Chapter 167: The Disappearance of Pride
"Hah?! You... what are you talking about?! Idiot! I don't have... I don't have those ridiculous thoughts!"
Just as Kakashi had predicted, Satsuki immediately lost her composure. She jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her cheeks visibly reddening at an alarming rate, with wisps of steam even comically rising from the top of her head.
Her eyes darted around frantically, avoiding Kakashi's gaze at all costs, her voice becoming somewhat incoherent.
"Hey now..." Kakashi drawled in his characteristic lazy tone, "If you want to refute someone, you should at least put on a somewhat convincing expression. The way you look right now only makes everyone think you're feeling guilty."
"Really...!"
Satsuki stamped her foot in frustration, trying to redirect blame toward Kakashi. "It's obviously because you read those improper books all day that your head is full of such nonsense! Don't think everyone else is like you!"
"Regarding that, I'm afraid you have some misunderstanding about me." Kakashi waved his copy of "Make-Out Paradise." "This is just an ordinary romance novel, though it does have some... artistic embellishments."
"Besides, the issue now isn't about what books I read. Please answer my question directly."
"I already told you I don't have those thoughts!" Satsuki was making her last stand. "I'm a descendant of the Uchiha clan! I have to shoulder the responsibility of reviving the clan! How could I... how could I spend all day thinking about such... such trivial matters!"
Her rebuttal sounded fierce, but to Kakashi it carried no conviction whatsoever.
"Your current situation looks less like vigorous opposition and more like acting spoiled." He clearly repeated that core question: "So admit it—you like Naruto, don't you?"
"...Yes."
A few seconds later, all of Satsuki's arguments and pretenses melted away like snow under sunlight.
In the end, the result was even simpler than Kakashi had expected. Satsuki only held out for an extremely brief moment before transforming from a bristling kitten into a shy girl immersed in bashfulness.
Looking at his student who had just been stubbornly defensive but was now endearingly honest, Kakashi couldn't help but smile slightly beneath his mask.
This child... seems even more straightforward than expected.
"If you like Naruto, why not just go tell him directly?" Kakashi asked, his tone gentling as he watched Satsuki practically curl into a ball. "I can see that guy cares about you quite a bit too. Maybe he has the same feelings?"
"No way! Absolutely not!" Satsuki's head shot up, panic clear in her voice. "What if... what if he rejects me? You should understand that logic too! If... if I get rejected, maybe we won't even be able to maintain our current relationship! In that case... in that case..."
She couldn't imagine what kind of awkward distance would develop between them if Naruto clearly rejected her. Just thinking about that possibility made her heart feel like it was being squeezed tight.
"So that's what you're afraid of..."
Kakashi looked thoughtful, trying to encourage his student. "You could have a bit more confidence in yourself. I remember you were quite popular in class, weren't you?"
After leaving ANBU to teach genin, Kakashi occasionally visited the ninja academy and naturally knew that this outstanding and powerful young Uchiha lady had considerable popularity among the boys, even though she mercilessly rejected all who tried to approach her.
"Popular?"
Satsuki looked confused, as if she completely didn't understand what Kakashi was talking about.
"Yes," Kakashi nodded, explaining further. "Besides Naruto, you must have received advances from plenty of other boys, right?"
"Have I?"
Satsuki tilted her head, the confusion in her eyes becoming even more obvious. That expression didn't look fake at all.
Kakashi was now somewhat stunned. Looking carefully at Satsuki's reaction, he suddenly realized a somewhat cruel fact—for Uchiha Satsuki, people other than Uzumaki Naruto probably hadn't left any traces worth caring about in her heart.
Those so-called "suitors" were probably no different from roadside pebbles in her eyes, naturally not worth remembering.
"..."
Kakashi was momentarily speechless, so he tried a different approach to enlighten her. "Let's think about it differently then. Satsuki, you like Naruto—you've already admitted that. But your current state, this anxious way of only being able to watch from afar, does it really satisfy you? Are you really content to continue like this in unrequited love?"
"I already said! Even if we can't maintain our current relationship! I can't cause trouble for Naruto!"
Satsuki became emotional again, her voice carrying a hint of tears. "The current situation... the current situation isn't bad at all! Having feelings like this... how can you unilaterally pressure someone else!"
She became more agitated as she spoke, trying to convince Kakashi with logic. "If it's just admiration, that kind of impulse won't last long! If it's real affection, then you have to consider the other person too! So... so like now... being able to stay by his side... being able to watch him is already very good... there's nothing wrong with continuing like this..."
However, as she spoke, her voice gradually lowered. Her originally firm arguments became increasingly weak, finally almost becoming choked self-talk.
Tears rolled uncontrollably from her dark eyes as she hastily raised the back of her hand to wipe them away.
"As long as... as long as I can stay by his side... I'm already very satisfied... really..."
Finally, she almost sobbed out this most humble wish buried deep in her heart.
"..."
Looking at his student who had just been stubbornly arguing and now was crying like a pear blossom in rain while revealing her true feelings, Kakashi was completely speechless. Complex emotions surged in his heart—part amusement, part indescribable sympathy and sentiment.
This child's feelings run far deeper and more humble than they appear on the surface.