"The sensory division thought it belonged to a wild animal, but I know your summoning contract. Tell me the truth... are you somehow related to what happened out there? Did you see something last night?"
Kakashi gripped the edge of the table so tightly his knuckles turned completely white, his mind racing as he realized just how close Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai were to uncovering a truth that could tear the village apart.
The wood under Kakashi's fingers let out a tiny, sharp crack. His heart slammed against his ribs like a trapped animal.
'Silver fur. Shiba... Of all the sloppy, careless mistakes to leave behind on a high-stakes mission, a single stray hair from my ninken summoning is the one thing that could completely undo me.'
He didn't dare blink. He knew Asuma's sharp eyes were looking for even the tiniest twitch in his expression, a single drop of sweat, or a shift in his breathing. If he looked away now, it was a confession.
"Traces of fur?" Kakashi finally spoke, forcing his voice into a calm, steady murmur that sounded completely hollow compared to his earlier panic.
He slowly let go of the table, pulling his hands back into his lap out of sight so they wouldn't see the slight tremor in his fingers.
"You're letting your imagination run wild, Asuma. The borders are crawling with wild beasts, wolves, and stray dogs. Just because it's silver doesn't mean it belongs to my pack."
"Stray dogs don't usually hang around the main border of the Hi no Kuni without triggering the detection barrier, Kakashi—"
Asuma countered immediately, his voice dropping even lower, cutting right through the excuse. He leaned so far forward his chest almost touched the edge of the table.
"And wild animals don't leave behind leftover chakra from a summoning jutsu, Kakashi. The barrier division couldn't identify the exact chakra signature, but they knew it came from a summoned hound. My dad's office is keeping it a total secret, but I know."
Kurenai looked between the two of them, her breath catching in her throat. The heavy, suffocating silence from before returned instantly, but this time, it was laced with suspicion.
"Asuma... what are you trying to say?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "You can't seriously think Kakashi has something to do with an attack on our own comrades? He's a shinobi of Konoha!"
"I'm not saying he attacked them—!" Asuma said, never breaking eye contact with the silver-haired boy.
"I'm asking if he was there. Look at him, Kurenai! He walks in here looking like he just survived a war, his headband—the very symbol of his loyalty to this village—is completely missing, and the moment I mention the border, he looks like he's ready to bolt out the door. Tell me the truth, Kakashi. Were you out there last night on a secret mission, or are you hiding something else?"
Gai, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly reached out and slammed his hand flat on the table, making the empty dango sticks rattle.
"That is enough, Asuma!" Gai said, his voice entirely devoid of his usual loud jokes and bright smiles. His dark eyes were dead serious as he stared at the son of the former Hokage.
"Kakashi is my eternal rival. We have bled for this village together since we were children. If he says he wasn't there, then he wasn't there! A true shinobi's honor is not something you drag through the mud based on a few strands of wild animal hair!"
"I'm trying to protect him, Gai!" Asuma snapped back, turning his head slightly but keeping his eyes locked on Kakashi.
"If the Anbu investigation unit connects those traces to his summoning contract before he explains himself to Hokage-sama, he won't just be facing questions from friends. They'll treat him as a traitor!"
The word traitor seemed to echo off the clean wooden walls of the dango shop, turning the air ice-cold.
Right across from them, slumped lazily over her table with her face totally buried under a curtain of messy dark hair, the pale woman let out another tiny, silent vibration of a chuckle.
The young ninja were so completely wrapped up in their own high-stakes drama, pointing fingers and tearing themselves apart from the inside, that they had completely forgotten she was even there.
It was beautiful. Everything was falling into place perfectly.
Kakashi didn't move an inch, but the air around him shifted, turning sharp and dangerously cold. He slowly raised his chin, his single black eye locking directly onto Asuma's face. The tiredness was completely gone now.
"You're making a lot of noise over a few loose hairs, Asuma—" Kakashi said softly. His voice was too quiet, too calm, and it made Kurenai look up in instant worry.
