An Unknown World

Boom

The whole next week was full of nothing but scouting the edges of the village. The worlds events had died down to almost nonexistent, and I was sure that the war had finally come to pass. The village was calmer, as those who weren't on the front lines didn't have many missions, so they were learning to enjoy life with their families again. I could feel the peace sweeping over not just Konoha, but the areas and smaller villages surrounding it.

I had been finishing my mid-morning look out for the day on the eastern most edge of the village walls when I heard someone approaching in the distance. It was another Shinobi on guard who I had the pleasure of meeting early this morning. His name never came up, but of course just like everyone else, he knew mine without even asking.

"Kakashi." He said, as he appeared by my side. "The Hokage has new orders for you, he says it will begin this afternoon so you better head over to him now, I'll take your post."

I nodded in thanks before flickering away, heading toward the Hokage's office. I hadn't had anything too specific from him in quite some time, but I wasn't worried too much. Anything but guard duty would be enough to entertain me at this point, even a simple escort mission. I hopped over the rooftops, watching people below going about their daily lives and I couldn't help but think how nice it must be to not have any worries that us Shinobi have. I chose this life and I don't regret it, but I wonder what people possibly do all day without these responsibilities.

The Hokage's estate was quiet outside and inside today, as I had said, not much was going on that required immediate attention, so the only ones around were those who worked here every day. As I entered the long winding hallway leading to the Hokage's office, I heard voices from around the corner.

"What exactly was all that fuss about, who was he?" The first voice was almost a whisper, a female.

"Nothing too serious, don't you worry. We took control of the situation and for now he is no threat." The second voice replied, a male.

The way he spoke made me believe that he was ANBU, he had nothing but authority in his voice, but he wasn't anyone who I had the pleasure of working with, which means he was from further in the ANBU chain, beyond anyone working for the Hokage.

As I rounded the corner, I got not even a second's glance before he flickered out of sight, his mask had been on, so I wouldn't have recognized him anyway. The girl was still standing there just beyond the door though. When she saw me, her face turned a bright red, she smiled sheepishly and walked past me quickly. She wasn't ANBU, but she knew the man that she was with personally, otherwise there would be no reason for her to ask such questions, let alone address an ANBU.

The door was cracked open as it usually was, and I knocked twice before slowly entering the chambers. Minato-Sensei was sitting behind his desk, shuffling through some papers with one hand and rubbing his temple with the other. I cleared my throat as I approached the middle of the room, trying to get his attention since he clearly did not hear me knock.

His head raised quickly when he heard me. "Kakashi! When did you get here?" He said, sincere surprise on his face and in his voice. "Never mind. I'm sorry, I did summon for you." He scrambled slightly trying to clean his desk up. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in days.

"Are you okay Sensei? You look kind of awful." I said as I took a knee and bowed to him. I know he hates my formalities, but not only as his subordinate, but him being the Hokage, I couldn't skip them. I know if anyone were to see me, they would find it disrespectful.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I haven't been home in three days. Kushina brought me dinner last night, but no matter how many times I tell her to stay home and rest she won't listen. Did you talked to her like I asked?"