The noren of the sushi restaurant was lifted, and Nohara Shinji swaggered inside, followed by Obito, Rin, and Guy, who had been forcibly dragged away from the training grounds.
"Welcome... huh?" The owner stared at the green strip of cloth tied around Guy's forehead. "Sir, the word written on your forehead is..."
"Youth!" Guy raised a thumb, his teeth flashing beneath the lights.
"...Understood. A table for four."
The four of them sat around a table. Shinji picked up the menu, pretended to study it for two pages, then slapped it down.
"Bring us one of every type of your best sushi."
The owner's eyes practically turned into money signs. "One of everything?"
"That's right." Shinji pulled a heavy money pouch from his ninja tool bag. "The original left me mission funds and said I'm not allowed to return until I spend them all."
Obito stared at the money pouch and swallowed. "Just how much are you earning from this mission?"
"It isn't my money." Shinji crossed his arms. "It's the mission reward from the Daimyo. The original calls this eating and drinking with public funds."
Rin quietly said, "I don't think that's what public funds are supposed to be used for..."
"That's how it works in the original's dictionary." Shinji raised one finger. "He says money is only being used correctly when it's spent on friends."
Guy's eyes instantly filled with tears.
"This is youth!!!"
When the first plate of sushi arrived, Obito was still studying the little figures on the scroll.
"This pose is way too stupid." He picked up a tuna sushi with his chopsticks. "'The Will of the Hokage'? Who would stand outside the exam room with their hands on their hips and shout, 'I'm going to become Hokage!'?"
"The original said you would." Shinji swallowed a salmon sushi in one bite. "He said you shouted it at least four hundred times at the ninja academy."
Obito's chopsticks froze in midair.
"He even remembers that?"
"The original remembers everything." Shinji spoke while chewing. "He said that one time, you shouted it from the roof until the teacher chased you down, and you landed flat on your backside."
Obito's face turned bright red. "That was an accident! And weren't you standing beside me back then?"
"Right, right. The original said he laughed so hard that he nearly rolled off the roof."
Rin laughed softly.
Obito turned toward her. "Rin, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, nothing." Rin waved her hand, though the smile at the corners of her lips showed no sign of disappearing. "I just remembered that I think I was the one who called the teacher that time."
"It was you?" Obito's eyes widened.
"You two were shouting so loudly from the roof that we could hear you inside the classroom." Rin picked up a piece of tamago sushi with her chopsticks.
Obito buried his face in his hands. "Stop talking about it..."
"Additional information from the original: while Obito was falling, he grabbed at the air three times, caught absolutely nothing, and even bounced once when he hit the ground."
"Shinji, why did your original feel the need to add that?!"
"Because the original said it was one of the happiest memories of his life. It ranks third."
Obito's expression struggled between curiosity and anger for a long time before curiosity finally won.
"Then what are first and second?"
Shinji looked at him seriously.
"Confidential."
"How is the shadow clone even more irritating than the original?!"
After they argued for a while, a trace of concern appeared on Rin's face.
"Come to think of it, once we graduate, we'll be divided into teams, right?"
Guy asked, "Which team do you think we'll be assigned to? Do you think we might all be together?"
"There's no way four people will be assigned to one team." Obito rolled his eyes. "A team only has three students and one teacher."
"Then let's guess!" Guy was not discouraged in the slightest. He shot to his feet and planted one foot on his chair. "If this is the arrangement chosen by youth, then we shall—"
"Sir, please do not step on the chair." The owner passed by with a blank expression.
Guy immediately sat down obediently.
"Sorry."
While Obito wasn't paying attention, Shinji reached out with his chopsticks and stole the final tuna sushi from his plate.
"Hey!"
By the time Obito noticed, the sushi was already inside Shinji's mouth.
"I tested it for poison for you." Shinji chewed twice, then his expression suddenly stiffened. "Wait, why is there so much wasabi in this...?"
Rin hurriedly poured a cup of water and handed it to him.
Shinji's entire face scrunched up. He could neither swallow the sushi nor spit it out, so he finally accepted the water and gulped it down.
"Why do shadow clones cry when they eat something spicy?" His voice was filled with fundamental doubt about the principles of ninjutsu.
Rin picked up a tamago sushi from her own plate and placed it on Shinji's.
"Eat this one. It doesn't have any wasabi."
"The original said Rin really is the kindest."
Obito changed the subject. "Where is your original right now?"
"At the Daimyo's residence."
"The Daimyo's residence?" Obito's mouth fell open. "Then he must be enjoying the finest food and drinks."
"The original isn't enjoying the finest food and drinks." Shinji became unusually serious. "The original said the tea at the Daimyo's residence is very bitter."
"Tea?"
"The Daimyo invited the original to drink tea. Apparently, it was made from the most expensive tea leaves in the capital, but the original said it was so bitter that his tongue went numb."
Obito froze. "And then?"
"Then the original told the Daimyo that next time, he should serve chocolate sticks with the tea. Bitter tea tastes better with sweet chocolate sticks."
Obito covered his face with one hand. "That idiot... Does he really speak to the Daimyo like that too?"
"Yeah." Shinji nodded. "The Daimyo seemed very happy and even said he would prepare chocolate sticks next time."
"That's what makes Shin-chan so amazing," Rin said softly. "No matter where he is or who he's with, he never changes."
Outside, the sky gradually darkened. The final glow of the setting sun streamed through the window, dyeing the sushi restaurant's wooden tables a warm orange.
Shinji lowered his head and looked at his hands.
"It's almost time." He jumped down from his chair. "The chakra the original gave me is nearly exhausted."
"Shinji, you..."
Shinji raised one hand and made a victory sign.
"Become amazing genin, alright?"
His body began turning into white smoke, slowly fading beneath the evening sunlight.
"Remember to miss me... Wait, no! Remember to miss the original!"
At last, he completely transformed into a cloud of white smoke and vanished from the restaurant.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
"This is... the passing down of youthful friendship!!!" Guy was the first to erupt, the headband bearing the word Youth fluttering in the breeze.
"What was that?" Obito lowered his head and looked at the scroll in his hands. The little figure with its hands on its hips seemed to be winking at him. "Still as reckless as ever. He sent a shadow clone back just to eat a meal with us and then disappear."
But his grip on the scroll was very tight.
Rin held the small flowerpot in her arms, gently brushing her fingers across the wooden sign that read, Water every day.
Obito carefully placed the scroll inside his ninja tool pouch, then looked up at the gradually darkening sky.
In the distance, the Hokage Rock had faded into a vague silhouette beneath the twilight.
"Let's go," he said. "We're getting ramen."
"Didn't we just eat sushi?" Rin asked.
"I'm suddenly hungry again." Obito shoved both hands into his pockets. "Besides, if Shin-chan finds out we went for ramen after he left without bringing him, he'll definitely throw a fit at that Daimyo's residence or whatever."
Rin followed him while carrying the flowerpot. Guy wiped the corners of his eyes and strode after them.
~~~
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