And so the quiet stretched on for a while, unhurried and still.
The campfire went on crackling, the night breeze drifting through and carrying with it the sound of a distant stream and the clean scent of grass and trees. Everything felt peaceful. Everything felt calm.
Yamato sat by the fire, but his eyes kept drifting sideways toward Rin.
He genuinely couldn't figure it out.
That butterfly. That butterfly which had been glued to Rin since practically the mont it appeared -- what exactly was going on?
One mont it was perched on her shoulder, the next it had settled on the back of her hand, then it was fluttering in slow circles around her hair -- like a child who had gone too long without seeing soone they were close to, and now that they had finally been reunited, couldn't bear to pull away.
Except it was very obviously just a butterfly.
A wild, ordinary butterfly that should by all rights be wary of every living thing around it.
And what puzzled him even more was Rin's reaction to it.
She didn't seem bothered by it at all.
More than that -- she was watching the tiny creature with the most tender expression he had ever seen on anyone, speaking to it in a low, gentle murmur, letting it rest on her wherever it pleased.
Was this really the sa girl he had heard about -- the kunoichi who had thrown herself into Kakashi's Lightning Blade without hesitation to protect the village?
Eventually Rin stood, looking a little embarrassed. Her cheeks had gone faintly pink and she avoided direct eye contact, her voice coming out small.
"Um... I'll be back in a mont."
She turned and walked quickly toward the tree line.
The butterfly imdiately took flight, rushing after her.
"All right."
Rin stopped. She turned and extended one hand, gently intercepting the small winged shape trying to follow at her heels.
"I'll co right back and keep you company, but you can't co with right now, all right? I'm just going to the bathroom. Stay here and be good. Understand?"
The butterfly hovered in midair, wings fluttering slowly. Then it did sothing that made Yamato's eyes nearly leave his head.
Its wings drooped.
The posture. The attitude. Every bit of feeling radiating from that tiny form was precisely and unmistakably the expression of a child who had been told they couldn't follow and was now resigned to waiting.
Yamato blinked hard. He had genuinely just watched an insect display what could only be described as dejection.
And it was absolutely, uncomfortably convincing.
"Right then," Kakashi's voice ca from beside him, utterly matter-of-fact. He turned to look at Yamato. "That ans it's your turn, Yamato. I'll leave it to you."
Yamato's eyebrow jumped.
He obviously knew what Kakashi was asking.
"Oh, really, you don't have to go to any trouble for ..."
Rin's voice drifted back from the edge of the trees, flustered and self-conscious. She trusted Yamato completely -- he was Kakashi's reliable junior, after all -- but she genuinely felt it was too much to ask soone to use Wood Release abilities on sothing so mundane.
"It's fine, Rin."
Kakashi's answer ca without a mont's hesitation, a languid smile settling on his face.
"Shinobi training does cover enduring rough field conditions as a basic requirent -- but if you happen to have a convenient tool available, why not make use of it?"
"Hey, 'tool'? That's going too far, senpai -- you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Yamato turned to him with an expression full of indignant protest. Kakashi was absolutely dredging up the chapter of his life he least wanted to revisit.
But he stood anyway, turned toward the tree line, and started walking.
He was already forming hand seals as he went, preparing to build a temporary structure with Wood Release.
Because Kakashi had asked him to.
Kakashi watched Yamato disappear into the trees and made no move to follow with his eyes after that.
He wasn't worried. He had known Yamato for longer than he had known most people.
Back in the days when Yamato still went by his ANBU codena -- back when he was still a boy behind a mask -- they had already been fighting side by side. So Kakashi knew without question that Yamato would handle this properly. No need to watch. No need to push. No need for any extra words. That was what trust between comrades looked like.
The campsite went quiet.
Minato had closed his eyes to rest. That left Kakashi, and the butterfly.
The butterfly, which had been sitting in place since Rin left, waiting for sothing.
It had settled on a leaf near where Rin had been sitting, wings slowly opening and closing, gaze fixed on the direction she had gone. Perfectly still.
Kakashi watched it. He had been sensing sothing odd about it since almost the beginning -- a persistent, unmistakable feeling flowing through his eye. Not directed at anything else. Directed at this butterfly and the life energy it carried. A feeling like sothing residual in his eye was quietly resonating with whatever was inside that small winged creature.
After a mont of stillness, Kakashi slowly extended his hand. He opened his palm and held it out toward the butterfly, an open invitation to land.
The butterfly turned its head and looked at him.
Then it pointedly shifted away.
It moved to a leaf slightly further off, settled back down, and resud staring in the direction Rin had gone. It didn't look at Kakashi again.
Kakashi's hand hung in the air. A rare and faint expression of disappointnt crossed his visible eye.
So it was going to be like that.
He withdrew his hand quietly and leaned back against the rock.
Fine. If it didn't want to, it didn't want to.
After all. After all, the one it was waiting for wasn't him.
It wasn't long before Yamato ca back out of the trees.
Kakashi gave him a single nod. That was all the thanks he offered. Yamato smiled back and nodded in return.
Simple. Sufficient.
But in that sa mont -- Kakashi's gaze, seemingly idle, slid briefly across Yamato's face as he erged. And then, without making it obvious, it shifted to the space beyond him.
A little while passed.
"Sorry, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Rin's voice returned from the edge of the trees, apologetic and a little flustered. She walked back to the fire and settled into her spot, smoothing her clothes.
And then --
The butterfly erupted.
It launched itself into the air, wings beating at a speed the eye could barely follow, careening wildly back and forth through the air above the campfire.
But it didn't fly toward Rin.
It circled Kakashi. Frantically. Again and again.
The sound of its wings was quick and sharp, and the quality of its movent was nothing like the tender circling of before. This was not affection. This was sothing else entirely.
Alarm. Wariness. Even hostility.
It would not go near Rin.
Kakashi straightened slightly where he sat. His expression remained as lazily unconcerned as ever. But his hand had quietly closed into a fist.
"Actually, sensei," Kakashi said, his voice perfectly even and revealing nothing at all. He turned toward Minato. "Zacian has been showing up at my place lately -- at lunch and dinner both."
"Why doesn't he want to eat at ho anymore?"
Minato blinked, mildly surprised. Then a sheepish expression crossed his face.
"Ah, well... it's because I've been running him through link technique drills quite a lot recently. It burns a great deal of energy..."
"But Kushina has been feeling inspired to develop new recipes lately... and so things ended up the way they did."
****
80 advance chapters at patreon/Eatinpieces
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