A few drinks in, it's always easy to bring men closer together. At least he now looked significantly more relaxed than his previous tense demeanor, and the conversation gradually opened up:
"Recent missions are getting more and more troublesome, involving a lot of things. If I could, I'd really like to spend all my time in the lab like you, Sōusuke."
"You'd definitely go crazy."
Sōusuke used shared chopsticks to grill beef on the hot plate, responding casually with a laugh: "A few days ago, our entire department found an error in the data. We almost had to scrap the entire project and start over, but still couldn't find the problem."
"Halfway through the investigation, we found out that a new recruit from the Aburame Clan had accidentally dropped a poisonous insect into a petri dish during an experiment, just for a moment."
"Twice!!"
"Haha... We were working overtime until one or two in the morning every day then, almost losing all our hair."
He spoke, then looked up and smiled in Kakashi's direction: "Moreover, even if you wanted to stay at home doing nothing, it would probably be very difficult, wouldn't it?"
As one of the few friends of this outwardly cool, inwardly passionate masked man, he naturally knew Kakashi's true job.
Anbu was not something you could just quit whenever you wanted.
Kakashi Hatake said nothing at this, burying his head and downing another glass of sake.
However, when he looked up, his overly handsome face always made the surrounding female customers turn their heads frequently.
This was also one of the reasons he disliked taking off his mask.
Uchiha Itachi, seeing Kakashi-senpai's true face without his mask for the first time, his gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds with some surprise.
He had originally thought Kakashi-senpai's true appearance would be ordinary enough to be suitable for a spy.
What a surprise.
Just as he was thinking, he saw a pair of chopsticks holding a grilled slice of meat, gently placing it on the plate in front of him.
"Don't be so reserved, Itachi-kun."
"Relax a little."
Sōusuke smiled brightly, patting his shoulder with a large hand: "Don't mind Kakashi always having a stern face; he's actually quite easy to get along with."
"Yes!"
Uchiha Itachi instinctively straightened his back like he did at home with his father, saying seriously: "Kakashi-senpai also took good care of me during missions and taught me a lot."
"Right?"
"Oh, you probably don't know yet, do you? That book he always carries around, it's actually..."
Just as he was whispering to Itachi.
"Hey! Sōusuke!"
Kakashi, holding his sake cup, interrupted with a stiff expression.
Who reveals their past to their subordinate right off the bat?
That's too much, Sōusuke.
This reaction immediately drew a burst of laughter from the other person.
On the tabletop, condensation formed along the rim of the stainless steel plate, chilled beer frothed in the glass, charcoal crackled on the grill, dripping fat sparked tiny flames, meat slices curled golden at the edges, and smoke mixed with cumin aroma swirled under the warm yellow light.
The expressions and faces of the two also seemed to fade into the smoke, and the sounds in their ears became clearer.
Uchiha Itachi watched the two of them from the side, still looking a bit reserved.
However, this relaxed yet subtle feeling now was neither like with Shisui-niisan, born of shared ideals, nor like with Sasuke, born of familial bonds.
Instead, it was a very ordinary, very common sense of acceptance that should naturally exist between friends.
But, to him, it was so unfamiliar.
This made Uchiha Itachi even faintly suspect that something had been wrong with his life before.
At the same time, having had few proper friends since childhood, he was now clearly unsure of what to do, his thoughts swirling in his mind. He subconsciously looked at the sake bottles by the two's hands.
"Ah, not this."
He had only just glanced at it when his gaze towards the sake bottle was blocked by a large hand.
Sōusuke held up a finger: "Although Itachi-kun is already a mature Ninja, drinking before the age of twenty is still prohibited."
"You can eat more meat, though."
"You're still at an age where you're growing, aren't you?"
"Sōusuke-senpai... Thank you."
Seeing several more slices of beef added, almost filling his plate, Uchiha Itachi nodded, then began to eat a few bites more quickly.
Sōusuke-senpai is truly a gentle person.
He's just like a father... No, should I say an older brother?
Is this what it feels like to have an older brother?
If only Sasuke saw me that way too.
This thought inexplicably popped into Uchiha Itachi's mind.
Regardless.
Wasting food is not good.
Seeing him gradually letting down his guard and eating heartily, Kakashi and Sōusuke exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
"How does it taste? Is the grilling alright?"
"It's delicious."
Uchiha Itachi, with bulging cheeks, nodded seriously.
As he spoke, he seemed to hesitate: "But, will it have any impact for you two seniors to eat with someone like me...?"
What he wanted to say, actually, was 'us Uchiha'.
Ever since the Nine-Tailed attack, everyone in the Village looked at members of the Uchiha Clan with a different gaze.
While it wasn't as bad as how they treated the demon fox kid, covert and overt sarcasm was always present. Some even loudly cursed Konoha Military Police Force members on duty in the streets.
In recent years, these conflicts had become increasingly intense.
As for clan meetings, there was no need to mention them; coup d'état proposals had appeared more than once or twice.
The sense of urgency in his heart also grew stronger.
Even casually chatting and eating like this now brought a strange, slight sense of guilt.
However, the other person's rhetorical question made his thoughts pause.
"What impact?"
Sōusuke-senpai first clinked glasses with Kakashi opposite him and drained his drink, then continued to use the shared chopsticks, casually grilling meat on the hot plate, as if he didn't take such a small matter to heart at all:
"Kakashi's best friend, and his teammate, was a member of the Uchiha Clan. He saved him on the battlefield more than once or twice."
"After that Guy passed away, his grandmother was often looked after by Kakashi until she also passed away the year before last."
"There are quite a few people like him in the entire Village, and quite a few informed people like me as well—do you think people like us would be unwilling to interact with you because of the Uchiha Clan crest on your back?"
Upon hearing this, Kakashi seemed to recall something, his drinking motion involuntarily stopped, and his expression also seemed to darken a bit.
Uchiha Itachi, meanwhile, widened his eyes in surprise, looking towards Kakashi-senpai.
This was the first time he had heard of this.
Sōusuke spoke, his voice unconsciously tinged with a hint of mockery:
"As for those voices you hear?"
"Actually... they are nothing more than the mouthpieces of certain individuals."
As soon as he heard Sōusuke was about to touch on sensitive figures, Kakashi immediately interrupted:
"Sōusuke! You've had too much to drink."
"Ah, my apologies."
Hearing Kakashi's reminder, Sōusuke seemed to just realize, and nodded apologetically towards Itachi.
At this moment, Uchiha Itachi unconsciously stopped eating, staring blankly at the two.
Mouthpieces?
Could it be that the Uchiha's current predicament had actually happened many times before?
Seemingly noticing his gaze, Kakashi Hatake's expression was a little complicated, but he didn't say much, only stating:
"In a few more years, you'll understand."
"..."
"Yes."
"I, I understand."
Although Uchiha Itachi replied this way, he clearly still looked very concerned, silently committing it to memory.
After this topic, the conversation between the two suddenly seemed to lessen a lot, and the atmosphere at the dinner table became a little heavy.
However, Uchiha Itachi carefully noticed that Kakashi-senpai was drinking much faster, his eyelids lowered, as if lost in some unpleasant memories.
How could Kakashi Hatake be happy?
Now twenty-two years old, he understood far, far more than he did ten years ago.
For example, the true cause of his father's death back then.
Just as the drinking party was about to end, the three suddenly heard a surprised voice from beside them:
"Eh?"
"You're here too."