After a short period of recuperation, Kakashi was able to move like a normal person, although he had not yet recovered his chakra. He and Rika lived in the house of an old couple who were over 60 years old, and they couldn't eat and drink for nothing and wait for others to serve them. Even Princess Rika, who has always been pampered, did not mention any willful and rude requests.

Located deep in the woods at the foot of the mountain, this village lives the most primitive and simple life, and the villagers may not even have enough people, most of them are elderly, and everyone has a peaceful and contented smile on their faces. It's like a paradise built to escape the world.

When Kakashi got a little better, he began to help with the menial tasks he could, such as chopping wood, carrying water from wells, and repairing wooden fences. This kind of trivial thing is considered a D-class mission in Konoha, and many years ago when Kakashi was still a middle or lower shinobi, he didn't do less. He even remembered that the end of the crane with soil couldn't even distinguish between weeds and herbs, and every time he was yelled at by the client.

Even if he was later promoted to a shinobi, he never refused trivial things such as the villagers of Konoha Village asking him to help repair the roof, take off the clothes that were blown to the treetops by the wind, and help the old woman carry her luggage.

Although he lost his parents at a young age, Kakashi is not inferior to others in terms of etiquette and upbringing. It is precisely because of the sad experience of the destruction of his family that he knows how to cherish the people around him who are friendly to him and the peaceful and stable days.

It was almost dusk, and Kakashi was chopping wood for the old man in the back garden. For a normal twenty-year-old youth, this kind of rough work would be easy even without chakra.

Rika came out of the back room, glanced at him, and walked to the side to swing. The skirt swayed like a kite flying into the sky. Her eyes had fallen on the sunset, which was barely visible in the distance, and for some reason she suddenly turned her head to stare at him again.

When she stares at others, she is never embarrassed, and she does not consider whether others will be embarrassed.

Compared to the initial embarrassment, Kakashi is now used to being calm.

Rika's gaze moved downward, landing on his sleeve rolled up to his elbow, and suddenly let out a sneer: "Look at you, the dignified No. 1 Technician of Konoha, but now you look like a farmer in the mountains. ”

Kakashi's movements didn't pause in the slightest, his eyelids lifted to glance at her, and then he said in a very sloppy tone, "Each other." Look at you, the princess of the land of fire, don't you look like a country girl now. ”

Rika's change of clothes has long been washed away by the maelstrom of the Songyang River, and after coming here, the enthusiastic old woman turned out the clothes of her youth from the bottom of the box and insisted on wearing them for her.

"Clothes have to be worn on people to have life." The old woman said.

Although Rika didn't think so, she didn't want to end up in a dilemma of having no clothes to change in, so she had to accept her kindness.

Kakashi was also there at the time, his hands folded around his arms, and his right eye squinted at the girl next to him who was a little shorter than him, and although he didn't make a sound, his eyes looked as if he could speak. Rika raised her head and glared at him, pursed her lips, and reluctantly said to the old woman in front of her, "Thank you." ”

The old woman waved her hand happily and said, "You're welcome, little girl."

Kakashi curled his crescent eyes and rubbed the top of her hair with his big hand, as if to soothe an awkward child. Rika opened his hand with a "snap" in annoyance.

The swing "squeak" and "squeak" sounded again and again.

Rika's gaze slipped from the sleeve of the man next to him to the back of his left hand. It was this hand that had rubbed the top of her hair a few days earlier. Kakashi's gesture didn't mean anything special, as he did with all the cute and obedient children in the village, a very natural and pure act.

However, for Rika, there is an indescribable feeling in her heart. Although Daimyo and Shijimi indulged her, they did not have the habit of touching the top of her head. Xiude has always been serious and old, and he often hates iron and steel when he looks at his sister, and rarely makes such intimate movements to her. As for the others...... Dare to touch the top of the princess's head and eat the leopard's gall, right?

I don't know what I thought, and Rika's cheeks on the swing turned red almost invisibly.

At this time, Lixiang was dressed in simple plain clothes, her waist-length long hair was simply tied in a ponytail and hung down behind her, her face was not powdered, and she did not wear any jewelry.

