Kakashi, his face full of bitterness.
In the past his bond with Old Konoha ran deepest; after all, whether it was Obito, Rin, or his teacher Minato Namikaze, nearly all of them had died for the Village. Even when his father had suffered such grievous injustice back then, he'd chosen suicide rather than harm the Village… to speak plainly!
This was also why, though he clearly knew the Village had problems, he still refused to do anything that might damage it.
To him, the Village was the moonlight in his heart.
Much like his father Sakumo Hatake, he harbored the deepest love for the Village in his heart. Even if it meant living like a walking corpse, to protect that moonlight in his heart he had still chosen silence all these years.
After all… this was the Village his friends, companions, teacher, and father had all chosen to die for!
Had the original incident not involved Might Guy, he would rather have died than throw his lot in with the Uchiha.
But now?
He had personally joined in building this new Village, watching everyone steadily make it better—especially without the messy entanglements of Old Konoha—and it had become a true haven inside his heart, a genuine place of solace.
As for Old Konoha?
Honestly, his feelings were complicated; for the moment he couldn't quite put them into words.
To sum it up in one line: sorrow for its misfortune, anger at its refusal to strive.
He simply felt that for his friends and family to die for such a Village was truly not worth it.
And so, in the end.
To Tsunade's question, Kakashi pondered a moment before giving his answer.
"Before New Konoha was founded, I stood on the Uchiha side."
"But it wasn't out of genuine liking—only to protect Guy."
"Now that New Konoha is built, I've truly come to love this place and am willing to give my life for the new Village."
"The Hokage's word 'comparison' was spot-on; I never realized how rotten Old Konoha was until the comparison showed it was completely worthless."
"A Village so corrupt no longer needs to exist!"
Kakashi was utterly direct.
He voiced his true thoughts outright, and even Uchiha Jin couldn't help remarking, "I could have borne the darkness had I never seen the sun."
"That—brilliant!" Kakashi gave a thumbs-up.
Tsunade too sighed, "Never noticed before, Jin, that you could come out with something so philosophical."
Hearing that, both of them sighed in agreement.
For they realized the line was spot-on: though they'd long been unhappy with Old Konoha, without seeing the new Village before them they'd never have grasped just how bad the old one was.
And now?
Once New and Old Konoha were set side by side, Old Konoha instantly looked like a pile of crap.
Just then Kakashi suddenly spoke, "By the way, Lord Hokage!"
"I'd like to know what you think of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Why haven't you tried to retrieve him these past two years?"
For a moment.
With Kakashi's question, Tsunade also looked toward Uchiha Jin.
Exactly!
Neither of them understood this point.
Today, with Jin in a good mood, they were curious whether he had some other plan in mind.
And to that.
Uchiha Jin pondered briefly, offered no explanation, and instead replied with a smile, "What about you two?"
"Uzumaki Naruto is your pupil Kakashi's child, and Kushina used to call you, Tsunade, big sister."
"In short—that kid is practically your family!"
"So why haven't you looked after him all these years?"
For a moment.
Hearing this, both of them fell silent.
After a soft sigh Tsunade spoke first, "At the start I didn't even know the child existed; I only heard about him after joining the Uchiha side, and by then I'd already chosen to stand with them."
"Since you knew the boy's situation yet did nothing these years, I figured you must have some other scheme in mind. Though I could never guess your exact plan…"
"I've watched every preparation you made these years, and even things I didn't understand at the time proved how sharp your foresight was when I look back."
"So I trust you!"
"Perhaps you and the child aren't close, but Minato never targeted the Uchiha, so I don't believe you'd deliberately harm him."
Jin understood her reasoning.
She had left the Village early and knew little of its affairs; at most she'd heard that the Namikaze couple had died, never whether they'd left a child.
After Jiraiya dragged her into Old Konoha for a few days of drinking, she'd gone straight over to the Uchiha side.
Therefore.
He turned his gaze to Kakashi.
But clearly.
Kakashi was reluctant to speak; in the end he only let out a sigh.
"At first, I didn't know either!"
"Uzumaki Naruto's existence was top secret in the Village."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi never assigned me any mission related to him; right after my teacher died my Anbu duties were mostly on the border."
"Later, perhaps because my conduct convinced Hiruzen I could be trusted, he sent me back to watch the boy in secret."
"But likewise."
"Hiruzen forbade me from contacting Uzumaki Naruto. I was only an ordinary Anbu Ninja; hiding contact from the Village was impossible—a whole Anbu squad kept permanent watch on him."
"So there was little I could do beyond keeping the kid alive."
"Had I insisted on getting close to him, his situation might have grown even worse. Maintaining the status quo seemed the best option."
Though Kakashi lived like a walking corpse, he still had feelings.
But sadly.
He was merely an ordinary Anbu; because he was Minato's student, Hiruzen never truly trusted him, so he remained no more than a squad captain inside the Anbu.
And unlike regular Ninja, Anbu constantly had to hide their movements, so the reputation he'd earned on the battlefield and his status as the Fourth's disciple had long since been worn away by time.
Beyond the rank of elite Jonin, at that point he had almost nothing left.
In the original story it was the same!
Except for the Ninjas of his own generation who still knew him, other Villages had only the nickname "Konoha's Technician"; inside the Village he had virtually no fame at all.
Otherwise Team Seven's first appearance wouldn't have featured Naruto's trio not recognizing Hatake Kakashi, until Might Guy finally told them how strong he was.
From that angle it made perfect sense!
Kakashi hadn't been unwilling to look after his teacher's child; the problem was he wasn't Jiraiya or Tsunade—he simply lacked the power to shelter Uzumaki Naruto.
Had he forced his way in, it might only have made things worse for him.
After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was no saint, and Danzo was watching from the shadows; if Kakashi stepped in, it would only give Danzo an opening to interfere!