The families of Konoha's wounded ninja were a little too enthusiastic. This was probably the first time in thirteen or fourteen years that Uchiha Kai had encountered such warmth directed toward him.
Kai's heart stirred subtly. He could sense their gratitude was genuine—but deep down, he knew his actions came from a place of self-preservation, not heroism.
Still, Uchiha Kai wasn't a fool. He met the families with a calm smile, offering respectful greetings to the wounded. Some of them he vaguely recognized—faces from the chaos in the Land of Grass. A few had even shielded him from kunai or enemy jutsu.
"Kai-kun looks very gentle and popular," Nohara Rin said cheerfully once Kai had finished speaking with the families. "But to be honest, I'm amazed you can handle all that attention... You really are a hero."
"A hero?" Kai shook his head with a small smile. "You're giving me too much credit. You're one too—you were injured and had to be pulled out early."
Compared to speaking with sharp, calculating minds like Uchiha Fugaku or even Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kai found it refreshing to talk to someone like Rin. With her, there was no need to weigh every word or posture. There was a simplicity to her sincerity that reminded him of what things could be.
In Kai's eyes, Hatake Kakashi shared a similar quality. Though cool and reserved, Kakashi didn't burden Kai the way people like Hyuga Aya or Imai Kenta sometimes did. Around Kakashi and Rin, Kai could let down his guard, if only a little.
"No, Kai," Kakashi murmured, struggling to sit up. "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead. Loess nearly finished me off. You stopped him... and you summoned Minato-sensei in time."
"You've got it wrong. You should thank Rin." Kai patted his shoulder. "I just did what any squad leader would do. You were the one who passed on the intel. That helped me more than you know."
Though he appreciated Kakashi's thanks, Kai was careful with his words. Rin held a much deeper place in Kakashi's heart than Kai ever would—and he understood that. Still, Kai genuinely owed Kakashi as well. Even though he hadn't yet used Chidori in actual combat, just having the technique at his disposal gave him an edge. For that alone, Kakashi deserved his gratitude.
"You've already learned it?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head. "Didn't expect that from you. You didn't strike me as an honor student back in the Academy."
"Please. I wasn't a top student, but I wasn't a dead last either," Kai replied, rolling his eyes.
It wasn't really Kai's fault that his academic performance had been average. Without relying on his Sharingan, his skills were merely passable. If not for his father, Uchiha Keisuke, forcing him to train like an elite from a young age, Kai wasn't sure he'd have survived this far.
If there was blame to place, Kai thought bitterly, it rested with Konoha—and the war. Had the village not rushed his graduation in his second year, he wouldn't have been sent to the battlefield. But in times of war, even children were turned into soldiers.
"I remember you got schooled by Guy once," Rin said with a light laugh. "Just like Obito…"
She trailed off, the name hanging in the air like smoke. She hadn't meant to bring it up.
It was true—Kai had been humiliated by Might Guy in an Academy spar. But he didn't mind. After all, Guy had kicked both Obito Uchiha and, in the future, even Uchiha Madara. Kai couldn't help but admire that kind of strength. To him, Guy's famous line—"I, Might Guy, stand at the pinnacle of taijutsu!"—wasn't a boast. It was truth.
Still, while Kai could shrug it off, he knew others didn't see it that way. Losing to someone like Guy, who couldn't even use ninjutsu, was shameful by Uchiha standards.
Kai glanced at Kakashi and Rin. They had gone quiet again. Obito's name still hurt. And Kai knew too much. He knew what Obito had become—and who had helped push him there.
He also knew that Madara Uchiha, not Kakashi, was the true architect of Obito's fall. But what could they do now, these mere players on a stage set by giants?
"I'll get going now," Kai said quietly. "Don't be too sad. Life goes on. I didn't know Obito very well... but I think, if he were watching, he wouldn't want you two trapped in grief. Someday, when you meet him again in the Pure Land, do you really want to say you lived the rest of your life full of regret?"
"I'm sorry, Kai-kun," Rin said softly, tears in her eyes. Kakashi just nodded.
"No need to thank me. We're friends, right?" Kai waved dismissively, then paused as he reached the door. He turned to Kakashi. "If any Uchiha ever gives you trouble… and you figure out why—come to me. Got it?"
"Yeah…" Kakashi touched the scar over his Sharingan. After a pause, he nodded. "I got it, Kai-kun. Of course we're friends."
"I'll walk you out," Rin offered.
"No, stay here with Kakashi. I've got someone else to check on."
Kai stepped into the hallway, and behind him, he heard Rin's soft voice: "Kai-kun is really gentle…"
That made him smile faintly.
Spending time with these two—these two silly white sweets, as he called them privately—felt easy. They reminded him of something he'd rarely seen in others: hope, and a kind of purity.
A purity Kai himself no longer possessed.
"It's just… I never had that kind of innocence," he murmured. "If it weren't for survival… who'd want to be like me?"
With that thought, Uchiha Kai pushed open the door to Hyuga Aya's ward.