The last light of the setting sun spilled through the window and across the tabletop.
Chiya set down the documents in his hand and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose.
The Military Police Force work had just wrapped up when Uchiha Tekkai walked in from outside.
"Clan Head, this is the information on Uchiha Obito that you requested."
Tekkai respectfully held out a scroll.
Chiya took it and slowly unrolled it.
Uchiha Obito, both parents deceased, currently living with his grandmother.
As Chiya looked over Obito's family situation, his fingertip traced lightly over the words "both parents deceased," and his expression grew slightly heavy.
"Uchiha Obito."
Chiya murmured to himself.
This one was a heavyweight figure from the story.
Tobi, the masked man, Madara's puppet.
The guy whose Kamui could not hold back tears, the one who had Kakashi visiting a grave for over a decade.
And his story said it all.
From a bright, kind-hearted, somewhat dramatic young boy, he darkened into the great villain of the later arcs. He killed his own teacher and the woman his teacher loved, ignited the Fourth Great Ninja War, and set out to destroy a ninja world he had come to see as beyond saving.
Tekkai looked a little puzzled.
"Clan Head, you seem quite focused on him?"
Chiya closed the scroll and said evenly.
"The future of the Uchiha rests on children like him."
Tekkai nodded, not entirely sure he understood.
"Keep a closer eye on Obito's household from now on. His grandmother especially."
Chiya instructed.
"Tomorrow morning, bring him to the Military Police Force to see me."
"Understood."
Tekkai accepted the order, bowed, and withdrew.
Chiya looked out at the darkening sky, his thoughts drifting.
'Obito.'
'This Obito who was supposed to become a pawn in Uchiha Madara's hands.'
'With my involvement, I wonder if his future can still be changed.'
Just as Chiya was lost in thought, a figure appeared without a sound outside in the courtyard.
"Uchiha Clan Head, Lord Hatake requests your company for a visit."
Chiya looked up and saw an Anbu ninja wearing an animal mask standing at the doorway, speaking with respectful courtesy.
"Hatake Sakumo?"
Chiya raised an eyebrow.
"What does he want with me?"
"This subordinate does not know. Lord Hatake only said he would like to invite you to a meal."
Chiya narrowed his eyes slightly.
Hatake Sakumo was reaching out to him on his own?
Interesting.
"Lead the way."
The Hatake residence was not particularly lavish. If anything, it carried a kind of plain, composed solemnity.
Although Chiya had been here once before, he could still tell that something had shifted slightly about the place.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, the smell of food and cooking reached him.
"You are here?"
Hatake Sakumo's voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of a spatula working through a wok.
Chiya walked inside.
He found Hatake Sakumo wearing an apron, spatula in hand, looking every bit the part of a man at home in his own kitchen.
And beside him, a small silver-haired figure was standing on tiptoe, doing his best to wash vegetables.
Hatake Kakashi.
Chiya could not help but smile.
"The great head of the Anbu, personally cooking?"
Hatake Sakumo did not turn around.
"I would rather cook than kill."
Chiya shrugged and let his gaze drift to Kakashi.
"Hey, kid. Doesn't that mask get stuffy?"
Kakashi looked up. His dead-fish eyes gave Chiya a flat, expressionless glance. He said nothing.
Chiya leaned in with a mischievous interest.
"I have heard that wearing a mask for too long causes heat rash. Want to take it off and get some air?"
Kakashi froze for a moment. His eyes shifted slightly.
He still said nothing. Instead he silently turned around, handed the washed vegetables to his father, then walked out of the kitchen without looking back and headed to his room.
From the looks of it, he had gone to check on the face beneath the mask.
Chiya held back a laugh.
Hatake Sakumo watched this and shook his head with an exasperated look.
"Stop teasing him. This kid has never been much of a talker since he was small."
"That is fine. Better than those noisy brats."
Chiya leaned casually against the doorframe.
"So, what is this meal about?"
Hatake Sakumo's hands paused for just a moment, then he continued stirring the food in the wok.
"Gratitude."
His voice was quiet, but completely sincere.
"If it were not for you, I might have already."
