While he was distracted, someone looked over his shoulder at his notes. "What are these characters, Eiji-chan?" She was surprised. It didn't seem random; on the contrary, it was very well-written and concise.
"Oh, shoot!"
"These are top-secret ninja codes that I'm creating!" Eiji said and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Really? Amazing! Teach me!" She asked with a big smile on her face; she seemed like she had just received a new toy.
"Uhh..." he tried to come up with an excuse not to teach her but couldn't!
Kushina continued to look at him with great expectations without even blinking for a moment. In the end, he gave in to her.
"Okay, but another day. It's late now, and I have to go, Kushina-nee." He picked up his things from the table and turned to leave.
"Okay, come tomorrow to learn more fuinjutsu!"
"OK!"
He left Kushina's house and returned home.
*****************
"I'm home," he announced his arrival.
"Welcome back, Eiji, Kakashi has arrived," said Sakumo.
I don't know if his situation was worsening, but lately, he had been distracted or forgetting to do his tasks... It was very strange.
"What's this?" He pointed to something in the middle of his legs.
"A rabbit, obviously." He replied as if it were obvious.
"But why do we have a rabbit?" I was confused.
"It's not just a rabbit, there are two. This one is yours, Kakashi also has one." He smiled.
"Why? I don't want one." He flatly rejected Sakumo's offer.
"You'll take care of it every day from now on, it's not negotiable." His stern expression left no room for discussion.
"Okay..." And then, he got himself a little pet to take care of.
********
Daily life wasn't much different. Sometimes, he bothered Kakashi during his training with Minato. Or spent time with Kiyomi. Life was good. It went on like this for four months.
"Dad, I'm going out," he said as he put on his ninja sandals. They were quite comfortable, though he still wished he had proper shoes.
"Where are you going at this hour? It's already 7 PM." Sakumo was very protective of his children, especially in these times when there were countless conflicts; someone could kidnap his kids.
They might be geniuses and even strong for their age, but against a Jonin or Anbu, they would be an easy target.
"I'm going to Guy's house, he's been missing lately." Yes, the loudest and most energetic person just disappeared.
"I see, don't stay out too late, or I'll come looking for you."
"I'm not a kid anymore-" Eiji stopped halfway, realizing he was about to say something stupid, and immediately fell silent.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, I just meant it might take a while. Don't worry, haha," he laughed and headed towards the guy's house, which, by the way, wasn't far away.
***********************
Their house was average, nothing too special. It had two basic floors and a very large backyard. To his surprise, he walked up to the door and knocked.
* KNOCK * KNOCK *
Soon, a man appeared; Duy was a tall and well-built man with very noticeable hair. He had prominent bones on the sides of his face, a slightly bulbous nose, dark and light hair, and thick eyebrows. His hair was cut in a bowl style combed to the left and also sported a bristly mustache with a small goatee and stubble. He wore a green jumpsuit, striped orange and black leggings, and a scarf around his neck.
"Do you need anything, young man?" His smile was like a billiard table at night. He was the kind of man you couldn't hate.
"I'm Hatake Eiji, I'm Guy's friend. I haven't seen him these days, so I came here to check on him." He answered honestly. The man in front of him studied him momentarily and simply nodded.
"Guy, he..." He hesitated to say.
"What happened to Guy?" It seems things weren't so simple.
"He lost confidence in himself," Duy said sadly. He encouraged his son every day, constantly pushing Guy forward, making him give his best, and boosting his morale when he was down.
"I started scolding him, but... he ran away into the forest." He put his hand on his waist as he looked up at the sky.
"Did you know? When he met Hatake Kakashi, the genius, he decided to make him his rival and goal. But on his first attempt to enter the academy, he failed, and it shattered his confidence." He was proud of his son, but it saddened him.
"The medics said he fell into depression. But I didn't give up; I went there and gave Guy courage. He trained hard, day after day without rest. Finally, he managed to get into the same class as his declared rival." He gave a slight smile of pride.
"But then he found out there was someone better than Kakashi." He looked at Eiji and pointed his finger.
"You."
"He worked hard and came up with something bigger than his goal. He was a little disheartened, but I encouraged him to continue. He was improving every day, but it wasn't enough. You graduated."
In the reflection, he was wearing his ninja headband.
"So he trained even harder, and I helped him, but I can only do so much for him.
His gaze was fierce and full of certainty and confidence in his son. His words carried unwavering conviction.
"But he lost faith in himself and ran away from home."
And then, he pointed in a certain direction towards a forest. "When something happens to him, he usually goes in that direction."
"So, I'll go there, see you later, Dai-san." He waved his hand and ran through the forest, jumping between the branches.