At three thirty that afternoon, Kakashi left the cemetery and started walking toward the Ninja Academy.
His dead-fish eyes brightened for once, and nostalgia welled up inside him as he looked at the school not far away.
Come to think of it, I never really attended school properly.
Kakashi had grown up during wartime, when the school's requirements for early graduation were lax. As long as your strength met the standard, you could graduate early.
Conversely, even if your strength fell short, once you reached the required age, you still had to graduate and go fight on the battlefield.
Fortunately, that had only been during the years when the fighting was at its most intense. Things had gradually eased up afterward.
That had been inseparable from the efforts of his teacher, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
He hadn't spent much time at the Ninja Academy, but Obito and Rin had stayed for the full course.
Seriously, you were a dead last. Why did you have to play the hero?
About six minutes later, Kakashi reached the school gates. After showing the guard his Shinobi credentials, he walked inside under the guard's puzzled gaze.
Well, team leaders rarely arrived this late. Usually, even if something came up, they would arrive by noon. This was the first time the guard had seen someone arrive as late as Kakashi.
"Hmm, let me guess what expressions my future subordinates will have?"
The corners of Kakashi's mouth lifted slightly beneath his mask, and he walked to the classroom door.
"Hmm? Not a sound?"
Kakashi tilted his head and pressed his ear to the door, but he couldn't hear anything.
No way. Did those brats run off?
Were they really that bold?
Given who they were, though, it did seem possible.
Naruto, his teacher's son, was