Damn This Sympathy

"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!"

In the cool morning breeze, Senba watched the results of his Earth Release techniques in the courtyard. After sensing how much Chakra he had left, a faint smile touched his lips.

Extracting Chakra and using ninjutsu was the one hobby Senba had pursued relentlessly since coming to this world. Superhuman power was truly captivating.

His branch of the family had mixed blood ever since his grandfather's generation. His grandfather's Forest Clan bloodline was already diluted, and Senba's grandmother had been an ordinary person.

By Senba's generation, he had only Earth and Wind Chakra natures left, which showed that he still had a trace of Forest Clan blood.

His parents, who had died when he was young, had left him only a few Earth Release scrolls as their legacy. After sorting through them, Senba had mastered just three techniques—or rather, those were the only ones suited to his training.

Still, Senba thought he should take another Chakra nature test if he got the chance. A stronger bloodline ought to bring changes to his Chakra natures.

"Clap, clap, clap."

A burst of applause broke the courtyard's silence. Senba turned and saw three figures walking toward him.

"Grandpa Yunhua, it's been a long time."

The man standing before Senba was a kindly old man. His name was unremarkable, and he had no air of authority about him, but Senba knew there was more to him than met the eye.

By chance, Senba had learned from his grandfather that the old man had an older sister named Senju Momoka.

"Little Senba, you've made good progress with your ninjutsu since I last saw you. You cast two C-rank techniques in a row without even breaking a sweat, and your Chakra is growing quickly. Very good, very good."

Senju Yunhua raised his wrinkled right hand and patted Senba on the shoulder. He seemed to sense something, and a look of satisfaction flickered in his eyes.

"Grandpa Yunhua, I'm heading out on a mission, so I'll take my leave. Grandpa's resting in the back. Please go see him."

Senba bowed and started to leave.

"Wait, Little Senba."

Senju Yunhua took a lunch bundle from one of his attendants and placed it in Senba's hands.

"A Ninja's body is essential for training and refining Chakra. You can train better with a full stomach. Go on."

Senba bowed with the bundle in hand, thanked him, and turned to leave.

As he watched Senba's thin figure recede, a trace of guilt appeared on Senju Yunhua's face.

The Senju family had now merged into Konoha, and the clan had grown so large that its resources were spread thin. The clan had emptied its reserves and could only give each family a little bit of supplies. They were doing everything they could just to keep people from dying.

When the Senju Clan had split into separate families, they had already paid a steep price to compensate those who gave up the Senju name. Things had only gone downhill since then, and the clan had very little left in reserve.

He hoped Hiruzen Sarutobi could reach an agreement with the other clans soon.

Thinking of the "Shinobi Hero," Senju Yunhua could only shake his head and walk toward the back garden.

Walking down the street, Senba looked at the wrecked houses around him. He lowered his head and sealed the lunch in his hand inside a miniature scroll. It was a small talent of his: he had a knack for understanding Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Just as Senba was about to head to the rendezvous point to receive a mission, a child's sobs rang out from behind a collapsed building at the street corner, rooting him to the spot.

The child's cries sounded so young. A conflicted look passed through Senba's eyes. He lifted a foot to keep walking, but as the sobs grew louder and louder, he finally gave in and kicked a pebble aside.

"Damn this sympathy. One of these days, it's going to get me killed!"

Grumbling at himself, Senba turned and headed toward the crying.

"Come on, don't cry. Your big brother's right here." Kabuto was still very young and wore glasses, yet his voice was remarkably steady. His white bangs hung neatly over his forehead, and his right arm held a baby girl.

Seven or eight other children huddled close beside him. They were orphans who had been rescued in the days since the disaster began three days ago, and they had been put up in this temporary tent.

Kabuto, who had grown up in an orphanage, had been assigned to look after them for the time being. The other adults had been sent to repair the parts of Konoha that had been destroyed, while the remaining women had to handle support tasks like washing clothes and cooking.

As Kabuto looked at the hungry faces around him, his own stomach growled at the worst possible moment. His gaze dimmed.

"Crack." The sudden sound instantly sharpened Kabuto's expression. His left hand reached behind him, where he kept a Kunai.

Kabuto stared at the white-haired boy approaching them. Although the other boy seemed about his age, the Forehead Protector on his brow told him he was a Ninja.

Senba, who had no idea the boy was the future "dream-maker," Yakushi Kabuto, noticed the wariness in his eyes and stopped five meters away.

