The Young Master Brought a Girl

On the massive gates of Konohagakure are carved two giant characters: "A" and "Hum."

"A" is the word of beginning, and "Hum" is the word of ending.

Based on the "A-Hum" concept that governs the start and the finish, these characters were carved to embody the prayer that those who leave on missions might return safely, as well as the hope for the village's prosperity and the end of all strife.

These words, inherited from the Sage, were a creative arrangement by Senju Hashirama, who was well-versed in Sage Arts.

Members of Team Six, including Diejian, having returned from completing their mission, felt a sense of relief upon seeing those massive gates and the slightly goofy-looking characters.

"We finally made it..."

"Juri, a mission isn't over until you've returned home safely."

"Sensei, don't make it sound like a field trip; it'll only make people let their guard down."

Team Six had been active for quite some time now, and they had accumulated a fair number of missions under their belts.

A cool breeze, carrying the dry chill of winter, stole the warmth from their exhausted bodies.

Passing through the gate and stepping over the threshold, Juri set the massive backpack she had been carrying onto the ground.

Kagami, unaccustomed to Juri's slovenly demeanor, offered a word of admonition, while Diejian couldn't help but let out a snicker.

Compared to the two who looked utterly drained, Sakumo stood beside Kagami with a calm expression. He looked at Juri, who was sitting with her hands on her knees, and Diejian, who was standing next to her, and gave a helpless shrug.

"Every single day, repeating the same things—even I get tired of it. Not physically, but mentally."

Juri, who had been looking down, lazily raised her face, while Sakumo tilted his head with a look of having reached his limit.

It was unclear whether he meant to show understanding for Juri's sentiment or was telling her to stop complaining.

On the other hand, hearing Juri's words, Diejian raised an eyebrow in slight embarrassment; seeing this, Kagami spoke up:

"This is a long-term contract mission, so it can't be helped. Besides, I believe this is a high-quality assignment."

"Since it was a mission directly commissioned by the Hokage, the pay is also quite good. I think it's a good job."

To Sakumo, who followed up on Kagami's point, Juri responded vaguely: "I know that..."

Currently, the members of Team Six were executing a specific long-term mission.

It was the project Diejian and Tobirama had discussed previously, concerning the construction of the massive statues of Hashirama and Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End.

When they first received the mission, Juri had been full of motivation because she could participate in the creation of the statues of the strongest men of the Uchiha clan, but now she was in this state.

But there was a reason for this.

"But really, Hatake Sakumo, don't you think it lacks a bit of elegance?"

"Well, although lately, all we've been doing is delivering bento boxes to the craftsmen."

When the mission began, the "Waterfall of the End," which served as the site, was still in its original state from when Hashirama and Uchiha Madara fought—it was in a state of ruin.

A massive lake lay silent in the center of the forest, with a rift valley seemingly cleaving it in two.

That rift was so magnificent it seemed to stretch from one end of the land to the other; it was the scar of battle left behind by the death match between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

It had once been a dangerous valley, deep and bottomless, like an abyss symbolizing Uchiha Madara, but after the passage of long years, it had turned into a river.

However, being unpaved and unrefined, it was prone to flooding.

The area near the waterfall, which served as the carving site, was the same; even the craftsmen who had once carved the Hokage Face Rock could not begin work immediately.

Therefore, the initial mission assigned to Team Six was to prepare the site so the craftsmen could work safely.

Diejian, who could not use Earth Style ninjutsu, and Juri, who didn't know how to use it at all, were responsible for using wheelbarrows to transport the earth and sand generated by Sakumo and Kagami's preparation work to a disposal site.

Sakumo, Diejian, and Kagami even used Shadow Clones to increase work efficiency, but it took over half a year just to prepare the river from the lake to the waterfall, and only recently had the craftsmen's carving work finally begun.

Once the carving started, they had to remain on-site, responsible for the craftsmen's safety and standing by as a rescue team in case of an emergency.

Every day, near noon, two members of Team Six would quickly return to the village to bring back hot bento boxes.

After the bento was finished, they had to collect the empty boxes from the numerous workers, wash them downstream, and put them into their large backpacks, waiting until the day's work ended.

Even Diejian, who had volunteered for the mission, wanted to say, "I never expected it to be like this," but the ninjas of Team Six were complete amateurs at carving and could not participate in the creation of these two great statues, which served as a show of force for the village.

"A miscalculation" was the line for Diejian and Juri; "That's to be expected" was the line for Sakumo and Kagami.

"Well, tomorrow is a rare day off. Why don't we all go out for a meal together as Team Six?"

"Why should I be so unlucky as to spend my rare day off with a Senju?"

Spring, summer, and autumn passed, and as winter arrived, Juri's attitude toward Diejian hadn't changed much.

