Chapter 102: A Situation Gone Worse (4,000 words)
Day Three.
Kakashi walked to the academy alone.
Unlike yesterday, the villagers no longer pointed fingers at him today.
Though plenty still whispered once he'd passed.
To Kakashi, that felt normal.
After all.
Gossip like this couldn't be wiped out overnight.
Still.
Things were getting better, weren't they?
Just a few more days! A few more and it'll be fine!
In a few days everyone will forget, and life will return to how it was.
If only Kakashi could hear what they were saying.
"See that kid? They say his mother was a spy—because of her…""Shh, don't look! You think a spy's son sees us as his own? He might break into your house tonight!"
—
Inside the Hokage Office.
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed his desk.
"Danzo! Give me a satisfactory explanation!"
The old Hokage's face was scarlet with rage.
Yet that fury could cow anyone—except Danzo.
"Hmph!""Hiruzen! What explanation do you want from me?""Don't play dumb! Did you have a hand in what happened to Sakumo?""I had nothing to do with it!"
[Root acted—what has that to do with me, Danzo?]
"Bullshit!"
Hearing Danzo answer so righteously, Hiruzen cursed outright.
"Then why did my Anbu report someone beat them there last night?""How should I know? I went home!""Hiruzen! You can't even control your own Anbu—going senile in your old age!"
Before Hiruzen could retort, Shimura Danzo struck first.
"Mark my words—Anbu should be run like Root! Hand them to me and I'll drill them into perfect obedience!""Enough, Danzo! There's nothing wrong with my Anbu!"
Hand them over?
You think I'm senile?
Hand them to you and they'd stop listening to me!
"Speak! Did you send Root Ninja last night?"
Faced with the question, Danzo stayed silent and picked his nose.
"Hmph! Silence won't erase what happened! As Hokage I hereby strip you of your position as advisor!""You—Hiruzen! You can't do this! I—""Silence! Who else if not you?"
As Danzo tried to speak, Hiruzen cut him off.
Bang!
An Anbu flung the office door open.
"Hokage-sama, disaster! Rumors claim the Hatake matriarch is a Hidden Sand Village spy. Villagers have ransacked the Hatake shop and are now surrounding their home!""What!" ×2
Both Hiruzen and Danzo exclaimed.
"Danzo, you ruthless bastard!"
With that, Hiruzen vanished in a shunshin.
Left behind, Danzo was still stunned.
Ruthless? Didn't I just exclaim too?
Hiruzen, blaming me again!
—
Back-row window seat in the classroom.
Kakashi stared outside, lost in thought.
The lecture was boring, material he'd mastered ages ago.
And his mind was elsewhere these days.
"Kakashi, are you okay?"
Rin Nohara's voice came from beside him.
"I'm fine.""But these past few days…""It's nothing, Rin.""All right.""What are you two talking about?"
Just as Rin let it drop, Obito nearby leaned in, curious.
"Eh? Obito, you really don't know?""Know? Know what?"
Seeing his clueless eyes, Rin believed him and recounted the Village rumors.
"Ah!"
Uchiha Obito yelped.
"Obito—quiet!""S-sorry, sensei!"
After apologizing, Obito sat back down, brow furrowed in thought.
"Now that you mention it… things have been weird lately!"
Rin: "…"Kakashi: "…""idiot!"
They stared at his dense face; Kakashi finally voiced what both thought.
"Jerk! I defended you this morning—made me late! And you insult me!"
Obito flared up, brain suddenly sharper.
"Defended me?""Yeah! I argued with two old ladies for ages!""Argued? With aunties? For me?"
Kakashi's face became a string of question marks.
Every word made sense, yet strung together it felt alien.
Everyone in Konoha knew the Uchiha produced an oddball: no aloof pride, forever helping grandpas and grandmas.
Hearing he'd fought aunties was surreal—and over Kakashi, not Rin?
"I'm serious!"
Seeing Kakashi's doubt, Obito teared up.
Believing his earnestness, Kakashi warmed.
"Sure, I believe you, Obito."
Obito flashed a big grin.
"Course you do—look at our friendship!""Those hags told me to stay away from you, said you're a spy's son! I gave them a piece of my mind—""What! Obito, what did you just say?"
Before he could finish, Kakashi grabbed his shoulders.
"Obito, you're—oh, Kakashi. Where was I?"
The teacher, hearing the noise, glanced over.
Spotting Kakashi instead of Obito, he merely resumed lecturing.
Not favoritism—rather…
He felt he couldn't beat Kakashi.
Besides, Kakashi looked really anxious.
Someone as outstanding as Kakashi must be facing something urgent to act like this!
So… as a teacher, how could I interrupt a student who's dealing with an emergency?
