Chapter 85: The Gradually Changing Kakashi
You can't lie to a child, but you also can't make casual promises to a child; he will very seriously remember the words you promised.
Last night, because of Uchiha Itachi's words, neither he nor Kitahara got a good night's sleep. At dawn, Sasuke got up and started pulling at his brother to get up.
"Onii... Onii-san..."
Uchiha Itachi groggily opened his eyes, looking sleepily at his younger brother lying on his pillow, "Sasuke, what's wrong? Do you need to go to the toilet?"
"Hungry... hungry..."
The little cub pointed to his own mouth.
Uchiha Itachi looked out the window in confusion... The sky isn't even light yet? Even if the daylight hours in winter are short, this is still too early!
"Hungry..."
Sasuke's chubby little face was exceptionally real.
"...Alright."
Uchiha Itachi resignedly got out of bed, simply preparing breakfast for the whole family. Ever since he became a ninja, Mikoto rarely allowed him to help in the kitchen.
"You come with me, don't disturb Kitahara..."
Before Uchiha Itachi could finish speaking, he could only watch as his younger brother staggered to Kitahara's table and shouted loudly:
"Eh! Ha! Yo!"
"Caw!"
A terrifying aura instantly burst from the bedding, sending Sasuke tumbling. The immense chakra instantly went wild... The entire Uchiha family was woken up.
"..."
In the early morning, figures at the Konoha gate were sparse, with only a few ninja squads heading out on missions.
Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara were waiting for Kakashi's arrival. Because Sasuke had hassled them both to get up at the crack of dawn, they arrived at the village gate a bit early. Some people who saw him whispered something.
After all, Uchiha Itachi had been a famous name since the Chunin Exams.
A ninja from an outbound squad suddenly turned his head, "Is that Uchiha Itachi? That little brat who graduated with us this year?"
"I think so! Besides him, there are no other ninjas this young in the village."
The squad's supervising Jonin grumbled and patted the heads of his two disciples one by one, "A peer younger than you has already been promoted to Chunin, and you're still not working hard!"
"Teacher, we didn't have time to participate in this year's Chunin Exams. It's the same if we get promoted to Chunin next year!"
"How can the Chunin Exams be that simple!" The supervising Jonin was disappointed in his disciples' inability to live up to expectations. They were too optimistic. He looked down at the only quiet disciple, "If you three can cooperate well, you still have a chance to pass..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I know! But Hayate's speed is too fast!"
"Future Chunin Hayate Gekko, what are your orders?"
"..."
The quiet young man at the tail of the squad frowned, looked at his teammate who had an arm around his neck, and coughed lightly a couple of times, "Do you have any cold medicine? I think I might have caught a cold..."
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you always getting sick for no reason!"
"I'm going to become Hokage! Right now, I feel like I'll eventually become a medical ninja just from preparing medicine for you, you bastard!"
What a happy bunch of guys!
Uchiha Itachi watched this happy squad leave with envy. This kind of ordinary ninja life was occasionally something to yearn for!
His ninja path was also strange. He had successively served under Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui, and now he had entered Kakashi Hatake's ANBU squad.
His teammates or superiors couldn't possibly fool around like them. After all, everyone was already very mature psychologically... except for that old man Jiraiya, who still acted foolishly.
The little boy noticed the gaze of the crow in his arms, looked doubtfully at the departing ninja squad, and asked, "Does Kitahara know them?"
"Caw..."
The crow nodded. There was a winner in life among them!
"Good morning!"
Kakashi Hatake waved at them from afar. Only when he got closer did he say in surprise, "You guys are quite early! I'm not late, am I?"
Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara shook their heads in unison, "..."
This guy Kakashi... actually wasn't late!
Unknowingly, Kakashi had gotten rid of many bad habits. There were still many things he had yet to do. He was gradually becoming the white-haired genius that all his peers looked up to.
In fact, it might also be because his previous changes had not been noticed by others. And the one who had noticed the change in his friend was, of all people, Guy, who couldn't speak but could only act...
On the way to the border of the Land of Rice Paddies, Kakashi Hatake was strangely friendly, taking good care of his junior. He also showed a very senior-like demeanor when camping.
It completely subverted his past image.
Uchiha Itachi took the water bottle he handed over and nodded gratefully, "Senior Kakashi isn't at all like what they say in the village!"
"Hmm, maybe there's some misunderstanding." Kakashi Hatake didn't argue much, reached out to tend the fire, then thoughtfully covered the crow with a blanket from his backpack.
The crow poked its head out from the warm blanket, "Caw..."
This guy Kakashi, being attentive for no reason, is he trying to trick me?
The new superior's abnormality, Uchiha Itachi was a bit slow to notice, because his previous two superiors were very friendly. But Kitahara knew clearly, whether in its past life or this one, Kakashi Hatake was not a proper person...
Every day, he would either be holding 'Icha Icha Paradise' and ignoring everyone else, or verbally mocking those around him. Even Team 7 and Yamato had suffered greatly from it.
Uchiha Itachi, ever considerate, asked, "Senior Kakashi, is there something wrong?"
"Ah? It's nothing." The white-haired ninja scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed, "I never properly thanked you for what happened that night..."
"Is it because of Uchiha Obito?"
"Not just that!" Kakashi Hatake added a piece of wood to the fire and shook his head gently, "The night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, because our generation of young ninjas hadn't been exposed to the battlefield, I never knew Teacher Minato's son was still alive... Thank you for telling me later."
When submitting the battle report for that night, Uchiha Itachi had mentioned the Fourth Hokage's residual chakra spirit. He naturally wouldn't hide it from Kakashi, the Fourth's direct descendant.
On the day of the Nine-Tails' rampage, Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuhi's group of young ninjas were sent to the shelter by the older generation of ninjas. That night, the Fourth Hokage and his wife both died. He thought their son hadn't survived either.
Compared to the death of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, a baby whose successful birth was uncertain was truly insignificant.
Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi was very strict about keeping the Jinchuriki's identity a secret. On the other hand, it was also because he himself had no mind to pay attention to the truth.
Facing the Jinchuriki, Kakashi once also felt resentment. After all, the rampaging Nine-Tails that night, strictly speaking, had made him lose his last bond in Konoha.
"Naruto Uzumaki?"
Uchiha Itachi remembered the little fellow crying alone in the water prison, "How is he lately? Is he eating well?"
"Mm, he's okay. Kids are quite lively."
Kakashi nodded with a complicated expression. When mentioning Naruto Uzumaki, saying he was "lively" was a forced compliment. That little brat was not at all like Teacher Minato and Mistress Kushina!