"This is really your first time in Kaneishi Town?" Hashirama asked casually as he drew another card from the deck.
"Yeah." Kaneishi hadn't existed in her time. For all she knew, it had been reduced to rubble sometime between now and the Third War.
"Well, I can tell you about a few places you might enjoy visiting." Hashirama squinted at his cards, his brows furrowing as though he could intimidate them into improving.
Judging by his expression, it wasn't working.
They had been playing for a while now, and the poor man just kept losing.
"Oh? Do you come here often?" Kakashi took advantage of his distraction to sip her sake.
"Yeah, I come to relax here between jobs." Hashirama glanced around the tavern. "There are plenty of shops, good food, gambling, and fun company."
"Sounds nice." Kakashi set her cup down. "I wish I had the time to explore."
"You don't?"
Kakashi shook her head and drew a card from the deck. "I'm here to accompany my students on their first bounty. We're on a bit of a tight schedule, so we'll be leaving early tomorrow."
She casually gestured toward the table where Shū and Itsuki were sitting. The two young men had their heads close together, whispering about something with the sort of intensity usually reserved for planning a battlefield ambush.
Maybe they were planning ahead for the bounty.
Hashirama followed her finger.
Ah.
The two young men had hair remarkably similar in color to Kakashi's. He was almost certain it was a clan trait, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember which clan had such pale hair.
"Ah? Why do you need to accompany them?" Hashirama asked. "Surely they can handle a bounty by themselves?"
After all, it was normal to send young shinobi out on their own to complete their first mission. Hashirama himself had been eight when he'd completed his first mission without a more experienced shinobi accompanying him. Kakashi's students, meanwhile, looked to be in their late teens.
"The answer to this is simple." Kakashi leaned forward, her eyes dropping to the table. "These two are my second attempt at teaching. I messed up my first attempt quite badly, in my personal opinion."
Hashirama paused with a card halfway between his fingers.
"I mean, thankfully none of them got killed, but…" Kakashi trailed off, her eyes narrowing at her cards. "I can't help but feel like I made plenty of mistakes."
Whenever she looked back, she couldn't help thinking of all the things she should have done differently.
Naruto, Sakura, even Sasuke. Thinking about them brought a complicated ache to her chest.
She missed them.
Kakashi couldn't hold back the concern that would eat at her whenever Naruto crossed her mind. She really hoped that rascal was alright wherever he was... Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping dot com.
"I'd rather be there to keep a close watch this time, to help them push through their mistakes and correct them before it gets them killed."
Hashirama felt fascinated. In his personal experience, teachers tended to, well… not care as much. Normally the goal is to teach children to endure pain and hardship, to show them that kindness would only make them weak.
It was so nice to see someone who actually wanted to be an improvement for the children they taught.
"Well, you seem to care about these two." Hashirama scratched his cheek. "Were you really a bad teacher?"
Kakashi blinked, dragged out of her thoughts. "That's a rather blunt question, Hashirama-sama."
"Sorry, Kakashi-san." He looked genuinely apologetic. "I didn't mean to pry. It's just that you don't seem like someone who would take teaching lightly."
"I don't think I was a bad teacher, but I certainly didn't feel like a good enough one," Kakashi answered at last. "Being a shinobi and being a teacher are two completely different things. You can be strong enough to defeat almost anyone you meet and still be too weak to help a child who needs you."
Hashirama's smile faded, his throat clogging up.
"You don't agree with me, Hashirama-sama?" she asked.
"Oh, no, no." Hashirama laughed awkwardly. "It's just, er, I've never heard anyone put it quite like that before."
Kakashi thought for a moment before asking. "What about you? Have you ever failed a student?"
Hashirama's smile trembled. Hashirama had never had students of his own, but he had younger brothers he believed he'd failed. Even now, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was failing the brother who remained alive.
It felt like she was sticking her finger into an open, bleeding wound.
Kakashi immediately caught the bitter expression on his face.
"Ah, I seem to have made you uncomfortable. Please ignore me." Kakashi rubbed the back of her neck, looking embarrassed. "I have been told that I tend to get really emotional when I drink."
The two of them had already finished a whole bottle and were working their way through the second.
"It's fine, Kakashi-san. You haven't said anything wrong."
"That's good to hear." Kakashi picked up her cup and took another sip. "I'd hate to ruin the pleasant evening you've been having."
"Ruin it?" Hashirama repeated before shaking his head. "I'm having a wonderful time! I even think I must have won this round."
Kakashi certainly hoped he would win this time. They were four rounds in, and she'd been deliberately discarding her good cards just to give him a chance. He just looked more and more tragic with every passing round.
Hashirama laid down his card. Kakashi placed hers beside it.
There was a long, painful silence.
How?!
Kakashi was flabbergasted. What kind of luck is this?
She had been trying to lose on purpose! Lord First was a true lost cause.
"Another round?" Hashirama asked hopefully.
Kakashi glanced at the empty space where his money had once been.
"Do you still have enough money to pay for the next round?"
Hashirama froze. "Er…"
Kakashi laughed at the look on his face. "I knew it! You lost everything you had on you!" She laughed so hard she had to steady herself on the table.
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Perhaps we could play for fun instead?"
Hashirama grinned.
In that moment, Kakashi completely forgot why she had been so nervous about meeting the Shodai Hokage. The man was too silly to be intimidating.
Across the tavern, Shū glanced at Itsuki. "Is it just me, or has sensei been talking to that guy for a long time?"
Itsuki peeked over his shoulder.
Kakashi sat across from the stranger, one hand resting against her cheek while the other held her cards. She looked relaxed. Almost comfortable.
Itsuki frowned. "Maybe they're friends?"
"Since when does that scary woman care to make friends?"
Kakashi laughed at something the stranger said. The two boys froze.
"... I've never heard sensei laugh like that," Itsuki whispered.
"Let's just eat," Shū decided. "If she remembers we exist, she'll come find us."
They stared at the two adults a little longer, then, in perfect unison, turned back to their food.
Their meals had arrived a while ago, and neither of them had the courage to go and call their sensei to come and eat.
For the rest of the meal, neither of them looked in Kakashi's direction again.