Exactly! That's the way it is!
Uchiha Obito [...]
"I said I argued for you!"
Obito, seeing the worry on Kakashi's face, solemnly repeated what he'd just said—at least the part he thought was important.
"Not that line, the one before it!"
[...Doesn't that matter?!]
"Well… they told me to stay away from you!"
"Still not that one! The line after!"
"Hmm… not that either? Let me think…"
"Got it!"
"They said you're the son of a spy."
"The son of a spy! They really said that?"
"Hmm… yes."
When Obito confirmed it, Kakashi felt a bad premonition.
He suddenly realized something and silently cried out, Crap!
He spun around and leapt out the window.
Hey! Kakashi, where are you going?!"
Seeing Kakashi jump out the window, Obito shouted, then jumped out after him.
"Hey, you two, we're still in class! Get back here!"
The teacher on the podium panicked when he saw Kakashi and Obito dive out the window one after another, so he jumped out in pursuit as well.
In an instant, only the rest of the class was left inside, staring at each other in bewilderment.
What's going on? Why did the teacher just jump out mid-lesson?
"So… do we still have class?"
one student asked.
"Class my foot! Didn't you see the teacher chase Kakashi out the window? Something big's up—I'm going to watch the excitement!"
a stubbly-faced teen declared, then jumped out too.
That leap was like the starting gun of a race; everyone scrambled onto the windowsill and poured outside.
——
Rewind a bit.
The main gate of the Hatake Clan compound was now surrounded by villagers.
On the outer edge, Uchiha clansmen watched from a distance.
"Captain, shouldn't we step in and stop this?"
"Stop it? How? Haven't you noticed the villagers are acting crazy? How do you stop them?"
"Try persuasion?"
"You think those villagers will listen to you?"
"Use force?"
"Hurt a civilian and they'll report you to Hokage-sama; you'll be the one in trouble."
"So tell me, Shisui—how do we stop it?"
"Then…"
The captain's rapid-fire questions left Uchiha Shisui speechless.
"Then… do we just stand here and watch?"
"What else?"
"What can we do? The moment we intervene, those villagers will latch onto us and brand us accomplices.
"We'd be the ones to suffer!"
"I-it shouldn't be that bad, Captain?"
"Hah, you're still too green, Shisui!"
"Besides…"
"Besides?"
"Our clan's businesses have taken a big hit these past years. Staying neutral and not kicking them while they're down is already generous!"
——
At the Hatake gate, Hatake Sakumo stood with his clansmen, trying to calm the crowd.
"Everyone, listen to me—Kiko can't be a spy! She doesn't even know what mission I'm on!"
The villagers only shouted back, refusing to believe him.
"Nonsense!"
"He's lying!"
"How could your wife not know what mission you're doing?"
"Exactly! I know several Ninja who tell me everything when they go out to 'weed'! If an outsider like me hears it, I don't believe his wife doesn't know!"
Sakumo's face flushed with desperation; no one would heed his explanation.
[Why isn't Hokage-sama here yet?!]
Well-raised and disciplined, Sakumo still refused to resort to force.
He clung to the belief that it was all a misunderstanding.
If only—if only Hokage-sama would arrive, everything could be settled.
Yet why was it taking so long? Even Uchiha had shown up, and not a single Anbu was in sight.
Just as Sakumo reached his limit, a sharp crack rang out behind him, stunning both him and the frenzied villagers into silence.
"Kiko, why are you here?!"
"How could I sleep with all this racket?"
Miya Kiko snapped in answer to Sakumo's question, then turned her glare on the villagers blocking the gate.
"What are you all crowding here for? Can't you see the blade in my hand?"
She yanked a sword from a clansman's belt and slammed it point-first into the ground in front of the crowd.
The cold gleam of steel drained the bravado from many faces; some began to consider retreat.
But just then a voice rose from within the throng, rekindling their courage.
"She's the spy!"
"Don't be afraid—she's alone! She can't kill all of us!"
"Right! This is Konoha—what can one spy do here?"
"If she dares hurt us, Hokage-sama won't let her off!"
"Yes! Because of her leaks, Konoha suffered heavy losses! She's a spy sent by Hidden Sand Village to destroy us!"
Once the first accusation rang out, more followed in rapid succession.
The villagers' briefly quenched fury flared anew, fiercer than ever now that the target stood before them.
Seeing the crowd about to explode, Sakumo shielded Kiko behind him and, with no other choice, began forming seals.
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!]
A rampart of earth erupted at the gate, momentarily dividing the Hatake from the mob.
"Everyone, listen to me!"
Perhaps because Sakumo now stood higher, or because the sudden wall reminded them this man was a Ninja who had killed, the crowd quieted and looked up, waiting to hear what he would say.
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