Don't Lie to Me Next Time

Kakashi Hatake had already braced himself.

The boy had turned serious, revealed his bloodline ability, and even exposed him to his face. With that much buildup, whatever he was about to ask probably wouldn't be easy to answer.

Where had the scroll come from? Where had the injuries come from? Was he hiding something else?

Questions like those.

He had even planned out how to deflect them, one by one.

Yet after all that time on guard, all he got was, "You're lying to me."

So that was all this was about?

All that fuss-just to tell me to my face: you were lying just now, and I could feel it.

Kakashi couldn't help laughing.

What was all this even supposed to be?

He raised a hand and patted the boy's arm, then crouched until his eye met those clear eyes and spoke sincerely.

"Yes, some of what I just said was a lie."

"But you have to believe that your comrades in Konoha won't lie to you about other things."

He paused after that, looked into those eyes, and added:

"I just didn't want everyone to worry."

Uzumaki Hayashi looked up at him.

Kakashi's face was covered tightly by his mask, leaving only one eye exposed. Linshi couldn't see anything, yet somehow, he kept feeling that the man had just smiled at him.

What's the point of smiling behind a mask that thick... how bizarre.

Still.

He had taken those words, "I didn't want everyone to worry," to heart.

The Mind's Eye of the Kagura told him that those words were completely clean, without a trace of falsehood.

Fine.

Since Kakashi had gone that far, it wouldn't be right to keep pressing him.

He would leave the scratches alone for now.

But not asking didn't mean forgetting. He would keep this on his little mental ledger and bring it up whenever Kakashi was willing to talk.

Besides, Kakashi had come all this way to deliver a scroll and hadn't even had a sip of water since arriving. Surely Linshi couldn't just take the goods and kick him straight out?

What would that make me? A downright awful guy!

Fine, fine. I'll bandage him up.

"Jonin Kakashi, wait a moment."

With that, Uzumaki Hayashi turned and went back inside.

He had to admit, the house Grandpa Third had furnished for him really had everything.

Pots, bowls, bedding-every daily necessity was there. There was even a first-aid kit hanging neatly on the wall.

This wasn't the first time he had appreciated the old Third's thoughtfulness.

He walked over, took down the first-aid kit, and opened it. Gauze, iodine-it had everything. He pulled out two rolls of bandages, then turned and went outside.

Outside, Kakashi was puzzled.

Wait a moment? What had the boy gone inside for?

A second later, he saw him come out carrying two rolls of bandages.

Kakashi paused for a beat.

Many years ago, back when he had still been running missions with that three-person squad-

The Shinobi World War had been raging then, and he and Obito Uchiha were constantly getting hurt. Just like this, someone would silently take out bandages, wrap their wounds one by one, and tie them off.

Back then, he had thought those days could last forever.

But... that person was gone now.

The light in Kakashi's one listless eye suddenly dimmed.

Uzumaki Hayashi wasn't about to concern himself with all that.

Seriously, the moment I pull out some bandages, he starts reminiscing.

As for who was in those memories, he knew all too well.

But knowing was one thing. He absolutely couldn't say it-not a single word.

Looking at that downcast eye, he curled his lips into a deliberately unhurried grin, beckoned Kakashi closer, then lowered his hand.

He was clearly telling him to come closer and crouch again.

Strangely enough, Kakashi actually did.

With just a casual gesture, this Copy Ninja renowned throughout the Shinobi World crouched obediently in front of him without so much as asking why. He held his injured hand right before Linshi's eyes and let him do as he pleased.

Who would believe I got this kind of treatment?

Only someone as thick-skinned as him could handle it. Anyone else might have been trembling by now.

Uzumaki Hayashi didn't stand on ceremony. He unrolled a bandage, rinsed the dust from around the wounds with clean water, then lowered his head and wound it around the back of Kakashi's hand, layer by layer.

Up close, the scratches weren't actually deep, but they were awkwardly placed, right on the back of his hand.

That hand gripped a kunai and had to exert force all day long. Left untreated, the wounds would hurt every time they split open again.

"Don't move."

He gave the instruction without looking up.

Kakashi really didn't move. He didn't even curl his fingers.

When he finished wrapping, Uzumaki Hayashi neatly folded the end and released a faint wisp of wind-nature chakra from his fingertips-the bandage parted instantly.

Then he tucked away the cut edge and deftly tied a knot on the back of Kakashi's hand.

"Done."

"Keep it dry for the next few days, and don't strain it."

He casually stuffed the remaining roll into Kakashi's arms.

"Take this. Next time you scrape yourself on the road, remember to change the bandage yourself."

Having finished, Uzumaki Hayashi straightened.

"That takes care of everything, Jonin Kakashi. But next time, don't lie to me, okay?"

With those words, he turned to head back inside.

Kakashi stood where he was and looked down at the back of his hand.

The wrapping wasn't particularly pretty, with some layers loose and others tight, but the knot was quite respectable.

He stared at his hand for a moment, then looked up at that little retreating figure and smiled inwardly for no particular reason.

Honestly, this little guy.

When he had exposed Kakashi's lie, he'd cut straight to the heart of it. Now he'd bandaged him with the brisk efficiency of someone who had been doing it for years.

That fondness for teasing and messing with people hadn't changed one bit.

But perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if he stayed that way?

Kakashi lowered his head and flexed his freshly bandaged hand.

It didn't seem to hurt at all anymore.

In truth, an injury this minor had never meant much to him.

Yet somehow, after someone wrapped it layer by layer and fussed over him with all those instructions, the weight that had been suspended inside him finally settled.

The door before him was slowly closing.

Kakashi gathered those emotions back in, slipped both hands into his pockets, and stood lazily outside as though he'd planned this all along. Then he asked:

"Would you like me to be your Jonin instructor?"