He leaned back slightly, resting his hands flat on his knees. "First of all, let's talk about this invisible enemy that bypassed the main barrier without leaving a trace. You know my record. Over the last few months, Hokage-sama has sent me on countless missions outside Hi no Kuni. My most recent one was all the way to Tetsu no Kuni."
Asuma frowned, his grip tightening on his cup. "What does your mission history have to do with last night?"
"Think about it..." Kakashi countered, his sharp words cutting through the tension like a kunai.
"Every single time I come back into Hi no Kuni, I have to pass through that exact same barrier. The sensory division knows my chakra signature by heart. If I was the one sneaking around the border last night, the barrier logs wouldn't say 'unknown signature.' They would have flagged my name instantly. Why would the system suddenly treat me like a total stranger yesterday?"
Asuma opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He blinked, completely stuck. Kurenai leaned forward, a small wave of relief washing over her face as she realized Kakashi was right. The barrier never lied about a registered Konoha shinobi.
"Second—" Kakashi continued, his voice dropping to a low, cold whisper as he pointed a finger toward his messy silver hair.
"You keep staring at my forehead. You're making a massive deal out of my missing headband, acting like I threw away my loyalty. Asuma... you of all people should know that I officially joined the Anbu squad months ago."
Gai's eyebrows shot up, and Kurenai gasped slightly, her hand flying to her mouth. They knew he worked in the shadows, but hearing it out loud changed everything.
"When we are on active duty, we wear masks, not standard forehead protectors..." Kakashi stated flatly, his eye narrowing.
"And today, Hokage-sama gave me a rare, mandatory day off to rest. Since when do elite ninja wear their heavy metal headbands around the village during their personal time off? I'm trying to relax, not march into battle."
Asuma's face flushed a deep, uncomfortable red. He looked down at the table, his earlier confidence completely shattered by the simple logic.
Gai let out a loud huff, crossing his arms proudly as if to say, I told you so.
"And finally—" Kakashi said, the temperature in the shop dropping even further. He leaned forward, staring so deeply into Asuma's eyes that the son of the Hokage actually shifted back in his seat.
"The last time I was anywhere near the main border of Hi no Kuni was exactly two days ago. Not yesterday night... "
"...TWO..."
"...DAYS...."
"...AGO...."
"I was returning from my mission, handed my report directly to Hokage-sama, and went straight to my house."
The entire table went dead silent. The three justifications hung heavily in the air, completely wiping out every single bit of suspicion Asuma had built up. It was a perfect defense, leaving absolutely no room for argument.
But Kakashi wasn't finished.
Slowly, he stood up from the wooden bench. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides, and a dark, heavy anger flared around his body.
For the first time all morning, the young ninjas saw Kakashi genuinely furious. His eye was wide, burning with resentment.
"I have bled for this village since I was a child..." Kakashi spoke out, his voice trembling with a mix of rage and deep hurt.
"I have lost my team, my father, and my sleep for the safety of Konoha. And yet, the moment a stray dog loses some fur at the border, my comrade sit around a tea shop and call me a traitor."
Kurenai looked down at her green tea, her face twisting with intense guilt.
Gai reached out a hand, his face falling. "Kakashi, wait, we didn't mean—"
"Save it..." Kakashi snapped, turning his back on them completely.
"Kakashi, please, wait!" Asuma called out, quickly standing up from the bench. He reached out and grabbed Kakashi's shoulder, his face completely full of regret.
"I am incredibly sorry. I was being completely stupid and letting my stress get the better of me. I shouldn't have doubted you for even a second. None of us think you are a traitor."
Kurenai nodded quickly, her eyes soft with an earnest apology. "He's right, Kakashi. We know how much you have sacrificed for this village. Please don't be angry with us. Come back and sit down."
Gai offered a warm, comforting smile, patting the empty space on the wooden bench. "Yes, my eternal rival! Let the warmth of our youthful friendship melt away this misunderstanding! Let's just sit down and enjoy our tea together."
