Kakashi’s Promotion

After they finished breakfast, Kurenai returned to the kitchen with the plates and chopsticks to clean them, while Shintaro crouched in the living room, petting the cat.

A moment later, Shintaro turned and looked out the door.

Then the doorbell rang.

Kurenai called out loudly from the kitchen, "Who is it?"

Shintaro was already walking over to open the door.

"It's me, Nohara Rin."

He opened the door and saw Rin standing there.

Rin looked surprised to see Shintaro.

"Shintaro?... Long time no see, what are you doing here? Could it be..."

Rin then showed a mysterious smile, "You...?"

Shintaro simply smiled and nodded.

At this moment, Kurenai finished cleaning the plates, ran to the door with small steps, and pulled Shintaro away.

Then she smiled awkwardly and said, "It's not what you think... He's just staying at my house temporarily."

Rin looked at Kurenai's panicked explanation, then at Shintaro, who was being pulled away.

She immediately covered her mouth and giggled.

Kurenai quickly changed the subject and asked, "Rin, why did you come to see us this morning?"

Rin finally got to business and said, "Kakashi is going to be promoted to Jonin soon, and I'm arranging for everyone to gather and celebrate at noon."

"I wanted to know if you have time?"

Shintaro and Kurenai were surprised to hear this.

The only people who could make Rin so enthusiastic and come to see them in the morning were Kakashi... and Obito.

"Yes, of course, we'll be there." Kurenai agreed on behalf of herself and Shintaro.

So Rin happily smiled and told them the specific time and place for the gathering at noon, then left to inform the next person.

Kurenai then closed the door, turned to Shintaro, and said, "Let's go out and buy a gift for Kakashi later. We need to show our sincerity."

"Then why didn't you buy me a gift when I was promoted?" Shintaro joked.

Kurenai lightly punched him and said annoyed, "You still dare to say that."

"The news of your death and your promotion to Jonin happened at the same time. How could I bear to congratulate you?"

"Luckily, you didn't die." Kurenai said as tears began to fall again.

Seeing himself in trouble, Shintaro hugged Kurenai's shoulders and gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm living a good life."

Kurenai stopped crying and said seriously, "You mustn't die when you go to the battlefield again."

Shintaro laughed heartily, "What? If I die next time, will you kill me?"

"Yes, if you dare to die, I'll kill you."

Kurenai didn't realize the logic for a moment and said in one breath.

"Hahahaha!"

Suddenly, Shintaro laughed heartily.

Only then did Kurenai react, but she replied, "I'm serious, I won't let you die!"

"Okay, okay, I promise, next time I won't die."

Shintaro agreed wholeheartedly.

The two then packed up at home and went out to get a gift.

"Kakashi likes fish, so let's just give him two salted fish."

Shintaro seriously thought about this gift and felt it was okay.

Kurenai said helplessly, "Anyway, it's a promotion gift, so it should be more formal, right?"

"Don't you know Kakashi? What else does he like?"

Kurenai wanted to find a more reliable answer.

After thinking for a moment, Shintaro finally found a suitable choice, "By the way, Kakashi also likes to read books."

Kurenai thought this was a good idea, so the two went to the bookstore together.

As soon as Shintaro entered the bookstore, he saw a promotional slogan, "Big sale on the entire Intimate Paradise series! The whole collection is only one thousand ryo!"

He suddenly remembered something, "Guy seems to have mentioned that Kakashi likes Icha Icha Paradise the most."

"Icha Icha Paradise?"

Kurenai felt this didn't sound like a serious book.

Shintaro walked to the promotion area and picked up a book to read, then a smile immediately appeared on his face.

Kurenai curiously poked her head over to take a look.

Shintaro closed his red eyes and said, "This book is for men, and you're not suitable to read it."

Kurenai angrily bit Shintaro's finger and said, "If you don't let me see it, I will."

As a result, she didn't know what to see. When she saw it, she blushed and said, "W-What is this? This book is just hooliganism..."

She was speechless when she saw some marginal words in the book.

Kurenai started blaming Shintaro again, "If you take out this kind of book and let me read it, you're also acting like a hooligan."

"Don't falsely accuse a good person. I stopped you. You insisted on seeing it yourself." Shintaro defended.

"Hmph, I don't care." Kurenai turned around.

Shintaro truly felt that women were unreasonable creatures.

"Aren't there any more serious books?" Kurenai asked again.

Shintaro remembered a book Minato had read before and said, "Minato-sensei once read a book called Dokonjo Ninden, and it should be available here."

Kurenai said, "This one sounds more serious."

So Shintaro bought a complete set of Icha Icha Paradise, and Kurenai bought a copy of Dokonjo Ninden. Then they walked around and saw that time was almost up before heading to their destination.

Under the cherry blossom tree in Konoha Park.

A spiky-haired boy wearing a forehead protector and orange goggles held a bouquet of roses and stood waiting under the tree with an excited expression.

"I must confess my true feelings to Rin today!"

This boy was naturally Obito.

Obito cheered himself on, as Rin ran from a distance, waving her hand.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Hearing this, Obito immediately smiled shyly, waved his hand, and said, "It's okay."

"Everyone!" Rin clasped her hands together, smiled, and tilted her head to apologize.

"Everyone?" Obito realized something was wrong. He thought Rin had asked him out on a date.

Under the cherry blossom tree beside them, Shintaro and Kurenai, who had just arrived, walked over.

Walking from the other side were Asuma, Guy, Genma, and Ebisu.

In addition to inviting the three members of Team 8 who were closest to Team 7, Rin also invited Team 3, which Guy was part of.

Genma and Ebisu were Guy's teammates.

Obito asked in confusion, "Why is everyone here?"

"I called everyone here just to discuss how to celebrate." Rin said with a smile.

"What are we discussing about celebrating?" Obito still didn't know why.

"Isn't Kakashi about to officially become a Jonin? So I thought our classmates could send some gifts together." Rin said while handing out papers that read <<Classmates celebrate Kakashi's promotion to Jonin (Secret Mission)>>

It seemed Rin was very interested in Kakashi's promotion.

"Kakashi is becoming a Jonin..." Obito held the paper, lost in thought.

"Obito, did you know? As classmates, we all feel very proud." Rin said with a bright smile.

When Obito heard this, the roses hidden behind him couldn't help but fall.

Shintaro watched all this and silently lamented Obito's tragic experience.

It seemed this year's Chunin Exam had not yet begun, and Obito was still a Genin.

Kurenai then approached Rin with a book and said, "Shintaro and I already bought our gifts."

With a surprised expression on her face, Rin turned her attention and started chatting happily with Kurenai.

Shintaro quietly walked over to Obito and said sympathetically, "Obito, don't cry too much when you get home."

"Shintaro..."

Obito couldn't help but feel moved when he saw the winner in life before him understanding his state of mind so well.

Shintaro patted his shoulder and said nothing.