Judging from her appearance, she is really not different from an ordinary fifteen or sixteen-year-old country girl.

But surprisingly, it doesn't make people feel vulgar and rustic - in the end, the eldest lady raised by the aristocratic class, how can she have a sense of superiority. What's more, it's pear-scented. Rika can best embody the identity of the princess of the Fire Country than her arrogant aura that does not distinguish between occasions and objects.

Such a girl, even though she is as beautiful as the most delicate rose, is not easy to make the opposite sex really like. - Because, ah, roses are pretty, but they are covered with thorns. Probably it belongs to the category that can only be viewed from a distance, and cannot be approached.

"Hmph, you're getting bolder." In order to put the sudden strange feelings behind, Rika deliberately straightened her face and said coldly.

Kakashi paused, looking sideways at her figure as she drew an arc in mid-air with the swing, wondering where he had offended her, and it took him a long time to realize that she was referring to the phrase he said she was like a country girl.

…… It took so long silence to reprimand him, how long is this reflex arc!

Kakashi's dead fish eyes looked at the darkening sky and quickened the movement of his hand.

The stars were shining brightly at night, but the moon was gone. It was quiet, except for the rustle of the leaves in the wind.

There is a pond dozens of meters away, and if it's summer, you might hear the sound of frogs.

Kakashi rested his hands behind his head and lay on the roof looking up at the stars. The stars are shining, and it looks like there must be a good weather tomorrow.

The elders of Konoha often say that when a person dies, he will turn into a star and rise to the sky, watching and guarding the living people on the ground.

Many years ago, when Kakashi was a little imp who had become cold and arrogant due to his father's suicide, his mentor Bo Feng Shui Men once pointed to the stars in the sky and said to him, "You're not alone, Kakashi, look, Sakumo-sensei must be watching you from above." ”

At that time, the young man did not change because of his teacher's words, and now that I think about it, Bo Feng Shuimen has always been a very gentle and gentle person.

"So, teacher, you've been watching me." Kakashi whispered to the stars.

Ten miles of galaxy, beautiful and incomprehensible. His father, mother, mentor, Lady Kushinai, Obito, and Rin, the silver-haired young man did not know which star was in the vast starry sky. The only thing I knew, the only thing I believed, was that they were all watching him, all the time watching him.

The night sky flashed with the smiling faces he cherished. Although it has been reduced to ashes, it is his most precious memory in 20 years.

"What are you doing up there!"

Lost in his thoughts about the past was interrupted again, and Kakashi looked down to see a girl under the eaves staring at him with her face up.

It was strange that her eyes were as bright as stars in the night.

The silver-haired ninja sat up from the roof tiles and pointed overhead, "Look at the stars." ”

Rika frowned: "Isn't your chakra still unrecovered, how did you go up?" ”

Kakashi's index finger pointed to the wooden ladder next to the eaves. Then the next second he regretted it - Rika climbed up the ladder without saying a word.

“…… Be careful. I can't use the chakra now, and I can't save you if you fall. The silver-haired ninja reluctantly walked over and held out his hand to her to hold her steady.

Rika grabbed his arm and was stunned.

"What's wrong?"

"You spoke to me recently...... None of the honorifics were used. ”

“…… Sorry, I was negligent. I can ...... if you mind."

"Don't mind."

Rika quickly finished saying this, clinging to the silver-haired ninja's arm, carefully moving around the roof tiles until she sat down beside him steadily.

"If you're so scared, don't come up." The silver-haired ninja said out of a kind way.

It's a pity that some people don't appreciate it: "...... You care about me! ”

He didn't care, but he didn't care about her words, and he knew that the consequences were very strict.

On the rooftop, you can clearly see the candles reflected in the windows of nearby houses. Rika couldn't help but feel comfortable with the sudden widening of her vision, and said with excitement and joy in her voice: "It turns out that the starry sky I saw on the roof is so vast, and the countless stars are more beautiful than the jewels on the mother!" ”

“…… If you say that, Mrs. Shijimi probably won't be happy to hear it. ”

Rika couldn't hold back her excitement, pointed to the sky and kept saying, if it weren't for the fear of falling, she almost wanted to stand up and turn in circles.

