New chapter fresh from the "editors" room. Hope you guys enjoy reading.
Chapter 3
The next day…
Konoha Village – Midday
Naruto slurped his ramen, to which Sakura found annoying.
"Geez, Naruto. Chew your food once in a while. You'll end up choking." She scolded.
He finished his bowl before replying. "C'mon, I've always eaten ramen this way! No way am I going to choke anytime soon."
"Old man! One more bowl!" He called out.
Teuchi nodded and put a ready made bowl in front of Naruto. The smell of miso soup, pork, and noodles created a heavenly aroma for Naruto. He would usually eat three or four bowls before leaving. It took a lot for Sakura and Sai to drag Naruto away after two bowls.
Sai stared at his bowl for a while until a stray thought came across his mind.
"Do you think we should visit Kakashi?" he said.
Sakura looked at Sai, sitting on her other side. "What for?"
Sai twirled the noodles in his soup and shrugged. Sakura looked back at her own ramen, thinking it over.
'If we see him, we'll have to tell him about Sasuke. And he still needs three more days of bed rest. He'll probably force himself out of bed.'
Sakura smiled at Sai. "Hey, how about we go train instead? Kakashi probably doesn't want us bothering him anyway; he's still reading those books of his."
Naruto perked up at the word "training."
"Yeah! Let's go, Sakura!" He said, finishing his third bowl.
Naruto jumped off his seat and Sakura pushed her bowl away. Sakura turned back before leaving; Sai was still in his seat.
"Um…Sai? Aren't you coming?" She asked.
Sai shook his head, not bothering to turn around. "You two go ahead. I'd like to finish this bowl."
Sakura shrugged and walked out to a waiting Naruto.
'Sai's been acting strange'. She thought, 'I guess it's just the Sasuke thing.'
Let's go!" Naruto yelled.
'Maybe training with just Naruto isn't a good thing.' She sighed.
Sai continued to twirl the noodles in his bowl as Naruto and Sakura's shouts faded in the distance.
'How do I act…like a friend?'
Mokoto and Hitomi stood before Konoha's cenotaph, the Hero's Stone. On it is carved the names of ninja who died in battle sacrificing themselves for the village. On the third row from the bottom, Uchiha Obito was carved into the stone. Mokoto knew Obito in his childhood years. They had all been in the same class, him, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin. In the end, only he and Kakashi had lived on to become ANBU. He had specialized in the medical field while Kakashi joined the combat specialists. But he had always believed that is was Obito's sacrifice that allowed Kakashi to ascend the ranks of ninja.
"You never told me much of your life here." Hitomi said softly, the wind blowing her hair across her face.
Mokoto continued to stare at the stone and replied.
"There's not much to tell. Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. My current mission is all that's important."
"Who was Obito?" she asked, pulling her cloak tighter around her against the wind.
As the wind blew leaves around him, memories of the academy flashed through his mind. The lessons, the training, Rin's kindness, Kakashi's determination, Obito's funeral; it all came back to him.
"A friend," He eventually replied, "When he died the only version I read of his death was the official report. Apparently Kakashi lost his eye and Obito was near death. Rin, the team's medical ninja, implanted Obito's eye into Kakashi, allowing him to finish off the rest of the enemy."
Hitomi frowned; she knew there were inconsistencies to the story.
"How could Kakashi use the Sharingan?" she asked, "He isn't descended from the Uchiha bloodline."
Mokoto shook his head at his own limited knowledge. "I can only guess what Rin did."
"Couldn't we ask her ourselves?"
Mokoto smiled at the thought of meeting Rin again. "No. To be honest, no one really knows where she is. She left the village a year after Obito's death. And Kakashi stopped talking to me or anyone after that."
"So what is your guess then?" Hitomi asked.
Mokoto gathered his medical knowledge before answering. "I could only guess that she infused Kakashi with some of Obito's blood. And by some chance of nature, the infusion of Kakashi's and Obito's blood replicated over time until it replaced all of Kakashi's original blood, thus allowing him to continue to use the Sharingan. Although, since it's not pure Uchiha blood, he can't turn it off at will like a pure Uchiha would do."
Hitomi nodded at the theory, it would fit.
"So what should we do until night?"
Mokoto looked away from the stone and towards the village. "Let's go mark our extraction points and get ready. We can stop for a meal on the way back as well."
"A meal?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
He shrugged. "I have a sudden urge to eat a bowl of ramen right now."
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