"Kakashi? Kakashi?"
"…Rin?"
Under a star-filled sky, a white-haired boy lay on a rooftop, staring upward. He turned his head listlessly toward the girl calling up from below.
"I just finished checking the other wounded in the outpost," she said, hopping lightly onto the roof and landing beside him. "When I came back, you weren't in your room, so I figured you'd come here again to… zone out."
The short-haired girl sat down, frowning at the boy's half-covered face and the two eyes visible—one black, one red.
"Thinking about Obito again, Kakashi?"
"Yes," Hatake Kakashi murmured. "Obito."
Kakashi shifted, making room for her to lie beside him and look at the stars. As she sighed and settled in, he spoke again in a low voice.
"The war… it's going to end soon, isn't it?"
"It should," Nohara Rin replied, lifting her hair with a small, worried look as she glanced at him. "After Kannabi Bridge, Iwa doesn't seem interested in continuing. Sensei said the Third has already sent envoys to the Land of Fire—near the Earth border—to prepare for peace talks."
"As for Kumo, with Sensei active… they weren't winning to begin with, so they can't afford to keep this war going either. We'll still need to station enough shinobi on the Lightning and Earth borders to deter them, but the big war… should be over."
"So fast," Kakashi whispered. "It's only been a few months since… that battle."
He closed his right eye, turning his face slightly so Obito's Sharingan—his left—could look down at the outpost below. He listened to the uneasy snoring carried on the wind.
"The front lines are calm enough that wounded shinobi who aren't too badly hurt can retreat and recover while helping staff the outpost. Kumo and Iwa will negotiate soon…"
He exhaled.
"Peace is coming so fast it almost feels like a dream."
"Kakashi…" Rin's gaze drifted to the scar across his face, her expression dimming. "The Third Great Ninja War has lasted a long time. Every village has lost so many people… Everyone's reached the point where we have to stop and recover."
Her voice softened.
"This peace didn't just appear out of nowhere."
"…Right," Kakashi said. "It was bought—barely—with Obito's sacrifice, and everyone else's. Bought in blood."
"Kakashi!"
Hearing him sink again into grief—feeling him carelessly keeping that Sharingan open despite the strain—Rin grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her.
Kakashi blinked, startled—
—and then he saw it.
A gaze that was unwavering and sincere.
"Kakashi," Rin said quietly, "Obito entrusted his Sharingan to you because he wanted you to use it to see the road ahead and the scenery of the future."
She squeezed his rough palm with both of her small, warm hands.
"He would never—never—want you to drown in guilt and self-blame forever."
"Rin…"
Kakashi looked at her, stunned.
Rin's smile brightened, like sunlight, and she reached up to cover Kakashi's Sharingan with her hand—speaking lightly, as if addressing the eye itself.
"Obito, can you see this? I'm still alive. The war is almost over. When we get back to Konoha, we'll probably finally have time to visit those grandpas and grandmas you were always helping."
She kept smiling.
"Don't worry. I'll drag Kakashi with me. We'll take your burden and look after them for you."
"Kakashi's a jōnin, so he might not have time to stay in the village much… but I'm a scarce medical-nin. I'll probably be in Konoha more than he is."
"And… you don't have to worry about being lonely, either. Kakashi and I promised—we'll go to the memorial stone whenever we have time and tell you about what happens in missions and in everyday life."
She laughed softly.
"It won't be perfect, but Kakashi's eye should let you see part of it from his side, right? I'll fill in what you didn't see, and that should make it almost whole."
Her voice turned gentle.
"I'll live. Kakashi will live. We'll carry you with us, and we'll go see the world after peace arrives…"
"So please… watch over Kakashi. He'll keep running outside, mission after mission. Keep him alive, okay?"
"Rin…"
Rin turned back to Kakashi.
"And Kakashi—you should make Obito a promise too. Promise you won't keep hanging your head and trapping yourself in this forever."
For the first time in a long while, Kakashi smiled faintly. He lifted his hand, covering his Sharingan the way Rin had, and swore to his fallen friend.
"I will protect Rin, Obito."
"Hey!" Rin pouted. "Promise Obito something about your attitude too!"
"…Yeah, no," Kakashi said, awkwardly dodging her gaze. "Obito might actually enjoy seeing me look miserable."
Rin huffed, and Kakashi tugged at his forehead protector, preparing to finally cover the Sharingan and stop the needless chakra drain—
—but before he could, his eye caught something.
A thin veil of mist, like gauze under moonlight, was spreading… slowly wrapping the outpost.
Was tonight supposed to be foggy?
No.
It wasn't.
So this mist—
Kakashi's pupils shrank.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Everyone on guard—Mist shin—"
Whoosh.
A black shadow shot at him from an angle so vicious it seemed to melt into the wind.
Fast.
But not too fast for the double-tomoe Sharingan.
Kakashi yanked a kunai free and blocked the masked figure's close-range strike with razor precision.
"Huh," the young voice behind the ANBU mask said, almost amused. "I was careful with the Hidden Mist Technique… and you still noticed."
The attacker's strength made Kakashi's brow knot instantly. Under moonlight, he saw the weapon in the attacker's hand—longer than a kunai, too oddly shaped to be a short sword.
It was bone.
Crystal-white like jade, yet sharp and hard as steel.
"Shikotsumyaku…" Kakashi's heart sank. "Is Kirigakure planning to declare war outright?!"
"Wind and Fire are exhausted. Lightning and Earth are losing steam," the ANBU replied calmly. "Kirigakure watched from the sidelines, waiting to reap the profit…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Isn't that… only natural?"
Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He kicked off, forcing a clash, then used the recoil to flip backward—trying to shield Rin, who lacked close-combat strength—
But then he saw the attacker's hands flash through seals.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu."
Yet no heavy water rose around Kakashi.
His blood turned cold.
"Rin—!"
When Kakashi twisted around, another identical figure—in the same mask, the same gear—already had one hand sunk into a massive sphere of water that had appeared from nowhere.
And inside it—
Rin stared back at him, panic and fear flashing in her eyes, trapped within the Water Prison.
Kakashi's breath hitched.
The masked ANBU faced him, voice calm, almost conversational.
"So. What will you do now, hero of the Sharingan… Hatake Kakashi?"
Behind the emotionless mask, Ren watched Kakashi's eyes turn razor-sharp and asked in an even tone—
"Hatake Kakashi."
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/Inkveil_