So-Called Comrades

"Ah, you must be Lord Hatake Sakumo. I've heard so much about you."

"Hello. Homura Uchiha invited me here."

Akito welcomed Sakumo, who had arrived early that morning, with a smile. As an ordinary man, he naturally held shinobi in awe.

Despite all the rumors, Akito knew better than to voice an opinion before his boss did.

"So, what's my job?"

Sakumo had first been stunned that Homura, at such a young age, controlled the village's ears and mouthpiece. Once he recovered, he grew curious about what his work would involve.

The Heavenly Eye Society stood in the heart of Konoha. Sakumo could not imagine why it needed his protection.

But Homura had said he would find his answer here, so he had come to see for himself.

Akito scratched his head and said, a little embarrassed:

"Your job is to eat and sleep here at the Society with me for the next few nights."

Afraid Sakumo might misunderstand, he quickly added:

"It's the boss's arrangement. I've been kept here working overtime for no apparent reason too."

Sakumo nodded, unbothered. This man had not shown him the hostility the other villagers had, so he smiled and let Akito arrange his lodging and meals.

Meanwhile, Homura was questioning a villager with several Police Force Members.

"Do you know that man?"

"N-no. I don't know him. He just came out of nowhere and struck up a conversation."

"What did he look like?"

The villager inwardly cursed his luck. Homura had tricked him while he was selling melons last time, and now he had been dragged to the Police Force for questioning out of the blue.

When he finished questioning him, Homura straightened his notes and said meaningfully:

"There's a matchmaking event in the village over the next few nights. Make sure you come~"

The man swallowed. Behind Homura, two Uchiha stared at him with their Sharingan active. He nodded furiously.

"And what happened here..."

"I don't know anything. I got lost this morning and wandered in here by accident. The officers were kind enough to take me home."

Homura nodded in satisfaction and had Lianping escort him back.

After taking the man home, Lianping could only shake his head:

The clan head's brother-in-law has so many strange quirks. His tastes are one thing, but now he's dragging us door to door at night and making us keep our Sharingan active to scare the villagers.

Following Homura's instructions, Lianping told the villager:

"You did well today. We're investigating a major case. Someone with a different hair color from us, a fat build, terrible talent for Ninjutsu, a withdrawn personality, and eyes unlike ours has used the Transformation Technique to blend in among you. He intends to harm the village."

"You've done the village a service. We'll bring you a commendation banner in a few days."

"And make sure you attend that matchmaking event."

The villager paid no mind to Lianping's cold tone. He had caught the key words.

Unlike us...

Different...

Did you just say that guy was different from us? Strange hair and eyes, fat, no talent for Ninjutsu, and a loner?

A fierce sense of solidarity blazed in the villager's heart. He forgot his fear from the Police Force headquarters and nodded emphatically:

"Don't worry, sir. I'm part of Konoha too!"

Lianping could not understand why every villager got inexplicably worked up on hearing those words. Even he felt a surge of excitement.

But he had achieved his goal. Lianping vanished with the Body Flicker Technique and headed for his next target.

A few days later, public opinion had grown even more heated. But Sakumo stayed at the Society, while Kakashi went to and from school with Homura and the others.

With no one to bully, the villagers' anger began to fade.

At the Root Base.

Danzo listened to his subordinate's report and snorted.

"Hiruzen, you think you can save the White Fang by letting this blow over?"

He asked his subordinate:

"Are there any large gatherings in the village soon?"

"Lord Danzo, many villagers say they're attending a matchmaking event tonight."

Danzo closed his one visible eye and tapped the arm of his chair for a while. Then he thought of the Daily Newspaper.

"Is the Heavenly Eye Society still refusing submissions?"

His subordinate confirmed it. Danzo rose and ordered him:

"Tonight, blend into the matchmaking crowd as you did before. Stir them up and make them demand that the Hokage punish the White Fang."

"Since the Daily Newspaper won't accept my submission, I'll go there myself and see whether that man in charge, Akito, will show the Hokage's advisor some respect."

That night, Konoha's shopping district buzzed with voices.

A stage stood in the street beneath a banner reading "Konoha Matchmaking Event."

The surrounding lights drowned out the faint starlight.

"Hey, Shizune, what's that crowd doing up ahead?"

Tsunade held a half-finished bottle of sake, her tipsy eyes on the gathering crowd.

Her ample chest swayed with every drunken step.

"Lady Tsunade, I heard there's a matchmaking event over there. And please don't walk toward the casino while you're drinking."

Shizune, only seven or eight, tugged at Tsunade to stop her from throwing more money away at the casino.

"Tch. Fine, I won't go. Let's see what's happening here first."

Tsunade plopped down on the ground without a shred of dignity. With her abilities, she had already sensed several shinobi in the crowd.

Uchiha. And ANBU.

Since the Second Shinobi World War ended, Tsunade had lived in seclusion in Konoha. Her fear of blood meant she could no longer go to the battlefield, let alone perform surgery.

She had spent the past few years hiding with Shizune at the old Senju residence. She had recently considered leaving the village, but another war seemed to be brewing in the Shinobi World.

"Well, Tsunade. It's been ages."

A hand landed on Tsunade's shoulder. She knew who it was the moment she heard that infuriating voice.

"Jiraiya. I thought you'd already joined that crowd to find yourself a date."

Jiraiya sat down with a grin. "It really has been ages since we last met."

"And I have no idea what Orochimaru's been busy with lately. He's impossible to find. He even took on a student and doesn't teach him. I was starting to think I was the only Sannin left."

Tsunade's eyes shifted. Her younger brother's smile flashed through her mind. "Orochimaru... took on a student?"

"Yeah. He's from the Uchiha Clan." Jiraiya's voice softened as he looked at the lively crowd in the distance. The three of them had once been just as lively together.

"Listen, Tsunade. Even Orochimaru has moved on. Maybe it's time you..."

As he spoke, Jiraiya gathered his Chakra, ready to be sent flying by a punch.

But...

"Tch. What's it to you?"

"Because we're comrades."

Comrades...

Tsunade wrapped her arms around her knees, turned her head away, and sank into her memories.

Among the matchmaking crowd.

An ordinary-looking man mingled with the crowd, looking for conversations to join.

"Man, you're good-looking, and you've got character too. Not like that White Fang..."

"You two make a lovely couple. Especially you, man. I can tell you're not the kind of good-for-nothing who'd abandon a mission like the White Fang..."

The people he approached smiled and answered him. The moment he walked away, their faces twisted with disgust.

"That's him, right? The guy who's different from us and trying to cause trouble."

A crowd of them hurried to report him to the Police Force Members keeping order.

The man gradually sensed that something was wrong. There were fewer and fewer people near him.

And the Police Force kept drawing closer...

Realizing something was amiss, the man turned to leave—only to run straight into someone wearing the Uchiha Clan Crest.

The moment he saw the man's face, he chose to detonate the Explosive Tag on his body.

Lord Danzo, I've completed my mission!

The explosion he expected never came. Fugaku watched with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan as the man stood dazed, caught in Genjutsu.

An ANBU operative appeared with the Body Flicker Technique, nodded to Fugaku, and took the man away.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the Heavenly Eye Society.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of a cane striking the floor came from outside the door. Akito's pen paused. Thinking of Sakumo outside the window, he felt a little more at ease and resumed writing.

Knock, knock, knock.

Well, would you look at that. Danzo even has manners. He knows how to knock.