Soon Hiatohi finished her bowl of ramen, rubbing her protruding little belly and letting out a burp. Truly, eating was the most important event in life; as for sightseeing and playing, she never wanted anyone to call Namikaze Hiatohi for such activities ever again.
She patted her pockets and instantly panicked. Jumping down from her chair, she searched all of her pockets, took off her red jacket, and shook it vigorously, feeling like her whole world was ending. She didn't have a single coin on her. She had almost forgotten—because she had gone sightseeing with Obito and the others, she hadn't brought any money, and plus, since she always went out with Kushina, the idea of her having money on her was laughable.
The atmosphere became extremely awkward. She had been the one to boast about treating everyone to a meal, yet she didn't have a single coin.
"What's wrong?" Itachi reached out and patted Hiatohi's shoulder. What could possibly be the matter? Why was she in such a panic?
Hiatohi abruptly raised her head and swallowed hard. "Um, I mean... KAMISAMA, did you bring any money?" she asked, leaning close to Itachi and speaking in a soft voice.
"Money?" Itachi looked blankly at Hiatohi, then slipped his hand into his pocket. Hiatohi gazed at him with hopeful eyes. Now was the time to demonstrate the immense financial power of the Uchiha clan—pull out your money, young man!
To her disbelief, Itachi pulled a single one-ryu coin from his pocket. "I have this." He held the coin in his palm and raised it in front of Hiatohi.
"..." Hiatohi didn't even know what to say anymore. She swallowed hard. "Is there any more?"
"No, I only have one."
"..."
Hiatohi looked at Itachi with a mixture of exasperation and disappointment. Did he seriously leave the house without money either? What were they supposed to do now?
"Momoko, that'll be thirty-five ryu in total," Uncle Ichiraku said as he collected the bowls.
"Mm," Hiatohi replied absentmindedly. This was awkward to the absolute limit; where was she supposed to find money right now? If she had known, she never would have offered to treat everyone to ramen, only to end up in such an embarrassing predicament. No matter how kind Uncle Ichiraku looked, asking to run a tab here was completely out of the question. Hiatohi mentally collapsed into an ORZ posture.
"Hiatohi, what's wrong with you?" Itachi asked softly. What was wrong with her? Why was she lying face down on the ground? The ground was pretty cold; she would catch a cold like that. Just as Itachi was thinking about squatting down to pull Hiatohi back up, someone else beat him to it and hoisted her into the air.
"Namikaze Hiatohi, would you stop running off everywhere?" The person's tone wasn't very friendly, but it still carried a trace of concern.
This kid—she had wandered off so far in just a short span of time. Good thing nothing serious had happened, otherwise he would never hear the end of it.
Hiatohi pouted. "It's your fault for arguing with Brother Tu, that's why I got lost in the first place." Besides, she hadn't gotten lost; she had been abandoned by the three of them.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Hiatohi patted her pants and offered Hatake Kakashi a faint smile. She suddenly had an idea. "Hatake-san, did you bring any money?"
Hatake-san—a form of address that wasn't overly intimate, yet showed her respect for Kakashi, leaving no room for criticism.
"Why do you ask?" Kakashi frowned. For some reason, he had a bad premonition.
"Well, could you pay for me, please? Don't worry, put it on your tab and I'll pay you back later." Hiatohi bowed deeply to Kakashi. "Please."
A true hero knows when to bend and when to stand tall. Hiatohi believed that today's bow was nothing; someday she would definitely make Hatake Kakashi bow right back to her. Besides, compared to bowing her head to Kakashi, getting lectured by Uncle Ichiraku was far more terrifying.
Kakashi sighed. He should have guessed it. He took out his money and handed it to Uncle Ichiraku—he didn't even need to guess that it was thirty-five ryu for a bowl of tonkotsu ramen. This was the exact same taste as Sister Kushina's, though it seemed he hadn't guessed wrong after all; she really had come straight here.
He lowered his gaze and noticed the black-haired child staring at him. That child was also from the Uchiha clan; he knew that the boy had been watching him ever since he walked over. Just who was this kid?
Meanwhile, Itachi kept his eyes fixed on the silver-haired boy. Were his relationship with Hiatohi considered good? It seemed he had once heard his father mention this name—a genius ninja well worthy of being treated as a rival.
Kakashi patted Hiatohi's shoulder. "Alright, time to go back. Sister Kushina is probably getting worried." If they didn't go back soon, she might tear the whole of Konoha apart.
"Did you guys tell Kushina-mama?"
"Yeah."
"Uh, you need to go tell her that you guys lost me, not that I wandered off on my own."
"Is there any difference if you got lost?"
"If you guys lost me, you'll get beaten to death; if I wandered off on my own, I'll get beaten to death. That's the difference."
"..."
