Prodigal Son

"Mitaraishi Anko?!"

Yuehua Ai blinked, suspicion rising in his heart. He couldn't help taking another careful look at the girl in front of him.

Anko was about his age, and an inch or two shorter. Her bright eyes, set in a pretty, oval face, made her seem even more lively. A spark of mischief danced in her light-brown eyes, giving her a clever, spirited air. Her hair was black too, but unlike his deep, inky black, hers was a lighter shade, like the unique color where dawn met night. It fell nearly to her shoulders, with bangs parted down the middle to reveal her whole face. The hair at the back was tied up like a peacock's tail, lending a touch of boldness to her otherwise demure appearance.

Anko hadn't yet acquired the mischievous air she'd have in the future. Since they'd met, her moods had been easy to read, and she hadn't shown any of the bizarre behavior she was known for in the anime.

He never would've guessed that the eccentric Mitaraishi Anko of the future had once been such an adorable little girl!

The transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional was truly amazing! Yuehua Ai rubbed his chin and sighed to himself.

"...You... Why are you making that face?"

Seeing Yuehua Ai's strange expression, Anko asked in confusion.

Her parents had casually named her after a food, sure, but... there wasn't anything weird about that, was there?

The look on his face had kept changing ever since he heard her name, leaving Mitaraishi Anko even more puzzled.

This guy wasn't just a bad person—he was a weirdo, too! Anko silently added another label to Yuehua Ai.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something else."

Yuehua Ai laughed it off.

"Thinking about something else?! Hmph, you're awful."

After they'd exchanged names, Anko had thought about chatting a little more, but the moment Yuehua Ai said he was thinking about something else, she lost all interest in getting to know him! So after those words, she turned to leave again.

After all, they'd only met by chance. Any talk of having things in common or feeling like they'd known each other forever would've been nonsense. Whether it was a misunderstanding or a prank, they'd cleared things up now, and there wasn't much else to talk about.

"Hey, Anko, wait a second!"

Seeing her turn away, Yuehua Ai called after her again.

"What do you want now?" Anko looked back at him, thoroughly exasperated.

"..." Yuehua Ai looked a little sheepish.

Seeing Anko's reaction, Yuehua Ai thought he'd left her with too poor an impression earlier. He didn't realize that his dismissive reply was what had killed her interest in talking!

Heaven help him. Having spent his whole previous life as a textbook loner, Xiao Ai had no idea what women were really thinking. Even now, he was still completely clueless about what he'd done wrong!

He held out the bag of glutinous rice balls. "Here, take these. Think of them as an apology."

"No!"

Anko immediately took a step back, looking at the bag in Yuehua Ai's hand as though it were a venomous snake.

Seeing her reaction, Yuehua Ai felt another pang of guilt. Thinking that he, a grown man, had done something like that to a little girl made him burn with shame. If Teacher Jiraiya and the others found out, he had no idea how much they'd tease him.

"I bought these for you in the first place. I only teased you on a whim earlier. If you're willing to forgive me, please take them."

Yuehua Ai wore an utterly sincere expression.

Anko pursed her lips. "I still don't want them!"

"Ah, well, I guess there's nothing I can do..."

With a feigned sigh, Yuehua Ai reached into the bag and pulled out the skewer of dumplings Anko had bitten into. He waved it in front of her, then pretended to take a bite of the half-eaten dumpling.

"Hey, stop, stop, stop! I bit that! How can you..."

She knew he was doing it on purpose, but seeing the dumpling still marked with her bite made her feel terribly embarrassed.

"So, do you want it or not?"

Yuehua Ai no longer looked sincere at all. He smiled at her teasingly.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll take it, okay?!"

Jerk, bully, shameless, thick-skinned!

Anko puffed out her cheeks, cursing him silently as she walked over to Yuehua Ai, taking a few reluctant steps along the way. She took the dumpling and the bag he held out, then put the dumpling back inside. Only after she saw that he wasn't going to tease her again did she relax a little.

"All right, see you!"

Yuehua Ai smiled and waved at Anko.

"See you..." Anko replied with a stiff smile. But the moment she turned around, her expression fell. She silently added, See you, see you—hopefully never again!

After Anko left, Yuehua Ai felt no longing or reluctance at all. He bought a few more skewers of dumplings from the Dango Shop, then headed back to the place he shared with Jiraiya.

By now, the things he'd bought should've been delivered.

Yuehua Ai took a bite of a dumpling, chewing as he quietly estimated the time.

"Whoosh!" He tossed the bamboo skewer into the trash can across the street with perfect accuracy. Smacking his lips as he savored the taste, Yuehua Ai decided the glutinous rice dumplings were delicious and well worth trying again.

When Yuehua Ai returned home, he found that most of the things he'd bought had already been delivered downstairs. By the time he'd hauled everything upstairs, the rest of the deliveries had arrived too.

A few of the delivery workers were especially helpful. They not only arranged the items for him, but also helped tidy up the room.

