Chapter 75: He Doesn't Know Why

When Kannin returned home, his mother was waiting with all sorts of questions about his date.

"Where'd you go? What'd you eat? Did you look good? You complimented her hair, right?..."

Kannin shook his head and said "Mom, I'm really tired now, I can tell you in the morning, ok?"

"Fine..." Usagi relented

Kannin went up to his room after that and changed into his pajamas, which were also a little small now that he was paying attention to it. The plaid green pants only went down midway to his shins, and the white shirt showed more midriff than he would like had they been everyday clothes. However, the fashion of his pjs wasn't exactly at the top of his priorities--sleep was, and after brushing his teeth and washing his face, Kannin was ready for bed.

Getting under the covers, Kannin also realized that his bed was a little small. His feet were pressing against the footboard uncomfortably and his head was tilted up against the headboard.

'Maybe it's not just the clothes I'm outgrowing...' Kannin wondered while staring out the window, where he saw the Hokage Rock, which had a number of workers so far away they looked like ants etching out the face of the Yondaime.

-

In the morning, Kannin put on the best fitting of his regular clothes before going out on the town before his mom could pester him about his date. The first thing he did was go out and buy some more clothes that fit him, some pants and shorts, a jacket or two, tshirts and a hat. They didn't look particularly nice, but they were decent enough to wear around town.

The next thing he did was pick up a pamphlet of all the apartment listings around Konoha: places for one that he could afford on his current savings and the money he'll get for being an instructor. He didn't plan on getting his own place just yet, but he'd like to know what the market looked like in the meantime.

Flipping through the listings as he walked around town, shopping bags dangling from his shoulders, he noticed the unforgettable grey hair of Hatake Kakashi over to his left, who, coincidentally enough, was also flipping through his own literature as he walked by. Kannin hadn't seen the kid in a minute, so he called out to him,

"Hey Kakashi! Is that you?" He shouted out,

The son of the White Fang looked up to see who was talking to him, only to see the the weird Uzumaki guy walking towards him.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Kakashi." Kannin said, looking over the kid, who was now wearing his forehead protector in the classic eyepatch style and the face covering over his nose, "Got a moment to talk?"

Kakashi closed his book, which Kannin could see was the first in Jiraiya's Icha Icha series, and said

"Sure, it's my day off, why not."

"So amicable as always, Kakashi," Kannin said with a grin

After finding a nice spot to sit down, Kannin put his shopping bags on the ground and asked,

"So," Kannin asked, "is Minato working you to death?"

"Well," Kakashi said, "there's a lot of work to do to finish up the war. You're welcome to help out, you know."

Kannin laughed at that, "Well," he said, "I can't do everything around here, can I? You'd be out of work in no time!"

"Yeah," Kakashi said, "sure."

Kannin couldn't see his face beneath the mask, but Kannin liked to think the kid was grinning. Suddenly changing the topic, Kannin asked,

"How's the eye?"

Kakashi's head drooped and he sighed, "It's alright. I can't use it that much without passing out, but it helps on missions sometimes."

Kannin put his hands together and looked out at the passersby, and said,

"It's a chakra siphon, right? I bet you can barely see out of it without draining your reserves."

Kakashi looked at him and yelped "What do you know?!"

"Oh!" Kannin said, putting his hands up, "So it's a sore spot, I see." Kannin chuckled before putting his hands down again, "I wasn't trying to mock you, if that's what's got you all riled up. I'm trying to help you, alright?"

"Help me?" Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow.

"Believe it or not, yes," Kannin responded, scratching his head, "That thing in your eyesocket is one of the most powerful weapons in the world, you know that right?"

Kakashi shook his head

"Alright then," Kannin continued, "do you have any idea how it works?"

Kakashi started to speak, but stopped midway through.

"As I thought." Kannin said, "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know how it works either; you might as well have a computer in your eye for all I know."

"A what?"

"Don't worry about it." Kannin hurriedly dismissed the question, "Anyways, you have a resource few other shinobi have, and you need to learn how to use it best."

Kannin held himself back from adding, 'While you still can' to the end of that sentence.

"I know that, Kannin," Kakashi said with annoyance, "But no Uchiha is going to teach me how to use it! They all want to rip it out of my skull!"

"That might be true enough," Kannin sighed, "But I might be able to dig up an Uchiha who might be able to teach you when you aren't on missions. It would have to be a secret though, of course. I have fairly good relations with the Uchiha if you didn't know."

"How good?" Kakashi asked.

"Well I've been friends with one for nearly a decade, and I've met the clan leader in person."

"Wow..." Kakashi said, with seemingly genuine wonder.

Kannin wasn't going to tell him that he met Fugaku once at a restaurant where he threatened to fight him--he needed to make an impression.

"I'm not saying with certainty, alright? I'm just saying that I'll tell you if I can make it work."

"I do have one question," Kakashi said, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because" Kannin said with a smile, "aside from the fact that you're my friend's last pupil, and helping you helps Minato--the pure fact is that you're a genius, Kakashi--you're probably smarter than Minato honestly, and it would be a damn shame if someone with your potential couldn't live up to it."

"You think?" Kakashi said with a tinge of sadness

"No one ever said geniuses don't fail" Kannin said

"Minato hasn't"

"He will" Kannin said with a matter-of-fact tone, "If he hasn't already, he will. And you know what? He'll be relying on you and me to be there when he does." Getting up, Kannin grabbed his bags and pamphlet, and before he left, finished, "Meet me in a week at the 3rd training ground at noon."