In the forest west of the village, Kakashi sat down at the base of an enormous maple tree. It was warm for March, and the sunlight pouring down from the leafy treetops above his head was enough to make him sweat.
He pulled a letter from his breast pocket. The instant he opened the envelope a faint, lovely scent wafted up to his nose, calling to mind that incident four months earlier—the day the Ryuha Armed Alliance attacked the Tobishachimaru.
He was a little amused by the coincidence. Only the day before, the five Kages had concluded a formal agreement regarding the management of Hozuki Castle.
After the crash landing and prisoner roundup, the Tsuchikage, Mizukage, Kazekage, and Raikage had gone to observe the castle. The Raikage said he wanted to see Kahyo’s true power with his own eyes and had gone so far as to challenge her.
According to the people there to witness the scene, not only did the Raikage’s iron fists dig out several new holes in the wall of the castle, but in a display unsuited to his age, he had even launched his Lariat. Naturally, no one thought the Raikage was putting his full strength into the fight. But even assuming he was only using half his strength, everyone to a person said that no ordinary ninja could fight as gracefully as Kahyo had.
She dodged the Raikage’s attacks and dove at her opponent. And then, before the Raikage’s face, she snapped her fingers.
That was all.
The Raikage’s beard froze.
“Whawhawhat, when did you…”
“Excuse me, Lord Raikage.” Kahyo smiled brightly before the Raikage’s wide-open eyes. “I’ve ruined your wonderful beard.”
The contest ended with no injury to either, although Raikage did lose the beard he was so proud of and was mercilessly laughed at behind closed doors by the people of Kumogakure.
The other Kages were entertained by the incident.
“I can just see the face of that spoiled brat, like a pigeon taking a shot from a peashooter,” the Tsuchikage said. Or perhaps he didn’t.
At any rate, after close scrutiny with their own eyes, the other Kages reached their conclusion. Kahyo’s abilities were on par with those of her predecessor, Mui of Kusagakure, and given that there was no one as suited to becoming the new master of Hozuki Castle, they all supported the Sixth Hokage’s command.
Kakashi opened the letter folded in four.
Dear Sixth Hokage,
I hope you have been well. I—
“All right!” Echoing out from within the woods was Guy’s loud, stifling voice. “Today, we go again full throttle with youth power, Lee!”
“Yes, Master Guy!”
And then, pushed in his wheelchair by Lee—fwsh fwsh—he went back and forth several times.
“What’s this?” Guy made a show of his surprise. “Why, if it isn’t the sixth Hokage Hatake Kakashi sitting there.”
Kakashi cringed.
“And that letter…” Guy pressed toward Lee’s ear with a stage whisper. “That Kakashi, while I was off fighting to save the lives of the passengers during that thing on the Tobishachimaru, he was shamelessly carrying on with an enemy ninja woman.”
“So what everyone in the village is saying is true then,” Lee whispered, equally dramatic. “I won’t grow up to be an adult like that, Master Guy.”
“You two…” Kakashi folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s not like that with me and Kahyo?”
But Guy and Lee ignored Kakashi and began doing single-leg squats.
“I often said, my student!” Guy continued easy squats with his one leg. “Even if a man like that ends up Hokage, I still intend to properly advise him! Alllll right! Today is five thousand single-leg squats!”
“Yes, Master Guy!”
Kakashi stood up and quietly departed the scene.
The next time he tried to read the letter was in the storefront of the tea shop. He ordered a cup of matcha, and while he waited for it to be brought to him, he opened up the letter from Kahyo.
Dear Sixth Hokage,
I hope you have been well. I—
“Oh, Master Kakashi!”
Shifting his gaze, he saw Shikamaru and Choji make their way leisurely into the tea shop.
“What are you reading, Master Kakashi?” Choji asked, crunching away on potato chips. “Oh! Is it maybe a letter from that woman you abused your authority to make yours?”
“Make mine? Hold on a minute!” Kakashi hurriedly stuffed the letter into his pocket. “You still seem to have the wrong impression. That was my first job as Hokage. I definitely would not abuse my authority—”
“C’mon, don’t go saying that, Choji,” Shikamaru jumped in. “I mean, Master Kakashi’s long past thirty. No big deal if he has a woman or two.”
“No, I’m telling you—
“That Kahyo person was pretty, after all.” Choji. “Older, but still.”
And then the two of them stared at Kakashi, grinning.
Kakashi paid for the tea without drinking it and put the shop behind him.
As he walked along the village’s main street, villagers came one after another to say hello. Although once he had passed them, he could hear giggles and snickers.
This is weird, Kakashi thought, thoroughly self-conscious. How does everyone know I got a letter from Kahyo?
He walked a little farther and turned off onto a path with no one on it. He then looked both ways to confirm that there was no sign of his ridiculously persistent comrades, and yanked the letter from his pocket once more.
