Chương 46: The Naka Shrine

Afternoon.

"Hey, Kakashi! Didn't expect you to come find me! Are you finally ready for a showdown of youth?!" Kakashi stood on a low wall by the road, hands in his pockets, his half-lidded gaze fixed on the green-clad figure that had just slammed his front door open. He wondered, not for the first time, how that door was still attached to its hinges.

"You on a mission today?" Kakashi yawned.

"I had a feeling you'd come today, so I deliberately kept my schedule clear! This is the telepathy that exists between eternal rivals!" Guy struck one of his signature poses—thumb extended, teeth gleaming white enough to catch the sun.

"No mission, then. Come with me." Kakashi hopped down from the wall and started walking, looking as listless as ever.

"Oh?!" Guy's face lit up.

"What's the contest this time?" Kakashi ignored him. He was already moving down the street, pulling a palm-sized book from his pocket and reading as he walked.

"Kakashi!" Guy scrambled after him.

"It's rare for you to come find me in person, Kakashi! I'm ready —this time I'll defeat you with everything I have! Let us have a burning contest that puts our youth on the line!"

"Kakashi!"

"Kakashi, hey…" No response. Guy didn't seem to mind. He bounced along at Kakashi's side, chattering without pause, hopping left and right like a restless bird. They walked for a long time, turning corner after corner, until Kakashi suddenly stopped. He looked up at Guy.

"…What were you saying?"

"…" Guy's eyes went wide. He took two stunned steps backward.

"No… as expected of my rival. You always manage to wound me in the most devastating ways." He braced one hand against a telephone pole and pressed the other to his chest, wearing an expression of theatrical agony.

"All right." Kakashi snapped his book shut and slipped it into his pocket. The half-lidded stare settled on Guy.

"Since you want a contest so badly…" Those words hit like a resurrection jutsu. Guy materialized at Kakashi's side in an instant, fully recovered.

"I'm ready!" Thumb. Gleam.

"A race, then." Kakashi's voice was flat, his posture still boneless.

"Starting from here." Guy immediately dropped into a sprinter's stance.

"And the finish line…"

"The Naka Shrine." Guy froze mid-crouch.

"…" He straightened slowly, surprise breaking through the enthusiasm.

"The Naka Shrine?"

"Mm."

"That's inside the Uchiha compound?"

"Mm."

"Are the Uchiha going to let us in?"

"Not at this hour." Kakashi's tone didn't change.

"…Is this a mission?" It was finally clicking.

"Go to the compound gate," Kakashi said, shifting into something closer to a briefing.

"Tell them you're there under the Hokage's orders to conduct an investigation."

"An investigation of what?"

"Doesn't matter." Kakashi waved a hand.

"Just say you're acting on the Hokage's authority. That'll make them take you seriously."

"And what about you?"

"I'm going in a different way."

"Once I'm inside, what do I do? Meet you at the Naka Shrine?"

"No. You won't get in."

"Huh?" Guy blinked.

"Just do what I said. Thirty minutes, then you can leave." Kakashi clearly didn't feel like explaining further.

"Let's go."

"Uh… right." Guy made his way to the entrance of the Uchiha compound as instructed. Two Uchiha clansmen stood guard at the gate.

"Hold it." Guy stopped.

"The clan has internal business to attend to. No outsiders permitted. Please turn back." Guy cleared his throat. He recalled Kakashi's instructions and put on the most serious face he could manage.

"I'm here under the Hokage's orders to conduct an investigation of the Uchiha compound."

"An investigation of what?" The two guards exchanged a glance. One of them spoke.

"Well…" Guy scratched his chin. This part, Kakashi had not prepared him for.

"Ahem… classified mission. I'm afraid I can't say."

"Do you have documentation?"

"Huh?"

"Documentation."

"…" The Naka Shrine. Not a soul in the vicinity. The Sharingan beneath his headband detected no presence whatsoever. Kakashi stood at the entrance to the main hall, scanning the surroundings with quiet vigilance. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The Naka Shrine was the Uchiha clan's ancestral temple, built against the Naka River. The Naka ran through the heart of Konoha, and its basin had been Uchiha territory long before the village was founded.

A few days ago, Shisui had thrown himself into this very river. The thought surfaced unbidden. Shisui's death was common knowledge among the village's shinobi by now—a man of his reputation couldn't disappear quietly. The hall itself was old and vast. A short flight of stone steps led down from the entrance to an open courtyard dotted with weathered pillars—ornamental, perhaps, or the remains of something older. A small grove of trees bordered the clearing. Kakashi paced the area, frowning.

