The first mission... catching a cat? A reward?

Before long, a handsome little boy with white hair and a beauty mark beside his mouth walked up to Hatake Sakumo on his short little legs and gave a proper bow. "Father."

So this was Kakashi as a child? No wonder he always wore a mask later. The rumor about him having a beauty mark was actually true.

With a strange expression, Qingyun looked Kakashi up and down. There was something a little... unusual about him.

"Hmph! Why are you looking at me like that?"

Qingyun's scrutiny made Kakashi uncomfortable all over, and he couldn't help snorting.

"Kakashi, don't be rude. They're your seniors. Apologize."

Hatake Sakumo frowned at Kakashi's behavior and sharply reprimanded him.

"Oh. Sorry, senior."

Startled by Hatake Sakumo's rebuke, Kakashi pursed his lips and reluctantly apologized to Qingyun.

"Hey, Sakumo-Teacher, Kakashi's still little. Don't be so strict with him. You'll leave him with emotional scars."

Seeing the exchange between father and son, Qingyun hurried to intervene.

"Kakashi, it was wrong of me to look at you like that. I'm sorry. Don't listen to your father."

"No way! Father is my pride and joy. I'll listen to everything he says, train hard, and become a powerful ninja just like him!"

Kakashi didn't appreciate Qingyun's words at all. He gazed at Hatake Sakumo with open admiration.

Qingyun paused, then remembered how deeply the young Kakashi admired Hatake Sakumo. That was precisely why, when Danzo later framed Sakumo, his image in Kakashi's heart shattered, plunging the boy into self-doubt.

As a result, he kept wavering between missions and teammates and eventually went astray. He disregarded his teammates' safety for the sake of missions and was repeatedly moved between teams, until Minato Namikaze took him in and formed a squad with him, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara.

Under Minato Namikaze's