Chapter 48 C48
Tsunade's struggle did not change the outcome.
According to the intelligence that came through, the young city lord was already on his way here.
Despite being nobles who were supposed to be protected, they traveled a great distance to come and put on a welcoming gesture.
It's completely upside down!
Asuma, who once served as one of the twelve bodyguards of the daimyo, offered this assessment.
"Let me reiterate: I will not be paying for your services."
He was enjoying his meal when a bunch of people showed up to freeload and conspired to rob him. Shikato was speechless. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He casually raised his hand and smacked the culprit, Shikamaru, on the head.
Shikamaru was speechless. He had simply mentioned it to Asuma when he asked what activities were planned for the evening, but who would have thought that these bored adults would come and interfere?
Shikamaru raised his head and, as a form of revenge, put the last few pieces of meat from the wire mesh into Choji's bowl, encouraging the gluttonous Choji to eat as much as he could, ideally finishing off all the money his brother had saved for his wife.
Even more speechless than the two Naras was Kana. After Choji finished eating, she glanced at the four children and asked, "Finished eating?"
She said "I've finished eating," not "I'm full." In terms of perceiving emotions, Tenten was much more sensitive than the three boys, nodding and saying before Lee and Choji could, "I'm finished eating."
“Okay,” Kana tapped the table, “Let’s call it a day.”
"Oh dear," Kakashi turned halfway to the side, instantly taking up most of the narrow passageway, "It would be impolite to leave with so many seniors still here."
Kana gave a forced smile, "It's not like you've only known me for a short time, senpai. I've always been this rude."
As he spoke, he reached out to push, only to find that the other party seemed to be on guard and had used a hidden force.
Interesting. It's no wonder I've been on the same team as her for over a year; I actually anticipated that she would "offend someone big by being a small person" and take direct action.
This turned into a battle of chakra between the two sides.
"Hey! You two! Are you planning to gamble five years' worth of wages to pay for turning over the store upside down?" Asuma immediately threatened, as this was his favorite restaurant in Konoha.
"Alright." Kurenai's hand was about to rest on Kana's shoulder when Kana slightly turned away. However, Kurenai remembered that Kana didn't like physical contact with others, so she wasn't displeased and naturally withdrew her hand. "Kakashi just doesn't speak very nicely. We heard you're leaving in the next couple of days, so everyone's here to see you off."
"We've all fought side by side before." This refers to the time when Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki caused trouble in Konoha.
Asuma had a cigarette in his mouth, but he didn't light it. He was just indulging in a dry smoke because Shikatori had reminded him to go outside to smoke as soon as he sat down, otherwise Kana would be unhappy.
“It’s obvious,” he shrugged at Kana. “Your face says it all – are we that close?”
Kana made it so obvious to make herself stand out, but she clearly underestimated how shameless these people were.
What's wrong with this wretched Konoha? Everyone here is so overly friendly. They act like you're best buddies after you've only worked together once.
"Are you sure this is a farewell dinner for me, or that I'm just here to freeload?"
The fact that she was willing to talk meant she wasn't angry, so Hong chuckled and said, "Don't worry, she won't really make Shikato treat us."
"Oh, you're quite protective of her, aren't you?" Asuma teased.
"You and Yuhime are working together like this, and to the uninformed, it would probably look like a husband and wife singing in harmony." Kana read it out in a completely emotionless tone, like a machine, which made it sound more like a statement of fact.
Hong seemed to choke, turned her head away and coughed a few times, then picked up her teacup and drank water to cover it up.
Kana looked at Asuma and raised an eyebrow defiantly—never underestimate the intelligence network of the head of the ANBU, even if she is only the acting head.
"What a sharp tongue." Asuma patted Shikatori's shoulder, who was sitting next to him, expressing deep sympathy and sincere admiration for his disciple's elder brother.
“Yes, yes.” Kai couldn’t read the extremely subtle atmosphere, but he was surprisingly attentive in some ways. “There are a lot of rules for being a guard for a nobleman. Asuma has experience, let him explain them to you first.”
