"Idiot Kyusei!!"
"Hurry up and get out of bed and make breakfast!!"
Early in the morning, a voice still tinged with childishness rang through Kyusei's house.
When a half-asleep Kyusei rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, the first thing he saw was a mass of white hair.
"Oh… Kakashi."
"Why are you here?"
Kyusei muttered instinctively.
"Idiot!"
"Wake up already!"
Kakashi jumped straight onto the bed, grabbed Kyusei by the collar, and started shaking him violently.
"Stop—stop shaking!"
Kyusei reached out with one hand, pressed Kakashi's head down, and suppressed him effortlessly.
Even so, Kakashi kept stretching his arms, trying to scratch Kyusei—
But his arms were just a bit too short to reach.
Only then did Kyusei fully wake up.
kaoru and the others had already been away from Konoha for three days.
During that time, Hatake Sakumo had dumped his only son on Kyusei to look after.
No matter how fiercely Kakashi resisted, it was useless.
Sakumo had simply carried him over like a chicken.
"Damn it, Kyusei! I'm going to be late for school!"
"Hurry up and cook already!"
Watching Kakashi make a scene, Kyusei scratched his head helplessly.
"Alright, alright, I'll make breakfast for you, you little runt."
He pushed Kakashi aside, got out of bed, and dressed efficiently.
Then, under Kakashi's extremely reluctant gaze, Kyusei pulled down his face mask and tossed a wet towel straight onto his face.
"What are you embarrassed about? It's not like I haven't seen it before."
Kyusei said indistinctly while brushing his teeth.
"Tch."
Kakashi clicked his tongue.
The two of them—one big, one small—quickly finished washing up.
Kakashi then sat obediently at the table, waiting for breakfast.
Kyusei glanced at him, saw the pan was hot enough, poured in some oil, sprinkled in a bit of salt, and cracked in the prepared eggs.
He then tossed in the sausages as well.
In less than three minutes, four perfectly fried eggs with sausages were plated.
He heated a cup of milk for Kakashi, and breakfast was done.
Resting his cheek in his hand, Kyusei watched Kakashi chew slowly and carefully.
Almost unconsciously, he spoke.
"Kakashi."
"What?"
Kakashi swallowed before replying.
"If I have a kid in the future, and I leave them to you…"
"Would you take good care of them?"
"Tch, who'd want to take care of your kid?"
Kakashi scoffed.
Looking at Kakashi's classic tsundere expression, Kyusei smiled and said nothing more.
After eating, Kakashi very consciously washed his own plate.
Kyusei, meanwhile, got ready to head out.
Since Sakumo had dropped Kakashi off with him, Kyusei had taken it upon himself to handle school drop-offs and pick-ups.
Mainly because he was bored out of his mind.
Nao had been holed up in the Hyūga clan's archive for days, refusing to come out.
Senju Hashirama, sealed in the necklace, claimed he was "preserving chakra" and told Kyusei not to bother him—then went completely silent no matter how much Kyusei poked at him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was swamped with war affairs and had no time for him.
His only source of entertainment now was the Kakashi in front of him.
"Let's go, little white-haired kid."
Kyusei said.
"You're the white-haired one!"
"Your whole family is white-haired!"
Kakashi exploded instantly.
"Well, actually, you should say my whole family is red-haired."
Kyusei corrected him seriously.
Kakashi stared at this shameless bastard and was utterly speechless.
Kyusei led Kakashi toward the ninja academy.
Along the way, they ran into quite a few parents sending their kids to school.
After all, it was morning.
"Good morning, mister who bought me dango!"
A cute, childish voice called out beside Kyusei.
"When did I get such a weird nickname?"
Kyusei turned around.
A brown-haired little girl stood there.
It was Nohara Rin, whom he'd met before.
Kyusei squatted down without hesitation and pinched her cheeks with a grin.
"Hey, randomly pinching a girl's face isn't something a boy should do, you know."
Rin wriggled free from Kyusei's hands, rubbed her slightly reddened cheeks, and spoke seriously.
"Mm-hmm, I'll be careful."
Kyusei nodded.
"This is my teacher's son, Kakashi."
"He's a bit full of himself, but you'll become good friends."
Little Rin blinked, confused.
"But Kakashi and I are already good friends?"
"Didn't we feed cats together last time?"
"Mister Dango Buyer, you're really forgetful."
Kyusei froze for a moment and rubbed his forehead.
Ever since kaoru left, he'd felt completely unmotivated—dazed all day long.
They'd clearly met recently, and yet…
"Uh… alright then."
"The rest of the way, you and Kakashi can walk together."
Kyusei rubbed both their heads.
"Kakashi, don't bully Rin."
He poked Kakashi's forehead.
"Yeah, yeah, you're so annoying."
Kakashi complained, clutching his forehead.
"Then see you later. I'll come pick you up after school."
At that, Kakashi stared at him with dead-fish eyes.
"I'm not a little kid."
Watching Kakashi and Rin walk away, Kyusei turned and left.
In his view, if he'd never crossed paths with Kakashi, that would be one thing.
But since he'd become Hatake Sakumo's disciple, he wanted to change this brat's tragic future—at least a little.
Even though the original depressed white-haired Kakashi was kind of cool in his own way.
…The price was just a bit too high.
"Boss, one rice ball."
Kyusei stopped at a breakfast stall and spoke casually.
He'd been so busy making breakfast for Kakashi that he hadn't eaten himself.
"Right away, Lord Kyusei."
The shop owner handed it over.
Kyusei paid, took the rice ball, and bit into it.
"Boss, you know who I am?"
"Uh… Lord Kyusei, with how famous you are, it'd be harder not to recognize you."
The middle-aged owner replied awkwardly.
"Is that so? Then goodbye."
"The rice ball was good. Hope I can eat it again next time."
As the red-haired man walked away, the stall owner stiffened completely.
Those words were hard not to overthink.
But in this line of work, the most important skill was vigilance.
I can't stay here anymore.
Just as he was about to pack up and leave—
A figure with moon-white hair appeared silently behind him.
Anbu operative, codename Silver Moon.
Katō Dan.
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