Chapter 56 "Then congratulations..."
Upon hearing this, you crossed your arms and said, "Kakashi Hatake... I remember you were Sasuke's mentor. He mentioned you to me, saying you were a very competent teacher. I just didn't expect that such a competent teacher would gossip like that?"
Your words hit the nail on the head, making Kakashi feel a little embarrassed. He carefully chose his words and said, "But Obito is my partner, and I also have an obligation to care about him."
Well, he's using comrades as an excuse again. The Konoha ninjas really value their comrades. You didn't refute him, but waited for him to finish speaking and then quietly looked at him for a while. Your gaze seemed to have some kind of magic, making Kakashi feel uncomfortable. Before this, he had very little contact with you. To him, you were just Sasuke's older sister, nothing more.
But just a few words with him made him realize that you seem quite different from what he imagined. Your personality is far from the gentle and considerate person he had heard about; in fact, you could be described as self-centered.
How should I put it... realizing that you are this kind of person wouldn't surprise him much. He might be surprised for a second or two at most, and then he would naturally accept it all.
It's as if all of this is taken for granted.
Kakashi lowered his eyes because of your gaze, his voice muffled through his mask, and said, "Anyway... I hope you can give me a definite answer."
What definite answer could there be? Who knows what Obito Uchiha and he said to each other? You said, "Obito is just my lover. If you think that a lover and a sweetheart are the same thing, then let's just call him a sweetheart."
Your attitude is clearly perfunctory, because you don't care what others think at all.
"He's a rather awful person..." Kakashi thought to himself. "But your awfulness is within the acceptable range for others. It's not because of your appearance, but because the feeling you give off makes people unconsciously follow you around, even a powerful ninja like Kakashi."
For a ninja, being dominated is a terrifying thing. However, if the target is you, he doesn't find it so scary. Of course, he's not underestimating you, but rather, he thinks you probably won't kill him.
Although he has a bad temper, he won't cause anyone's death; it's that simple.
You have no idea how much Kakashi was thinking as he stood in front of you. After you finished speaking, you turned around and went back into the villa. A fight between ninjas can reduce your assets by one-tenth. Don't ask why you don't profit from war. After all, the world's firearms are no match for ninjas, so there's no basis for profiting from war.
You feel that it's already good enough if you can keep some of your assets intact, so you don't have a good attitude towards the ninjas who are participating in the war. Who knows, there might be some of them who will damage your assets.
As for Kakashi, even though he came to deliver a letter, your attitude towards him was indifferent. You didn't care about Obito Uchiha's current situation. If he were still alive, he would definitely find a chance to see you in the future. There was no need for you to worry about him. Therefore, you didn't pay much attention to the letter that Kakashi delivered.
After you finished reading that letter, you put it aside, along with Obito Uchiha himself. You left it aside and didn't think about it for a long time.
As for Kakashi, who was rebuffed by you, he embellished his story of meeting you after returning to Konoha and told it to Obito Uchiha.
Obito Uchiha, who is now able to move freely within Konoha Village, still prefers to stay in the room he started in.
As soon as Kakashi arrived, he asked, "What did she say?"
"She was very happy to receive your letter, and even smiled. She asked me about you, and I told her that you couldn't meet her for the time being. She said she would come to see you if she had the chance." This is Kakashi's version of events, which has been embellished and refined over several layers of wording.
Obito Uchiha wasn't stupid, at least not now. He wasn't so easily fooled. He said, "Did Aki really tell you all this?"
Oh no... I guess I was seen through after all? Kakashi was a little annoyed, wondering how to deal with the other person and what to say next.
One lie leads to many more to cover it up.
Just as Kakashi was in a state of panic, he suddenly heard his old friend say, "She was very happy to see you. So she even smiled at you? Kakashi, did you two have a pleasant conversation? Don't try to use the excuse of delivering a letter to her to get closer to her."
No, what is he talking about? He's just delivering a letter, isn't he? What do you mean by taking the opportunity to get close to you? You seem like a very difficult person to approach.
