After school, Shin-chan followed along beside Kakashi as usual.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the ground.
After walking for a while, Shin-chan noticed they weren't going the usual way and asked curiously, "Aren't we training today?"
"We're not."
"Why not?"
Kakashi was silent for two seconds. "My dad got sent on a mission."
Shin-chan blinked. "A mission?"
"Yeah. An urgent one." Kakashi's voice was calm. "I'm not sure when he'll be back."
Shin-chan looked at the side of Kakashi's face. Even though the mask hid most of his expression, for some reason, Shin-chan felt like Kakashi seemed a little different today.
They walked a little farther.
Then Kakashi suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.
"Why are you following me?"
Shin-chan froze for a second and scratched his head.
"I don't know."
"..."
Kakashi was silent for two seconds, then turned around and kept walking.
Shin-chan stood there blinking, then started moving again and followed after him.
Kakashi didn't ask again.
The two of them walked one behind the other, crossing several streets until they entered a place full of voices and noise.
"The market?" Shin-chan looked stunned.
By then Kakashi had already walked over to a vegetable stall, crouched down, and started picking through the produce.
"Mister, how much is this?"
"Five ryō a bundle."
"What about this one?"
"That bunch is a little wilted, so cheaper. Four ryō."
Kakashi picked up the wilted greens, looked at them, then set them back down and chose a different bundle.
"I'll take this one." Kakashi handed the vegetables to the vendor, pulled out some money, counted it, and handed it over.
The whole process was smooth and practiced—far too practiced for a five-year-old.
Shin-chan's mouth dropped open and stayed that way for a long time.
"Kakashi... you... buy vegetables?"
Kakashi took his change and turned back to look at him.
"What else am I supposed to eat?"
"..."
Then Shin-chan followed Kakashi to a fish stall.
Kakashi crouched down, looked over the fish in the basin, and pointed at one.
"That one."
The fish seller scooped it up, wrapped it, and handed it over.
Kakashi took the fish and paid for it.
Shin-chan's mouth opened even wider.
"You... you even know how to pick fish?"
Kakashi glanced at him, said nothing, and kept walking with the vegetables and fish in hand.
Shin-chan followed after him in a daze, still trying to process what he had just seen.
Buying vegetables.
Picking vegetables.
Picking fish.
Paying for them.
Kakashi?
At last, they stopped in front of a house with a few bamboo plants growing by the door.
It was the Hatake house—the same one Shin-chan had visited a few days ago.
Kakashi pushed the door open and went inside. Shin-chan hesitated at the entrance, unsure whether he should follow.
Then, unhelpfully, his stomach growled.
Kakashi turned and looked at him.
Shin-chan gave a sheepish grin and rubbed his belly.
Kakashi was silent for two seconds, then stepped aside.
"Come in."
Shin-chan hurried in after him.
Kakashi went into the kitchen, set the vegetables and fish on the counter, and began washing and cutting them.
Shin-chan leaned against the kitchen doorway, staring without blinking.
Kakashi chopped vegetables cleanly and efficiently, his knife work excellent. Then he cleaned the fish, removed the guts, washed it, and put it in the pan.
He lit the fire.
Poured in the oil.
Put in the fish.
Started frying.
The whole sequence was smooth as flowing water.
Shin-chan's eyes just kept getting wider.
"Kakashi, you can cook too?"
Without even turning his head, Kakashi replied, "If you live alone and can't cook, you starve."
Shin-chan fell silent.
He thought about how, at home, all he ever had to do was wait for Misae to call, "Dinner's ready," and then sit down at the table, where the food was already laid out.
He had never really thought about the fact that some people had to cook for themselves.
Before long, the meal was on the table.
Fried fish, sautéed greens, miso soup, and rice.
Just a few simple dishes, but they smelled unbelievably good.
Shin-chan sat at the table, stared at the food in front of him, and swallowed.
Kakashi sat down across from him and picked up his chopsticks.
"Eat."
Shin-chan had been waiting forever to hear that. He immediately picked up his bowl, grabbed a piece of fish, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Then his eyes flew wide open.
"So good!"
He quickly grabbed a bite of the greens.
"This is good too!"
Then a sip of miso soup.
"The soup is good too!"
Kakashi looked at him, his expression a little complicated.
This guy... was it really necessary to react like that?
Shin-chan buried himself in the meal, stuffing his mouth full of rice, and mumbled through it, "This is way better than what Misae makes."
Kakashi paused. "Misae?"
"My mom."
Kakashi didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and kept eating.
Outside the window, the last light of sunset gradually faded.
After dinner, Kakashi stood up and began clearing the dishes.
Shin-chan sat in his chair, rubbing his round little belly, watching Kakashi stack the bowls one by one, and suddenly started feeling a little guilty.
"I'll help too."
He jumped off the chair and reached for a plate on the table.
Kakashi glanced at him, about to say it wasn't necessary, but Shin-chan had already picked up two plates and was carrying them toward the kitchen.
Then—
Crash!
One plate slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor.
Shin-chan looked down at the broken pieces and blinked. "Ah, it fell."
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. "Leave it. I'll clean it up."
"It's fine, it's fine, I'll pick it up."
Shin-chan crouched down and reached for the shards. Then the other plate slipped from his hands too.
Crash!
Another sharp sound rang out.
Shin-chan looked at the fresh pile of broken pieces on the floor, then looked up with a perfectly innocent face.
"That plate seemed kind of slippery."
Kakashi took a deep breath, picked Shin-chan up off the floor, set him by the kitchen entrance, then crouched down and began cleaning up the shards.
"Go sit in the living room."
"But I want to help."
"Your idea of helping is breaking a few more plates?"
Shin-chan obediently went to the living room and sat on the tatami. Listening to the rustling sounds of Kakashi cleaning up the broken pieces in the kitchen, he suddenly felt pretty guilty.
After a while, Kakashi came out. He still had the broom and dustpan in hand. After dumping the shards into the trash, he washed his hands.
Then he went into a side room and came back out holding a wooden sword.
"Let's go."
Shin-chan blinked. "Go where?"
Kakashi looked at him the way one looks at an idiot.
"To train."
Shin-chan's face immediately fell. "Huh? We're still training today?"
"What else?"
"But..." Shin-chan pointed outside at the darkening sky. "It's almost nighttime."
"So?"
"And I already fought a ton of matches today. I'm really tired."
Kakashi simply looked at him quietly.
Under that stare, Shin-chan started feeling guilty, and his voice got smaller and smaller. "Okay... I guess I'm not that tired."
"Swordsmanship is all about persistence." Kakashi was already heading toward the door.
Shin-chan blinked. That line sounded weirdly familiar.
Then he picked up the wooden sword Kakashi had lent him that afternoon and followed him out.
The two of them stepped into the yard and faced each other.
The yard was bathed in warm orange lamplight, and the bamboo shadows stretched long across the ground.
Holding the wooden sword, Shin-chan looked up at the person in front of him.
Kakashi had already taken his stance.
"Let's begin."