Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi watched Hatake Satoru's figure vanish. The two exchanged a glance and fell silent.
A faint awkwardness spread between them.
That feeling of mutual doubt and watching each other was gone in an instant.
But Hatake Satoru had left too suddenly, catching both of them off guard.
Kisame was a little curious about what Satoru had asked of Itachi, but in this situation he really couldn't bring himself to ask.
The two stayed silent for a while, saying nothing.
Outside, the sound of footsteps suddenly stopped, and Itachi paused, slightly alert.
That feeling… Kakashi?
Among them, Kakashi was the only one kept in the dark.
If Kakashi saw Hatake Satoru hanging out and chatting with the rogue ninja Itachi, he'd probably start doubting his own eyes and mind.
Explaining would be too much trouble, so Satoru had slipped away first.
Itachi picked up a skewer of dango and bit into one thoughtfully.
Satoru had asked him for a favor, so he might as well wait and see how Kakashi reacted.
Itachi and Kisame sat calmly in the dango shop, quietly facing each other.
Kakashi stood outside, book in hand, leaning against the wall near the shop entrance.
From outside, he could faintly see two men inside. Judging by their appearance, they clearly weren't ordinary.
Kurenai and Asuma came walking side by side from around the corner.
Kakashi closed his book, straightened up, and turned his head toward them.
"Well, well, you two look pretty close, huh."
Kurenai tilted her head slightly, a bit embarrassed. Both her expression and Kakashi's words were clearly teasing them.
"Idiot, Anko just asked me to buy some dango for her."
Asuma looked over at Kakashi with a casual expression.
Since Kakashi didn't like sweets, standing around here like this really didn't fit his style.
"You're one to talk. What are you doing standing here?"
"Well, nothing much. I came to buy an offering, and I'm waiting for someone."
Kakashi curved his eyes into a smile, then opened them again to glance toward the dango shop.
Kurenai and Asuma, noticing his look, also turned their eyes toward the inside.
The shop was dim, and they could only faintly make out two men in cloaks sitting on chairs.
"Waiting for Sasuke."
Kakashi paused deliberately before continuing.
Inside the shop, Itachi's fingers twitched slightly as he held his teacup.
For Kakashi to sense him here—he hadn't become Anbu captain for nothing.
At the mention of Sasuke's name, Kurenai and Asuma both tensed and turned their eyes to the shop.
Did this have something to do with Sasuke?
Could the man inside be that clan-killer, Itachi?
Kurenai and Asuma instantly became alert, though they didn't act rashly.
If they fought these two here in the village, it would cause chaos. Besides, they didn't even know how strong the two men really were.
"Is that so? You waiting for someone—now that's rare."
"Are the offerings for Obito?"
Kakashi paused. Both "offering" and "Sasuke" were codes he had used as hints.
Caught off guard by the sudden mention of Obito, he froze for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"Obito? Well, that's about it."
After a short and strange silence, two sharp sounds suddenly came from inside the dango shop.
"Tap."
"Tap."
Are they about to fight?!!
The three people standing outside the door instantly turned their heads in alert, ready to move at any moment.
Their faces were hidden by the curtain outside the dango shop, so the people inside couldn't see them.
"Kakashi?"
"It's rare for you to show up early."
Sasuke, completely at ease, walked toward Kakashi while speaking to him.
The moment all three of them turned their attention to Sasuke, the two inside instantly vanished without a trace.
If they were this cautious about Sasuke showing up, then it was almost certain that one of them was Itachi.
Kakashi's heart sank slightly. But aside from Itachi, it seemed another person had come along.
What were the two of them doing in Konohagakure?
Kakashi turned his head and gave Sasuke his usual dead-fish stare.
"Sometimes I do."
The atmosphere among these people felt so strange.
Sasuke gave them a curious look, then glanced past Kakashi into the dango shop. Inside, there was no one sitting.
It looked like the people inside had just left. On the table were two cups of steaming tea and a plate with only one skewer of dango left.
Sasuke's face instantly twisted in disgust, as if he had seen something he really disliked.
"I hate natto and sweet stuff."
When Sasuke was a kid, Hatake Satoru and Uchiha Itachi, both crazy about sweets, dragged him into their world. Their taste buds and teeth seemed made for sugar.
Back then, Sasuke blindly copied everything about Itachi. Since his brother liked sweets, he quickly followed suit.
But people's bodies aren't the same. After eating sweets with Itachi and Satoru for two months, Sasuke was "honored" with his first cavity.
After that, there wasn't much more to say—whatever food Itachi liked, Sasuke usually didn't.
Instead, he switched to the healthy-food camp.
"...Oh, is that so?"
It seemed Sasuke still hadn't noticed Itachi's presence. Kakashi casually gave a half-hearted reply.
Right now, what Sasuke liked or disliked wasn't very important.
He quickly glanced at Kurenai and Asuma and gave them a signal.
The two of them immediately vanished, chasing after the direction Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame had gone.
"Well, sorry Sasuke. Even though I called you out, looks like something urgent came up."
"I'll talk to you another time. Don't follow."
Kakashi patted Sasuke on the shoulder, then disappeared as well.
Sasuke looked at the three adults leaving all of a sudden, confused. He could understand if there was an emergency…
But he couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding something. It was strange.
Sasuke stared thoughtfully at the table, where only one skewer of dango was left.
...
Leaving the busy part of town, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame didn't go far but instead headed toward a quiet riverside.
It was only a matter of time before those three caught up, but Itachi wasn't worried.
After all, Hatake Satoru had asked him to do one thing—push Kakashi, who had been lazy for far too long.
At this point, finding a place where Kisame could fight comfortably was the most important thing.
The two men wore their straw hats low, almost covering their whole faces.
"You two don't look like people from this village."
Kurenai and Asuma stood firmly in front of them.
---
Read 30 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---