Having heard Kagami say, "This is probably just her way of acting tough; could you please wait for her a little longer?" Diejian displayed the tolerance of an adult.

Sakumo also continued to observe Juri, who challenged Diejian but was always easily handled. From the details of her behavior, he seemed to have sensed something in the foolishness that was likely Juri's true nature, and the initial tension had quietly subsided.

"Sorry, Diejian. It's not like Juri's case, but I have plans tomorrow as well."

"Is that so? Kagami-sensei, you..."

"I have some business to attend to as well."

"I see—"

The result was that Diejian, having been rejected by everyone, felt a bit dejected; Juri, meanwhile, let out a "Wuhahahaha" laugh, sweeping away her fatigue and looking incredibly happy.

Listening to Juri's "Wu-ho, wu-ho, wu-ho" laughter, which sounded like she was choking, Diejian gave the back of her head a light, crisp slap.

"What do you think you're doing--!"

Ignoring Juri, who was clutching her head with a face flushed bright red, Diejian headed off to submit his mission report; Kagami and Sakumo followed behind him with wry smiles.

"Senju--!"

Without looking back, Diejian sidestepped Juri's flying kick and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Having seemingly mastered how to deal with Juri over the past six months, Diejian was becoming increasingly adept at gauging the boundaries of their friendly banter and horseplay.

Although it was an indescribable kind of friendship, Diejian thought to himself that getting closer over time wasn't a bad thing.

Diejian had always laughed off Juri's words and actions, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Compromising to maintain a good relationship wasn't necessarily wrong, but being unhappy was, well, being unhappy.

Unlike his grandfather, who was naturally optimistic and full of benevolence, Diejian couldn't truly laugh off everything Juri said or did.

Rather than secretly complaining and letting stress accumulate, perhaps getting angry when it was called for and clashing with each other's feelings would lead to a better relationship.

It was different from his friendship with Sakumo or his relationship with Ina—was this what you called "fighting friends"? Diejian felt this kind of dynamic wasn't bad at all.

★

"Well then, I'll be heading off."

After finishing the day's mission report and returning the backpack containing their lunchboxes to the person in charge, Sakumo was the first to walk briskly toward home.

"Hm? Does that guy have somewhere urgent to be?"

"He's got all sorts of things going on, don't worry about him."

"Mm-hmm—"

Diejian offered a wry smile to comfort Juri, who was tilting her head while watching Sakumo's retreating figure.

Although Juri's attitude remained the same, there had been slight changes as they operated as a team.

She had begun to take an interest in her teammates' actions, and something akin to possessiveness had begun to sprout.

While he felt this was a good trend, he also thought, So it starts here, huh—Diejian found it to be an interesting memory.

After spending time with Juri, his impression of her was that she was just like a pure child.

The mask she wore to protect herself had become a stubborn and difficult-to-remove shell, but on the inside, one could see the desire to show her true, frank self.

She's similar to me in that regard, Diejian felt a bit embarrassed, but on the other hand, he smiled wryly at the difficulty of closing the distance with her.

He couldn't help but feel great admiration for Hashirama and Ina, who had successfully "conquered" his own heart.

"I have a meeting with the Hokage afterward. Juri, you should head back first."

"I was going to go back anyway without you telling me!"

"Right, right. Diejian, sorry, could you trouble yourself to see Juri home?"

Beside the nodding Diejian, Juri's eyes widened with a "click," her face turning fierce.

"I don't need anything like that!"

"That's the situation, I'm counting on you, Diejian."

"I said I don't need it!"

Kagami suddenly pulled his wallet from his pocket, extracted a few bills, and shoved them into Diejian's hand.

"I'll likely be tied up until quite late, so I'd like you two to eat dinner out. This should be enough to cover Diejian's share as well."

"Is this alright, Sensei?"

Indeed, the amount was quite generous for a single dinner, and Diejian's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why aren't you giving it to me!"

To the shouting Juri, Kagami said bluntly, "If I gave it to you, you'd only buy snacks!" He then rubbed Juri's soft cheeks with his hands as if scolding a child.

Watching Juri, whose forehead was flushed red from shame and indignation, Diejian laughed inwardly: I should try this on Tsunade sometime.

"Why do I have to eat with a Senju... and just the two of us, at that!?"

"If not, would you rather eat with the Hokage and me as a trio?"

"Let's go, Senju! Don't dawdle!"

Ever since the Genin promotion exam, Juri, who held a deep psychological trauma regarding Tobirama, reacted instantly.

She spun around and went tap-tap-tap down the hallway.

"Sorry about that, she's just not very honest with herself."

"I understand."

Diejian returned a smile to the dejected Kagami, bowed his head with a "pardon me," and chased after Juri.

"So, what do you want to eat?"

The twilight street.

Diejian and Shuri walked side by side, brushing past the flow of passersby.

