Konan and Chiba

Two months after relying on each other for survival with Konan.

One day.

It was still raining nonstop.

Inside Konan's dilapidated home.

Uchiha Chiba attempted to condense chakra.

Waves of intense pain emanated from his dantian.

"Do I really have to wait a whole year? No... there must be another way... right, that map... I'll take a gamble." Uchiha Chiba wiped away the cold sweat seeping from his forehead due to the dantian pain and muttered to himself.

Suddenly.

Konan's voice rang out.

"Chiba, are you trying to condense chakra again? You said it yourself—you can't condense chakra within a year!" Konan angrily flicked Uchiha Chiba on the forehead with her finger.

"Sorry, Konan... I just..." Uchiha Chiba covered his forehead.

"Just what? Hmm?" Konan snorted, then, seeing that Chiba had stopped talking, she took out a steaming hot bun from her embrace.

"Here, a bun. I picked it up from the village. Eat it while it's hot." The bun in Konan's hand was covered in water stains. Chiba narrowed his eyes and noticed that the little girl's sleeve cuffs seemed to hang a bit lower than usual.

Chiba extended his hand.

Whoosh.

The speed of a prodigy chunin was naturally beyond what a little girl who wasn't even a ninja could detect.

Chiba grabbed Konan's arm in front of him.

Konan bit her lip.

Then he rolled up her sleeve.

A bluish-purple bruise quietly marked Konan's arm.

"This is... this is... I accidentally fell, and then... then..." Konan seemed to lack any talent for lying. She spoke in a flustered manner.

Buzz!!!

A cold killing intent radiated from Uchiha Chiba.

"It's... actually, today a kind old lady gave me four buns... but there were a lot of kids bigger than me. They took all my buns..." Konan bit her lip. Her voice trembled slightly—not from fear, but from self-reproach. After all, when it came to fear, the impact from that day with Chiba and the two Root ninjas had been enough for the little girl to digest.

"I'll go with you tomorrow... I can't condense chakra anyway, but my taijutsu isn't affected." Uchiha Chiba's pupils kept contracting slightly, but unfortunately, the Sharingan remained firmly locked as if bound by shackles.

Then.

Chiba didn't know what came over him.

As if possessed, he hugged Konan, then softly blurted out, "I'll protect you. Forever."

Feeling the girl's immature body and the faint body scent emanating from her, Uchiha Chiba suddenly realized that he and Konan weren't even of legal age—they were just two children!

Chiba: Close call. Almost got shot for that...

Konan nodded with a red face and softly hummed in agreement, then buried her head into Chiba's chest. It seemed the boy who stood a head taller could bring her endless warmth.

After a long while.

"I picked some herbs from Black Mountain outside Amegakure earlier. Wait a moment." Chiba took out two herbs from his pocket. These were Bruise-Clearing Herb and Rot-Dissolving Flower. In the few memories Uchiha Chiba possessed, these were the herbs he had eaten for two months in the great forests of the Land of Rain while being hunted after the war with Amegakure had just begun...

Then.

He placed the herbs in his mouth and chewed a few times.

"Ah?" Konan's face flushed slightly.

Pat!

The herb paste was pressed onto Konan's bruise. Then Chiba took out a strip of cloth to bandage it for her. This was a clean cloth strip scavenged from the battlefield, typically used as a bandage.

"This herb, if crushed into juice, can cause some damage to the skin. I chewed it a few times, so most of the juice is gone. It won't leave any marks." Chiba wiped his mouth, then began polishing the few kunai left in his ninja tool pouch.

"But... if that's the case, won't your mouth also..." Konan looked at Chiba worriedly.

"That? It's fine. I'm already used to it." Chiba shook his head.

Konan's eyes trembled. No one knew what Konan was thinking at that moment.

"By the way, Chiba, the reason I didn't get hurt much is because a boy about my age protected me..."

The next day.

It was still raining.

The Land of Rain was a magical place. It had a ten-month rainy season and a two-month dry season every year. Most merchants disliked doing business here. After all, everything was damp and uncomfortable, and some goods could even get soaked.

Although ordinary business was almost nonexistent, the black market thrived in Amegakure. The black market here was currently the largest in the entire shinobi world. Beneath Amegakure, everything was controlled by black market and bounty station forces. Countless desperate individuals sought opportunities here.

Inside the temporary base.

Uchiha Chiba tore apart a Konoha ninja's coat into cloth strips and wrapped them around his body. The Uchiha Fan on his back was tightly covered. His ninja tool pouch was bound to his forearm with cloth strips.

"Let's go," Chiba reached out his hand.

Konan nodded and took Chiba's hand.

Inside Amegakure.

"Hot steamed buns, get your buns here!"

"Today's odds are 1 to 2.5, come on in and try your luck!"

"Kunai, explosive tags, selling out fast! Hurry up!"

The cries of peddlers and black-market merchants were endless.

Chiba and Konan were draped in tattered straw rain capes.

"Hey, is that Konan?" A slightly weak voice drifted from an alleyway.

Chiba and Konan looked toward the sound.

"As I thought," Chiba smiled with relief.

In the alley, a boy with orange hair and a slightly swollen, bruised face was trembling.

"Yahiko? Why are you back again? I remember taking you to Granny Reina yesterday; your injuries won't heal in just a day," Konan said, her tone full of frustration.

"Hello, my name is Yahiko," Yahiko stepped out of the alley and looked at Chiba.

"Hello, Yahiko, I'm Chiba." Uchiha Chiba smiled. At this moment, it was better if fewer people knew he was an Uchiha; after all, he was currently a ninja who couldn't even use ninjutsu.

"Chiba, this is Yahiko. He helped me yesterday. If it weren't for him, I'm afraid..." Konan bit her lip.

"It was nothing. But Konan, why did you come back here? That bunch of bastards are in the back alleys of the village. Vagrants like us don't even have the right to carry food past the village gates; those ninjas will kill us... Come into the alley to get out of the rain first, let's talk." Yahiko hissed in pain as he drew a sharp breath, then led Chiba and Konan into the alley.

The space was piled with many dilapidated crates and rags. In this world, because of Chiba, Yahiko didn't seem to have met Konan early on, but rather had only just met her a week ago. However, due to the existence of the world's will, Yahiko still seemed to trust Konan quite a bit.

"What? You mean Chiba is going to teach them a lesson? No, no way!" Yahiko shook his head, firmly opposed to the idea.