In the end, Kakashi skillfully processed all the fish and prepared the seasoning.
"Don't get too close to the fire. Flip it after five minutes," he said.
"Oh-ho!" Qiyun stared nervously at the grilling fish in his hands. "I'll do a good job."
Kakashi rubbed his forehead in resignation. "There's really no need to be that tense."
How could Qiyun possibly live alone looking like this? He had no choice but to stick by him.
If he ever got a sister-in-law in the future, she would definitely have to be someone who cooked really well, or his brother might starve to death. The precocious Kakashi even found himself considering matters far off in the future.
Staring intently at the fish, Qiyun had no idea that Kakashi was already planning to find him a master-chef wife. He was still thrilled that he had managed to make a grilled fish with a crispy outside and a tender inside.
"Ah, it smells so good! Look, Kakashi! My fish is done!" Little stars twinkled in Qiyun's blue eyes as he held the grilled fish right up in front of Kakashi.
"Alright, alright—eat up then. Weren't you starving ages ago?" A nameless, doting fondness colored Kakashi's gaze as he looked at Qiyun.
"No, the first bite goes to Kakashi." Qiyun extended the fish toward Kakashi's lips.
"What are you doing? There's no need for that..." Kakashi felt his cheeks grow warm, and he instinctively reached up to pull at his mask. But the moment his fingers touched his face, he suddenly remembered that his mask had already been taken off earlier because it was soaked through.
"Don't be shy~" Qiyun affectionately pressed his cheek against Kakashi's. "Mmm, so soft! This feeling really has been a long time coming."
Back when they were babies, Qiyun had loved hugging Kakashi and pressing their cheeks together. But once this little brat grew up just a bit, he picked up who-knows-what outside and started wearing a mask. Not only did it hide his face, it also robbed Qiyun of the simple joy of rubbing his younger brother's cheek.
"Stop leaning in!" Kakashi kept leaning backward. "I'll take the first bite, okay?!"
With no other choice, Kakashi took a light bite, then watched with a blushing face as Qiyun happily pulled his hand back and continued eating right from the spot Kakashi had bitten without a second thought.
His brother was great at everything, except... could he please have a little sense of personal space?
The roasted fish gave off an alluring aroma. A child lying on a tree branch with one leg crossed twitched his nose and opened one eye.
"Mmm... smells so good."
His stomach let out a sympathetic rumble.
"Damn it, I live all the way at the very edge of the clan grounds, and there's still someone here?" Grumbling, the child jumped down from the tree and headed toward the source of the fragrance.
Qiyun's motion of eating paused.
Someone was approaching, and this chakra signature... Ugh, that chilly, gloomy feeling—must be someone from the Uchiha clan. The amount of chakra isn't huge, though; a kid? That would make sense, since this river is indeed very close to the Uchiha clan grounds.
"What is it?" Kakashi noticed Qiyun's distraction instantly.
"Nothing." Qiyun licked a stray bit of oil from the corner of his mouth and looked over at the remaining prepared fish. "Did we make a bit too much?"
"Then should we take it back with us?"
"But grilled fish doesn't taste good cold, right?"
"For Pakkun and the others?"
Qiyun beamed and suddenly raised his voice. "Friend behind the tree, come on out."
"Hm?" Faster than Qiyun, Kakashi took a single second to put his dried mask back on his face. His brother was fine, but he certainly didn't want anyone else seeing his face.
The bushes rustled, and a dirt-smudged child tumbled out from within.
"Ow!" The black-haired, black-eyed child sprawled clumsily on the ground. His round dark eyes were already watery, looking as if tears might fall at any second.
"Are you... alright?" Qiyun lowered his head, looking curiously at the Uchiha child.
"I—I'm fine." The child sniffled. As he raised his head, his attention was instantly captured by Qiyun's exquisite face. "I'm Uchiha Obito. What... what's your name?"
While blushing and introducing himself, he kept casting furtive, thinly veiled glances at Qiyun's face—a sight that caused veins to visibly pop on Kakashi's forehead.
Qiyun didn't mind Obito's naive little thoughts. His eyes curving into crescents, he said, "I'm Hatake Qiyun, and the one next to me is my younger brother, Hatake Kakashi."
"Hatake... Ah!" Obito's eyes lit up instantly. "Are you the White Fang's kids?"
"That's right." Qiyun admitted with a beaming smile.
"Whoa~" Obito's eyes widened even further, practically sparkling. "The White Fang is a Konoha hero! I totally idolize him!"
Oh, so he's an admirer of Dad's... The hostility Kakashi had previously felt toward Obito melted away. He crossed his arms and decided this fellow had decent taste after all.
"So you like my dad?" Qiyun blinked. "In that case, I suppose we're friends now."
