Konoha Notes

Chapter 446 The Apprentice and the End

Sunlight streamed obliquely through the glass window, spreading warm golden squares across the floor.

Five framed photos hang on the wall, portraits of the Hokage from the first to the current Hokage, silently arranged in the light and shadow.

Tsunade sat on the sofa, her face resting on the back of her hand, her gaze drifting somewhat over the photo frames.

The door was opened.

“You’re back,” she said. “I thought you’d be having dinner over there.”

After Shuji entered, he leaned back on the sofa opposite her, his arms outstretched and resting on the backrest, his legs stretched forward.

"The ingredients for lunch were quite good, but we've said what we needed to say and done what we needed to do. If we drag it out until the evening, it'll be time for us to drink with customers."

"Moreover, we should always be perceptive and give them some time."

Tsunade gave a soft hum, whether in approval or something else was unclear. She shifted her posture, crossing one leg over the other.

"It seems that no problem can stump Lord Shuji," she said. "Even with such a thorny and daunting matter, you've managed to negotiate a temporary solution."

Xiu Si did not answer.

"Speaking of which, would you like to take one too?"

What are you filming?

"That." Tsuna pointed to the wall.

Shuji remained lying on his back, only tilting his head back several dozen degrees further, looking up at the wall.

The portraits of the Hokage of each generation hang in the inverted view, one of them—the portrait of the woman opposite him—facing his current, unrecognizable state.

"Spare me." He immediately looked away, his tone full of disdain. "This overly serious stuff is obviously not for me."

"A guy who always has a stern face and scares people everywhere has no right to say such things," the Fifth Hokage retorted, his disdain no less than his own.

"Whatever you want," Shuuji said. "Anyway, my brainpower is almost completely drained. It's time for someone else to worry about the headaches that follow."

Just then, the door was opened again.

I said—

Kakashi's voice squeezed in as the door opened.

"You two," he complained as he walked in, "isn't either of you going to stand by your posts in the Hokage's office even for a moment?"

He walked to the sofa, where Shuji's outstretched arms occupied almost half of the space.

"Make some space."

"No."

“This sofa,” Kakashi said, sitting down without any hesitation, “is obviously for guests, isn’t it?”

Feeling the pressure coming from his side, Shuji first pushed to the left, but when he found that the other party did not move, he simply withdrew his hand.

As he leaned further to the right, he raised his left foot and began to push Kakashi with it.

"Go, go... this is where people who have finished their work sit."

"A working person?" Kakashi retorted, leaning to the right to block Shuji's foot with his leg. "I've just been working non-stop through several meetings, and I haven't even had a proper lunch."

Tsunade watched this scene, her gaze falling on Kakashi.

"So, what are you doing here? The secret service should be very busy lately."

Kakashi continued his defensive movements, but answered smoothly, "It's because of the school's establishment. There are still some details in the specific regulations that need to be finalized. The secret service is receiving quite a few inquiries right now."

"Not only the daimyo prefectures of various countries, but also ninja villages like Kusagakure, as well as other local forces, have sent messages to inquire about more detailed information."

Upon hearing this, Shuji suddenly increased the force in his blocking foot.

"You can decide how to respond to a question of this level yourself."

As he spoke, he propped himself up slightly, the pressure causing the sofa beneath him to groan softly.

Kakashi was pushed to the side by the sudden force, and he squinted his eyes.

"Are you serious?"

The next moment, the silver-haired Jonin raised his hand and pulled down his headband, revealing his Sharingan.

"I will never lose when it comes to fighting for the sofa. After all, it's a battle for dignity."

"Oh?" Xiu Si sneered, suddenly withdrawing his left foot.

The next second, Kakashi felt the force of the resistance on his feet suddenly disappear.

He sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to pull back his strength to adjust his center of gravity, but the momentum of his body had already taken hold.

In that instant, Shuji's figure disappeared from the edge of his sight.

"This speed...something's not right!"

"too slow."

A calm comment came from behind me.

