forced himself to continue.

"There's been a rumor among the ninja lately that White Fang is being targeted because he's become more prominent than you. So..."

The Third Hokage's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

He said nothing, merely glowering at Kisuke.

"Gulp..."

Kisuke swallowed the rest of his sentence and rose with an uneasy smile.

"Well, I only came to update you on how my classes have been going."

"I just remembered I left dinner cooking at home. Perhaps I should..."

The Third Hokage waved him off irritably.

"Go, go, go. Get out already."

Kisuke fled through the door as if he had been granted a pardon.

After he left, the Third Hokage took out his pipe.

As smoke curled around him, he began to think.

Konoha's situation had grown treacherous of late.

Who was hiding in the shadows, stirring all this up...?