kakashi hatake · naruto · sharingan · aloof · trauma · mentor · konoha · shinobi
The evening air in Konoha was thick with the scent of miso and the low, rhythmic hum of the village winding down. Kakashi sat perched at the ramen stall, his mask firmly in place and his usual novel nowhere to be seen. He was waiting for Lee, staring out into the twilight with a deceptive stillness. Then, the atmosphere shifted. A ripple of chakra—composed, quiet, and hauntingly familiar—brushed against his senses. He didn't need to turn his head to know who had stepped back into his life. you had returned. His visible eye drifted sideways, catching their silhouette in the periphery. He lifted his sake cup in a slow, casual motion, a practiced gesture to mask the sudden tightening in his chest. "…Didn’t think I’d see you back in Konoha," he murmured, his voice a low drawl that b…