Nobles value etiquette and propriety, enjoy romance and nature, and dislike ninjas who engage in violence, finding them crude and vulgar. Kai, having undertaken several missions to escort nobles, understands this deeply.
"The young masters and ladies think he looks scary and insist that he wear a mask." Genma was very sarcastic towards his former classmate, revealing his shortcomings without any politeness.
Genma is currently the Fifth Hokage's bodyguard, while Kana is the head of the Anbu directly under the Hokage. Due to their work, their interactions inevitably increase, and recently they have been working together to reinforce the village's defensive barrier, so they are quite familiar with each other. Therefore, they speak more casually. "But Kana, you don't have to worry about that."
As the team leader who led Kana when she first joined the Anbu, Kakashi clearly knew her better than many of the people present. This sudden warmth from someone who wasn't part of his close circle wasn't enough to defeat Kana's pursuit of peace and quiet. But she was essentially a lazy person who hated trouble, so if you wanted to stop her from leaving, you should do this: "If you want to leave, you'll have to convince us one by one. Don't you find that troublesome?"
Kana ultimately stayed.
However, it wasn't because of Kakashi's words, but because he sensed a familiar chakra moving towards them from not far away. Rather than being called back to the clan to face those old fogies, staying here was a better choice.
Hinata Shin was no longer the impetuous young man who would rush to someone's door out of momentary jealousy. He lingered at the door for a while, observed, and after weighing his options, quietly left.
Kana lowered her eyes, drank the last sip of water from her teacup, and placed the cup back on the table. "Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee."
Feeling guilty, like someone caught skipping class by the teacher, the four students whose names were called immediately straightened up.
"It's late, go back to sleep, or you won't grow tall."
For ninjas, staying up late is commonplace, but Sasuke has always had the habit of going to bed before 11 p.m. whenever possible. Kakashi found out about this by chance, and when Kanana mentioned the theory that "staying up late affects physical development during puberty," he couldn't help but tease, "You really are obsessed with your height."
"It also affects brain development and physical function." Kana, who is already 1.7 meters tall and whose sutures have not yet closed, was not affected at all and completely ignored Kakashi.
She looked at Shikamaru, "Don't want to become an idiot later, right?"
Then she looked at Tiantian and asked, "Don't want to get acne due to hormonal imbalance?"
As for the remaining two children, Kana doesn't even need to be mentioned—Choji always obeys this beautiful older sister who often treats him to delicious food, and the only son, Lee, has an even more blind sense that Neji's older sister is his older sister, and it's only natural for a younger brother to listen to his older sister.
Asuma finds it amazing no matter how many times he sees it; Kana, who seems so aloof, is actually quite popular among Shikamaru and his friends—though she herself probably doesn't even realize it.
Two of her own students got to know her because of Shikatori and Kita; Tenten and Lee, needless to say, got to know her because of Neji; but besides that, Kakashi's two disciples, the two very different and extremely troublesome Naruto and Sasuke, were also very close to her; and Ino and Sakura, who wanted to learn medical ninjutsu and went to her to become her students, although they were directly rejected, they received her introductory notes, and recently they have been saying that although she looks cold, she is actually a very gentle senior.
Except for...
Asuma and Kurenai's gazes met in the air, then silently parted ways.
Whether it was because Hinata was instilled with too many obsessions by her clan elders from a young age or for some other reason, Hinata did indeed regard Kana as her "beacon" on her path as a ninja.
If you fall in love with a stranger described by someone because of their narration, it's undoubtedly because the narrator loves them. Kiba and Shino's vague feelings for Kana, with whom they have little interaction, are actually an outward expression of Hinata's admiration for her older cousin.
But for Kana, this almost filial affection from the heir of the main family would probably only be seen as ironic.
Kurenai was distressed by her disciple's predicament and had thought many times about talking to Kana, but Asuma always dissuaded her—if Kana were just an ordinary ninja, perhaps she would have accepted her fate, but she possessed such extraordinary talent. Someone who should have stood above everyone else and become a top-tier powerhouse through her strength was forced to be inferior.
Kana was able to remain distant from Hinata without speaking ill of her, something Asuma felt he might not be able to do himself.