Kakashi rolled his eyes; he didn't want to keep talking to her anymore and suddenly felt like not speaking at all. Yet what she said was indeed true—Sister Kushina was truly terrifying. Even so, he would never admit that it was his fault Little Peach had gone missing. Oh well, he'd just pin the blame on that dunce Obito.
Standing to the side, Itachi hadn't spoken a word the entire time. He always felt as though he couldn't break into their conversation, acting like a complete outsider. To him, such ordinary interaction was perhaps a very rare and precious thing.
Hiatohi glanced around the roadside, then turned back to ask Kakashi, "Where are Brother Tu and Sister Rin?"
Kakashi wasn't those two people's babysitter; they were big enough not to get lost in Konoha. "I don't know. Who knows what's going on inside that dunce Obito's head."
As the two of them chatted back and forth, Hiatohi's gaze swept past Itachi and she noticed he had been standing there the whole time without saying a single word, his dark eyes staring fixedly at the ground as if lost in thought.
It probably made him feel quite awkward; she had miscalculated a bit. No matter what happened in the future, at least for now, Uchiha Itachi was still just a slightly naive kid with bowl-cut hair.
Hiatohi rolled her eyes, reached out, and grabbed his wrist. "KAMISAMA, how about coming over to my place for a visit? You haven't been by in a long time, and my mom misses you a lot."
"Mom? Aunt Kushina? I think I still remember," Itachi said softly, his eyes still fixed on the little hand Hiatohi had wrapped around his wrist. Her hand was really warm.
"You should have some impression of her, after all you must have been about a year old back then. Aunt Mikoto must have talked about Mom too, since they get along pretty well."
"Mother does indeed frequently mention Aunt Kushina."
Kakashi looked down at the two children beside him. Ah, perhaps this was what they ought to look like, untouched by the influence of war. He had already submitted a proposal to Teacher Minato expressing his desire to take the Jounin Exams, though he had no idea whether Teacher Minato would agree, and even if he did, whether he could secure a recommendation from the Third Hokage.
As the three of them walked along, a green unidentifiable object suddenly came hurtling toward them. Because of its excessive speed, it couldn't brake at all. Hiatohi froze in place, and Kakashi instinctively reached out to grab the unknown creature, fearing it would crash into the two children beside him. In the next second, however, he saw Itachi flash forward, grab Hiatohi, and leap back several meters, while the green unidentifiable object slammed head-first straight into a tree.
"Ow, ow, ow..." Might Guy rubbed his swollen head. What an accident; this crash was going to leave a huge bump.
"Are you alright?" Itachi asked softly. Good thing he reacted quickly, otherwise it would have been dangerous if they collided.
"I-I'm fine."
Hiatohi was still shaken. What on earth was that just now? If he hadn't been there, what would have happened to her? She turned her head to look at Kakashi and saw he was still maintaining a calm expression. She lowered her head and subconsciously tightened her grip on Itachi's wrist. It seemed KAMISAMA was much more reliable after all; this Kakashi character was definitely destined to be cannon fodder.
As for Kakashi, he stared at Itachi for several moments. That reaction speed and mobility were definitely not something an ordinary child could achieve. Just what kind of genius—or rather... monster—had the Uchiha family produced?
Itachi noticed Kakashi watching him and felt a bit wary as well. It wasn't just because of his father's words; this silver-haired boy was strong. It was a sheer instinct.
Kakashi looked back. "What do you want this time?" Might Guy—a very persistent guy who loved challenging him to all sorts of random things for no reason. But his father had also said that Guy would make a rare and formidable rival.
Guy quickly straightened up and stood in front of Kakashi. "Let's settle this, Kakashi!"
"I refuse."
Kakashi dropped those words and turned to leave, but he hadn't expected Guy to be so stubborn. Guy grabbed his hand. "Just one match, don't be like that! Could it be that you're scared of me? I won't laugh at you."
"How boring." Kakashi turned to walk away, but Guy stuck to him like cheap candy, clinging tightly and impossible to shake off.
Hiatohi sighed. "KAMISAMA, let's go."
"We're leaving? But he..."
"You really don't want to know what they're about to do. Kids should hurry home, or you'll have nightmares."
"???"
Who had the leisure and time to watch their boring rivalry anyway? In the few months she had known Kakashi, the two of them had already competed countless times. Although Kakashi was always extremely reluctant, there was no denying that Guy was truly strong, so the two of them basically fought to a draw every time. Moreover, the contents of their competitions were boring to the absolute extreme. Competing in Taijutsu and stamina was one thing, and throwing shuriken and kunai was normal too, but...
What was the point of comparing height and weight? Distinguishing ingredients by taste—were you guys acting in the God of Cookery? Deliberately sneaking off to steal honey and then catching bees—were your brains broken? She really didn't want to say anything more. Stay safe, Hatake-san.
"KAMISAMA, from now on, whenever you see those two competing, run far away."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid your worldview will get warped."