His headband stayed in place, but beneath it, the Sharingan never stopped spinning.

"Captain Kakashi. What brings you here?" The voice came from directly behind him—and his expression shifted. He hadn't sensed a thing. He turned. Itachi Uchiha stood a short distance away, dressed in full ANBU gear. No mask. No sword on his back.

"Nothing much. Personal business." Kakashi let a beat pass.

"And I'm not your captain anymore. You don't have to call me that."

"You looked after me during my time in ANBU. I haven't forgotten." A slight bow of the head. Respectful.

"With your talent, you'd have done fine with or without me." Kakashi said it like it was nothing.

"I hear you made squad captain."

"I did."

"How is it?"

"About the same. More missions." They spoke easily, like old acquaintances catching up by chance.

"Every time I come to the Uchiha district…" Kakashi turned to face the shrine's main entrance.

"It brings back memories." Probably can't get inside now anyway…

"I see…" Itachi's voice was low, almost a murmur. A gust of wind picked up. The sun hung low, bleeding orange across the sky. Itachi looked up at Kakashi's silhouette against the fading light.

"You snuck in, didn't you, Captain."

"…"

"What were you looking for?"

"…" Beneath his mask, Kakashi let out a breath so quiet it was barely there.

"Nothing." He started moving, walking past Itachi toward the way out.

"Captain Kakashi." He'd barely passed Itachi when the voice stopped him again. Kakashi turned his head slightly. Itachi was watching him.

"How do you see the Uchiha?" The question came slowly, deliberately.

"I recall you had a great deal of trouble after the war because of the Sharingan."

"…Ah… that." Kakashi stopped walking. A half-smile, lazy and unbothered.

"I'd almost forgotten. And your question isn't really mine to answer. I'm just a regular jonin. But if you're asking for a personal opinion—they're a powerful clan. That's about it." He turned and took two steps. Then stopped again.

"One more thing." He looked back over his shoulder.

"You've gotten strong, Itachi."

"…"

"I'd rather not end up facing you as an enemy one day."

"…" A casual wave of the hand, and he was gone. …… Itachi stood motionless for a long time after Kakashi left. The shrine grounds were empty—just him, alone beneath a sky turning red. A solitary figure. The air beside him twisted. It spiraled inward like a vortex, and from that distortion, a figure stepped into existence—someone in a mask.

"You've been entering and leaving the village too frequently," Itachi said, his voice flat.

"They've noticed."

"Doesn't matter." The voice behind the mask was low.

"Konoha will just blame the Uchiha for it." Itachi's fists tightened.

"Didn't you want the truth?" The masked man turned toward the shrine.

"It's right in front of you."

"—Listen, I do know Clan Leader Fugaku. I remember during the war with the Land of Earth, we were on the front lines together and—""Our clan leader was stationed on the Land of Water front." The Uchiha guard's face was stone.

"Er…" Guy's smile froze.

"Well, yes, but the Land of Water campaign ended earlier, you see, so we ended up meeting on the Land of Earth front afterward—" He scratched his chin with one hand, the other on his hip, eyes darting everywhere.

"Our clan leader was never deployed to the Land of Earth front." Stone-cold.

"…" Just when Guy was running out of material, he felt a tug at his pant leg. He looked down. A dog was gripping the fabric in its teeth. Relief flooded through him.

"Ahem—I may have been mistaken." He straightened, addressing the guards with sudden formality.

"I've just remembered I have other business to attend to. If you'll excuse me." He vanished from the spot.

"That's it? I was hoping he'd keep going." One of the guards clicked his tongue.

"He was the most entertaining thing all day." …… On a Konoha street, Guy caught up to Kakashi in seconds.

"That was fast. Thirty minutes aren't even up yet." Guy peered at him.

"How'd it go?" Kakashi gave him a flat look.

"Classified mission. I'm afraid I can't say." He turned and walked away. Why does that sound familiar…? Guy frowned, trying to place it.

"Hey, Kakashi! What about our contest?!" He chased after him. Shin and the others had been traveling for a full day when they finally reached a walled city at the border of the Land of Fire. They passed through the gates into a bustling interior—street vendors crowded every corner, and rōnin in threadbare clothes outnumbered the rare shinobi by far.

