Reborn!

23: The Other Eye

It was true. To the world, this was an accomplishment worthy of hailing Hatake Kakashi as one of the few fūinjutsu grandmasters to be born outside of the Uzumaki clan. Achieving the seventh level as an Uzumaki Seal Master was the only universal form of indication of fūinjutsu mastery. However, this was a task nearly impossible for those who were not a part of the fabled clan. They instead relied on the inferior system invented by other aspiring Seal Masters, in which one was said to have attained mastery in fūinjutsu after reaching level ten. Though this was an extremely time-consuming and arduous path, it was still easier than attaining the sixth level under true Uzumaki standards.

Kakashi levelled Naruto with an unimpressed look.

The now-redhead raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Kakashi exhaled slowly. "I take a week to decipher the simplest of your seal arrays."

Naruto made an inarticulate noise in the back of his throat.

It could not possibly be that bad!

Right...?

He had a sinking feeling that his friend was speaking the truth. There was no way for him to refute that statement. Even Sasuke could not make sense of his arrays without him taking the time to explain them first. Afterwards, Sasuke could merely recognise the properties based on what he was told before and analyse the layout for any errors in his calculations. As someone who had not been given a walk-through about Naruto's fūinjutsu methods, Kakashi's ability to make sense of it was incredibly admirable.

With a sigh at his kōhai's obliviousness to his own brilliance, Kakashi removed his mask.

He did it so naturally that Naruto almost gaped.

It had been nigh impossible to remove that mask.

Whether or not the silver-haired man was conscious, it was not possible to unmask him. Under his half-mask was just another mask. Naruto had tried to pull off Kakashi's mask many times in the previous timeline, but never succeeded no matter how hard he tried. Honestly, Kakashi did not hesitate to bare his face in front of Kitsune even when they had still been colleagues on the same ANBU team. Naruto wondered if this was because of the ripples in reality due to the time-travelling that he had done. Either way, the mystery of Kakashi's face had long since dissipated.

It was a handsome face, of course. Hatake Kakashi had a defined jawline, smooth skin and an elegantly pointed nose. His lips were often pulled into a smirk, a single beauty mark adorning his face off to the left below his mouth. Even so, the air of secrecy surrounding it had faded.

The silver-haired jōnin shoved the other male's legs out of the way and sat down on his couch.

Out of nowhere, Naruto stated, "You're listed as an A-rank in bingo books. All the hostile forces have given you a rating of A-plus."

Kakashi stared at the redhead for a moment.

Then, he snorted. "The entry listing Kitsune of Konoha has you as a likely SS-rank. They lack information on your abilities and background, not even being able to guess at your identity."

Naruto blinked several times in surprise.

He had yet to check his bingo book entry.

"Those that encounter you are advised to flee on sight regardless of affiliation, the shinobi of Konohagakure being the only exception to this. When forced to engage, if neither escape nor surrender is feasible, the next best option will be suicide. That was on the most recent lists," explained Kakashi.

Naruto felt his mouth fall open.

Sōjirō had begun seeing increasing numbers of those that killed themselves before him with a resolute expression. He had been clueless as to the reason for this - it was not as if he was that merciless or cruel. Moreover, this would occur a lot more frequently when he was alone. If there were others deployed alongside Kitsune, it was less likely for them to commit suicide. He never thought that this behaviour was related to that, of all things. Sōjirō did not often think about his bingo book entry, after all.