Dusk was approaching.
Having returned from a mission, Kakashi was about to head to the training ground when he remembered it was his turn to pick up Naruto today.
Naruto's boisterous personality struck him as noisy, like having an extra, headache-inducing little brother at home. Still, it gave him a chance to see his teacher and his teacher's wife, who lived in seclusion outside the village, so it wasn't all bad.
Pulling his mask into place to cover his eye, Kakashi bought a copy of Icha Icha Paradise from a roadside shop and leafed through it as he walked toward the Ninja Academy.
The closer graduation drew, the later students like Naruto were dismissed.
Having chosen to become ninja, none of them wanted to get stuck at the graduation exam.
He had never experienced anything like that himself. His progress had been smooth all the way to becoming a jonin, but Naruto always made him think of that idiot Obito.
Come to think of it, wouldn't it be a joke if Minato-sensei's son failed the graduation exam?
His thoughts wandering, Kakashi soon arrived outside the Ninja Academy and waited quietly.
Just then, a figure in a Military Police Force uniform approached. Itachi, who was waiting for Sasuke, noticed Kakashi and greeted him.
"Kakashi-senpai, you're here to pick up Naruto, right?"
Kakashi glanced at Itachi, nodded silently, and went back to his book.
Kakashi knew little about the Uchiha Clan Head's eldest son. He seemed to be one of Oto's followers, had awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan at an early age, and was an exceptionally young jonin.
After several chance encounters, however, he had already sensed that Itachi's strength might go beyond that of an ordinary jonin.
Having seen monsters like Oto and Shisui, he could only marvel at the Uchiha's extraordinary