'Without my stepping in, it probably would have gone the same as the original story. He would have taken his own life.'
Chiya's smile faded slightly. He did not respond.
Only the sound of oil sizzling in the pan filled the kitchen.
Dinner was a full spread.
Grilled fish, miso soup, tempura, simmered vegetables.
Hatake Sakumo's cooking was unexpectedly good.
Chiya sat in the guest's seat. Kakashi, who had come back out of his room, sat across from him. He still wore his mask, showing nothing but a pair of dead-fish eyes that occasionally drifted over toward Chiya.
Hatake Sakumo poured Chiya a cup of clear sake, then filled his own.
"Kakashi, go get some juice."
Kakashi obediently stood, pulled a bottle of orange juice from the icebox, and poured himself a cup.
Hatake Sakumo raised his cup with a solemn air.
"Chiya, this cup is for you."
Chiya raised an eyebrow.
"This formal?"
Hatake Sakumo did not smile. His eyes were deep and steady.
"If you had not warned me that day, I might have already reached the end of the road."
His voice was low, but Kakashi's ears visibly shifted at the words.
Chiya swirled his cup and said plainly.
"I just could not stand watching a hero die for nothing."
Hatake Sakumo shook his head. Then he reached over and ran a hand over Kakashi's hair, a look of fond warmth crossing his face.
"No. You did not only save me. You saved Kakashi's future too."
Beside them, Kakashi gripped his cup tighter, his eyes flickering faintly.
Chiya glanced at him, then suddenly grinned.
"Hey kid, your old man is being this sentimental. Don't you have anything to say?"
Kakashi was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at Chiya with a serious expression.
He stood up.
"Thank you."
"That's it?"
Kakashi went stiff immediately.
Hatake Sakumo laughed despite himself and patted his son on the head.
"Stop making it hard for him. This kid has never been good at expressing himself since he was little."
Chiya shrugged and let the matter drop.
He actually had a fair amount of goodwill toward Kakashi.
After all, the kid was essentially his personal chakra unit of measurement.
Chiya raised his cup and drained it in one go.
After a few more rounds of drinks, the atmosphere gradually warmed up.
Hatake Sakumo talked about the reforms within the Anbu. Chiya shared what had been going on with the Uchiha Clan lately.
Kakashi did not say a word, but he listened attentively the whole time, and every now and then would sneak a glance over at Chiya.
When dinner finally ended and Chiya rose to take his leave, Hatake Sakumo suddenly said.
"Chiya, if there is ever a day when I am no longer around, I am leaving Kakashi in your care."
Chiya's steps paused.
Kakashi's head snapped up.
"Father."
Hatake Sakumo ruffled his hair and smiled.
"Just a hypothetical."
Chiya turned back and looked at this father and son, then slowly curved his mouth into a smile.
"Relax. You made it through this one. Nothing will happen to you down the road."
"And besides, if this little brat ever causes trouble, I will discipline him on your behalf."
Kakashi's dead-fish eyes rolled.
The mask shifted slightly. His mouth clearly moved beneath it, but in the end nothing came out.
Hatake Sakumo burst out laughing.
In the night, Chiya left the Hatake residence and looked back once at that warm light glowing from inside.
The incident where public opinion had been used to pressure Hatake Sakumo, that was probably not going to happen again.
The same clumsy tactic would not be used a second time.
And Hatake Sakumo had by now become a bridge between the major clans and Konoha's upper leadership.
Not only was such a thing not going to happen again, Konoha's leadership would not allow anything to happen to Hatake Sakumo in the near future.
At least not until they found someone to replace him.
Chiya turned his gaze away and walked back toward Uchiha territory.
As for Kakashi.
Chiya's mind immediately jumped to Obito, and his eyes lit up.
Next time he came over, he would bring Obito along.
It would be a good chance to let the two of them start building a bond from an early age.
Chiya looked up at the full moon overhead.
He could not help but feel a touch of something.
"Sigh. I really do worry myself sick over Konoha's affairs. If I do not end up becoming Hokage someday, it is going to be very hard to wrap all this up."