Wait, is he doubting himself? Is his friend suspecting him of trying to seduce you? Kakashi, realizing what was happening, looked at Obito Uchiha with a surprised expression and said, "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
Unexpectedly, Obito Uchiha said quite confidently, "I know you weren't like that before, but now that you've met Aki, things might be different."
Kakashi was at a loss for words, feeling both amused and exasperated. However, this did seem more like the Obito Uchiha he remembered, so he said half-jokingly, "Is that so? Well, maybe you were right."
He swore he was just trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but what happened?
As a result, he was kicked out. Kakashi, standing outside the door, was still thinking about what he had said wrong. He said to Obito Uchiha through the door, "Obito, are you really angry? But I was just joking."
Obito Uchiha inside didn't respond, which made Kakashi outside the door even more uneasy. Should he push the door open again? He'd probably be kicked out again, wouldn't he?
It seems I have no choice but to leave now.
Kakashi, after leaving Obito Uchiha's residence, encountered his former students Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto chattered on and on, which Sasuke found increasingly irritating. Finally, Sasuke said, "No matter how much you say, if she doesn't want to see you, it's all for nothing."
"Hmph—I have to try to find out if Mingxi is willing to see me!" Naruto crossed his arms.
Hearing your name from Naruto's mouth, Kakashi felt a strange sense of emotion. It seemed like everyone around him was talking about you. But that was understandable, since you had allocated funds to Konoha after the war for post-war economic reconstruction, so it was normal for people to mention you.
"What are my two students talking about?" Kakashi approached them with a smile.
"Ah, it's Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's first reaction was to wave and greet him, and his second reaction was: "Why does the teacher sound more and more like an old man?"
Kakashi's smile faltered. He said, "Naruto... that's not the point, is it?" He managed to maintain a forced smile, but if the student said something so direct again, Kakashi would probably be unable to laugh at all.
Sasuke then corrected him, saying, "Naruto, you shouldn't have said that."
"That's right, that's right. Sasuke is definitely more considerate, isn't he?" Kakashi nodded repeatedly in his heart, but before he could be happy for long, he heard Sasuke say, "People become more caring towards those around them as they get older, just like my father."
Ah... that makes sense, but isn't it a case of generational difference between him and the Uchiha clan leader?
Naruto made two "oh" sounds, suddenly realizing what was going on, and then said, "Oh, I see! I understand now!"
"You still haven't told me about what you were saying earlier." Kakashi tried to steer the conversation back on track, which had been running wild. Then Naruto said, "We're going to go find Aki, to see how she's been doing lately."
Kakashi seemed thoughtful. He said, "You probably don't know this, but Obito is Aki's lover." To avoid upsetting his students after discovering the truth, Kakashi decided to be the villain who revealed it.
Contrary to his expectations, his two students remained calm, with Sasuke even saying, "I've heard about it before."
Naruto said, "It's normal for Aki to have several lovers since she's so popular, right?"
It would be abnormal to say something like that in such a cheerful tone, wouldn't it?
His students seemed to have developed personalities that were unfamiliar to him, growing in a corner he couldn't see. He said, "This..."
"Oh, Kakashi-sensei, stop with the 'this' and 'that'. We know what we're doing." Naruto nodded to Kakashi, then left the village with Sasuke.
Kakashi watched their departing figures, utterly bewildered; words couldn't even begin to describe his current state.
*
Meanwhile, on the other side, the post-war reconstruction work has made your life exceptionally fulfilling these days. So much so that when Deidara and Sasori came to your door, you even asked them to wait a while, saying, "I still have some work to take care of right now, um... you can wait over there for a bit."
He casually tossed out a sentence, then turned and went into his office, not coming out for the entire afternoon. Deidara grew impatient and said angrily, "I didn't come here to sit on the sidelines!"
Scorpion glanced at the sofa he was sitting on and said, "You're sitting on the sofa."
Deidara choked for a moment, then said, "I was just using a metaphor, don't you understand?"
Scorpion understood perfectly well; he was just saying it on purpose. He said, "You're so impatient, no wonder she always thinks you're a child."
These words struck a nerve with Deidara. Deidara crossed his arms and said, "But my advantage is my youth." The implication was that the other party's disadvantage was his age.
