The commotion from downstairs was from the hospital's guard ninja, drawn by the sound of shattering glass. One unlucky fellow had even been hit on the head by a falling shard.
Shinnō explained it away as an explosion caused by a recent experiment gone wrong.
They had come up fuming but went back down with their tails between their legs. Shinnō's standing in the hospital was undeniably high. As the most skilled attending physician, he had successfully treated and healed at least eighty, if not a hundred, heavily injured shinobi, with countless minor injuries also under his belt.
Furthermore, he was a renowned doctor specially invited by the Land of Lightning, and coupled with his own considerable strength, he commanded the respect of many.
Shinnō genuinely enjoyed treating others these days. With every person he healed, he could feel his understanding of the human body deepen by a fraction, bringing him one step closer to his dream of longevity.
Terumi Mei had stayed by Kakashi's side ever since they arrived at the hospital. Now that both were awake and it was dinner time, they discussed it and decided to head to the outdoor food stalls to get something to replenish their energy.
Kakashi, having gone four days without food or water, was famished. As he headed downstairs with the young woman, something occurred to him. He darted back to Shinnō's laboratory and asked for enough funds to cover their living expenses for several months.
"Giving blood isn't free, you know?" was Kakashi's deadpan reasoning.
Shinnō, who was generally indifferent to money, casually allocated some funds from the hospital's public account to send him on his way.
Strolling through the Land of Lightning's night market, Kakashi sampled everything along the way. Most of the food here leaned towards the spicy side, which made him, accustomed to milder flavors, somewhat nostalgic. Perhaps, if he had the time, he could buy some ingredients and whip up some more traditional, milder dishes, allowing Mei to experience the charm of that cuisine.
While eating, the silver-haired young man's keen ears were also actively gathering intelligence.
"Fighting's broken out again on the border..."
"What's that got to do with us?"
"Heard some ninja from another country disguised themselves as civilians to try and assassinate the Land of Lightning's Daimyō."
"You actually believe that stuff?"
"Just rumors, you know."
"Konoha's Yellow Flash has shown up in the Land of Waterfalls."
"A guy like you wouldn't even be able to run if you bumped into him."
"Lord Raikage is planning to go to the Land of Earth to oversee things. If you ask me, how can the Tsuchikage be as strong as Lord Raikage?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Most of the chatter was useless information, but it still gave Kakashi a preliminary understanding of the war situation around the Land of Lightning.
Truly a military powerhouse, he thought.
"Terumi Nishi, what are you doing?"
Kakashi had been lost in thought. The sudden loudness of Mei's voice made his eardrums throb. He looked over to see her pouting, arm linked with his, holding two skewers of dango.
"Don't call me that name. I'm Kakashi, not Terumi Nishi," he corrected, a little exasperated.
"We're in the Land of Lightning, we have to hide our identities! You're the one who said so!!" Mei retorted, puffing her cheeks.
"Keep your voice down. Aren't we exposed enough as it is?"
"My voice is very soft. You're the one with the problem."
Adjusting the sensitivity of his hearing, the silver-haired youth's auditory perception returned to normal. Mei then forcefully pushed half of the dango into his hand.
It was that sickeningly sweet specialty from the Land of Water – syrup-covered rice cakes...
Why on earth were they selling this kind of snack here?
He took a bite. The syrup flowed in his mouth, and the mochi ball stretched like melted cheese, its texture soft and very sticky.
"Is it good?" Mei watched Kakashi with expectant eyes.
"It's… passable."
"But it's so delicious..." she muttered, then took a large bite of her own dango. The entire rice cake ball stuffed her mouth completely full, making one suspect that the sweet syrup might burst out at any second.
"&%/"##"
"Don't talk while you're eating. Be careful not to choke."
Kakashi bought a bottle of water, intending to rescue the young woman from her predicament. However, Mei refused the water, determined to swallow the massive dango on her own. Kakashi watched as her face turned from pale to red, until finally, just before she seemed about to suffocate, she managed to swallow it.
"Whew! I didn't expect the rice cake dango here to be so much bigger than in the Land of Water."
"Are you a hamster or something?" Kakashi teased.
"Of course not!"
The orange-haired girl always managed to bring a touch of offbeat humor to otherwise serious atmospheres. Although Kakashi still couldn't quite figure out how her future, more mature and composed self could be so endearingly cute now, he considered it a good thing. Perhaps this was her truest personality.
"Kakashi, I think this dango tastes like you."
Her cheeks flushed a little, her hair swaying as she walked, Mei bought two more skewers of the rice cake dango.
Declining her offer to feed him, Kakashi found her description of him rather amusing.
"What do you mean, 'tastes like me'?"
"I misspoke," Mei corrected, a twinkle in her eye. "It's not that it tastes like you, but rather, you're like it."
"Huh?"
Her eyes curved into crescents as she suppressed a giggle, offering no further explanation. By Kakashi's side, she rarely recalled the painful school days in the Land of Water. In the past, the only time the young girl felt a similar sense of happiness was when she was eating these rice cake dango.
"You like this remind me of that brat," Kakashi said thoughtfully.
"Which one?"
"Uchiha Obito. You've met him."
Oh, that guy, Mei nodded. When they first met, she had mistaken him for Kakashi's enemy and almost attacked.
"He likes a girl named Nohara Rin."
"Nohara Rin? Was she one of your old teammates too?"
"Yeah. Obito was always trying all sorts of ways to get her attention. Such an immature kid, thinking about those things at his age."
"You're the same age as him, you know," Mei pointed out.
"This age isn't that age. Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained."
In the original timeline, Kakashi mused, if I didn't exist, Obito should have awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan by now. Just how desperate must one's emotions be to evolve directly from a two-tomoe Sharingan to a Mangekyō?
Unconsciously, Kakashi had already changed the destinies of many. Numerous people had deviated from their predetermined paths, slowly walking down a different road with no visible end or outcome.
That invisible, colossal hand was still manipulating everything from the shadows. Kakashi felt he was beginning to understand Obito's feelings somewhat.
When one had no attachments, the state of the world didn't matter. But once ties were formed, those bonds would take deep root in one's heart, prying open a closed soul.
"You and Obito are quite similar," Kakashi observed, turning to Mei.
"How are we similar?" she asked, tilting her head.
"You both like to use all sorts of methods to attract the attention of the person you like."
Mei froze at Kakashi's blunt words, then immediately reacted.
"Who likes you?! Don't be so conceited, okay! You're just Kakashi, after all."
"Tsundere isn't really your style, is it? What's wrong? Do you hate me that much?"
"No! You, you, you..."
Kakashi took the dango he had half-eaten and no longer wanted, and playfully stuffed it into Mei's mouth.
"Gross!" she exclaimed, though her eyes sparkled.
"Then spit it out."
"I won't."
"Then be good and eat it."
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