Before Kakashi could even turn his head completely, Shuuji's hand had already grabbed the back of his collar.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You're cheating—"

Before he could finish speaking...

Shuuji used his waist and abdomen to generate power, and with a swing of his arm, Kakashi flew towards the open window on the other side.

"At least let myself—!"

The protests were muffled by the sound of the wind.

Kakashi, head down, deftly flipped three times in mid-air before landing firmly on the ground.

He steadied himself, then looked up at the window in the reception room that had now been closed from the inside.

The silver-haired Jonin raised his hand and pulled down his headband, covering his Sharingan again.

"How cunning! They actually used the Flying Thunder God Technique."

He touched the back of his neck, where the feeling of his collar digging into him when he was lifted up still lingered.

"Speaking of which... when was the mark left? Was it when you pushed me..."

He shook his head and prepared to leave.

He had only walked a dozen steps when he encountered his disciple.

Uchiha Sasuke, carrying a bag, looked at him.

"Oh." Kakashi raised his hand, his tone returning to its usual languidness. "Isn't this Sasuke? At this time..."

He glanced at the horizon.

"I'm going to the training ground," he said. "But unfortunately, I really can't..."

He had intended to say that he probably wouldn't have any free time today, or for a long time to come. The pile of work at the secretariat, the details of building the school, and the negotiations with various parties had already filled all his time.

"I have already learned Chidori."

Before he could finish speaking, Sasuke interrupted.

Upon hearing this, Kakashi calculated the time; it had been about a month since he started teaching him.

"That's impressive. Well then, my mentoring mission can be considered a complete success, Sasuke-kun."

He walked over and patted Sasuke on the shoulder.

Sasuke accepted the gesture without hesitation. "Since you believe you've mastered it, how you develop and use it further is up to you."

"Finally, this extra work is over. It was really tough."

He withdrew his hand and walked past Sasuke.

"That's settled then, I'm going back to work."

He had only taken a few steps when he noticed that there were no footsteps behind him.

Kakashi stopped and turned around.

Sasuke was still standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking at him.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi's eyes crinkled. "Are you expressing your reluctance to part with me, your teacher? Although I'm touched, it's always better for men to say goodbye cleanly."

"Ah... but the way that guy said goodbye just now was a bit too straightforward, even despicable."

Sasuke didn't respond, but just watched intently as Kakashi continued his monologue.

"Oh?" Kakashi seemed to finally realize something. "Looks like you have other ideas. Ah... I remember now, are you planning to continue keeping an eye on me for your brother's sake?"

"But I'm not obligated to take you around everywhere right now."

Sasuke pursed his lips. He looked at Kakashi for a long while before speaking, his voice calmer than before: "Forget about that excuse. Your so-called supervisory role is just you covering up your true intentions."

"You're planning to assign me a job, right? Like you're ordering my brother around."

Kakashi tilted his head, and the corners of his mouth under the mask seemed to lift slightly.

"You might be overestimating your abilities, Sasuke-kun."

"Those who truly possess this talent have already been forced to be transferred to the secret service for apprenticeships long ago."

Sasuke's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but the determination in his eyes remained unwavering.

“No matter what you say,” the boy insisted, his voice low but clear, “it won’t change the fact that you intend to drive me. I can see that you’ve been planning this from the very beginning.”

Kakashi remained silent, scrutinizing the boy before him.

After a long pause, the silver-haired Jonin sighed softly.

"Well, since you insist..." His tone suddenly became lighter, "After all, I am your teacher who taught you ninjutsu, so come with me."

Sasuke's lips twitched slightly; just as he had expected.

He followed Kakashi directly to the Joint Affairs Bureau, where he met his brother Itachi again in the office.

"Kakashi-senpai." Itachi nodded to Kakashi first, then turned his gentle gaze to his younger brother, "Sasuke."

After a brief greeting, he lowered his head again and continued working on his seemingly endless tasks.

Sasuke, who was brought to the office, did not immediately receive any specific instructions or arrangements.