Scorpion wasn't so easily provoked. He said, "This level of provocation won't work on me."
Deidara snorted coldly, his gaze then turning to your office door, wondering when it would open.
"Don't keep staring at me with those pitiful eyes," Sasori said coolly, adding before Deidara could get angry, "I'm just offering a friendly suggestion."
"What kind of friendliness is this?" Deidara scoffed, clearly saying it on purpose.
Deidara's attention was mostly on you, and he stared at that closed door for who knows how long. Almost the next second, you finally opened the door from the inside, and as soon as you opened it, you saw Deidara looking at you expectantly.
Could he have been watching this place the whole time? That sounds a little pitiful, but only a little. You nod to Deidara and say without much apology, "Sorry to have kept you waiting."
Deidara was about to say that he had been waiting for a long time, probably all afternoon, and that he wouldn't be dismissed by such a casual remark. However, upon hearing your voice, he felt that he didn't need to argue with you. Yes, only children would dwell on such a small detail, and he was no longer a child.
So, he should act more mature, Deidara reminded himself. He looked up and said, "It's alright, I didn't have to wait long."
Upon hearing this, Scorpion, who was sitting next to him, cast a questioning look at him. He wasn't like this just now. Should we say he's very good at pretending? When did his acting skills become so good?
Sensing his partner's gaze, Deidara coughed lightly, as if to cover up his guilt, and then said, "So you should be free now, right?"
"Hmm, you're free. Have you had afternoon tea yet? How about a cup of rose black tea?" You could tell at a glance that they definitely hadn't had afternoon tea yet, so you headed towards the kitchen. Deidara was following behind you, but he suddenly sensed something.
His intuition, honed in battle, gave him a bad feeling; he felt as if something was approaching.
His hunch proved correct; something did indeed approach the villa, and not just one, but two.
Deidara turned around, frowned, and said, "Something is coming."
As soon as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang at the villa.
Hmm? Are there guests? You look at the door, and without you saying anything, Bai naturally walks towards the door. As soon as you open the door, two familiar faces come into view.
"It's Sasuke and Naruto. Shouldn't you be in Konoha at this time?" Your tone was calm, as if you were welcoming two guests, showing little surprise.
Naruto spoke first, waving excitedly at you: "We happened to have some free time these past few days, so we thought we'd come and see you, Mingxi. What a coincidence, you're home!"
They probably knew your exact location beforehand, rather than just trying their luck as he claimed.
You let them both in. Naruto didn't come empty-handed; he brought a small gift, and Sasuke did too.
Whether it's a gift or not isn't important. What's interesting is that Naruto was surprised when he saw the other two guests in your living room and said, "Ah—this one, isn't he from the battlefield?"
Deidara, with one hand on his hip, asked irritably, "You don't forget my name, do you?"
Naruto, who was immediately exposed, laughed dryly, "Hahaha—well, but I know you, you clay bomb kid."
"Hey—what kid are you! You're clearly younger than me!" Deidara said irritably.
"Wow, why are you so angry!"
When Naruto and Deidara started arguing, Sasuke walked up to you and said, "I hope I didn't bother you."
Sasuke was indeed more composed. He said, "No, you've come at the right time. Let's go, I was just about to go to the kitchen to make tea."
So by the time Naruto and Deidara realized what was happening, you had already taken Sasuke to the kitchen. He was in charge of boiling water, and you were in charge of getting out the tea leaves. During this time, you chatted casually. This time, he tacitly didn't talk to you about his brother. Itachi Uchiha seemed to have completely disappeared from your conversation, leaving no trace.
If Sasuke hadn't mentioned him, you wouldn't have remembered that such a person existed.
Turn on the gas and place the kettle on it. It will take some time before the water boils. Sasuke talks about the battle situation during this time. You listen absentmindedly. To be honest, you are not very interested in this war. Anyway, it's over. Perhaps a lot happened in between, but people always have to look forward.
So you say, "It's good that you survived, that's the most important thing."
Your intention in saying that was simply to temporarily end the topic and move on to the next one, but unfortunately, Naruto and Deidara, who had just arrived, overheard you.