"F-Friends?" Obito froze, staring blankly at the two of them. "We're... friends?"
This reaction isn't right, is it?
The Hatake brothers exchanged glances.
Seeing that Qiyun didn't reply immediately, Obito instantly shrank back a little. "Well, I mean, it is our first time meeting..."
"Yes, of course we're friends." Qiyun cut him off.
"Eh? Really?" A huge smile bloomed across Obito's face. "All right! I've got friends now too!"
He's an idiot...
Looking at Obito's excited expression, the brothers couldn't help the thought.
Strictly speaking, neither Qiyun nor Kakashi had friends their own age. Qiyun didn't have any common language with three- or four-year-old kids and refused to play those childish pretend games with them.
As for Kakashi, he wanted to maintain his cool, aloof image and poured all his time and effort into rigorous training, leaving him no time to go out and socialize. More importantly, compared to childish peers, Kakashi cared far more about his older brother; in his eyes, working hard to catch up to his brother's footsteps was much more vital.
Neither of them ever felt lonely for lack of friends, because they had each other.
"So good!" Obito's face was plastered with bliss. "I've never eaten grilled fish this good. Qiyun, did you make this?"
Looking at his own reflection in Obito's dark eyes, Qiyun gave a dry laugh. "No, no I didn't. Kakashi prepared all of this."
Qiyun had enough self-awareness regarding his own cooking skills.
Only then did Obito shift his gaze to the little silver-haired boy beside him. "Him?" A trace of disappointment hung in his tone, one he hadn't even noticed himself.
"It was me. Got a problem with that?" Kakashi let out a cold snort.
Kakashi was not very happy. Just as he was enjoying some quality brother-only time with Qiyun, some inexplicable guy had barged in. What was worse, Obito kept looking at Qiyun with a stupid, starry-eyed grin, which thoroughly annoyed Kakashi.
Having been an orphan since childhood, Obito was actually extremely sensitive to people's emotions and instantly picked up on Kakashi's dislike.
"What's your deal, you always go around with such a stuck-up expression!" Obito jumped to his feet.
"Ha? Who are you calling an idiot, you jerk?"
"Who do *you* think I'm calling an idiot! You're the idiot! Idiot Kakashi!"
...
The two kids argued until their faces were red. Sitting right in the middle, Qiyun looked back and forth with fresh amusement, suddenly enlightened.
So *this* is what it looked like to outsiders whenever he and Kakashi got into arguments.
"How nice. Looks like you two are getting along swimmingly," Qiyun said with a gentle smile.
"No way!"
"My chemistry with Kakashi is terrible, okay!"
With a look that clearly said *fine, fine, I understand*, Qiyun gazed tolerantly at the two of them. "Alright, alright~"
"...Ani-ja, that expression is so gross." Kakashi's deadpan eyes bulged out.
Beside him, Obito stiffened entirely. With a trembling arm, he pointed a shaking finger at Qiyun. "Kakashi, did you... did you just call Qiyun... *ani-ja*?!"
"Is there a problem with that?" Kakashi asked flatly, left speechless.
"Hm?" Qiyun tilted his head.
"N-Nothing..." Obito's pupils dilated violently. He clutched his head and squatted right there on the spot.
One Obito had silently shattered into pieces.
"Obito probably took me for a girl," Qiyun said with a shrug.
People always mistook Kakashi for a girl when he wasn't wearing his mask, let alone Qiyun, whose features were even more delicate than Kakashi's.
"Does the Uchiha clan lack even that much basic discernment?" Kakashi deadpanned.
One had to admit, there was a reason Kakashi and Obito were destined to be rivals—Kakashi could always manage to step precisely on every single one of Obito's landmines.
"What does this have to do with me being from the Uchiha clan!" Obito stood up abruptly, his eyes red-rimmed.
Kakashi frowned, and just as he was about to fire back, a hand placed on his shoulder by Qiyun stopped him.
"It's fine, Obito. Obito is just Obito; it has nothing to do with whether he's from Uchiha or not," Qiyun said.
Obito also realized his reaction had been a bit too intense. "S-Sorry, Qiyun. I'm the one who jumped to conclusions about your gender..."
"I don't mind at all. You certainly aren't the first person to mistake it," Qiyun smiled.
Obito sheepishly scratched his cheek. "You're really nice, Qiyun."
"Speaking of which, Kakashi and I are heading to the Academy very soon. You must be in our year, right, Obito?" Qiyun asked.
Obito nodded and let out a sigh. "Our clan has its own school, but... dropouts like me just get sent to the regular Academy."
Obito's parents had both died in the Second Shinobi World War, and nowadays he made a living entirely off the Uchiha clan's subsidy funds. Living all alone in a small house far from the clan center, an orphan like him lacked specialized guidance, so naturally his innate talent hadn't had a chance to manifest.
