46: The Naka Shrine

Afternoon.

“Hey, Kakashi! Didn’t expect you to come find me! Are you finally ready for a showdown of youth?!”

Kakashi stood on a low wall by the road, hands in his pockets, his half-lidded gaze fixed on the green-clad figure that had just slammed his front door open. He wondered, not for the first time, how that door was still attached to its hinges.

“You on a mission today?” Kakashi yawned.

“I had a feeling you’d come today, so I deliberately kept my schedule clear! This is the telepathy that exists between eternal rivals!” Guy struck one of his signature poses—thumb extended, teeth gleaming white enough to catch the sun.

“No mission, then. Come with me.” Kakashi hopped down from the wall and started walking, looking as listless as ever.

“Oh?!” Guy’s face lit up. “What’s the contest this time?”

Kakashi ignored him. He was already moving down the street, pulling a palm-sized book from his pocket and reading as he walked.

“Kakashi!”

Guy scrambled after him.

“It’s rare for you to come find me in person, Kakashi! I’m ready—this time I’ll defeat you with everything I have! Let us have a burning contest that puts our youth on the line!”

“Kakashi!”

“Kakashi, hey…”

No response. Guy didn’t seem to mind. He bounced along at Kakashi’s side, chattering without pause, hopping left and right like a restless bird.

They walked for a long time, turning corner after corner, until Kakashi suddenly stopped. He looked up at Guy.

“…What were you saying?”

“…” Guy’s eyes went wide. He took two stunned steps backward.

“No… as expected of my rival. You always manage to wound me in the most devastating ways.” He braced one hand against a telephone pole and pressed the other to his chest, wearing an expression of theatrical agony.

“All right.” Kakashi snapped his book shut and slipped it into his pocket. The half-lidded stare settled on Guy. “Since you want a contest so badly…”

Those words hit like a resurrection jutsu. Guy materialized at Kakashi’s side in an instant, fully recovered.

“I’m ready!” Thumb. Gleam.

“A race, then.” Kakashi’s voice was flat, his posture still boneless. “Starting from here.”

Guy immediately dropped into a sprinter’s stance.

“And the finish line…”

“The Naka Shrine.”

Guy froze mid-crouch.

“…”

He straightened slowly, surprise breaking through the enthusiasm.

“The Naka Shrine?”

“Mm.”

“That’s inside the Uchiha compound?”

“Mm.”

“Are the Uchiha going to let us in?”

“Not at this hour.” Kakashi’s tone didn’t change.

“…Is this a mission?” It was finally clicking.

“Go to the compound gate,” Kakashi said, shifting into something closer to a briefing. “Tell them you’re there under the Hokage’s orders to conduct an investigation.”

“An investigation of what?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Kakashi waved a hand. “Just say you’re acting on the Hokage’s authority. That’ll make them take you seriously.”

“And what about you?”

“I’m going in a different way.”

“Once I’m inside, what do I do? Meet you at the Naka Shrine?”

“No. You won’t get in.”

“Huh?” Guy blinked.

“Just do what I said. Thirty minutes, then you can leave.” Kakashi clearly didn’t feel like explaining further. “Let’s go.”

“Uh… right.”

Guy made his way to the entrance of the Uchiha compound as instructed. Two Uchiha clansmen stood guard at the gate.

“Hold it.”

Guy stopped.

“The clan has internal business to attend to. No outsiders permitted. Please turn back.”

Guy cleared his throat. He recalled Kakashi’s instructions and put on the most serious face he could manage.

“I’m here under the Hokage’s orders to conduct an investigation of the Uchiha compound.”

“An investigation of what?” The two guards exchanged a glance. One of them spoke.

“Well…” Guy scratched his chin. This part, Kakashi had not prepared him for.

“Ahem… classified mission. I’m afraid I can’t say.”

“Do you have documentation?”

“Huh?”

“Documentation.”

“…”

The Naka Shrine.

Not a soul in the vicinity. The Sharingan beneath his headband detected no presence whatsoever.

Kakashi stood at the entrance to the main hall, scanning the surroundings with quiet vigilance.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The Naka Shrine was the Uchiha clan’s ancestral temple, built against the Naka River. The Naka ran through the heart of Konoha, and its basin had been Uchiha territory long before the village was founded.

A few days ago, Shisui had thrown himself into this very river.

The thought surfaced unbidden. Shisui’s death was common knowledge among the village’s shinobi by now—a man of his reputation couldn’t disappear quietly.

The hall itself was old and vast. A short flight of stone steps led down from the entrance to an open courtyard dotted with weathered pillars—ornamental, perhaps, or the remains of something older. A small grove of trees bordered the clearing.

Kakashi paced the area, frowning. His headband stayed in place, but beneath it, the Sharingan never stopped spinning.

“Captain Kakashi. What brings you here?”

The voice came from directly behind him—and his expression shifted. He hadn’t sensed a thing.

He turned. Itachi Uchiha stood a short distance away, dressed in full ANBU gear. No mask. No sword on his back.

“Nothing much. Personal business.” Kakashi let a beat pass. “And I’m not your captain anymore. You don’t have to call me that.”

“You looked after me during my time in ANBU. I haven’t forgotten.” A slight bow of the head. Respectful.

“With your talent, you’d have done fine with or without me.” Kakashi said it like it was nothing. “I hear you made squad captain.”

“I did.”

“How is it?”

“About the same. More missions.”

They spoke easily, like old acquaintances catching up by chance.

“Every time I come to the Uchiha district…” Kakashi turned to face the shrine’s main entrance. “It brings back memories.”

Probably can’t get inside now anyway…

“I see…” Itachi’s voice was low, almost a murmur.

A gust of wind picked up. The sun hung low, bleeding orange across the sky. Itachi looked up at Kakashi’s silhouette against the fading light.

“You snuck in, didn’t you, Captain.”

“…”

“What were you looking for?”