After Naruto was kidnapped, Kakashi became extremely vigilant of his surroundings.
He blamed himself—it was his own carelessness that had allowed Naruto to be taken right under his nose. He wasn't about to let something like that happen again.
So, when he heard faint footsteps outside Tazuna's house, his instincts kicked in instantly.
The moment he spotted a masked ninja with Naruto, he didn't hesitate.
He launched his signature jutsu on the spot—
"Chidori!"
A high-pitched screech filled the air, like a thousand birds crying at once. The sound of Kakashi's lightning-based technique echoed across the clearing.
Haku had just said goodbye to Naruto—but before he could leave, he was attacked by Kakashi at full speed.
"Kakashi-sensei, wait! He's not an enemy!" Naruto shouted in panic.
But it was too late. Kakashi was too fast and didn't hear Naruto's warning in time. The Chidori raced forward, aimed straight at Haku.
Just then, an ice wall shot up between them
"Ice Release."
Kakashi halted his charge as his jutsu collided with the frozen barrier. Lightning crackled on the surface, but the wall held firm.
'Wow... Brother Haku can use such a cool jutsu. Is that a bloodline limit?' Naruto thought, amazed by Haku's Ice Release.
Naruto was genuinely fascinated seeing Haku use such a rare technique.
Kakashi backed off cautiously, eyeing Haku and mentally preparing for a fight.
But instead of retaliating, Haku retreated, vanishing into the mist.
Seeing this, Kakashi exhaled deeply in relief, then turned to Naruto and quickly pulled him aside for questioning.
While Naruto was recounting everything that had happened and how he was captured,
Kakashi immediately began checking whether Naruto was under any genjutsu or mind-control techniques.
"Sigh…"
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief after confirming Naruto was in full control of himself.
He then listened carefully as Naruto continued retelling the events.
"So… they planned this in advance," Kakashi thought.
Naruto's abduction might have been part of their original mission—perhaps as a hostage exchange for Tazuna.
But something didn't add up.
Why would they return Naruto now?
Didn't they still want to eliminate Tazuna? What changed?
Kakashi's curiosity only deepened as Naruto continued his excited rambling.
"Umm… where was I? Oh yeah! So, Sensei after seeing that bad villain Gato, I gave that browless uncle an idea!"
"What idea?"
"To rob Gato instead of robbing the innocent people of the Land of Waves! And guess what? They actually thought it was a good idea!"
Naruto beamed with pride.
"Ain't I smart, Kakashi-sensei?"
"..."
My ass…
Kakashi nearly facepalmed.
So Naruto gave professional mercenaries the idea of robbing their own client? Sure, Gato was scum, but still...
Was this really what they taught in the ninja academy?
"Naruto… do you even know what ninja ethics are?"
Naruto frowned.
"Ninja… what now?"
Kakashi was rendered speechless.
What he didn't know was that ninja ethics was the class Naruto had slept through the most. He didn't even remember it existed.
From Naruto's story so far, Kakashi was able to piece things together.
Zabuza had originally been working for Gato for money. But now that he'd gotten his hands on all of Gato's fortune, he had no further use for Naruto—and just let him go.
After hearing everything from Naruto, Kakashi finally relaxed.
At least Naruto was safe now.
He patted Naruto on the shoulder and said,
"Good. Now let's go—Sasuke and Sakura were worried about you."
"Wait... Sasuke was worried about me? Are we talking about the same guy?"
Naruto blinked in disbelief.
He could imagine Sakura being worried—but that damn bastard Sasuke? That was hard to picture.
Kakashi chuckled quietly and led him toward Tazuna's house.
"Sensei, can I get another mask? My current one's about to fall apart," Naruto asked, worriedly adjusting it on his face.
It's all that browless uncle's fault.
He beat me up so badly even my mask couldn't take it, Naruto thought bitterly, still remembering Zabuza's "tender care."
Kakashi, the undisputed Mask God, always carried a secret stash of masks. Without missing a beat, he pulled one out and handed it over.
"Here. But Naruto... it's not good to always wear a mask. It can mess with your confidence. You should consider not wearing one for a while."
Naruto stared at Kakashi blankly, his expression practically saying,
'Says the guy who's never taken his mask off.'
"Cough, cough. Naruto, forget it—I have... personal reasons," Kakashi said, avoiding eye contact.
Naruto squinted at him with suspicion, but decided not to push it.
And with that, the two finally arrived at Tazuna's house.
As they entered, Sakura and Sasuke's expressions shifted the moment they saw Naruto.
First surprise, then visible relief that their teammate was safe.
"Naruto, you're okay," Sakura exhaled, visibly relaxing.
Even though she didn't particularly like him, she didn't want him to die either.
Sasuke, on the other hand, glanced over with a scowl.
His initial surprise faded fast, replaced by that familiar smug look.
"Tch. Took you long enough to get kidnapped and returned like some lost dog."
Naruto frowned.
Kakashi-sensei must've been wrong. That bastard wasn't worried about me at all.
"What's your problem, Sasuke?"
Sasuke crossed his arms, voice sharp.
"You're the problem. You got taken by the enemy without even putting up a fight. Useless as ever."
"Slander! That's slander! They used cheap tricks to make me fall asleep. Otherwise, there's no way they'd have gotten me!"
"Idiot. Just admit you're weak. You let the enemy get close enough to do that in the first place."
Then Sasuke smirked, eyes narrowing.
"They even released you the same day they captured you. Maybe they realized you weren't worth the trouble."
The room went quiet.
Even Tazuna, standing to the side, winced.
Damn… that brat really does have a poisonous tongue.
Naruto's eye twitched.
"…What did you say?"
Sasuke kept going.
"They probably thought, 'Why waste food on this loudmouth loser?' and just tossed you out."
That was it.
Naruto slowly raised his head, face darkening.
"At least I wasn't like you—instantly beaten to a pulp by Zabuza, you emo duck."
He had intentionally skipped the details of how badly Zabuza beat him when explaining things to Kakashi… so he could boast freely now.
"You wanna see what actually happened, Sasuke?"
Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto struck a dramatic pose, recreating the "fight."
He grabbed at the air like he was being lifted by an invisible force.
"First, he grabbed me like this—one hand—lifted me off the ground like a paper doll."
Then, Naruto threw himself to the ground with a grunt, rolling twice across the floor.
"Then—WHAM!—he tossed me like yesterday's trash across the forest."
He stood up unsteadily, wobbling for effect.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes… and Sakura wasn't even in it!"
Sakura: "Huh?!"
Sasuke: "…Idiot."
Sasuke's face darkened with frustration.
Naruto's over-the-top performance, complete with sound effects, only made things worse.
He seriously considered beating Naruto on the spot.
Before things could escalate, Kakashi stepped in.
He could already see where this was heading and knew it was time to shut it down.
"Alright, alright that's enough. Both of you, go to sleep. It's already late, and I've got special training for you two tomorrow."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Grumbling under their breath, the boys turned and went to bed.
Kakashi lingered for a moment, watching Sasuke as he walked away.
He understood now why Sasuke had been especially irritable.
It all started the moment he told them Naruto had been kidnapped.
Kakashi didn't know the exact trigger, but…
Right after hearing the news, Sasuke had awakened his Sharingan.
From that moment, his mood had soured.