Deliver my words to him exactly as they are

The Root ninja bowed slightly, his voice emerging from behind his mask without the slightest inflection.

"Lord Danzo has issued an order."

"The orphan of the Uzumaki Clan possesses an unusual bloodline and can already perform B-rank ninjutsu at such a young age. Keeping someone like that in the Ninja Academy among a group of children is not the best choice for Konoha."

"Lord Danzo believes it would be most appropriate for Root to take custody of the child and provide instruction. Lord Third, please hand that child over to us."

For a moment, the office fell silent.

The Third sat behind his desk and did not speak immediately.

The old man's grip on his pipe tightened little by little.

How long had it even been since what happened at the training ground today?

Danzo's men hadn't even been at the school, yet they already knew everything. They'd nearly uncovered every last detail about that child. These days, nothing happened in the village without reaching his ears.

It was as though he could tell where the wind came from just by seeing a single leaf tremble.

Besides, how many days had that child even been back in Konoha?

He'd barely had a chance to live in peace. The matter of someone pointing at him and calling him a monster at school today hadn't even been settled, and Danzo was already reaching for him.

Custody?

He certainly made it sound nice.

Of the children who entered Root, how many could still live for themselves?

The Third lifted his eyes to the masked Root ninja before him and spoke. His voice was quiet, but his words struck with enough weight to make the air feel heavy.

"Go back and tell Danzo."

"I will never hand that child over to you."

"Do not add a single word or leave a single word out. Deliver my words to him exactly as they are."

"Now, you may leave."

The Root ninja remained where he stood, seemingly wanting to say something more.

The Third raised his eyes and gave him a single look.

The Root ninja immediately bowed in salute. Then he retreated soundlessly, his body slipping into the deeper shadows by the door.

The door closed behind him. As it settled into its frame, it made no sound at all. There was not even the slightest disturbance in the air.

Inside the room, smoke began to rise from the pipe in thin wisps, finally dispersing into a faint haze that gathered in the shadows beneath the ceiling, layer upon layer.

"Kakashi."

Only after a long while did the Third speak again, his voice gentler now.

"What do you think of that child?"

Kakashi Hatake thought for a moment.

"He's good," he said. "A true prodigy."

"To master a B-rank ninjutsu in a single day. Talent like that is so exceptional that..."

He stopped halfway through, unable to find the right word.

"It's a little unbelievable, isn't it?" the Third finished for him.

Kakashi Hatake did not deny it.

The Third's gaze drifted past him and out the window.

"Back when I watched Minato Namikaze, I felt the same way."

Minato.

The hand hanging at Kakashi Hatake's side twitched slightly.

"Back then, Minato learned everything quickly and did everything quickly," the Third said slowly, as though afraid of disturbing something. "I always thought that with him here, Konoha would have nothing to worry about for decades to come."

"But..."

The old man did not continue.

He merely let out a long sigh, deep and heavy.

The office fell silent again.

But the weight of that silence pressed down on their shoulders, making them unconsciously soften even their breathing.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the old man's graying beard until it looked almost transparent.

Kakashi Hatake lowered his eyes and said nothing.

To everyone else, Minato Namikaze was the Fourth whose name was engraved on the Memorial Stone, the solemn stone face on Hokage Rock.

But to Kakashi, his teacher's name was something special, something he could not touch lightly, a scar that had never truly healed.

After another long while, the Third withdrew his gaze, as though returning from somewhere far away.

"That child who was bullying others at school today," the old man asked, "how do you intend to deal with him?"

Kakashi Hatake considered it for a moment.

Follow the school rules? A mark on his record, a written apology, a meeting with his parents.

But Naruto had been bullied for so many years. Which of those rules had ever actually helped?

He opened his mouth, but in the end, he could not come up with an answer.

The Third looked at him without pressing him and simply made the decision himself.

"The child who bullied Naruto and Hayashi will no longer attend the Ninja Academy."

Kakashi Hatake froze.

The punishment was far harsher than he had expected.

"Naruto and Hayashi have already suffered enough." The Third tapped his pipe, his voice even. "If we adults cannot protect them in their everyday lives, then we should at least clear some obstacles out of their way."

"Besides, all the children at the school are watching."

"What happened today will spread throughout the village before long. If I expel another student, anyone who wants to lay a finger on those two children in the future will have to consider whether they can bear the consequences."

Kakashi Hatake lowered his head. "Yes."

"Go." The Third waved a hand and picked up the documents on his desk again.

Kakashi Hatake saluted, then turned and left the office.

When he emerged from the Hokage Building, the sun was still in the sky.

The bustle in the streets had not faded. Or rather, at this hour, Konoha was only just beginning to come alive.

Kakashi Hatake walked through the crowd with both hands in his pockets, his pace unhurried. He looked no different from any other jonin strolling down the street.

But his mind was full of Naruto.

Full of the image of that child falling again and again on the training ground, then scrambling up on his hands and feet to charge forward once more.

Naruto had fought harder than anyone in today's fight, yet even now, that child still knew nothing.

He did not know who his parents were or why everyone in the village avoided him. He did not even know what had started that fight.

Now there was someone else who would share his confusion.

On his very first day of school, that red-haired child had become a monster in other people's mouths. He probably could not understand what he had done wrong, either.

Two children with the surname Uzumaki.

And in Konoha, they had somehow ended up in the same situation.

Inside his pockets, Kakashi Hatake's hands slowly clenched.

Just then-

A voice came from the street corner ahead, neither loud nor soft, calling him to a halt.

"Kakashi, wait a moment."

Hearing the voice, Kakashi Hatake turned around and stopped instead of continuing on his way.