Kannin returned home after that, and met his mom in the living room. He said 'Hi' and went to put his stuff down. Not hearing a response, he walked over to his mom, and saw her staring into space, with a saddened expression he had seen her put on many times before once again upon her face. He sat down next to her, and shook her arm and said,
"Mom! I'm home!"
Usagi snapped back to the real world from her stupor, and after getting her bearings, she saw her son next to her. Seeing his grey hair, which at this point had grown a little long, and his face that reminded her of his father so much, something in her just let go. She hugged her son, and began crying.
"Mom, what happened while I was away? The whole village seems like we're at war again."
It took Usagi a moment to regain her composure. She released her son from her grasp and wiped her eyes dry. She told him, "Hatake Sakumo is dead."
Those words hit Kannin like a brick. He never met Kakashi's father, but he knew all about him from his exploits in the War. He was one of the strongest shinobi in the village. In fact, many people said he was stronger than any one of the Sannin--some went as far as to say he was stronger than Hiruzen himself. He was a pillar of the village and was one of the main reasons the other villages accepted the peace at the end of the War. Konoha's enemies were terrified at just the mention of his name.
"We're all going to die! There's gonna be another war and it's gonna destroy us all..." Usagi began rambling her fears in quick succession while Kannin tried to comfort her. When she sobered up, she said one last thing before going to her room,
"I wonder how his son is handling it."
Kannin also thought back to Kakashi. His mother had died when he was quite young, and now his father was gone. He tried to imagine the pain the kid must've been going through, thinking about his own mother, and how distraught he would be if anything happened to her. He considered trying to talk to him, but he knew Kakashi had Obito and Rin to guide him through his dark times. He didn't want to intrude needlessly. 'Speaking of them' he thought, 'they probably graduated recently as well. I should congratulate them at least, I wonder if Minato could introduce us.'
He also thought back to his mother's fears. While neurotic and rambling, Kannin agreed that another war was coming. First the abduction of Kushina, now Sakumo's death. It would only take a few more incidents to raise the temperature high enough to spark a fire. And it was a fire he would need to be prepared for--for his mother's sake, for his friends' sake, for Konoha's sake, and, ultimately, for the world's sake
"Training it is, then." He resolved himself, "What should I work on now?"
-
The next few months saw Team 4 go on significantly smaller missions. The Amegakure mission had garnered them quite a bit of money--it seems along with the intel on Akatsuki, the diplomacy between the two villages was highly prized to the Hokage, which Kannin didn't see a reason to argue with. He would be set for another few months on that job alone.
The missions they went on in the subsequent months were, Shin admitted, to prepare them for the Chunin Exams happening in August. It turns out that for every genin that gets promoted, their jonin gets a salary bonus, and Shin really wanted that extra cash. What Shin didn't say was that she really did believe her kids were strong enough to become chunin. She had reported the battles in Ame to Hiruzen in the mission summary, and it awarded her another visit in his office to talk about them.
"Harakaze."
"Yes Hokage?"
"What are you feeding these children?" Hiruzen asked with a devilish smirk on his lips.
A faint smile appeared on Shin's mouth as well, "Hokage, I might be their general instructor and leader on missions, but to be honest, I think the reason they're progressing so quickly is each other. I haven't seen a group of kids as close as these three in a long, long time..." She paused for a moment as it seemed a memory flashed in her mind, to which Hiruzen sighed and nodded.
She continued, "Their mutual competitiveness is continuously driving them to outdo each other. And while it might seem like Kannin's in the lead since he was the only one who won his match-- what they don't know is that they're all spectacular genins for their age, and had there not been an exam this year, I would've recommended them for promotion based on merit and skill alone."
Pleased with her honesty, Hiruzen excused her with one last word of advice,
"I was once in a team with such a tight bond of friendship. I implore you to foster that bond properly. I have seen too often love sour, and the closer that love, the deeper the disdain grown from it."
He waved her away, leaving her to ponder who among the Hokage's old friends could have fallen to such spite, while Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe, and looked at the photograph of his old team, a picture of younger and happier people, his friends Homura and Koharu, and his teacher Tobirama. He spent much of that afternoon reminiscing about the good-old days where they would go on missions together, and mourned the time which had wrinkled them all. Most of all, he thought of his fallen teacher and the legacy he placed on Hiruzen's shoulders.
"If only I could ask for your advice, old friend. I'm sure you'd know what to say."
He eventually shook the nostalgic gloom from his mind, and returned to his duties.