By noon, Yuehua Ai had not only stocked up on all the daily necessities, but also replaced several of the major furnishings. The wardrobe, dining table, and tatami mats in both bedrooms and the living room were all brand-new.

Looking around the freshly renovated house, Yuehua Ai nodded with satisfaction. It was definitely much better than before.

After the contractors finished repairing the door lock and walls, Jiraiya returned not long afterward.

Jiraiya was already surprised to see the door and walls repaired from outside. An eight-year-old managing to find contractors and get them to fix everything on his own wasn't something just anyone could do. But when he stepped inside and saw that the furniture and decorations were completely different from before he'd left, he was stunned.

"Teacher Jiraiya, what do you think?" As soon as Jiraiya came in, Yuehua Ai gestured around and asked for his opinion.

"Uh... It's great, it's great, but..."

Jiraiya looked around the living room again. Good grief, not only had the walls been touched up, most of the furniture had been replaced too.

It did look nice, but one thought made Jiraiya's teeth ache. He asked uncertainly, "Xiao Ai, after all this renovation, how much money do we have left?"

"We...?" Those two words gave Yuehua Ai a bad feeling!

"There's none left..." He spread his hands helplessly and finally told the truth.

"None left? All twenty thousand ryo is gone?"

Jiraiya's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"Uh... Not all of it. We should still have two or three hundred ryo left..."

Yuehua Ai forced the words out.

"Two or three hundred?!" As if all the energy had been drained from him, Jiraiya sank helplessly onto the brand-new tatami, close to tears.

"Teacher Jiraiya, was that all your savings?"

Seeing Jiraiya look utterly despondent, Yuehua Ai asked in disbelief.

Jiraiya shot his student a withering look, then said in a hollow voice, full of resentment, "That's right!"

"How is that possible? You're one of the Sannin. How could you have so little saved?"

"What do you mean, 'so little'?" Jiraiya replied irritably.

"The title of Sannin represents strength, not wealth. If I want to make money, I have to take on missions! Think about it: I haven't taken a single mission in the past three years because I've been looking after you. Three years of living off my savings, plus you and your prodigal spending... We can officially declare ourselves out of food~~~"

"Uh..."

Yuehua Ai couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. To be honest, he hadn't really thought about any of this. In his previous life, he'd spent every day racing against death, and rarely cared about anything outside his research. When it came to money, he'd always spent whatever he had on the spot. To him, managing finances was a joke. Besides, he remembered a comedy sketch from his previous life that perfectly captured his feelings: What was the most painful thing in life? Dying with money left unspent!

"All right, you don't need to blame yourself. I didn't explain things clearly beforehand either." Jiraiya shook his head and sighed.

Jiraiya didn't care much about money. If some of his hobbies didn't require it, he wouldn't have cared about it at all. But he was a responsible teacher. When forced to choose between his student and his hobbies, he'd chosen his student without hesitation. To keep Yuehua Ai from blaming himself, Jiraiya reassured him first.

"..."

Yuehua Ai really didn't know what to say. This time, he did feel guilty. He didn't care about spending money without restraint, but that was only on one condition: it had to be his own money...

Looks like I'll have to find a part-time job while taking classes at the Medical Corps! Yuehua Ai couldn't help thinking.

"All right, don't dwell on it. Here, take this."

Seeing Yuehua Ai lower his head in thought, Jiraiya assumed he was reflecting on his mistakes. He patted Yuehua Ai on the shoulder, then handed him a kraft-paper envelope.

"What's this?" Yuehua Ai asked as he opened it.

"It's your identification document. There's also an application for you to enroll in the Medical Corps."

"You can report to the training program tomorrow. As for the library Tsunade recommended, I'll give you the location. Then you can use your identification document to get a reader's card there."

"Thank you, Teacher Jiraiya!"

Thinking about how Jiraiya had spent the whole morning running around for his sake filled Yuehua Ai with gratitude again. To be honest, all the gratitude he'd felt in his previous life combined couldn't compare with what Jiraiya had given him over the past three years.

"Don't mention it. Just don't be so wasteful from now on!"

Jiraiya patted Yuehua Ai on the shoulder again and teased him.

Then Jiraiya changed the subject. "By the way, I have an important mission tomorrow and may have to leave Konoha. While I'm gone, make sure you listen to Tsunade. She'll look after you."

"So soon?!" Yuehua Ai frowned slightly. Jiraiya had only been back in the village for a day, and he was already being sent away?

"Haha, it has nothing to do with how soon it is. We just happened to return at the right time, and I got assigned an urgent mission."

Jiraiya laughed and waved a hand.

"Mm..." Yuehua Ai replied, then fell silent. The village's decisions were beyond his influence, and he wasn't in a position to ask what Jiraiya's specific mission was. Whether for Jiraiya's sake or his own, he shouldn't concern himself too much with the village's affairs. Keeping a low profile and staying out of trouble was the rule he had to live by in Konoha.