Kakashi stood still for a long moment, his back still turned to them. He let out a long, slow sigh, the heavy, angry tension slowly leaving his shoulders.
He turned back around, his single eye softening back into its usual lazy expression. "Fine—" he muttered softly, sliding back onto the bench.
With the fight completely resolved, a happy, relaxed mood returned to the table. Asuma poured fresh, warm tea into everyone's cups, and they all started drinking and chatting happily, completely putting the stressful argument behind them.
While they were laughing and enjoying their morning tea, the dango shopkeeper came walking out from behind the counter. He looked highly annoyed, holding a wooden tray tightly under his arm as he marched directly toward the dark corner table.
He stopped right in front of the slumped-over woman and knocked his knuckles loudly against the wood.
"Hey! Wake up!" the shopkeeper shouted angrily. The woman didn't move a single inch. She remained completely flat on the surface, her face still totally buried under that messy curtain of long, dark hair.
"Listen to me!" the shopkeeper continued, shaking his head in deep irritation.
"You have been sitting here like this since early this morning! You haven't ordered a single plate of dango, and you haven't ordered any tea. This is a place of business, not a hotel for a free morning nap! If you aren't going to buy anything, you need to leave right now!"
Despite the loud shouting and the knocking on the table, the woman still didn't wake up. She just stayed perfectly still, lying half on the table as if she were in the deepest sleep imaginable.
Watching the scene unfold from their table, Kurenai felt a sudden wave of pity. She leaned closer to her friends and whispered softly, "Hey... I think we should go over and stop the shopkeeper. He's being a bit too harsh. What if she has nowhere else to go? What if she doesn't even have a home?"
Kakashi, who was just lifting his tea cup, let out a tiny, amused huff. "Who doesn't have a house in this day and age?" he mocked quietly, shaking his head at Kurenai's over-worrying nature.
He set his tea cup down and slowly stood up from the bench, turning his body completely away from his friends so his back was blocking their view. He faced toward the dark corner where the woman was lying.
Keeping his face strictly hidden from Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai, Kakashi reach up with a swift, secret movement and slid his fabric face mask down past his chin.
Hearing the commotion, the woman finally decided to move. Slowly, lazily, she raised her head up from the wooden table. Her long, ink-black hair parted down the middle, falling back to reveal her face.
She had a strikingly pale complexion—almost completely white—with sharply defined, delicate cheekbones and thin, elegant lips.
But it was her eyes that caught the light. They were narrow, piercing, and framed by a heavy, prominent purple shadow that stretched all the way down to her temples, making them look terrifyingly cat-like.
She leaned her elbow on the table, resting her chin completely in the palm of her hand, casual and relaxed. She gave the angry shopkeeper a sweet smile, though her vertical, slitted pupils glinted with a strange, dangerous amusement.
"Oh, please don't be so impatient..." she purred, her voice carrying a soft, melodic tune. She gestured toward the door with her slender fingers. "My husband should be coming along any minute now to pay for everything."
"Pay for what?!" the shopkeeper snapped back, his face turning red with frustration. "You haven't ordered anything yet! First you actually buy something from my menu, and then your man can pay for it!"
Right at that exact second, Kakashi, who had his mask down and was taking a sip of his drink, locked eyes with her. He stared straight into those slitted, golden, snake-like eyes.
"Cough! Ack—cough, cough!"
Kakashi completely choked. The green tea went straight down the wrong pipe, forcing him to spit the liquid right out across the floor.
He began to cough violently, his throat tightening up completely as his brain went entirely numb from shock.
But even while choking and struggling for air, his quick ninja reflexes kicked in. Instead of clutching his throat, Kakashi frantically yanked his fabric mask back up over his face with blinding speed, completely terrified that someone might catch a glimpse of his bare skin while he was struggling.
Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and the shopkeeper all froze, turning their heads slowly to stare at him in absolute bewilderment.
