"Sure." Sakumo walked him to the door. "Let me know before you come next time. I'll have Kakashi wait for you at home."
"Okay."
Uchiha Makoto stepped outside and glanced back.
Sakumo stood in the doorway, waving at him.
Sunlight fell over him, making his silver-white hair gleam.
There was something so warm about it.
"Goodbye, Uncle." Uchiha Makoto bowed.
"Goodbye. Be careful on your way home."
The door closed.
Uchiha Makoto stood outside, lost in thought for a while.
This visit had been more... heartwarming than he had expected.
No tense standoffs, no probing or suspicion. Just an ordinary visit, an ordinary conversation.
Hatake Sakumo was gentler and more down-to-earth than he had imagined.
How could someone like him later...
Uchiha Makoto shook his head, casting the thought aside.
It was too early to think about that. All he could do now was grow stronger.
Strong enough that... if that day really came, he could do something.
He turned and headed home.
He felt much lighter than he had on the way there.
A few days later, Kakashi returned.
Sakumo told him about Uchiha Makoto's visit.
"That friend of yours, Uchiha Makoto, came looking for you," Sakumo said as he cooked. "He's a good kid. Polite, and strong, too. You should learn from him instead of keeping to yourself all day."
Kakashi froze for a moment.
"What did he come for?"
"To see you." Sakumo glanced back at him. "That boy seems to genuinely think of you as a friend."
Kakashi said nothing.
He stood in the kitchen doorway, watching his father's busy back, his feelings tangled.
A friend...
Did Uchiha Makoto really think of him as a friend?
Kakashi wasn't sure.
But he remembered how Uchiha Makoto had stood in front of him on that mission.
He remembered