"The Uchiha clan has their own internal school..." Qiyun murmured thoughtfully.
Having agreed with Obito to meet on the day of the entrance ceremony, Qiyun and Kakashi walked home carrying their fishing gear.
"Does Ani-ja really like that Uchiha Obito?" Kakashi couldn't help asking.
"Like is a bit of a strong word, but I suppose I find him somewhat interesting."
"Interesting?"
"Mhm." Qiyun's gaze briefly swept past some passing Uchiha Military Police Force members. "I'll tell you when we get back."
Kakashi nodded, silently trying to puzzle out what was on Qiyun's mind.
Back home and having put away their fishing gear, the two brothers sat in the backyard.
"Ani-ja was thinking about the Uchiha, wasn't he?" Kakashi asked first.
"That's right." Qiyun rested his chin on his hand. "Kakashi, what do you think of the people in the Uchiha clan?"
"Hmm..." Kakashi recalled the Uchiha he had encountered. "They aren't very easy to get along with. They always wear a stiff face, like everyone owes them money. Ah, well, except for that idiot Obito, of course."
"That's precisely it." Qiyun's lips curved upward. "If things keep going like this, the Uchiha are going to ruin themselves."
Kakashi blinked, unable to stop himself from pressing further. "Eh? How did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"The Uchiha—the entire clan makes up the Military Police Force, right? Even a kid like you, who doesn't have all that much contact with them, thinks they're hard to get along with. So how do ordinary villagers view them? It's pretty obvious." Qiyun rubbed his chin with growing amusement.
"That's why I find it interesting. This mandate came down from the Second Hokage, didn't it? But those Uchiha are completely unsuited for the work of the Military Police Force. As the position closest to the common citizenry, they utterly fail to cultivate good relations with the populace. The authority of the Military Police Force is a hot potato for the Uchiha."
"Historical records state that before Konoha was founded, the Second's clan and the Uchiha were mortal enemies," Kakashi noted.
"Then that settles it." Qiyun nodded, letting out a note of admiration. "The Second really had some methods. That Police Force position is part pacification and part trap—very clever indeed. However, what's most thought-provoking is the Third's current attitude. He doesn't seem to have any intention of changing the Uchiha's current awkward predicament. Meanwhile, the Uchiha show no signs of compromising either. According to Obito, they give special internal training to the talented youths of their clan instead of sending them to the Ninja Academy. That's a pretty blatant form of ostracization, and given the Uchiha clan's pride, I imagine they must feel intensely resentful."
The smile on Qiyun's face remained unchanged. "The smaller the circle, the more extreme the mindset it breeds, so digging their own graves is only a matter of time."
Seeing Kakashi's solemn expression, Qiyun smoothly shifted the topic, a look of envy crossing his face. "Still, there's a good side to all this—I don't want to go to the Ninja Academy either."
*Thwack.*
"Ow! Why did Kakashi hit me again?!" Qiyun cradled his head, Q_Q.
"Even though I also think the stuff they teach at the Ninja Academy is boring, Ani-ja, you're coming with me." Unwilling to be separated from Qiyun, Kakashi instantly pulled himself out of his complicated thoughts and stated with absolute finality.
Curving his lips in a mischievous grin, Qiyun teased, "Just say you can't bear to be apart from your big brother instead of beating around the bush. Kakashi really isn't honest with himself~"
A muscle twitched in the corner of Kakashi's mouth, though by now he was more or less accustomed to Qiyun's bluntness.
"Ani-ja... why don't you want to go to the Ninja Academy?"
"Ah, that? I don't have any particular issue with the Academy itself; I just don't want to become a shinobi." Resting his arms beneath his head, Qiyun stared up at the azure sky, murmuring, "I have no interest in becoming someone else's tool."
"But shinobis are tools to begin with," Kakashi said, puzzled.
"Indeed, shinobis put missions above all else." Qiyun propped himself up. "Tell me, Kakashi, if the only way to complete a mission were to sacrifice me, what would you do?"
Kakashi froze instantly. He stared blankly at Qiyun, who was looking at him with a faint smile, his normally sharp mind plunging into complete chaos.
The education he had received since childhood told him that missions came first, but... but to sacrifice his brother? Are you kidding me? There was nothing—absolutely nothing—more important than his brother!
"I..." Kakashi's voice trembled. "I would abandon the mission."
"See?" Qiyun lay back down on the ground. "When it comes down to it, humans are simply incapable of obliterating their own emotions, which means they can never become perfect machines or tools."
He closed his eyes, and rows upon rows of gravestones seemed to materialize before him.
"That's why I have no desire to become a shinobi."