"So, let's just forget about it," Asuma advised Kurenai. Since fate has been so unfair, they should at least reserve a little right for that child to be stubborn.
Reason told Hong that this was a dead end, but in the end, her heartache for her disciple prevailed. Besides, compared to their previous nodding acquaintances, they were now comrades-in-arms.
"Kana," Kurenai lowered her voice, leaning closer to her, "do you need to go to the restroom?"
Going to the restroom together is actually an extension of female social interaction, and in this context, it can also be interpreted as "I have something I want to talk to you about privately."
Kana glanced at Kurenai, "No need."
Red wasn't sure if she understood what she meant, "Kana..."
Kana stood up and stepped aside, making room for Kurenai. Now Kurenai had no choice but to go.
After Kurenai left, turning back every few steps, Kana did not sit down again.
She took the two bottles of sake handed to her by the shop owner and placed them on two adjacent tables, saying, "It's on me."
Just as Genma was marveling at how rare it was to see her so enthusiastic, Kana spoke up, "One of the three prohibitions of ninjas is drinking. I'm still a minor, so I'll take my leave."
Genma looked around and found that Kana was indeed the only minor present, while the second youngest, Shikatori, was almost twenty.
Perhaps it was because she became a leader in the secret service at a very young age and was decisive in her actions that people subconsciously overlooked her age.
Shikatoki had already half-stood up, supporting himself on the table.
But Kana shook her head slightly.
They had known each other for ten years, enough time for Shikato to understand the meaning in her eyes.
She glanced at them one last time before turning to leave, and said, "I'm leaving."
There is only one way to leave Konoha.
Kakashi waited there for the people who left the village late at night.
"Well, it was just a premonition, but it turned out to be quite accurate."
"Are you free?" Kana, carrying a backpack, walked past him without stopping.
Kakashi quickly flashed in front of her.
Kana looked up at him. "What's up?"
The years when Kakashi first met Kana coincided with the time when he was most self-loathing, and he displayed immature resentment towards Kana, who was similar to him.
Although their relationship had improved somewhat in recent years due to their shared connection with Sasuke, Kakashi knew that he still owed her an "I'm sorry."
If she hadn't been able to withstand even Tsukuyomi, Kana would have seriously doubted whether the person in front of her was an illusion.
"I see."
She knew very well that no one should be kind to her for no reason, and that it was much easier to dislike someone than to like them. During the time he disliked her, she disliked him just as much, which Kana felt was fair, so she harbored no resentment.
"If there's nothing else, please move aside."
"This." Kakashi handed her the long, rectangular box. Her birthday was a little over a month away, and unlike Shikatori, Kakashi didn't think she would send him a letter. "Consider this an early birthday wish."
He originally wanted to say something else to her, such as thanking her for taking care of Sasuke and Naruto, but then he felt that she had formed bonds with them even before him, so he might not be qualified to do so; for example, he wanted to advise her not to let hatred destroy her, but with Sasuke's failed example before him, it showed that his ability to persuade was not very good, and he was afraid that it would have the opposite effect.
So in the end, he realized that this was all he could say to her.
Kana opened it and found it was a beaded necklace, much longer than her neck circumference. The design was simple, with only a clear crystal hanging in the very center, which refracted a shimmering light under the moonlight.
Most people in Konoha felt that Hyuga Kana and Uchiha Itachi had a shallow relationship. Kakashi happened to be one of the very few people who knew the truth. Even though he didn't know how their connection came about, the feelings of the Uchiha clan would be reflected in their eyes without being concealed. When Kana fell off the cliff, Itachi's Sharingan evolved from two tomoe to three tomoe.
They had such a deep bond, yet this is how it ended.
She was so quiet that people often forgot the extent of her suffering.
When Kakashi finally remembered, she was no longer wearing that purple forehead chain.
Those who left have left, and those who remain are stuck in the same place.
It took Kakashi many years to slowly recover.
"Kana," Kakashi said, "a gift given away can't be taken back." He put his hands behind his back and said, "Let's move forward."
Kakashi once felt that living was harder than dying, so he "cursed" her to live.
But now, he feels that as long as he's alive, good things will always happen—just like he did.
So, live well.
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