Won't Leave

Tsunade watched the boy walking slowly toward her, his head bowed as if lost in thought, and a wave of fury surged within her.

She had spent the entire day worried sick about him, only for him to appear before her now looking as if nothing had happened at all!

Beside herself with rage, Tsunade let her anger boil over and her malice take root; she broke into a sprint, clenched her fist, and charged straight at Yuya.

Hearing the commotion, Yuya looked up, spotted Tsunade, and after a brief moment of surprise, said softly, "Tsunade..."

Tsunade froze, then slowly came to a halt.

Brother Yuya today...

Ahem, this guy wasn't her brother; he was a jerk.

However...

Tsunade noticed Yuya's complexion was poor, and he was looking past her toward the people behind her. She turned her head to find Jiraiya and Orochimaru following in her wake.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, the urge to punch Yuya vanishing, and she pouted at the two of them. "Why are you following me?"

Little Jiraiya ignored Tsunade, stepping past her to reach Yuya. He grabbed Yuya's hand, his eyes shining with excitement. "Big Brother! Big Brother, you're truly amazing! You actually wounded the Second Raikage and single-handedly bought enough time for the ninja forces to retreat!"

Yuya gave a bitter smile. He had indeed wounded the Raikage, and the troops had indeed retreated, but it had nothing to do with him.

The Raikage's attack had been a surprise raid; once Senju Tobirama reacted, it would have been impossible for the Raikage to wipe out the frontline ninjas (though killing Yuya alone might have been possible), so a safe retreat was always on the table. Furthermore, if not for the need to protect Yuya, Senju Tobirama could have easily launched a counterattack.

But Yuya was too important; that possibility didn't exist.

Strictly speaking, Yuya had played a role, but it was mostly due to Senju Tobirama's command.

Yet, Senju Tobirama had focused all the credit on him alone...

Yuya knew that Senju Tobirama was paving the way for him.

Yuya had been sent back to Konoha by Senju Tobirama's men, arriving just yesterday, along with Sarutobi Hiruzen and Kagami Uchiha.

The two of them had been severely wounded while trying to cover Yuya's retreat—truly severe wounds. Yuya, on a whim, had covered his body in gold, which acted like a bulletproof vest and provided some protection.

However, because gold is highly conductive, the Raikage's Lightning Release chakra—even though it only covered the Raikage himself—had still left Yuya's scalp tingling.

It was a double-edged sword, to say the least.

But without the gold's blockage, Yuya would have been dead or at least half-crippled.

There was no way he would be able to stand up right now.

Konoha's medical facilities were quite pathetic at the moment; there wasn't even a systematic medical corps, not even Madara had one.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. Yuya looked up, forced a smile for the three little ones, and took them to the most luxurious barbecue restaurant in Konoha.

Well, it was one Yuya owned himself.

Tsunade and Jiraiya immediately ordered dozens of plates of meat without hesitation. Yuya ignored them and looked at Orochimaru.

"Aren't you going to order?"

The still-small Orochimaru looked at Yuya with confusion. "Brother Yuya, you seem very strange today."

Yuya's heart skipped a beat. He forced a few laughs and gestured that having survived the battlefield, he felt the meaning of life was to be well-fed every day; otherwise, wouldn't it be pathetic to die without having enjoyed a good meal?

Little Orochimaru nodded, half-understanding, and began dipping his meat in sauce.

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn't know how to bring up the subject.

When reading the manga in his past life, he only knew that Orochimaru's parents had died in this war.

But Yuya had never known exactly when.

But now...

Yuya knew.

And...

He knew clearly that Orochimaru's parents had died during the Second Raikage's raid, which had been aimed at him.

Yuya felt a sense of guilt in his heart.

If he hadn't gone... would Orochimaru's parents have died?

Perhaps they still would have, but it certainly wouldn't have been because of him.

Then he could have consoled himself.

But now...

Halfway through the meal, little Jiraiya realized something, pointing at Yuya with a suspicious look. "Big Brother, don't tell me...

You're hiding another way to eat this that you haven't told us about?"

Well, so much for his "realization."

Children didn't have that much guile.

Last time, Yuya had kept the dipping sauce a secret from the little ones, only to whip up a bowl of fragrant seasoning for himself once they were full, eating until his mouth was glistening with oil.