Dear Sixth Hokage,
I hope you have been well. I—
“Take a look at that.”
“Grinning, indecent.”
Turning in the direction of the voices, Kakashi spied the faces of Sakura, Ino, and Hinata peering out from above a wooden wall.
“Ah!” Kakashi was startled out of his wits, and the letter danced up from his hand. “Y-y-you—where did you come from!”
“Look, see how flustered he is,” Ino said. “It’s because he has impure thoughts that he’s getting that flustered.”
Sakura turned her eyes on him as though she were looking at something filthy.
“So the rumors are true then?” Hinata said. “Kahyo’s chasing Master Kakashi in exchange for him giving her the post of master at Hozuki Castle?”
“O-o-of course the rumors are not true!” Kakashi yelled. “Who on earth is saying such baseless things?!”
But the girls weren’t listening anymore. Whispering among themselves, they chirped and tweeted like three sparrows: “What? Really?” or “I can’t believe it.” or “That far already?”
Kakashi started walking again.
Apparently, the only place he could maintain his privacy was the office of the Hokage. He returned to the main street and trudging along, came up against a bit of a crowd. On the other side, someone was calling out in a high-pitched voice.
The people gathered there burst out laughing.
“I honestly saw it with these very eyes!” In the center of the circle was Naruto. “Master Kakashi writing a letter, ripping it up, writing a letter, ripping it up. I mean, that was totally a love letter! For real!”
Kakashi stared.
“Dunno if he’s gonna be okay as the sixth Hokage like that!!” Naruto raised his carefree voice. “Nah, I won’t say he’s in love, but, you know, it’s a serious illness, you know. The other day, right, he picked a flower, okay? And he did the whole loves-me-loves-me-not thing, pulling the petals off one by one!”
“So it’s you.” Eyes glittering, Kakashi pulled himself to stand tall behind Naruto. “You’re the one telling tales about a bunch of half-truths?”
“Huh?” When he turned around, a distinct shade of fear rose up in Naruto’s eyes. “M-master Kakashi! W-wait, I can—”
Kunk!
“What on earth is this about? What are you doing?!” Kakashi brandished the fist he had dropped on Naruto’s head. “I might not be so forgiving this time!”
“It’s just, I mean…” With teary eyes, Naruto rubbed his head as he made his appeal. “I’m the only one left out here. Everyone else got to fight at Hozuki Castle. And I was just hanging out in the village when you were almost dying, Master Kakashi!”
“Naruto…”
Naruto rubbed his eyes.
“Sorry for hitting you,” Kakashi said. “And we hid it from because you have to take care of this village for me if anything happens to me.”
“I know that much. Geez.”
“Aaah, this guy seriously can’t take a joke.” Shikamaru and Choji came over from the other side of the street. “This idiot’s telling all his tall tales, but no one seriously believed any of it.”
Choji nodded.
“That’s right.” From the opposite side of the street, Sakura and Ino came along with Hinata in tow. “We were all just teasing you a bit, Master Kakashi.”
“Naruto, are you okay?” Hinata offered Naruto a hand and helped him to his feet. “Hitting him over a thing like this. Master Kakashi, that’s terrible.”
“What? But Naruto there—”
“Naruto’s hurt,” Shikamaru said. “You’re the Hokage, you should know that much at least.”
“Well, it’s all fine and good to say that—”
“I think you should apologize, Master Kakashi,” Sakura and Ino said, sharply. “It was just an innocent prank, after all!”
“Aah, fine!” Kakashi finally shouted. “I get it. I understand. What do I have to do for you to forgive me?”
Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged looks and grinned.
Dammit! The instant he saw that, Kakashi knew that he had fallen into a trap. These kids got me!
“To heal my damaged heart,” Naruto said, “the only thing that works is ramen!”
“…”
Everyone there held their breath and waited for Kakashi’s response.
“Fine, fine.” Kakashi could only throw up both hands and assume a posture of surrender. “How about we all go grab some ramen right now?”
“Yay!” A cheer rose up. “All right!”
“Told you it’d work!”
Honestly… In his heart, Kakashi shook his head. Abruptly, the ridiculousness of it hit him. I’m the Hokage now, but I still do the same things. Every day, I eat, I sleep, I worry about stupid things. My job is to make sure these kids have as many days as they can where they can be idiots like this.
Right, that’s it, isn’t it…Obito?
And then he chased after his students gleefully headed to one of their favorite pastimes, the sun pouring down on them all.
Somewhere, a nightingale warbled.
Dear Sixth Hokage,
I hope you have been well. I am always pressed with the everyday business of work, but as the season shifts each day to spring, I carry out my duties with a peaceful heart…
Spring had indeed arrived.