Vision of Truth II: Shield and Sharingan (Naruto)

The Race

Chapter 2: The Race

My search began at Kakashi's apartment. No, I did not know where he lived because I was a stalker. I just happened to see him going into the building after a mission once. As I expected, Naruto's guess about our sensei sleeping in proved inaccurate. I could not sense his chakra around his place at all. I started down the path leading away from the building, stopping when I reached a fork in the road. If I were Kakashi, where would I go?

I headed right first, straining to feel his chakra. Supposedly, if I improved my abilities, I would be able to find anyone anywhere in the village. Unfortunately, Kakashi said sensory types were rare, so it was hard to find someone to teach me properly. Oh well. This search made for good practice. I decided to stick to the outskirts of the village, making my way around it in a big circle.

Finally, I felt something. I struggled to keep my excitement down so I could focus on the chakra. I soon realized I was headed for the training field where my team had the bell test. Was Kakashi simply training on his own? It was a disappointing answer but not totally unexpected. I continued forward to confirm.

I saw the back of his jacket, and I immediately stopped short. He stood perfectly still, facing the Memorial Stone, which he had previously explained contained the names of ninja who had died for the village. I swallowed hard. This was unexpected. Of all the possibilities... I did not know what to do. Would it be wrong to stay, to talk to him? I should probably just leave before he noticed me...

"I know you're there, Katsumi," Kakashi said, his voice calm and gentle with a hint of sorrow.

I froze. "I - I'm sorry. I just - I wanted to find out why you're always late. But now I know, so if you want, I'll leave you alone." When I said it out loud, I suddenly thought that might be the wrong answer too. Why was I so terrible in these situations?

He looked at me. I was used to see him perfectly composed, but for once, his face appeared tired and... sad. "It's alright."

Something inside me cracked. I could not leave him alone... even if I had no idea how to comfort someone. I moved forward until I stood beside him. His eyes returned to the Memorial Stone, so I looked at it as well. I wondered who he was mourning. Having lived through a war, surely he had lost many friends, but there had to be someone in particular who drove him to these lengths.

My eyes scanned the list of names, occasionally recognizing a clan. I stopped when I stumbled upon a familiar name: Obito Uchiha. I glanced at Kakashi. Was it possible...? His age was about right, and clearly he had been close to some Uchiha. I took in a deep breath. My desire to know the truth overwhelmed all possible objections.

"Kakashi sensei?" He glanced at me as I dug my hand into my bag. "Did you... I- I know it's a long shot, but did you write this?" I handed him the last letter given to me by my grandfather, the one naming the sender of all the other letters as Obito.

Something flashed in Kakashi's visible eye when he read it. "...yes." He lifted his gaze to me, his expression conveying a multitude of emotions. "You received the letters then?"

I nodded. "Yeah. My grandpa gave them to me every month." He had known about them all along.

"What did you think about them?"

The question caught me off guard, so it took me a moment to respond. "Well, at first I thought they were stupid and ridiculous and written by someone who had too much time on his hands. But I thought everything and everyone was stupid and ridiculous at the time. And then... I guess I got used to the letters. Liked them even. He- he wanted to break the portal's curse. He didn't even know me, and he acted like I was a friend."