"Updating your diary in the middle of a mission, huh?"
Inside the Hatake Clan compound, Hatake Kakashi noticed the freshly written lines in the diary on his desk.
As an elite Jonin, he rarely took missions compared to ordinary Genin or Chunin. Missions requiring someone of his caliber didn't come often. The baseline was usually A-rank, sometimes even S-rank, and those were already scarce.
Meanwhile, Genin and Chunin spent their days drowning in endless D-rank and C-rank chores—picking up trash, catching cats and dogs. Exhausting work. Barely any pay. But at least it was safe.
On top of that, he'd already received a message from the Third Hokage. He'd be serving as the Jonin instructor for the new class of academy graduates. They hadn't told him which team yet.
But Kakashi already had a strong guess.
"So it really is Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and that girl… Sakura." Kakashi exhaled softly.
He knew Naruto and Sasuke well enough. Both had backgrounds that drew attention from all corners of the village.
Only the pink-haired Sakura was unfamiliar to him. He'd asked around. A pure civilian child, nothing unusual—except she was excellent in her theoretical coursework.
Sasuke held the overall top score in the year. But when it came to theory, he was only second. Sakura beat him.
"A genius ranked first overall, a dead-last slacker, and a civilian girl who tops the theory classes. After all these years Konoha still loves this kind of team composition. For balance, huh?"
Kakashi mulled it over. The lineup mirrored his own team under Namikaze Minato a little too well.
Back then, he was the genius. Uchiha Obito was the eternal dead-last. And Rin had been the medical prodigy.
Thinking about it made Kakashi feel oddly wistful.
But it also reinforced something: everything recorded in this diary was probably true. Kaede Kitahara really could see the future.
And the fact that he never missed a single day of writing—not even while on missions—what did that imply?
Did keeping the diary itself benefit him somehow?
Kakashi considered the thought instinctively, then dismissed it as ridiculous and flipped open the diary.
Right at the start, he saw Kaede's furious rant about Danzo. Kakashi blinked. Kaede's diary was usually full of jokes and snark, rarely anything this openly angry.
But once he read the details, he understood.
Danzo had sent a Root squad to assassinate Kaede just because Kaede interacted with Naruto.
Kakashi had once been part of Root. He knew exactly what kind of place it was, and what kind of killing machines it produced.
If the Third Hokage hadn't pulled him out back then, he'd probably be nothing more than a cold, unfeeling weapon now.
And Danzo had specifically dispatched Root to kill Kaede… did that mean Kaede was actually suspicious?
No. If Kaede were truly suspicious, Anbu would've been mobilized—not Root.
And Kakashi knew well that Danzo often used Root for whatever personal schemes he wanted.
Still, he couldn't figure out why Danzo was so sensitive about Kaede. According to the diary, Kaede did have secrets—but nothing that pointed to being an infiltrator from another village.
His secrets were likely his ability to foresee the future and the existence of that mysterious diary copy.
But honestly, what ninja didn't have secrets? Danzo himself had mountains of them.
And if the man judged people by this standard… then Kakashi, who'd eventually become Naruto's teacher, should also be on Danzo's hit list.
Deploying Anbu forces to attack a Leaf ninja without the Hokage's permission—yeah, Danzo really was getting out of hand.
But Danzo becoming Hokage?
That was something Kakashi had never considered. Danzo was the same age as Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Third Hokage had already retired once over ten years ago, stepping down because of his shortcomings in the war. At that time, he'd already been approaching the end of his prime.
And now? The Third Hokage was extremely old. Calls to select the Fifth Hokage had grown louder every year. Everyone knew the truth—Hiruzen was old enough that he could keel over at any moment if they didn't pick a successor.
If that was Hiruzen's state, what about Danzo, who was the same age? In the shinobi world, that already counted as ancient. With their average lifespan, especially for active ninjas, living to old age was almost a miracle.
And Danzo had spent decades hidden away in Root, never appearing in public, never commanding a major battle. He had no reputation to speak of.
The Third Hokage's rule regarding Danzo was simple: he could have power, he could have authority, but he would never have prestige.
Not to mention Root's very existence had harmed countless clans. So many clan members had been dragged into Root and turned into emotionless tools. Of course the clans resented it. They just didn't dare cross the Third.
If Danzo stood for Hokage, his age alone would let the entire Jonin Council reject him outright.
And without prestige or any real contributions… how would he justify becoming Hokage?
Based on his human experimentation in Root?
But the diary said Danzo became the 5.5th Hokage.
Half a number? How did that even work? And yet, because Kaede wrote it, Kakashi couldn't deny it.
Which meant Danzo really would become Hokage in the future—after the Fifth Hokage. His term would somehow be squeezed between official generations.
And for Danzo to take the position after the Fifth retired… how old would he be?
A hundred-year-old grandpa?
The thought alone made Kakashi press a hand to the bridge of his nose.
[A/N: Enjoying the story? You can read more chapters early and support me here:patreon.com/Aeroscissors]