"Finally here," Tomotoshi Ueno said, smiling. Shin wiped the sweat from his forehead. A full day on foot had taken its toll.

"Once we're through the city and a bit farther, we'll be in the Land of Rivers." Tomotoshi turned to Tsume.

"Tsume-sama, would you like to rest here first?"

"No. We'll rest once we're across." Tsume's expression was unchanged, not a trace of fatigue. Kuromaru, beside her, looked equally unbothered. Shin said nothing and followed the caravan forward. When they reached the far gate, seven or eight Leaf shinobi were stationed there, checking everyone coming and going.

"What's going on?" Tomotoshi's brow creased. Tsume's eyes narrowed too—and Shin noticed, though he couldn't understand the reaction. He'd never been here before; he had no baseline for comparison.

"Keep moving," Tsume said. Tomotoshi signaled the caravan, and they continued toward the gate. The Leaf shinobi stopped them.

"Why won't you let us through?! We're your allies!" An argument was already in progress on the other side. Several shinobi in unfamiliar garb were being held back by two Leaf ninja.

"What's the situation?" Tsume asked one of the checkpoint guards. He took in her Leaf flak jacket and headband.

"Hokage's orders. Full border lockdown. Anyone with detectable chakra who isn't Leaf is denied passage—in or out. Leaf shinobi need documentation."

"This is outrageous! We carry the Kazekage's seal and mission papers! We're not spies from some enemy nation!" The one protesting was a middle-aged man with white cloth wrapped around his head, a headband symbol tied over it that Shin recognized from textbooks—the insignia of Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind. Tsume handed over their mission documents. The guard inspected them carefully, then waved the caravan through. As they passed the group of Sand shinobi, Shin got a better look.

Behind the middle-aged man stood three children—maybe a year or two older than him. Two boys and a girl. The boys wore white headwraps with Sand forehead protectors. The girl was striking: sharp features, pale blond hair pulled into four stubby ponytails, a fitted outfit over mesh underclothing. Strapped to her back was a large, dark object—some kind of folding fan. Shin studied them with open curiosity. He'd never seen foreign shinobi before.

The girl must have felt his gaze, because she turned and looked right at him—a brief, appraising glance up and down. Her expression gave away nothing.

"How come your Leaf shinobi get to walk right through?!" One of the boys spotted Tsume's flak jacket and headband. His voice carried.

"What makes you so special?!"

"They have a mission in progress," the checkpoint guard explained.

"So do we!" The boy slapped his chest.

"This is discrimination! We'll report this to the Kazekage! There'll be consequences!"

"Please stop making a scene. We have our orders. You're not entering the Land of Fire today." The guard sounded tired.

"Damn it!" The boy's face flushed with anger. Before anyone could stop him, his hand shot to the pouch at the small of his back and came out gripping a kunai.

"Daimaru!" The middle-aged Sand jonin barked the name. The instant the kunai cleared the pouch, the boy felt it—killing intent, from multiple directions at once, locking onto him like a vise. The pressure crushed the air from his lungs. His eyes went wide with terror. He couldn't move. Shin noticed Tsume had stopped walking too, her gaze flicking sideways toward the Sand group.

Daimaru realized that every Leaf shinobi around him—the ones who had been perfectly civil a moment ago—was staring at him with cold, hard eyes. I'll die. I'll definitely die. He swallowed. The thought burned through him like ice water. His two companions were frozen beside him, rooted to the ground. The middle-aged Sand jonin rushed over and pried the kunai from Daimaru's hand, stowing it in his own pouch.

"A misunderstanding." He waved his hands rapidly.

"Just a misunderstanding. The boy is impulsive." The killing intent receded like a tide. Daimaru's legs buckled. He dropped to his knees, gasping, the terror still vivid in his eyes.

"Draw a weapon on us, and you'd better be prepared to make an enemy of Konoha," one of the Leaf shinobi said, voice flat and cold.

"Surely you're joking. We're allies, aren't we?" The Sand jonin's tone had flipped completely—smiling now, conciliatory—while the Leaf ninja who'd been bowing and apologizing moments ago now wore expressions carved from stone.

"Pathetic." Daimaru heard the girl's voice from above him. He looked up. She was staring down at him with undisguised contempt.

"Let's go, Shin." Shin had been watching the whole exchange with quiet interest, but Tsume and the caravan were already through the gate. He hurried to catch up.