Don't Joke About Comrades

"Did Danzo send you?"

"He wanted to investigate Orochimaru's experimental facilities himself, so he sent Root operatives out."

Kakashi raised his eyes toward A, who had remained silent across from him.

The eyes beneath the mask shifted away. A said nothing, stubbornly enduring Kakashi's stare without a word.

An oppressive silence spread through the air. Nobody spoke for a long while.

A vein throbbed at Kakashi's temple. He slapped a hand against his forehead, his exasperated gaze following the figure darting back and forth between them.

"What are you doing?"

Sometimes, he really wanted to crack this kid's head open and see what was inside.

Paste?

If Sasuke could have heard what was going through his head right then, he would definitely have retorted.

What paste? It's tomato juice!

"Haha, let's see which of you can hold out longer."

After sizing Kakashi up, Gojo Satoru darted over to A and looked him over.

Huh, so this is what Yamato looked like as a kid.

Standard-issue Root mask on his face, uniform on his body.

His hair's just as long as in the original story, too.

Not bad. Kind of interesting.

Kakashi stared at Gojo Satoru, whose head was peeking out from behind A. His face darkened, and the bulging veins on his forehead almost looked ready to carve themselves into his skin.

"Stand up straight, you brat!"

"At least try to look the part."

He raked a hand through his hair and helplessly tilted his head toward A.

"He might be... like that, but he's got the skills to back it up."

"Just ignore him."

Beneath his mask, A froze for a moment as he watched Gojo Satoru bounce around in front of him.

Someone like this could be in the ANBU?

He doesn't look remotely like someone steeped in darkness.

He's far too young, too.

He's just a kid.

Why does Lord Danzo want his eyes?

Is coming here to do all this... really going to help?

While A was lost in thought, Gojo Satoru tossed his white shaggy hair, finished with his inspection.

Then-

He suddenly spoke.

"Say, you aren't here to take my head, are you?"

"That old man Danzo's had his eye on me for ages. He's hated me for a long time."

"Too bad he can't kill me. Hahahaha!"

There was nothing friendly about the implications of his words.

Yet the azure eyes beneath his blindfold brimmed with laughter.

All right, sorry about this.

Let me needle you a little.

That's what you get for being as stubborn as a rock.

He honestly had no idea whether Danzo had ever ordered him hunted down.

But this time, the target was probably Kakashi's eyes.

He was going to clash with Danzo sooner or later anyway.

May as well cut off this arm of his now.

Someone else would poach him eventually. Might as well bring that forward.

He was all too familiar with poaching Danzo's people.

The moment those words landed, Kakashi's face darkened.

His tone turned stern. "Don't make jokes like that about a comrade."

He's joking about this sort of thing again?

There's nothing funny about it.

He had lived in the darkness himself. He knew how hard trust was to build, and he could not let even one more drop of a comrade's blood stain his hands.

But Gojo Satoru's words had already blasted A's mind numb.

His entire body went rigid.

He... figured it out.

How could he be so perceptive?

What do I do now?

"If he really is an enemy, why not just kill him and save ourselves the trouble?" The smile remained on Gojo Satoru's face.

"He's one of that rotten old man's people anyway. Killing him wouldn't be a loss. We'd come out ahead."

The killing intent in his words was as sharp as a knife.

In the blink of an eye-

The air grew heavy.

Hearing that, Kakashi took two steps forward.

His gaze gradually sharpened into a blade.

His whole stance turned deadly serious.

"Satoru, comrades aren't people you can suspect and kill on a whim."

"I won't stand by and watch a comrade die right in front of me."

Strange.

Is that really what he's thinking?

Why is he acting so off today?

Gojo Satoru lifted a hand to adjust his blindfold and nodded.

What a pretty little speech.

Not taking the bait. My persona is still the coolest.

A's resolve began to waver, too.

Does Senior Kakashi look like someone who could do something like that?

How could he possibly... kill his own comrades?

But Lord Danzo wouldn't lie to me.

Lord Danzo is Konoha's root. How could he make up a lie like that to fool me?

Right. It all makes sense.

The confusion in his eyes hardened back into resolve.

He dropped his pretense, too.

"Senior Kakashi, I'm sorry."