This time, little Jiraiya felt he had learned his lesson.

He definitely wouldn't settle for eating plain barbecue until he was full like last time.

Yuya was slightly taken aback, then shook his head. He looked at Jiraiya, then at Orochimaru, and gave a gentle smile: "You're right, I do indeed have another way to eat this grilled meat."

Little Jiraiya excitedly raised his hand: "I knew it! I knew it!"

Yuya instructed the waiter to bring a serving of flatbreads, then picked one up to demonstrate for the three little ones.

Use the flatbread to wrap the grilled meat, adding several slices at once, and if you like vegetables, you can tuck in some of your favorites.

The three little ones had never seen this way of eating before.

And so, the three of them ate until their mouths were glistening with grease.

Even Tsunade found Yuya much more agreeable than before.

As they were parting ways, little Orochimaru mentioned he was going to the Commercial Street to buy a bag of rice for an elderly neighbor, but Yuya called out to him just as he was about to leave.

"Orochimaru... would you be willing to be my younger brother?" Yuya said this with complete sincerity.

Regardless of how Orochimaru ended up in the original manga—betraying the village, killing his master, conducting human experiments...

But now, Yuya had an obligation to look after him.

Or rather...

He had an obligation to look after the families of the more than one hundred ninjas who had died because of him.

Orochimaru looked at Yuya in confusion. Seeing that Yuya's expression didn't look like he was joking, his instinct was to refuse, but Jiraiya, standing to the side, raised his hand: "Big Brother! Can I be your younger brother too?!"

Yuya's face darkened with frustration; this troublesome kid...

Forget it, forget it.

Yuya sighed and waved them off with a look of feigned annoyance: "Fine, fine, fine. From now on, you two are my younger brothers. You can run wild in Konoha; if you get into trouble, just drop my name, alright?"

Little Jiraiya's eyes lit up as he looked at Yuya: "Then, Big Brother! Can we eat such delicious food again in the future? Once a week—no, once every half month! No! Once a month is fine!"

Yuya looked at Jiraiya and shook his head with a chuckle.

Just as little Jiraiya was starting to look disappointed, Yuya spoke up: "If you want to... you can come every day from now on."

Having said that, Yuya turned and left, and Tsunade hurriedly followed—the two were heading in the same direction.

Behind them, Jiraiya shouted in excitement.

Tsunade followed beside Yuya with her hands behind her back, pouting as she muttered: "You say that so easily, but it's been months since you last saw us, hasn't it? And this time you even left the village, to... to... Hmph, anyway, who knows when you'll leave the village again."

Watching the ponytail behind Tsunade's head sway with her steps, Yuya fell silent. A moment later, he spoke softly: "I won't anymore."

Tsunade looked up at Yuya in confusion.

"I won't anymore," Yuya repeated, though this time, he was saying it to himself.

"I won't leave again." Yuya lifted his head, looking at the brilliant sunset in the sky, and whispered:

"Never again."

Tsunade stared blankly at the boy who was a head taller than her, feeling as though something had shifted within her heart...

"Alright," Yuya lowered his head to look at Tsunade, smiling as he said, "You head back first. Your big brother here still has things to take care of today."

The pleasant mood that had just begun to rise instantly dissipated. Tsunade looked at Yuya speechlessly: "You really are busy, aren't you? Are you going to disappear for months starting tomorrow?"

Yuya chuckled: "Of course not. Hmph, wait for me after school tomorrow; I'll definitely come by to treat you all to grilled meat again."

Tsunade blinked, then extended her pinky finger: "Pinky swear."

After the two hands, not so different in size, finished the pinky swear, Yuya smiled and parted ways with Tsunade.

Then, as he turned to leave, his expression turned cold.

He had to go resolve the root cause of his current situation.

Note 1: In the original Naruto story, Tsunade and Dan Katō first took a liking to each other at a Konoha medical team discussion conference. At that time, Tsunade was already in her twenties, and Nawaki was already a Genin. However, anyone who has completed nine years of compulsory education knows what the advancement of medicine can bring to a country. It is a field that truly benefits all people. And putting aside the abstract idea of benefiting others, to be practical, the social value provided by a healthy person is certainly greater than that of a sickly one. These are tangible benefits.