Then, under Yakushi Kabuto's confused gaze, Senba pulled out an enormous lunchbox and unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing a lavish spread.

There was sushi, golden tempura, tamagoyaki, fried chicken, and a serving of multigrain rice. The many children present stopped crying at once. Their mouths watered as they stared at the lunch in Senba's hands.

Senba said nothing. He took two pieces of sushi, set the rest on a rock, and then turned to leave.

Watching him walk away, Kabuto realized he had misunderstood. The boy must be as kind as the orphanage director—perhaps he simply wasn't good at expressing himself.

Senba sprinted along the broken street, chewing on a piece of sushi. As he thought back to what had just happened, a chill glinted in his eyes.

"Senba!" A familiar voice made him stop. He looked toward it and saw a peer with a scar on his face.

"Iruka? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be taking care of your parents' funeral arrangements?"

Senba asked, puzzled, as he looked at Iruka's reddened eyes. Iruka's parents had been victims of the disaster, so he shouldn't have been out here.

"Senba, I'm the only one left at home. The village has taken care of my parents' bodies. I thought I could come and help out. Teacher Sarutobi was badly injured and is in the hospital, and Tsuki can't come out because of her status. That leaves just you and me in our squad."

As he said this, tears welled in Iruka's eyes again.

Knowing Iruka's personality, Senba understood why he had come out. More than anything, Iruka was afraid—afraid of being alone. He had always been ostracized as the dead-last, and now both his parents had died. It would be hard for him to stay by himself.

"Come on, Iruka. Let's go take a mission together. With you around, I won't be bored either. Let's go."

Senba patted him on the shoulder and took him to the temporary mission office to receive a new assignment.

In the spacious courtyard, morning dew had darkened the stone paving, while the sand in the dry garden at the corner gleamed white. An old woman with snow-white hair sat beside the veranda's tatami mat. Her face still hinted at the grace she had once possessed, and she looked fondly at the person beside her.

The woman wore a loose dark green robe tied at the waist. A tight inner garment hugged her tall, curvy figure, and her muscular arm lifted a bottle of sake to her lips.

She was none other than Hime Tsunade, one of the Konoha Sannin.

But when she saw the old woman's kind gaze, Tsunade smacked her lips and set the sake down, looking at her with some exasperation.

"Grandma Momoka, you urgently called me back for the sake of treating the wounded from the Nine-Tails' Rampage, didn't you? You know I have hemophobia. Even if I come back, I'll just be a figurehead."

Hearing the faint melancholy in Tsunade's voice, Senju Momoka, the oldest and most senior member of the Senju family still in charge, gently patted Tsunade on the head. She had survived the Warring States period.

"Little Tsunade, you don't have to treat anyone yourself. Just stand in the hospital where people can see you. A few words of advice from you will be invaluable to them. Shizune has been learning from you for so long; this is a perfect chance for her to put her skills into practice, isn't it?"

"And, Little Tsunade, you've been away from home for so many years. Sometimes, you should come back and visit this useless old woman. I don't know how many years I have left. I just hope that when you grow tired out there, you'll remember that someone is waiting for you at home. Come back and visit more often."

"Grandma Momoka, I..."

Tsunade looked at the kind old woman before her, and her voice fell quiet. Perhaps it was only in this old woman's presence that Tsunade let herself act like a daughter.

Just then, footsteps sounded. Tsunade instinctively composed herself and looked up.

Senju Yunhua slid open the door and saw two figures in the courtyard. He stopped in surprise, then brightened when he saw that one of them was Tsunade.

"Tsunade's back! Wonderful! With you in charge, Konoha will surely recover in no time—"

"Yunhua!"

Senju Yunhua had been cut off by his older sister. It seemed he had just remembered himself, because he immediately lowered his head and stood to the side without saying another word.

Tsunade showed none of the warmth toward Senju Yunhua that she did toward Grandma Momoka. Given Tsunade's status and talents, only Senju Momoka, who had fought alongside the First and Second Hokage on the battlefield, could command her respect.

"Little Tsunade, you've just returned. Go get some rest first. We'll talk about the medical work tomorrow."

Knowing Grandma Momoka didn't want her to get caught up in Konoha's turmoil again, Tsunade obediently nodded, picked up the sake, and left.

That left the two old people facing each other in the courtyard.