"White Fang."
That codename had once belonged to Kakashi's father.
The man who, during wartime, abandoned a mission to save his teammates—only for Konoha to suffer defeat on that front, for public opinion to turn into a knife at his throat… and for him to finally take his own life under the weight of it all.
What that name meant to Kakashi, Hikaru understood perfectly.
He also understood why Kakashi had come to ANBU in the first place.
After Minato Namikaze took the Hokage seat, Kakashi was reassigned into ANBU.
The reason was simple: he had watched Obito die with his own eyes… and later, with his own hands, he had killed his other teammate.
If that kind of blow landed on anyone else, they might not survive it mentally either—let alone someone like Kakashi, whose heart had always been sharper, more sensitive.
Right now, Kakashi looked like death had already moved in and started unpacking.
He barely gave off the feeling of a living person.
Calling him a walking corpse might actually be the most accurate description.
Minato didn't want his student to sink, and he didn't want Kakashi to drown forever in the past.
So he threw him into ANBU.
ANBU missions were heavy. Ruthless. Constant.
There wasn't time to curl up inside your memories and cry.
And ANBU required killing—enough killing that, eventually, you stopped flinching from it.
Only then could Kakashi "get used to" what had happened. Only then could he keep moving.
"Still… why shove him into my squad?" Hikaru wondered as he accepted the mission scroll, his thoughts turning quietly. "Because we used to be classmates?"
ANBU didn't pause their work over "small incidents." No one cared about awkward coincidences. Orders came, and you moved.
This mission was straightforward: eliminate an enemy spy who had already been identified—someone embedded in Konoha's network.
After the kill, they were to bring the body back.
The spy had disguised himself as a Konoha ninja and was currently outside the village "on mission."
Of course, calling it a mission was generous.
He was transmitting information.
This kind of assignment was the most basic bread-and-butter ANBU work. Hikaru had done it at least fifty times over the past five years—he could do it in his sleep.
The only difference this time was that he had an additional directive:
Take Kakashi along.
Two-man operation.
Hikaru's squad normally had four members, but since Kakashi had been inserted into his unit, the other members were reassigned to different duties.
And Kakashi needed to learn ANBU procedure—fast.
Hikaru exhaled silently.
"Whatever. He's here. If they want him under me, then he's under me."
Truthfully, Kakashi and Hikaru weren't as close as people might assume.
Yes, they'd attended the Academy around the same time, but Kakashi graduated early. Meanwhile, Hikaru had deliberately kept his head down, slipping past the first wave of "cannon-fodder selection"… and then, right before the second wave could sweep him up, he was shoved into ANBU at eight.
Aside from less than a year of overlap, they barely had any connection.
If anything, he'd had more contact with Obito.
Obito had been… a bright idiot. Loud, stubborn, strangely warm.
In some ways, he reminded Hikaru of what Naruto would be like in the future.
Of course, Hikaru couldn't deny that part of his friendliness back then had been practical.
Leaving yourself a way out—building relationships—was never a bad idea.
Once they had the order, neither of them wasted a second.
They left immediately and headed for the target area.
Kakashi stayed silent the entire way, following behind Hikaru like a shadow, as if he didn't care what the mission even was.
It made the air feel heavier.
Hikaru knew this was the hardest period of Kakashi's life.
The guy was basically dead inside.
But Hikaru also knew he couldn't afford to ignore him.
If Hikaru wanted to survive and rise in Konoha, building a connection with Kakashi was worth it—if only because Kakashi would one day become the teacher of the world's "chosen one."
After thinking for a moment, Hikaru spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.
"Kakashi… it's been a long time."
He was wearing a mask, but he was pretty sure his smile underneath it was decent.
Kakashi didn't respond.
Didn't even glance at him.
It was awkward—though at least the mask hid it.
So Hikaru kept going.
"You might not recognize me, but I recognize you. We were in the Academy around the same time. You graduated early. I entered ANBU when I was eight."
"…Same cohort?" Kakashi finally reacted. He turned his head slightly toward Hikaru.
"Yeah." Hikaru nodded, his voice still calm. "I still remember a lot of people from back then. Guy. Kurenai. Asuma… and Obito, and Rin…"
He stopped.
His eyes—behind the mask—lingered on Kakashi for a beat before he continued, slowly, carefully, each word placed like it mattered.
"It's a shame. But… they were heroes."
"When I have time, I want to visit their graves. Leave a bouquet."
He didn't say anything after that.
Kakashi looked at him for a long moment, then gave a small nod.
"…Thank you, Captain."
"Just call me Hikaru." His voice softened further. "Do you… remember me at all?"
Truthfully, Hikaru had no idea if Kakashi would.
Back in the Academy, Hikaru had kept a low profile.
He wasn't an Uchiha, so he didn't have to worry about being watched the way they were… but the Senju situation was delicate too.
Still, "too low-profile" and becoming part of a dead-last duo with Obito?
No thanks.
Hikaru didn't have Obito's luck.
Obito—an Uchiha nobody on the fringe—somehow survived until "real graduation" even when Konoha was desperate enough to start yanking "qualified kids" out of school and throwing them onto battlefields early.
Then he got a ridiculously good sensei.
Then he somehow became a Hokage's disciple.
Obito had the mold of a protagonist—just with low intelligence and that special Uchiha sickness that made people crack.
If Hikaru had performed as badly as Obito at school, he would've died in the first wave of selection.
So Hikaru had aimed for a careful middle ground.
Better than average, undeniably competent…
But not a standout.
Not someone anyone bothered remembering.
"Hikaru…" Kakashi seemed to search his memory. After a moment, he shook his head slightly. "Sorry. I don't think I paid attention back then."
Then, after a pause, he added, "But I've heard Guy mention you."
"Is that so?" Hikaru gave a quiet chuckle. "Then I owe Guy a thanks."
Hikaru's relationship with Guy was decent—actually, his relationships with most of Konoha's future pillars were decent.
They were of the same generation, and Hikaru intended to keep a footing in Konoha.
And honestly?
He also had to consider the possibility of running someday.
If he ever did, the ones sent to hunt him down might very well be those same familiar faces.
Having a good relationship might buy him a softer hand when that day came.
After that opening, Kakashi looked slightly more natural.
The coldness still clung to him like frost, but at least he could speak now.
That alone was an improvement.
The two moved fast, chatting lightly as they traveled.
Hikaru found himself thinking—half amused, half resigned—that somewhere in Kakashi's heart, his "favorability" was probably creeping upward in tiny increments.
+0.01. +0.01. +0.01.
Because right now, Kakashi's heart was sealed in ice.
And breaking ice was never easy.