Chapter Text
**Hidden Leaf Village — Hatake Family**
A boy with white hair and sunglasses lay on his side on the tatami mat. A baking magazine lay beside him; as he gazed at the pictures of desserts that filled its pages, his eyes—hidden behind the sunglasses—gleamed with unconscious interest.
"Brother, I knew you were slacking off again. The Ninja Academy starts tomorrow. I hope you don't fail the entrance exam… that would truly be a disgrace to our father."
The door burst open. Another boy appeared in the doorway, also with white hair and a mask covering part of his face. It was Hatake Kakashi: the future ninja genius, the one who would later gain fame for being invincible against the strong and ruthless with the weak.
"Don't worry, Kakashi," replied the reclining figure, without even turning around, his back to him, waving a hand with complete indifference. "Your brother is very capable." Tomorrow's exam will be a piece of cake for me.
Kakashi looked at him with a mixture of resignation and frustration. His brother had talent to spare, and his aptitude for ninjutsu was exceptional… but he had a difficult personality and seemed to have no interest in becoming a ninja. Kakashi had never seen him practice seriously. And yet, in every training session, in every small competition, he had never managed to beat him even once. This reality often made him doubt his own talent.
"Father will be with us tomorrow," Kakashi continued. "He asked me to warn you: if you're late, he'll personally take your bed out and leave it at the entrance of the Academy. It'll be there for the whole village to see you sleeping on."
"Okay, okay, I understand," the other replied impassively, though deep down the idea annoyed him. He knew perfectly well that his father, Hatake Sakumo—the White Fang of the Village—didn't speak without thinking. If he fell asleep, he would carry out his threat without hesitation. "Tell him I'll get up in time."
Kakashi left. Hatake Satoru—that was his name—calmly closed the magazine, lay back on the tatami, and clasped his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.
"How quickly time passes... it's already been five years since I arrived in this world," he thought.
Satoru kept a secret he had never told anyone: he didn't belong there. In another life, he had been someone else, and now he had been reincarnated in the Naruto universe, with all his memories intact. He didn't know how he had died in his previous life; he only remembered opening his eyes, finding a young Kakashi crying beside him, and discovering that he had become someone who didn't exist in the original story: Kakashi's older brother, the firstborn of the Hatake family.
Not only did he possess ninja talent as great as his younger brother's, but he had inherited something far more extraordinary: the power and essence of one of the most powerful figures from another universe, the absolute pinnacle of strength in *Jujutsu Kaisen*: Gojo Satoru.
This inheritance didn't grant him full power immediately; he would have to train extensively to master it all. But there was something he received from day one, effortlessly: the Six Eyes, Gojo's unique visual ability. That's why he always wore sunglasses: to hide them.
That he had special eyes wasn't a complete secret, but people only ever commented, "He's the son of the White Fang, it's normal that he has something different." Being Sakumo's son had placed him in the spotlight since birth, something he found quite annoying, though he knew he couldn't change it.
The next morning, Satoru woke up early—unusual for him—and had breakfast with Kakashi and his father.
“Satoru,” Sakumo began, as they ate, “if you truly don’t like the path of the ninja, I won’t force you. But you must understand something: as my son, if you don’t develop sufficient strength, your life will be in grave danger.”
Sakumo also felt powerless over his eldest son. It was clear he possessed a terrifying talent, but he never saw him practice or exert himself.
“Don’t worry, Father,” Satoru replied calmly. “I do like being a ninja.”
“That’s good. Then, at the Academy, you must study hard and train consistently. I hope that one day you will become a better ninja than me.”
Sakumo was convinced that, if Satoru set his mind to it, surpassing him wouldn’t be difficult at all.
“And as the older brother, your duty is to look after and protect Kakashi there.”
“More like, I’ll be the one looking after him…” Kakashi murmured softly.
Both Sakumo and Satoru heard him perfectly, but neither said a word. Sakumo thought that perhaps his younger son was right: in the end, maybe it would be Kakashi who would end up taking care of the older one. And Satoru… he simply didn't feel like arguing. He knew how things worked from the moment he arrived in this world, and he knew that, in everyone's eyes, he seemed like a complete slacker or useless. Whether he really was or not… only he knew.
"Alright," Sakumo said. "Kakashi, when you've finished tidying up, we'll go to the Academy together."
"Yes, Father," the boy replied obediently.
Satoru smiled as he watched his brother wash and put away the bowls and chopsticks with great order and care. This was a task that, as the eldest son, should have been his… but after he had broken dozens of pieces in his previous attempts, Sakumo had decided to take that responsibility away from him. He was afraid that, with his uncontrolled strength, he would end up knocking the whole house down. So all the housework had been left to Kakashi.
Satoru didn't feel a shred of guilt. On the contrary, he always said it was a form of comprehensive training for his brother, to turn him into someone capable of doing everything.
Sakumo noticed that smile on his eldest son's face, but he could only sigh. There was no way to force Satoru to do something he didn't want to do, so he had no choice but to let little Kakashi "suffer" a little longer.
"Let's go," Sakumo ordered. "It's not good to be late on the first day."
"Yes, Dad!" both brothers replied at the same time.
At that moment, Kakashi had not yet experienced the losses that would mark his life. He was still a proud, strong-willed, and somewhat reserved child who felt a constant rivalry with his brother. He knew that in strength and skill he couldn't match him, but he consoled himself by thinking that in everything else—orderliness, responsibility, discipline—he far surpassed him.
At least, that's what Kakashi believed. What he would think in the future, when he discovered the whole truth about his brother… well, that's something no one can know.