Kakashi felt her voice buzz around his ears, and he couldn't help but ask with a little headache, "Princess, haven't you seen the scenery from the rooftop before?" ”

Rika pouted: "Are you stupid?" How could my father, mother, and brother let me do such a dangerous thing? ”

Kakashi sighed, "...... I always feel like I'm going to be hunted down by the Daimyo's Mansion. ”

Rika turned her head to look at him, and suddenly she was silent. Except for the rustle of leaves blown by the wind, only the whistling of the cold wind itself remained.

The atmosphere suddenly turned into an eerie silence.

After a long time, Rika said in a very serious tone, "Don't be unhappy. ”

The silver-haired young man was stunned for a moment, and only after a while did he exhale deeply, leaned back with his upper body, resumed his posture of lying on his back, and then sighed a little self-deprecatingly: "You feel it...... I'm sorry. ”

Today is really a happy day.

Eight years ago today, he ended the life of a girl with his own hands.

That girl, at that time, was not as big as Rika now. She said she liked him more than anyone. At the same time, his best friend likes her more than anyone else.

He had made a pact with his best friend that even if he sacrificed himself, he would not let her be hurt in the slightest.

But as a result, she died on his hands smiling.

Even after many years, Kakashi still has a hard time describing how he felt when he remembered it. In Konoha, facing the grave with soil, Rin's grave, always makes him feel like a very bad scum.

The starry light could not dispel the darkness in him.

Rika leaned over, propped her hands on the roof tiles next to his ears, staring straight into his eyes in the night, the expression on her face was very serious, but with a little indescribable doubt: "I don't know why, I don't want you to be unhappy." ”

Hearing this, Kakashi smiled. Of course, it has nothing to do with being happy.

"Probably because you've grown up and know how to be considerate of others." The silver-haired ninja said.

It's strange that she would start to care if another person is happy.

Is it really because you have grown up like this after going through a lot of things?

Rika doesn't think so.

The girl tilted her head and frowned, a little confused.

In a moment, a familiar voice whispered in front of her, "Princess, can you sit down properly......

The night breeze swayed restlessly on the ends of her silver hair, occasionally brushing the girl's white face.

Rika feels as if she has a rabbit sauce hidden in her heart.

***

After a few more days, the reinforcements from Konoha joined them, and it turned out to be Tenzo and Uchiha Itachi. Kakashi said, "Forget about Tenzo, Itachi-kun is really helpful to be able to come." ”

It took a while for Tenzo to react: "What do you mean by me?" Kakashi-senpai is too much! ”

Rika watched boredly as Kakashi unkindly harmed her juniors, thinking that she probably wouldn't have the chance to go up to the roof to see the stars in the future.

The rest of the road was surprisingly smooth, with almost no obstacles. On the day Rika returned to the capital, the Daimyo, Shijimi, and Hidetoku, as well as almost the entire Daimyo's Mansion, were waiting for her at the gate early in the morning.

- I'm finally home.

Rika suddenly had red circles in her eyes, and without saying a word, she threw herself into her mother's arms and shed tears. Then Shijimi actually cried with her.

In full view of everyone, the daimyo hugged his crying wife and young daughter without feeling the slightest shame. It's rare that Xiude doesn't talk about his demeanor and demeanor.

The Konoha ninja, who had successfully completed the mission, did not want to disturb them, turned around and walked down the long stone staircase in front of the Daimyo's mansion, and was about to return to the village to report to the Hokage.

There was still half of the marble staircase in front of him—

"Kakashi."

The girl's voice was a little hoarse when she had just cried, but it was so loud that everyone present could hear it clearly.

The silver-haired ninja turned back.

The girl standing at the top of the stone staircase had undried tears on her cheeks, which looked a little wolf-like, but it was nothing compared to her imposing presence.

The chin is slightly raised, and a smug smile seems to have confirmed something on her beautiful face.

Then, in a tone that seemed to announce the whole world, she said, "There's something I think you'd better know—"

"I'm in love with you again."

The silver-haired ninja stepped on the stairs under his feet.