Well, this is a mess.
The moment Sukea vanished, the training ground erupted.
“What the hell was that?!” Genma snapped, still gripping what was left of his broken senbon.
Gai looked devastated. “That man has crossed a line no rival should ever cross.” His fists shook with righteous fury. “I will not stand for it!”
Raidō let out a low, dangerous chuckle. “He’s a dead man.”
Naruto, still fuming, whirled on Kakashi. “Sensei! Why didn’t you fight back?! He—he—he said that-!” naruto cut himself off, not willing to finish the sentence.
Sasuke was scowling. “You should have killed him.”
Even Sakura, normally the voice of reason, looked absolutely livid. “I don’t care if he was your childhood friend or your secret lover or whatever—he deserves to get his ass kicked!”
Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I appreciate the support.”
“Oh, this isn’t support,” Genma said darkly. “This is vengeance.”
And just like that, a new mission was declared.
It wasn’t official. It wasn’t recorded in any Konoha documents.
But in the eyes of every single person present, one thing was certain.
Sukea was now an enemy of Konoha.
For the next several days, the entire village was on high alert.
Every shinobi on active duty was keeping an eye out. Chunin whispered about a new priority target. ANBU members started combing through old records, looking for any mention of Sukea.
And Kakashi's cute little genin?
They took it personally.
Naruto pestered literally everyone in the village for information.
Sasuke trained harder than ever, muttering under his breath about getting stronger so he could take Sukea down himself.
Sakura started compiling a Sukea file—listing every encounter, every word exchanged, every possible clue to his identity. It was quite impressive actually, she'd even began analysing his face shape and the bone structure of his jaw.
And Kakashi?
Kakashi was trapped.
Because if he admitted the truth now, they would actually kill him.
A week passed.
The situation only got worse.
It started small—whispers spreading beyond Konoha’s walls. Travelers overheard shinobi discussing Sukea’s grievous insult against Kakashi. Merchants passing through took the story to other villages.
Then the rumors mutated.
By the time they reached the Land of Lightning, the story had evolved into something completely unhinged.
According to some, Sukea was an ex-ANBU traitor who had personally betrayed Kakashi on a mission.
Others claimed he was a former friend—someone who had once fought beside Kakashi but had turned to darkness.
The most dramatic rumors insisted that Sukea had been Kakashi’s closest ally—his rival, his secret lover—until a tragic betrayal tore them apart.
None of it was true.
But the shinobi world believed it.
And then, one day, it happened.
A Bingo Book update.
Kakashi had just finished an uneventful mission when Kotetsu, one of the gate guards, waved him down.
“Hey, Kakashi, you see the new Bingo Book update?” Kotetsu asked warily, flipping through the pages.
Kakashi barely spared it a glance. “Not yet.”
Kotetsu continued cautiously. “your rival made the list.”
Kakashi blinked. “... I thought Gai was already in there?”
Kotetsu frowned, turning the book toward him. “Check it out.”
And there, in bold, official lettering:
S-Rank Missing-Nin
Name: Sukea
Threat Level: S
Known Affiliation: None
Abilities: Skilled in high-level taijutsu, ninjutsu, and kenjutsu. Expert at infiltration and assassination. Extremely dangerous.
Status: Flee on Sight
Kakashi stared.
He genuinely didn’t know what to say. Some random chunin who must have been listening in butt into their conversation.
“Guess the guy really is dangerous, huh?” they mused. “I mean, if even you couldn’t take him down—”
Kakashi promptly turned on his heel and left.
This was getting out of hand.