"Orochimaru-sensei, what did you think of today's experiment? Did you learn anything new?"
As one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru naturally got his own private room in the Akimichi barbecue restaurant. Kenichi Amemiya, as his disciple, got to freeload a seat.
The happiness, however, would only last so long.Once Orochimaru defected, Kenichi would need an escape plan ready.Staying in the village was possible, but that meant risking Danzo's attention.Leaving with Orochimaru had its own problems—once you became a missing-nin, coming back to Konoha would be almost impossible. And no matter how weakened Konoha looked now, its foundations were still terrifying.
"Sensei, for today's experiment I think there are a few points we need to pay attention to…"
Kenichi quietly laid out his observations and theories, eyes never wandering toward the slices of meat turning on Orochimaru's chopsticks.
Orochimaru listened in silence, his expression unreadable. Kenichi had no idea whether his words matched his teacher's expectations, but he still spoke honestly, step by step.
Only when Kenichi finished did Orochimaru set the perfectly grilled meat down.
"Eat first," he said. "We can discuss the rest on the way back."
Hearing that, Kenichi finally let out the breath he'd been holding. Looked like he'd passed today's "oral exam."
He had taken the experiment seriously, and he'd even used some scientific knowledge from his previous life to propose new theories. That should be enough to keep Orochimaru satisfied—for now.
With his worries put aside, Kenichi focused on enjoying the Akimichi clan's famous barbecue. He had to admit, when it came to food, the Akimichi really were geniuses.
The meat was rich and tender, but the real killer was the sauce. Kenichi felt that even in his previous world, he'd never had grilled meat this good.
After they finished eating, Kenichi followed Orochimaru out of the restaurant.
Just as they stepped outside, the door slid open again. A blond man with a warm smile walked in, accompanied by a red-haired woman and a silent white-haired boy.
Minato Namikaze.Kushina Uzumaki.Kakashi Hatake.
Minato greeted Orochimaru respectfully, while Kenichi's gaze fell on the boy walking with his head lowered—Kakashi.
That poor kid was most likely still drowning in guilt: Obito "dead," Rin dying by his own hand… just looking at his face, anyone could see his mood was at rock bottom.
"What a tragedy," Kenichi thought.
"A best friend gets taken away and turned into someone else's pawn.The girl who might've liked him gets dragged into a scheme and dies by his hand… and the best friend even gets front-row seats to that scene. Tsk, tsk."
Kakashi truly was a genius ninja with terrible luck.
As a child, he was the son of the famed White Fang of Konoha—then his father died.
After finally rising as a prodigy and joining Minato's squad, he could be considered direct "Hokage line."Then one teammate "died," another died for real, and Kakashi was left alone with crushing guilt.
Only much later would he learn that his best friend hadn't died at all… and had instead become the main culprit behind his sensei and sensei's wife's deaths.
On top of that, Kakashi seemed to stay single for a very long time and could only get through those lonely nights with Jiraiya's Icha Icha series…
But there was nothing Kenichi could do about any of that.
He couldn't exactly walk up to Kakashi and say, "Hey, Obito's actually alive and will become a huge villain later."
"Ehh, is this little one Amemiya-kun?"
While Kenichi was lost in thought, a pair of warm arms suddenly pulled him into an embrace. The soft warmth and faint fragrance rushing up his nose made his face flush red.
Kushina Uzumaki.
This woman really had no sense of personal space. Still, being hugged like this gave Kenichi a new idea or two.
"Yes. This is my disciple, Kenichi Amemiya," Orochimaru said as he calmly pulled Kenichi out of Kushina's arms. "He's a promising student."
Kushina clearly adored children. Kenichi wondered if she was already thinking about having one of her own.
Orochimaru's gaze briefly dropped to her stomach.
"A disciple of Orochimaru-sama must be an excellent ninja," Minato said with his usual gentle smile. "This is my own disciple, Hatake Kakashi."
He pushed Kakashi a little closer to Kenichi as he introduced him.
In that moment, Kenichi understood perfectly why Orochimaru had said he and Minato didn't really get along—Minato was simply too warm, so warm that even Orochimaru couldn't handle it.
Kakashi stared at Kenichi with those dead-fish eyes, face expressionless.
Kenichi's gaze flicked to Kakashi's left eye.There, beneath the forehead protector, was the Sharingan Obito had given him—already a fully matured three-tomoe eye.
The Uchiha clan was said to be very unhappy about that.
Kenichi just wanted to leave.
He really couldn't imagine holding a proper conversation with someone who looked like they were at a funeral every day.
But Minato clearly had other plans. For some reason, he kept nudging Kakashi closer to Kenichi—and even enthusiastically invited Orochimaru, who had just finished eating, to join them for another meal.
Even Orochimaru struggled to fend off the combined enthusiasm of this husband-and-wife duo.
In the end, Kenichi was offered up as a sacrifice.
He was pushed out front to accompany Minato's group for dinner, while Orochimaru quietly slipped away.
Kenichi didn't really mind. He was at the age where boys grew the fastest, and the saying "teenage boys eat their parents poor" existed for a reason. Free food was free food.
The only downside was Kakashi.
The guy ate with a blank face and answered with nothing but "mm," "ah," and "oh."He only needed to say "I'm going to take a shower" and he'd have the full set of cliché heroine lines.
"Kenichi, do you have any friends in Konoha?"
Kushina leaned toward him with a gentle big-sister smile, her eyes full of concern.
Kenichi's lips twitched. He shook his head.
He had known a few kids back at the orphanage, but after Orochimaru took him away as a disciple, those connections had basically disappeared.
At the same time, a very bad feeling crept up his spine.
"In that case," Kushina lowered her voice so Kakashi couldn't hear, "if you don't mind… would you like to be friends with Kakashi?"
Minato heard her clearly, of course. From the look in his eyes and that bright smile, Kenichi knew this was exactly what Minato had been hoping for.
Here it comes.The bad premonition had landed.
"Does this world have Murphy's law too…?" Kenichi thought.
To be honest, his first instinct was to refuse.
You couldn't just tell someone, "Be friends with Kakashi," and expect it to magically happen.
But then he thought about his own situation.
His teacher would eventually defect.When that happened, Kenichi would need backup plans, backup connections.
After a moment of silence, he nodded.
"Sure."
It wasn't like they'd see each other that often anyway.
Kakashi would be joining the ANBU soon. Once that happened, he might disappear for years at a time.
In that case… having one more string tied to the "future Hokage faction" cost him nothing.
Kenichi Amemiya, future forbidden disciple of Orochimaru, quietly added "reluctant friend of Kakashi Hatake" to his list of identities.
(End of Chapter)