Kakashi simply pointed to an empty chair against the wall, said "Sit wherever you like," and then turned to engage in a series of meetings with visitors, sometimes quickly approving documents, and sometimes hurriedly leaving to attend a meeting.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the rustling of documents and hushed conversations. When the last visitor left the office and the artificial light replaced the natural light to illuminate the room, Itachi put down his pen.

"Sasuke, let's go back."

Sasuke, who had been left unattended for a long time, looked at the documents on his brother's desk.

"My brother's job..."

He hesitated for a moment. Kakashi had not yet revealed what he wanted him to do, but his brother seemed to be affected.

This is not the situation Sasuke desired.

He followed Kakashi because he wanted to understand what the so-called Secretariat was all about, to find a place where he could get involved and make a difference, and to... take his own steps in his own way, just like that blond idiot.

Naruto seemed to have achieved one of his goals and taken a significant step forward at the opening ceremony. Although Sasuke shouldn't have cared too much about the guy's progress, a corner of his heart couldn't help but feel anxious.

During the training session, as he reviewed Kakashi's actions over the past period—those seemingly lazy but actually guiding apprenticeships, those meaningful words—he became certain that his subsequent arrangements should focus on this.

“There’s nothing here that really needs to be decided immediately,” Itachi said calmly, his voice particularly clear in the quiet office. “The rest can be left for tomorrow.”

"Furthermore, we can't let Kakashi-senpai get too complacent. If he finishes everything, he'll just add new tasks without feeling guilty."

This explanation convinced Sasuke. He roughly knew it was just his brother's way of comforting him, but... it did sound quite reasonable.

The two brothers left the office and embarked on their journey back to the Uchiha clan's territory.

"Coming to the Secretariat," Itachi's voice sounded from the side, "doesn't mean you have to do anything immediately, or be asked to do anything. If you want to come and see me after training, just come and see me."

"If Kakashi-senpai has any plans, he will tell you."

Sasuke remained silent and did not speak.

When the two returned home, the light in the entryway was still on.

Fugaku Uchiha was sitting in the living room with a document in his hand. He looked up when he heard the noise.

Itachi walked up to his father and reported in a normal tone, "From now on, Sasuke will also go to the Bureau of Affairs for an internship after school."

Fugaku's gaze shifted from his eldest son to his second son, lingering for a moment.

"Don't let it affect your brother's work."

Sasuke lowered his head.

"Yes."

In the days that followed, Sasuke had a new fixed routine in his life.

Every afternoon after the Ninja Academy classes and training ended, he would go to the Joint Affairs Bureau.

Sasuke sat in the chair against the wall, watching.

No one assigned him any tasks, no one told him what to do. He just watched.

But in this silent observation, he heard many things.

Sometimes it's fragmented conversations: about a small country's fluctuating attitude towards a school-building plan, a dispute over the allocation of a batch of supplies, or the venue arrangements for next month's Chunin Exams...

Sometimes the news is more specific, or even a little interesting.

For example, Deidara from the special training class formally submitted an application, insisting on an artistic explosion performance at the closing ceremony of the joint martial arts exercise, and declared in black and white that it would absolutely not damage the main structure of the venue.

His guarantor was Matt Kee.

As for the outcome, Sasuke didn't receive any official notification afterward. However, on the day of the closing ceremony, he did hear several unusually loud explosions from afar.

For example, news from the Land of Snow.

The Joint Affairs Bureau dispatched representatives to conduct formal negotiations with them on an overseas island. The negotiations lasted three days, culminating in an agreement: the first joint event involving the Snow Country will be held there next spring.

When Sasuke heard the news, he was leaning back in his chair, his gaze unconsciously drifting out the window.

Then, he saw it.

Something was falling silently and sparsely from the gray sky.

It's snow.

Fine snowflakes drifted down from the gray-white sky, landing on the windowsill and quickly melting into a small water stain.

Shortly afterward, the Ninja Academy's notice came down, and the schedule for the final exams had been arranged.

The winter break at the Ninja Academy is about to begin.

The 59th year of Konoha came to an end as the first snow quietly arrived.

(End of this chapter)