"Kakashi?!!!" Gai yelled, looking completely baffled by his friend's sudden explosion. "Are you alright? Did you forget how to drink tea?!"
Kakashi couldn't even answer. He kept pounding his chest with his fist, trying desperately to clear his throat while his single eye remained wide with pure horror.
He couldn't look away from the corner table. His mind was racing in a chaotic loop, trying to process the absolute impossibility of what he was looking at.
'How is this even possible?! How can this person be sitting in a normal village shop at ten in the morning?! How could I have mistaken this person for a random female traveler! Why is he wearing a dress and smiling right at me?!' Kakashi's mind screamed in absolute horror as he stared at the corner table.
'It can't be... it's impossible...'
"OROCHIMARU—"
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A MESSAGE TO THE READERS 📢
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
✦ AUTHOR'S NOTE. ✦
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
😭✨
First of all...YES.
THE WOMAN WAS OROCHIMARU. 😭😭😭
I can already hear half the readers screaming:
"WHY IS OROCHIMARU WEARING A DRESS?!"
Meanwhile poor Kakashi was having a complete mental breakdown because not only did he recognize Orochimaru...
HE RECOGNIZED OROCHIMARU WEARING A DRESS. 😭
No amount of Anbu training prepares a man for that.
Now let me clear up something important. 👀
The border being discussed in this chapter is NOT the same border incident from Chapter 31:"THE PRICE OF AN ELDER'S PRIDE — A SHADOW RETURNS"
Those are two completely different events.
Very different.Very, very different.
And yes...The words "TWO DAYS AGO" were not written by accident. 😌
Pay attention to them.Because I will very soon reveal exactly what happened two days ago.
Some of the clues have actually been sitting in the story for a long time.
Remember Chapter 11:
"TWO REFLECTIONS — ONLY ONE IS REAL"
Specifically the scene where Kakashi was crying after striking Minato.That scene happened during those mysterious events from two days ago. 👀
And yes...
There were indeed TWO Minatos.
The Hokage Minato everyone knows.
And the other Minato.
The one connected to the Black Devil and everything happening outside Konoha. I'm not explaining further.
I choose life. 😭
Also...Can we talk about that cliffhanger? 😭😭😭
Poor Kakashi spent half the chapter convincing everyone he wasn't suspicious.
Successfully cleared his name.
Won the argument.
Got tea.
Sat down peacefully.
And then immediately discovered Orochimaru sitting ten feet away pretending to be somebody's wife.
Peak Kakashi experience. 😭
Now for another important clarification.
The Orochimaru in this chapter is NOT the Orochimaru native to this timeline.
He is one of the individuals who arrived alongside the Black Devil.
And yes...His objective is connected to Uchiha Hikaru.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, including Orochimaru himself...
Hikaru is still Hikaru. 😭
As for the "husband"...
👀
👀
👀
You all better tune in for the next chapter. Because the husband reveal is absolutely wild.
And trust me when I say:
The next chapter introduces some VERY unexpected faces inside that dango shop.
Extremely unexpected.
Dangerously unexpected.
"What could possibly make Kakashi panic harder than Orochimaru?"
Well...You'll find out soon enough. 😭
Until next chapter...Remember:
If a strange woman is smiling at you in a tea shop...
Make absolutely sure it isn't Orochimaru before lowering your mask. 😭🍵🐍
⚡NEXT CHAPTER⚡
A familiar face.
A forgotten name.
A memory buried beneath blood and smoke.
As the shadows of two days ago begin to resurface, Kakashi is forced to confront a truth he desperately wished to forget.
Meanwhile, inside a quiet dango shop, unseen eyes continue to watch from the darkness...
And some reunions were never meant to happen.
Chapter 35: The Face From Two Days Ago
SNEAK PEEK LINES 💬
'....Unless... unless his infiltration methods are far beyond anything the village has ever prepared for.'
'... What was his name?! What was this bastard's name?!'
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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