Naruto lifted his gaze to meet Kakashi's visible eye.
"I like making friends," he said slowly, deliberately. "And I hate solo sports."
The words hung in the air.
Naruto's face remained perfectly calm, but beneath the surface, old anger simmered. Ever since learning about Kakashi from his parents' chakra, he'd carried a fragile hope. Maybe this person would approach him. Maybe Kakashi would say, "Hey, I've been watching over you this whole time." Or even just, "Sorry I'm late."
That would have made Naruto happy. Genuinely, deeply happy.
But five years had passed. Five years of knowing Kakashi existed, of occasionally seeing him in the village. Naruto remembered the Summer Festival—spotting the white-haired jonin reading his orange book in a small shop. Kakashi had seen him too. Their eyes had met across the crowd.
And Kakashi had said nothing.
The resentment from that memory bled into his introduction now, subtle but pointed.
Behind his mask, Kakashi's face flushed. The "solo sports" comment was clearly aimed at him and his beloved Icha Icha Paradise. He glanced down at the book in his hand.
For the first time in years, it didn't seem quite as appealing.
He'd quit the habit dozens of times, convinced the books were rotting his brain. But a day or two later, he'd always crack one open again, unable to resist.
So good, he'd think, diving back in.
Kakashi snuck a glance at Naruto's face, searching for confirmation of intent. But Naruto's expression revealed nothing. Maybe it was unintentional. Just a coincidence. Right?
Kakashi forced himself to relax. "Well, your introductions are done. I suppose it's my turn."
He arranged his visible eye into something resembling a smile. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. What I like and what I hate... I'm not telling you that." The smile widened. "As for my dreams for the future? Also secret."
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura blurted out. "That's so unfair!"
Naruto and Sasuke didn't react at all. In their eyes, Kakashi's attempt at humor was childish at best.
Seeing his joke fall flat, Kakashi coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two small golden bells, shaking them so they chimed softly.
"See these?" He held them up for inspection. "Your mission is to steal them from me before noon. Anyone who fails doesn't get lunch." He tied the bells to his belt with casual ease. "Oh, and you didn't eat breakfast, right? So you'll be pretty hungry by then."
Sakura's face drained of color. She looked at Sasuke, then at Naruto. Both were clearly stronger than her. Which meant she'd be the one going without lunch. And she'd already skipped breakfast on Kakashi's orders. If she missed lunch too, she'd waste away to nothing!
"Alright then." Kakashi pulled out his Icha Icha book, opening it with one hand. "Begin."
Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, then at Naruto, his expression asking permission to attack. But Naruto's subtle headshake stopped him.
Naruto wanted to see what his father's student would try.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stepped forward. "I'll go first!"
"Oh? Come at me then." Kakashi didn't even look up from his book.
Naruto advanced with deliberately clumsy movements, reaching for the bells at Kakashi's waist with all the grace of an Academy student. He had no intention of succeeding immediately. That would end things too quickly.
Watching Naruto's uncoordinated approach, Kakashi's visible eye curved with amusement. Naruto, you ignored my instructions about breakfast. Now you're going to learn why teachers give orders.
This is for your own good!
Naruto's hand reached out. Kakashi sidestepped effortlessly, the movement so smooth Naruto didn't even touch his clothes. The dodge left Naruto bent forward awkwardly, back exposed.
In that instant, Kakashi snapped his book shut and pocketed it. His hands came together in a specific seal—thumbs and ring fingers bent inward, middle and index fingers extended straight. A wicked gleam entered his visible eye as he aimed those fingers at Naruto's most vulnerable area.
"Konoha Secret Taijutsu Technique," he whispered. "Thousand Years of Death!"
He thrust forward without hesitation.
At the last moment, Naruto's lips curved into the faintest smile. You're really doing this, Kakashi? You brought this on yourself.
Naruto deliberately crouched lower, making the target more accessible. Might as well make this easy for sensei.
Sasuke saw what was coming and closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to witness what would happen. He'd seen Naruto sit on sharpened stones and reduce them to powder.
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut too. The technique was too indecent to watch!
CRACK!
The sound of splintering bone echoed across the training ground.
Kakashi's smile froze. Agony exploded through both hands. His index and middle fingers had just struck something harder than steel. Harder than stone. The bones shattered on impact, fragmenting into dozens of pieces.
What is the Fourth Hokage's son made of?!
Naruto turned around, his face the picture of innocent concern. "Kakashi-sensei? Are you okay? You look like you're about to... well, you look constipated."
Through the haze of pain, Kakashi lifted his trembling hands. "Hospital," he managed. "Take me to the hospital. Now."
At Konoha Hospital, the medical ninja examined Kakashi's hands with growing concern.
"The phalanges of your index and middle fingers on both hands are fractured in dozens of places," she said clinically. "With proper care and immobilization, you should recover in about a year."
Kakashi's visible eye went wide with horror. A year. A full year without being able to hold a book properly. A year without reading Icha Icha Paradise.
His face darkened to the color of charcoal.
He looked up at Naruto, who stood nearby with an expression of complete innocence. For the first time in his adult life, Kakashi felt genuine resentment toward a student.
"Well, since there's no serious damage," Naruto said cheerfully, "we'll head out. Take care, Kakashi-sensei. Rest up and heal well!"
"Goodbye, sensei!" Sakura added.
"Get well soon," Sasuke offered flatly.
As the three left, Sakura turned to Naruto in the hallway. "Thank you, Naruto! If you hadn't... well, I would've starved today. No breakfast and no lunch."
"Shh!" Naruto pressed a finger to his lips, barely holding back laughter. "Don't say that so loud. Kakashi-sensei will hear you and feel bad."
"Oh!" Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth. She glanced back through the doorway and met Kakashi's resentful stare.
The jonin sat on the hospital bed, both hands encased in plaster, looking deeply betrayed.
Once they cleared the hospital doors, Naruto finally let himself go. He doubled over, clutching his stomach as laughter erupted from his chest. Tears streamed down his face. Snot threatened to follow.
Sasuke and Sakura watched him lose his composure completely, exchanging confused glances.
When Naruto finally caught his breath, wiping his eyes, Sakura asked, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing." Naruto waved her off, still grinning. "Just remembered something happy. One of the cows at the farm gave birth to a calf."
Then he started laughing again.
A cow giving birth? Sakura's confusion deepened. That's what's so hilarious?
"Anyway," she said eventually, "I'm starving. Going home to eat. See you guys tomorrow!"
She waved and headed off.
"Sasuke, you go ahead too. I'm going to visit Hinata." Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto vanished using Instantaneous Movement.
Sasuke looked around the empty street, shrugged, then used Flying Thunder God to return to the farm.
Training never stopped, after all.
Hinata was practicing Gentle Fist forms in her family's training yard when she felt a familiar presence. She turned to find Naruto standing on the grass twenty meters away, smiling at her.
Her face immediately flushed pink.
"Naruto-kun," she breathed, fingers pressing together nervously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~