Returning to the Village

"Kaede, Tong, did you finish over there so quickly?" Hakuya asked with some disappointment as he watched the two come over to him.

"You're really good, Hakuya. Look, I'm injured, and it was only because Kaede helped me that we finished so quickly." Tong spoke up to explain. She could tell that Hakuya was a very hardworking person, and she couldn't let her teammate lose confidence.

"Hakuya, none of that matters. Let's gather up the bandits' belongings. It's time to head back to the village." Kaede treated his teammates well. Hakuya might seem brash, but he was considerate—a good teammate. Kaede didn't want to lose someone so dependable.

As a Genin squad, they naturally had a Jonin Instructor to accompany them on missions outside the village. Their instructor, however, was rather irresponsible. After leading them out of the village, he'd gone off to enjoy himself.

"Yo! Nice work. You three have improved a lot," Mingye called cheerfully from where he sat crouched atop a tree, looking as lazy as ever.

He's so annoying. His manner made Kaede dislike him even more.

Kaede shot Mingye a sidelong glance. Only now did he understand just how unreliable the man was. He'd brought them out of the village for a mission, then snuck off to have fun, leaving the three of them to complete it alone.

After the mission was done, their Jonin Instructor still got the biggest share of the reward. He had the air of a heartless boss. How could Kaede not hate him?

"Let's see what the mission paid. Looks like it was worth quite a bit. Let me work out how much I'll get. Oh, my! Tens of thousands of ryo. My little nest egg is going to grow again."

Mingye didn't care about Kaede's glare. Instead, he made a show of calculating the reward right in front of him, making Kaede's eyes blaze with anger while leaving him nowhere to vent it.

"Hahaha! You brats, we're heading back to the village!" Mingye laughed.

His son was getting stronger and stronger. In a few years, he'd probably be about as strong as Mingye himself. By then, he wouldn't be easy to discipline. Mingye was happy to take advantage of the time while Kaede was still young and give him a hard time.

I really don't get it. Have kids these days all gotten this strong? Mingye thought to himself.

His son Kaede was unquestionably the strongest of their generation. White Fang's son, Kakashi, had already become a Chunin, and the Uchiha had produced another celebrated young talent, Uchiha Shisui. They were all part of the younger generation.

Those kids barely into their teens were putting quite a bit of pressure on old-timers like them.

Tong and Hakuya watched the father and son trading barbs and quietly laughed. They were used to it by now.

"Uncle Mingye, once we get back, how long will it be before we go on another mission?" The pretty Tong asked the question that had been on Kaede's mind.

"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll have at least a month to rest before the next mission," Mingye replied.

He and his wife both liked Tong very much. They treated her like their own daughter.

Even at their speed, it would take quite a while to get back to Konoha from the Land of Fire Border.

"We're finally back. It really is nice to be home!" Hakuya said.

Standing at the gates of Konoha, they all felt the same way. Even if Konoha mistreated them a thousand times, they would still love it like their first love. That was what it felt like to be home.

After confirming their identities, they entered the village. The guards at the gate were from the Uchiha and the Barrier Team. The Konoha Military Police was the Uchiha's one claim to importance.

In truth, it was a hybrid of city inspectors and city guards. So it wasn't without reason that the villagers disliked the Uchiha. Putting a bunch of arrogant hotheads in charge of this sort of work was bound to make the people resent them.

It was all the handiwork of that cunning Tobirama. One had to admit that, among the Hokage, the one who had truly mastered the art of politics was the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.

He understood human nature and people's hearts down to the smallest detail. Konoha owed its lasting success to him and the system he had established. Many of Konoha's institutions—the Anbu, the ninja squad system, and the Ninja Academy, for instance—had been founded by him and later adopted by the ninja villages of the other great nations.

He had opened the way for the Shinobi World's development and was unquestionably its leading figure. Perhaps he was simply too devious. He always seemed to think that people were out to get him and couldn't trust anyone, so he never had a wife, not even by the time he died.

Kaede thought this with some malice as he returned to the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

After saying goodbye to Tong and Hakuya, he went into the house with his father. Their mother, Xiang, was waiting for them eagerly.

"Xiang, why did you come out? Hurry back inside. You're at a critical stage right now, so you mustn't catch a chill." The moment Mingye saw his wife, he hurried to escort her back to her room.

"Hmph! It's all your fault, both of you. You're exactly alike—thoughtless. Every time you go out, you're gone for ten days or half a month, leaving me home alone..."

Xiang went on and on, while the two men in the family hung their heads and slumped their shoulders, not daring to provoke her. Once she finally tired herself out, she yawned and said,

"I'll let you off for today. Good thing I'm clever. If I don't have you two around to keep me company, I can just have another child." Xiang stroked her swollen belly, her maternal love overflowing.

"Especially you, Kaede. You've grown up and stopped listening to me, so I had to give you another little brother or sister. You don't mind, do you?" Xiang shot Mingye a sideways glance, then turned to Kaede.

"No, not at all."

Seeing the fire about to spread to him, he hurried to explain.

He wiped away his cold sweat. His mother's temper was especially fierce while she was pregnant, and he didn't dare provoke her. Right now, she was the family's most precious treasure.

Actually, having a little brother or sister to keep her company would be a pretty good idea.

He was already ten, and in a few days he'd be eleven. He was about 1.5 meters tall, making him fairly big for his age.

Thanks to the power of the Divine Body Rune, he never got sick, had boundless energy, and was developing well. His only shortcoming was that his... equipment hadn't finished developing yet.

He was always busy with missions alongside his father, and he still had to train when he got home. In a few years, he might even have to go to war. He simply didn't have enough time to keep his lonely mother company.

"Mother, I'm going to head back and rest."

With that, he hurried to his feet and left, escaping his mother's mental assault and leaving everything to his irresponsible father.

"Uncle Teuchi, a bowl of ramen, please!"

After washing away the dust of the road, Kaede went to Ichiraku Ramen to fill his stomach first. He certainly didn't want to eat his father's dark cuisine.

"Kaede! You're back from a mission?" Teuchi asked happily, his eyes narrowing as he placed a bowl of ramen on Kaede's table.

"Uncle, business seems to be getting better and better lately. How much can we make this month?"

"Making money isn't the most important thing. The true purpose of Ichiraku Ramen is to bring people happiness with delicious food, Kaede," Teuchi said to him with a serious expression.

"Ahaha... I was just curious."

"I haven't worked it out yet, but we should make twice as much as last month," Teuchi whispered to Kaede.

"Tsk, tsk! Investing in a restaurant and running it yourself really is the most profitable business." Kaede sighed.

Ichiraku Ramen had grown from the tiny shack it once was into a restaurant with a huge dining hall, still located in the busiest part of Konoha.

And that was the result of the partnership between Teuchi and Kaede.