In the afternoon a week before the graduation exam, after completing their training, Obito, Kakashi, and the others did not go home but gathered together at a Dango shop.
"You all eat Dango, right?" Obito asked before ordering.
Seeing everyone nod, Obito ordered five servings of Dango from the owner and then casually found a spot toward the back of the shop to sit.
"You all know what we're here for, right?" Obito glanced around and said seriously in a low voice.
"Yeah, we know. It's for "that"." Rin nodded and responded quietly.
"Oh, it's for "that"." Guy also whispered.
"It's just to discuss how to organize a thank-you party for Yumi-sensei. Is it really necessary to act like we're on a secret mission?" Kakashi couldn't help but comment.
Because Obito and the others are about to graduate, their time with Mutsuki will decrease. Although Kakashi has already graduated, he will be joining a new team after his old team disbands, so he won't be able to see Mutsuki every day like this.
So they discussed and decided to hold a thank-you party for Mutsuki to show their gratitude for his guidance and support.
Shisui, although neither graduating nor part of an internship team, definitely wanted to participate in this.
"Seeing Obito so serious, I thought I should cooperate with him," Rin explained with an embarrassed smile.
"I thought they were incorporating confidentiality into their daily routine as a form of training," Guy admitted he misunderstood.
"It's to avoid the risk of running into someone who knows Yumi-sensei and potentially having Yumi-sensei find out early," Obito believed staying vigilant was important.
"It's not that likely to run into someone who knows him at a Dango shop and have them overhear us," Kakashi said with a look of exasperation, feeling Obito's seriousness was misplaced. It would be better if he had this kind of vigilance during actual missions.
Obito wanted to say something more, but Shisui, who was watching from the side, couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up:
"These things are not important. Let's quickly discuss the specifics."
He understood Obito and Kakashi well; once they started arguing, it would be hard to stop.
With Shisui mediating, both Obito and Kakashi refrained from continuing their argument out of respect for him. Although Shisui was two years younger than them, his outstanding performance made it hard for Kakashi and Obito to view him as just a first-year student.
"What about holding it on the day of the graduation exam?" Obito asked for everyone's opinion.
"I think that's a good idea. After passing the exam, sensei will directly award the headbands, and we can use that time to thank Yumi-sensei for his guidance," Rin said with her hands clasped, smiling.
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Obito nodded and smiled.
"I have no objections," Kakashi nodded slightly to indicate his agreement.
For him, the choice of time wasn't particularly important, as there was no special significance to any particular day.
"It sounds great. Just thinking about it makes me a bit emotional," Guy said, almost on the verge of tears from excitement.
"Agreed," Shisui said, as he didn't have a better suggestion for the timing and therefore simply agreed.
With the time decided, the next step was to figure out the specifics of the thank-you party.
"We definitely need to give a gift. Do you think it's better for everyone to give one gift together or for each person to give their own gift?" Obito asked.
Kakashi appeared to be thinking, but Shisui quickly provided a perfect answer.
"Why choose? Everyone can give their own gift and then we can also give a combined gift," Shisui suggested that both options could be pursued without conflict.
"Shisui, you make a good point," Obito realized he had indeed missed this perspective and agreed that there was no need to choose—both options could be included.
What to give personally was a matter of privacy and didn't need to be discussed, but what the five of them should give together was indeed a question.
"Let's start with Yumi-sensei's preferences. You've known Yumi-sensei longer, so you should go first," Kakashi suggested, then quietly watched the others.
Although Kakashi had a good impression of Mutsuki, he had only spent a little over three months with him and thought Obito and the others might know Mutsuki better.
As the first to know Mutsuki, Shisui fell into thought. Mutsuki enjoyed seeing them grow stronger, but this clearly couldn't serve as a tangible gift.
He recalled details of his interactions with Mutsuki, trying to discover something meaningful.
One obvious interest was calligraphy. Shisui had heard that Mutsuki spent most of his lunchtime in the office practicing calligraphy, and occasionally Mutsuki would give them his calligraphy works.
But Shisui wanted to dig deeper, so he concentrated on his memories, trying to analyze what Mutsuki might like.
However, after making an effort to analyze, he suddenly realized he couldn't figure it out at all.
In his memories, Mutsuki was always teaching them with a gentle smile, not only Ninjutsu and Taijutsu but also resolving their negative emotions when they arose.
