"It didn't exactly count as that..."
Facing Chiba's wry smile and his somewhat helpless tone, the woman shook her head and spoke.
She was not capable of tricking the ninja before her.
She had only always harbored some doubts.
In her memories, she retained some impression of her benefactor's team and knew that her benefactor had been carrying out a mission with a team at the time.
It was just that her attention had been focused on the rations and money in the swaddling clothes, as well as memorizing her benefactor's appearance within the limited time she had.
She had not paid much attention to anything else back then.
Still, although she had not paid much attention, that day had been the greatest turning point in her life. Even though she had been young, the impression was one she could remember for a lifetime.
Even now, her benefactor's appearance remained as clear as if she had seen him yesterday. She even often recalled the cool way he had suddenly turned his head and left without looking back.
Though lately, she had increasingly felt that her benefactor's hurried turn back then had been because he was a little embarrassed.
A little shy.
Thinking about it, he had been a little cute.
As for the teammates beside her benefactor, they would always flash through her mind whenever she thought of him.
Or rather, she had deliberately been strengthening her memories of that brief glimpse.
Yes, when her benefactor had turned his head, she had caught a fleeting glimpse of his teammates.
And she had always consciously deepened that impression.
Because even then, she had known that if she wanted to find that boy—her benefactor—in the future, knowing neither his name nor anything beyond the fact that he was a Konoha ninja was