The markets in the Land of Rivers sold more than goods; news and culture from many places circulated there as well. After helping his parents buy their main supplies, Shira asked permission to "look at some books from outside" and wandered the market alone, his eyes searching all the while for any clues that might be connected to a Konoha Ninja.
His steps finally brought him to a fairly large bookstore.
Signs in the languages of various countries hung at the entrance, and all manner of books were displayed inside, from geographical accounts and tales of the strange to novels and travelogues.
Shira went in, sweeping his gaze over the shelves. He wasn't really interested in books; he simply had a feeling that he might run into people from the great ninja villages in a place like this, especially...
His gaze suddenly sharpened and settled on an inconspicuous corner of the bookstore.
A figure stood there, utterly unlike anyone he had seen at the market before.
The man was tall and lean, dressed in standard dark ninja attire with a simple gray vest over it. Most striking were his unusually silvery-white hair, which stood on end like a hedgehog's spines, and the black mask covering most of his face, leaving only one half-lidded, listless-looking eye exposed.
He leaned against a bookshelf, holding a book with a flashy cover and reading with complete absorption. He gave off a lazy air that said, "Strangers stay away, and don't interrupt my reading."
Kakashi Hatake!
Shira's heart gave a violent leap. He had actually run into him here. Although Kakashi wasn't wearing his classic green Jonin vest yet, his silver hair and mask were far too distinctive. There was no mistaking him!
More importantly, Kakashi was Might Guy's eternal rival and closest friend! Finding him was almost the same as finding out where Might Guy was!
Shira took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He couldn't just rush up and ask, "Excuse me, where is Might Guy?" That would be too suspicious.
He needed a reasonable excuse that wouldn't arouse suspicion.
His gaze swept over the cover of the book in Kakashi's hand-Icha Icha Paradise. Shira vaguely remembered from his previous life that it was Kakashi's signature reading material.
A plan instantly took shape in his mind.
He pretended to look for books on the shelves, slowly making his way toward Kakashi before "accidentally" knocking several books off a low shelf.
The sound of the books hitting the floor caught Kakashi's attention. His exposed eye lifted lazily from the page and glanced at Shira. Apparently deciding he was just a clumsy child, Kakashi prepared to lower his head and return to his novel.
Just then, Shira muttered softly in the common language, with a slight Sunagakure accent, as though talking to himself. His voice wasn't loud, but it was just enough for Kakashi, who was nearby, to hear:
"Sigh, where can I find a truly powerful way to train in Taijutsu? I heard there's a ninja in Konoha named Might Guy who's really strong, but it's a shame I can't find him..."
Those words were like a stone dropped into a still lake.
Kakashi's head stopped as he was about to lower it. A flash of surprise and scrutiny, so fleeting it was almost impossible to catch, passed through his previously lazy gaze. A child dressed in the style of Sunagakure, muttering about wanting to find Might Guy in a bookstore in the Land of Rivers?
The combination was far too strange.
He closed the Icha Icha Paradise in his hand and looked down at Shira with his dead-fish eye, his tone as lazy as ever. "Oh? What do you want with that hot-blooded idiot, kid?"