***
**Chapter 8: You Really Resemble an Old Acquaintance of Mine**
"Kakashi-sensei? Hey! Kakashi-sensei! The bearded uncle's calling you!"
Naruto tugged hard at Kakashi's sleeve. Even someone as dense as him had noticed something off.
Kakashi stood frozen, as if under a binding jutsu. His single visible eye stared straight ahead from beneath his silver hair, his breathing barely audible.
"Kakashi-sensei, you've been acting weird since earlier. Is it a lingering effect from the fight with Zabuza?"
Sakura furrowed her delicate brows, her fingers twisting anxiously.
Sasuke didn't join the questioning. Instead, he keenly followed Kakashi's gaze, ultimately locking onto the unfamiliar black-haired boy beside Asuma.
"Hey,"
his cold voice shattered the silence.
"You there. Do you know Kakashi? He's been staring at your face like an idiot."
Rubik was eyeing the legendary Team 7 with great interest. He'd anticipated Kakashi's reaction upon seeing him, but witnessing the elite jonin's composure crack firsthand was still novel.
He curved his lips into a perfectly timed smile. "No, we've never met. But this gentleman seems quite taken with my face?"
Kakashi's chest heaved sharply, his knuckles whitening as he clenched his fists. He forced himself out of his daze, though his exposed eye still betrayed rare turmoil.
"Ah~ It's nothing, nothing..."
He scratched his silver hair casually, turning to Asuma with a grin. "Mission's over?"
"I've called you three times already."
Asuma shook his head helplessly around his cigarette, glancing sidelong at the black-haired boy beside him.
He fully understood his old friend's shock—this face resembled that person from the past by seven parts. He'd planned a private introduction, but fate had arranged this encounter at Ichiraku Ramen instead.
Kakashi let out a dry chuckle, but his gaze magnetically drifted back to Rubik's face.
"This is... a new guest to the village?"
He tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice trembled at the edges.
"Pleased to meet you, Copy Ninja Kakashi."
Rubik set down his chopsticks and gave a standard bow. "My master often speaks of you as a role model for juniors."
"Too much praise!"
Kakashi waved it off, nearly knocking over his miso soup, then asked, "May I inquire who your master is...?"
"Rubik is Jiraiya-sama's disciple."
Asuma chimed in helpfully, his cigarette glowing faintly in the dim light. "The old man's in the Hokage's office for a debrief. He asked me to show the kid around the village first."
He noted Kakashi's tensed shoulders and sighed inwardly—the impact of this face on his friend was as profound as expected.
"The ramen's getting cold!"
Ichiraku's call broke the awkward tension. As everyone settled in, Team 7 huddled together, whispering.
"Kakashi-sensei was acting so strange just now..."
Sakura bit her lip worriedly, murmuring to Naruto and Sasuke, "It was like he saw a ghost."
"Definitely karma from staying up all night reading his pervy books!"
Naruto slapped the table confidently.
"Idiot."
Sasuke snorted coldly, a flicker of understanding in his dark eyes. "That guy must remind him of someone important."
He knew the look well—every time he saw his own face in the mirror, mirroring his mother's contours, his heart twisted the same way.
"The key point is he's a disciple of the Sannin..."
Sasuke's fingertips absently rubbed his kunai, battle lust flickering like flames in his eyes.
This black-haired boy felt oddly familiar—simultaneously like the dead-last Naruto, yet radiating the aura of a true powerhouse that set his blood boiling.
"Hey! What's all this Sannin nonsense!"
Naruto suddenly jumped up, jabbing a finger inches from Sasuke's nose. "Your rival's me! Don't tell me you're scared, you coward Sasuke!"
"Dead-last, want to die?"
"Naruto! Apologize to Sasuke right now! And how can you disrespect a hero who protected Konoha..."
...
Kakashi gave Asuma an embarrassed smile tinged with apology. "Sorry for the spectacle."
He was already plotting extra training to drill these three troublemakers until they couldn't crawl.
Asuma waved it off with a puff of smoke. "Youngsters, right? We were the same back in the day..."
He cut himself off mid-sentence, remembering Kakashi's "back in the day" lay in ruins.
"Ah."
Kakashi's reply was feather-light. Asuma stubbed out his cigarette in regret and focused on his tonkotsu ramen.
Rubik propped his chin, watching the drama unfold with a faint smile.
Live-action Naruto was way more entertaining than on-screen—Naruto's jealousy was practically "brocon" etched into his headband.
He suddenly recalled a wild theory from his past life's forums: Naruto and Sasuke were basically two marriage-scamming gays—preferring moonlit tree chats over checking on their kids.
*Cough cough!*
Rubik choked on his own thought, gulping ramen broth. When he looked up, Kakashi had silently slid into the seat beside him.
"I haven't asked your name yet."
The silver-haired jonin's voice drifted from afar, his visible eye holding cautious hope.
"That was rude of me."
Rubik set down his bowl and chopsticks; the steam from the hot soup veiled the air between them.
He'd imagined this scene countless times before arriving in Konoha, but now that it was real, his heart raced a bit—like a kid meeting a stepmom.
"Uzumaki Rubik."
He met Kakashi's eyes steadily, enunciating each syllable: "Just call me Rubik."
"Uzumaki? Why Uzumaki?"
Kakashi eyed Rubik's spiky black hair, a trace of puzzlement stirring in his chest.
"Does my name intrigue you?"
Rubik asked mildly.
Kakashi's fingers absently traced the edge of his headband, his visible eye narrowing as if peering through time's haze.
"You just resemble an old friend of mine."
Rubik noticed Kakashi's throat bob; he was clearly suppressing some emotion.
Rubik knew exactly who he meant but replied, "Is that so? An honor. May I ask what happened to that friend...?"
"He died."
Kakashi said, then added a beat later, "In the Third Great Ninja War."
Steam swirled between their ramen bowls like a hazy barrier. Rubik glimpsed the worry and sorrow in Kakashi's eyes.
Rubik said softly, "Sorry for bringing it up."
Kakashi stared at Rubik's face, thinking to himself: *'From this angle, his profile looks even more like Obitoi's...'*
"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto lunged from behind, slinging an arm around Kakashi's shoulders with a grin. "What secret stuff are you two plotting? Talking trash about me?"
Kakashi visibly relaxed, deflecting with a quip: "Busted. We were just discussing how a certain dead-last rushed to the bathroom in the Hokage's office yesterday after chugging expired milk during the mission report."
"No way! That was an accident!"
Naruto's face flushed crimson as he yelled, then eyed Rubik curiously. "Anyway, you're Rubik, right? A Sannin disciple? You must be super strong!"
Sasuke had appeared behind Naruto at some point, arms crossed coolly. "A Sannin disciple shouldn't suck at basic ninjutsu like some dead-last."
"Who're you calling dead-last, smug Sasuke?!"
Rubik watched the fated rivals with amusement. By blood, these two future strongest ninja of the world were his distant kin.
"The point isn't that, idiot. Didn't you hear? He's an Uzumaki too, like you."
Sasuke reminded the oblivious Naruto.
"Wait, you're an Uzumaki too? Are we distant relatives or something?"
Naruto's face lit up with excitement, mingled with hidden unease and fear in his eyes.
***