Stepping out through the doors of the Hokage Building, Kakashi turned to look at Uzumaki Hayashi.
"Hayashi, are you going home now?"
"According to the plan, you still have to fight tomorrow..."
"No, Kakashi-sensei. I'm going to see Hayate-sensei."
Hayashi looked at Kakashi ahead of him and gave a gentle smile.
"Hayate-sensei's injuries were probably because of me..."
"Hayashi..."
Kakashi crouched down and patted Hayashi on the back.
A cool floral fragrance reached his nose through his mask.
But there was a trace of sorrow in that fragrance now.
The rain had stopped, and the night wind rippled the puddles along the roadside.
The embrace of the old man in the office still weighed heavily on both their hearts.
"This has nothing to do with you... you have to learn to move on..."
"Then, Kakashi-sensei, have you moved on?"
In the silent night, Hayashi, standing before Kakashi, suddenly asked that question.
"...No, Hayashi."
With that question, Kakashi sank into dejection once again.
He did not move for a long time.
Some things could not be spoken of casually, no matter how many years passed.
Even now, he still remembered every single name at the Memorial Stone.
If he had not moved on himself, what right did he have to ask this child to do so?
Only after a long while did he compose himself and pinch Hayashi's little cheek.
"But these are all wounds our enemies inflicted on us."
"Hayashi, don't blame yourself."
"Your Kakashi-sensei will always be here for you, all right?"
With those words, Kakashi gave the young girl before him, who was growing prettier by the day, a gentle smile beneath his mask.
"Then what I want to say is the same as you, Kakashi-sensei."
Hayashi slowly stepped up to Kakashi and patted his silver hair.
"Kakashi-sensei,