Since they were the ones being helped, they didn't know much about Mutsuki, only his character and personality, while other details were somewhat vague.
"Maybe when we grow stronger and mature a bit more, we'll discover more," Shisui thought to himself.
If Mutsuki faced difficulties at Shisui's level, the current Shisui would definitely be of no help.
"Yumi-sensei likes calligraphy and teaching students," Shisui finally said.
Those were the only things he could mention now; he didn't know more.
"These two are indeed Yumi-sensei's interests, but doesn't anyone have a more subtle idea?" Obito scratched his head and asked.
A lot of people at the Academy knew that Mutsuki liked calligraphy; it was a very obvious preference. Obito had even given Mutsuki a calligraphy brush before.
But Obito felt that a gift from all five of them should be more thoughtful. Buying a single calligraphy brush seemed a bit dismissive.
"I do remember Yumi-sensei once saying he liked egg dishes. How about we cook an egg dish for Yumi-sensei together?" Guy said seriously, rubbing his chin.
He might not remember the names of people he isn't familiar with, but he usually remembered Mutsuki's likings very well.
"Do you all know how to cook?" Obito asked, feeling this idea might be viable.
Shisui and Kakashi nodded. Although Shisui was young, due to special circumstances, he had been proficient in solving his own food needs for a long time.
Guy shook his head. He just proposed the idea and currently didn't know how to cook.
Rin also shook her head. With both parents present and still being in school, she hadn't had the chance to learn cooking, so she hadn't mastered the skill yet.
"I don't know either. So it's just Shisui and Kakashi. Let's forget about it; we can't have just them do all the work," Obito ultimately decided to abandon this seemingly good idea.
Then Obito continued to recall moments with Mutsuki, hoping to find inspiration for a gift.
He found it really difficult to come up with something, and after thinking it over, calligraphy seemed to be the most reliable option.
"Actually, I think we don't need to overthink it. Maybe Yumi-sensei doesn't have other hobbies," Rin said after thinking for a moment.
"Just conveying our gratitude to Yumi-sensei will be enough."
"And we still have a week. We can also ask other senseis or Yumi-sensei's friends," Rin said softly with a smile.
"That's true." Hearing Rin's words, Obito's initially anxious mood calmed down.
With seven days left, they could ask senseis who were familiar with Mutsuki. If they couldn't find out more, they should do their best with what they could and convey their heartfelt gratitude.
While they were chatting and discussing, the owner brought the five servings of Dango to their table.
"Shisui, you're lucky. You met Yumi-sensei when you first started school," Obito said with a hint of envy, taking a bite of Dango.
If he had met Mutsuki earlier, his skills might have improved significantly by now, and he could have had more time with Mutsuki.
Shisui's lips curled up slightly as he smiled and reassured, "Even though we're graduating, everyone is still Yumi-sensei's disciple. You can always come to find Yumi-sensei for training."
Obito naturally knew this; if he graduated, he might not have another chance to see Mutsuki. He might even have to deliberately fail to delay his graduation by a few years.
"Kakashi, how busy is a newly graduated Genin?" Obito asked the only official Ninja present.
He wanted to compare the life of an official Ninja with that of an intern.
"It's similar to when you first started your internship—daily training and no missions above D-rank," Kakashi replied.
In Kakashi's view, Chunin were people who spent their time either training or carrying out missions.
"Of course, it depends on the arrangement of the supervising sensei," Kakashi added.
"I wish we could get a sensei who doesn't interfere, so I could train with Yumi-sensei like before," Obito prayed with his hands clasped.
In Obito's mind, having Mutsuki as his supervising sensei was the best solution. However, he had already asked Mutsuki, and Mutsuki said he had no plans to take on a supervising role at the moment.
"That's not going to happen. If it were like that, you wouldn't be able to have a supervising sensei at all, and Yumi-sensei also has classes to teach," Kakashi poured cold water on Obito's hopes.
"Anything is possible. You really have no dreams. I feel sorry for your future teammates who'll have to train and complete missions with someone as boring as you," Obito said with dissatisfaction.
Even if Mutsuki himself was busy, couldn't he at least send a Shadow Clone to teach him?
"I'm the one who feels sorry for your future teammates, having to complete missions with someone who's always daydreaming like you," Kakashi retorted.
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