Diejian watched the twin-tails bouncing and swaying at the edge of his vision, suppressing the urge to reach out and tug on them. This developed self-control was thanks to the "teachings" of Ina and Tsunade, who had once been victims of his habit.

Though he wasn't a cat, Diejian truly had a compulsion to pull at anything that moved.

What a bad habit, he reflected, while simultaneously feeling that if something swayed slightly in his field of vision, he would always be drawn to it, feeling restless.

"Can't you even decide something like this? To rely on a woman, you really are pathetic!"

"I was just asking for an opinion, why must you take it this far?"

The two were neither on a date, nor in that kind of relationship.

To be told he couldn't take the lead and wasn't acting like a man was truly unreasonable.

Diejian squinted over, half-resigned and half-amused, pretending not to notice the slight upward curve of Shuri's lips as he turned his gaze toward the restaurants lining the street.

Seeing the sign for "Konoha Set Meal Shop," Diejian said, "Let's go here," and stopped in his tracks.

This was a shop with delicious mushroom rice. Diejian loved their mushroom rice; it was a hidden gem he had been frequenting since the era of Hashirama.

"Excuse us—"

"Oh, oh, welcome... my, if it isn't the young master!"

"Long time no see, proprietress."

Hearing Diejian's voice, a slow, leisurely response drifted from inside the shop.

Immediately after, the door curtain was lifted, and a plump, middle-aged woman appeared.

It was none other than the proprietress of the Konoha Set Meal Shop.

"Is the usual mushroom rice still available?"

"Of course, it's our signature dish. By the way... young master, who is this beside you?"

"This is Miss Uchiha Shuri, from my genin squad. Her family is out for work tonight, so I brought her along."

"Oh my, and here I thought you only ever brought little Ina. You're quite the ladies' man, young master! Hey, old man! Old man!! The young master brought a girl here!!!"

"Huh? Doesn't little Ina come here all the time... What!? Diejian, you rascal, you've got game!"

The owner, who had poked his head out from behind the curtain, saw Shuri and wore an expression as happy as if it were his own business.

To the couple who had known Diejian since his childhood days of clinging to Hashirama, the feeling was like parents seeing their son bring a girl home.

"Come, come, right this way."

"U-u, u-u, u-u?"

Shuri, grabbed by the arm by the proprietress, blinked at the sudden situation and was led away without any resistance.

Remembering that it was the same scene when he first brought Ina—Diejian recalled the back of Ina being led away just like this, and smiled at the familiar behavior of the shopkeepers.

Shuri was seated at the most luxurious table in the back, and Diejian sat opposite her, legs crossed on the tatami mat.

Diejian told Shuri, who was staring at the menu, that they could basically make any home-style dish, so she should feel free to order whatever she liked.

"If it's salmon rice balls, they'll probably make them if you ask."

"Really! Then I'll have three!"

"Proprietress, one mushroom rice set, and three salmon rice ball sets, please."

"Coming right up!"

After ordering from the proprietress who brought over hot towels, he wiped his hands to warm them up.

For once, Shuri didn't complain, though he guessed she would start saying something unpleasant again in a little while.

Because it's warm here, Diejian thought, glancing with a touch of nostalgia at Shuri, who was still staring at the menu, as he waited for the meal to arrive.

After a while, freshly made, steaming hot tsukudani and stir-fried dishes were served.

Diejian mentioned the portions were too large and worried he wouldn't have enough money, but the proprietress laughed and replied that it was on the house.

She seemed to love Shuri's twin-tails and took care of her with extra enthusiasm.

Shuri was "ah-woo, ah-woo-ing" in confusion, her face flushed red, but she let the proprietress fuss over her regardless.

Ginger really is spicier when it's old, Diejian thought, feeling a sense of defeat at this level of tolerance he couldn't hope to match, and took a small sip of the hot miso soup.

When they finished eating and left the shop, Shuri kept her head down, looking reluctant to leave.

Diejian and the proprietress waited for a while without rushing the hesitant Shuri. Finally, with flushed cheeks, Shuri shyly whispered, "...Thanks for the meal."

The proprietress smiled happily, gave Shuri a candy ball, and said, "Come back again."

Watching Shuri nod obediently and say "Mhm," Diejian couldn't help but wonder, Who is this person? but he was still happy to see a new side of her.

An indescribable sense of fatherly or brotherly affection welled up in his heart, much like how he felt toward his younger sister Tsunade, and Diejian playfully, gently patted Shuri on the head.

After apologizing to Shuri, who had returned to her usual "Don't touch me!" state, Diejian urged her to head home.

The back of Shuri as she started to walk away looked somewhat lonely.

To Diejian's comment, "Let's come eat together again next time," Shuri huffed unhappily.

However, "If I were to come with you, I'd rather just come by myself!" she shouted over her shoulder, though Diejian did not fail to notice her burning red ears.