Hot-blooded, simple-hearted Obito, single-minded Guy, gifted but overburdened Kakashi, gentle and precocious Shisui, kindhearted Rin.
A sudden wave of emotion washed over him.
Apart from Orochimaru, who was still tinkering with immortality in his lab, the people at this table were pretty much his most important "social network" and "source of trust" at this stage. They all had so much potential!
His gaze lingered on Kakashi a little longer than the others.
Hatake Sakumo... the White Fang.
According to his hazy memories, this Konoha hero's tragedy seemed to happen sometime within these next few years.
He couldn't remember the exact date. Konoha's timeline had always been a mess anyway.
Still, that wasn't much of a problem. All he needed to know was that Hatake Sakumo would be condemned by public opinion for "abandoning his mission to save his comrades," and ultimately choose suicide.
With me here, there's no way that's happening.
Uchiha Makoto silently thought this as he picked up a fragrant, nicely charred slice of grilled meat.
As soon as word got out that Uncle Sakumo had failed that mission, he would have to act.
Whether he steered public opinion or offered some direct physical reassurance-say, by beating up the gossipmongers-he couldn't let Sakumo reach a dead end.
He had worked hard, using grilled meat and the occasional pointer, to nudge Kakashi away from the gloomy, prematurely mature "genius" of the original story and toward a "slightly more cheerful genius." The last thing he wanted was for his father's tragedy to undo all that progress overnight, or even make him worse.
The barbecue feast was lively.
With his graduation and a few words of praise from Rin, Obito was so excited that he waved his arms around, going on and on about all the amazing missions he would complete