One of them is good at chattering, and the other can be really noisy when he gets going.
The result was predictable.
You cover your ears and say, "Could you please be a little quieter?"
Thankfully, they were able to listen to what you said and actually quieted down. They were quiet, but they were still looking at you with pitiful eyes.
You said, "You are also very important to me."
In any case, words themselves are deceptive; truth and falsehood are mixed together, and who can tell the difference?
Just because Naruto and Deidara are easy to deal with doesn't mean Sasori is easy to deal with. What's that saying again? Oh right, older people are indeed more difficult to deal with, and this principle applies to Sasori very much.
But it doesn't matter. You have no obligation to take care of everyone's feelings. You can just say a few words to comfort them and that's about it. Do you expect me to say a lot and act as their psychological counselor?
That's overthinking it. You reasonably believe that the price of psychological counseling in this world should start at seven figures per hour, since most people in this world are seriously ill.
Thinking of this, the kettle that had been placed on the gas stove earlier boiled.
Brewing tea with warm water, then having a group of people sit around the counter in the open kitchen to drink tea – the scene can be described as harmonious. You take a sip of tea, relax, and say, "Isn't it nice for everyone to sit down and have a cup of tea together in such a pleasant atmosphere?"
Having been transformed into a puppet, Scorpion had no need to drink tea. He simply held his teacup and quietly watched the tea steam dissipate, which gave him a sense of participation.
"That's just your imagined idyllic scene. You know perfectly well why we're here." Scorpion was much more direct, and you wouldn't lead him astray. Sigh, older people are just hard to fool.
You shrug and say, "I know, but it's hard for me to answer the questions you're looking for."
Naruto got anxious and raised his hand, just like a student eager to answer a teacher's question in school. Even though nothing was asked, he still blurted out, "I can be Aki's lover!"
His voice was clear and crisp, and the sound of the word "lover" was even clearer and more pleasant.
Deidara cursed under his breath, "Damn it!" But fearing he would fall behind, he quickly added, "I can do it too! No, I can do it even better than him!"
And so began a new round of open and covert struggles. You watched them secretly vying for attention—no, it was all out in the open—and you said, "Sure, you can all be my lovers, um, Sasuke too." You spoke as if you were expanding a recruitment program, all serious.
"Huh?" Naruto blinked.
In some ways, Naruto and Deidara are quite similar. If they were in a manga or game, they would probably be considered characters with similar character designs.
Sasuke beside you is unusually quiet, so quiet it's almost unnatural. You turn your head to look and you're worried you'll see him crying.
Good news, I didn't shed any tears.
Bad news, I feel like I'm about to cry from being so touched.
If it were his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, crying, you probably wouldn't care much, and might even let him adjust his emotions on his own. But now it's his younger brother beside you, which makes you a little worried. You say, "Remember to tell me if you're going to cry."
However, Sasuke did not cry in the end.
You thought this matter would just pass like a minor incident, but as more and more people came to your door, it felt like it had reached the point where you could throw a party. You inappropriately felt fortunate that you lived in a villa, so it wouldn't feel crowded even with so many people.
However, with more people, conflicts will arise one after another, and you will find it hard to understand why they have so many things to argue about.
Finally, feeling a bit annoyed, you said to the guests one evening, "Although I can allow you to stay here, it's on the condition that you behave. If you keep causing trouble, then I'll have to consider asking you to leave."
What you said did have some effect; they did stop fighting so openly.
It's just shifting the struggle from the open to the shadows. But you never really intended to address these offenses at their root. As long as they don't come to your attention, nothing else matters.
Later, on a quiet morning, you were having breakfast in a restaurant when Sasuke sat down next to you without saying a word. But you felt that the atmosphere was just right, and you didn't need to say anything else to liven things up.
You put down your teacup, look up, and smile at him. He says, "This is the morning I've been dreaming of for the past few years."
"What?"
"It's a very peaceful and beautiful morning, sitting with you and drinking tea," he said.
He really is special; all he thinks about is sitting with you and drinking tea.
You said, "Then congratulations on your dream coming true."
[End of text]
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