Kurenai Yuhi

Lin Ze froze for a moment at the sight of the figure beneath the large tree, then recognized her:

"Kurenai Yuhi?"

As a Naruto fan, Lin Ze was more than familiar with this future genjutsu Jōnin.

He simply hadn't expected to find Kurenai hiding here alone, crying as a child.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lin Ze walked over and crouched down to ask.

Kurenai raised her head, revealing a little face flushed red from crying.

Her eyes were large, with rare wine-red irises. Tears still clung to her lashes, making her look pitiful.

Kurenai instinctively shrank back as a stranger approached, but when she saw that he was a boy about her age, she hurriedly wiped her tears again and forced herself to sound composed. "N-no, I'm fine..."

Well now, this girl's got some pride.

Amused, Lin Ze thought for a moment, then pulled a piece of candy from his pocket.

"Here, have something sweet. It'll make you feel better." Lin Ze held out the candy, smiling like some creepy older man.

Kurenai hesitated before accepting it and whispered, "Thank you..."

"You're welcome."

Lin Ze sat down beside her. "What happened? Are you lost? Or was someone picking on you?"

Kurenai shook her head and said quietly, "I... I can't find my way home."

Lin Ze nearly laughed aloud. Well, isn't this exactly what happened with Hinata and Naruto? Except I'm the lead this time?

Lin Ze looked around. The sky was already growing dark, and the snow was falling harder.

Although Kurenai was dressed warmly, her little face had already gone pale from the cold.

"Where do you live? I'll take you home." Lin Ze stood and brushed the snow off his pants.

Kurenai looked up, sounding a little surprised. "You... you're willing to help me?"

"What else would I do? Leave you here alone?" Lin Ze shrugged. "What if you run into someone bad? Konoha's pretty safe, but you never know when some creep might be out kidnapping kids..."

His words made Kurenai laugh through her tears. "You talk so strangely."

"That's called a sense of humor." Lin Ze held out his hand. "Come on. The snow will get heavier if we wait any longer, and finding the way will be even harder."

Kurenai hesitated, then placed her hand in Lin Ze's palm.

Along the way, Kurenai gradually relaxed and began talking more.

"My name's Kurenai Yuhi. What's yours?"

"Lin Ze. I'm from the orphanage."

"Oh..." Kurenai lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up..."

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Lin Ze waved it off. "What about you, though? Why did you go to the training ground alone? Where's your family?"

Kurenai bit her lip and said, sounding a little hurt:

"Dad went on a mission. He promised he'd be back today, but... but there's still no news. I wanted to wait for him at the village entrance, but I got lost on the way..."

Lin Ze understood.

In the original story, Kurenai's father, Yuhi Shinku, was presumably a Konoha Jōnin. He seemed to have died later during the Night of the Nine-Tails.

At that thought, Lin Ze couldn't help softening his voice:

"Your dad's a ninja, right? It's normal for ninja missions to run late. Don't worry too much."

Kurenai nodded, but her eyes still dimmed. "But... I haven't seen him in so long."

Lin Ze sighed. Having been an orphan in both his lives, he understood the little girl's loneliness all too well. He just didn't know what had happened to Kurenai's mother; the original story had never mentioned it.

Lin Ze ruffled Kurenai's hair and said:

"Don't worry. Your dad will definitely be fine. How about this? Whenever you're bored, you can come play with me at the orphanage."

Kurenai's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Of course. I'm a dog if I'm lying," Lin Ze said with a smile.

Kurenai finally smiled, her wine-red eyes sparkling in the snow as she said cheerfully:

"It's a promise, then! We're friends from now on!"

By the time he brought Kurenai to her front door, it was completely dark. Her home was a traditional Japanese-style courtyard house, and her family seemed fairly well-off.

"Here we are." Lin Ze let go of her hand. "Don't go wandering off next time. If you get lost again, you might not meet someone as kind as me."

Kurenai nodded, then suddenly said, "Lin Ze, you're so nice to me!"

Lin Ze paused, then laughed. "Hahaha, of course. Taking joy in helping others is a traditional virtue of our people... uh, I mean, helping your comrades is a basic quality every ninja should have."

Kurenai tilted her head, clearly not understanding the first part, but still said earnestly, "Thank you. You're a good person."

The corner of Lin Ze's mouth twitched. "Hey, don't go handing out the nice-guy card!"

Kurenai looked puzzled. "What's a nice-guy card?"

"Nothing..." Lin Ze pressed a hand to his forehead. "Go on inside. It's cold out."

Kurenai nodded and ran toward her front door, then suddenly turned back and called, "Lin Ze! Tomorrow... can I come play with you tomorrow?"

In the glow of the streetlight, the little girl's expectant expression touched a soft spot in Lin Ze's heart. He waved:

"You're welcome anytime, but remember to come during the day next time. It's not safe at night."

After watching Kurenai enter her home safely, Lin Ze let out a long breath.

"Kurenai Yuhi... Didn't she end up becoming Asuma's wife in the original story? But now that I'm involved in this world, who knows what the future will look like..."

Lin Ze shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly:

"What am I thinking? She's just a kid right now. Mentally, I'm almost thirty. I can't be some creepy older man."

Still, building a good relationship with a future genjutsu master could only help his survival in Konoha.

Besides, Kurenai's father was a Jōnin, after all. Konoha had only around ten thousand ninja just after the Second Shinobi World War, with fewer than two hundred Jōnin among them.

"And... she's pretty cute." Remembering Kurenai's wine-red eyes, Lin Ze couldn't help smiling. "I'll just think of her as another little sister."

The snow fell harder, and Lin Ze quickened his pace, yet for some reason his heart felt much lighter.

Perhaps he wasn't entirely alone in this unfamiliar world.

By the time he returned to the orphanage, it was completely dark, and the streetlights were dim.

That didn't affect Lin Ze much, though. The Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon had greatly enhanced his vision, making seeing at night little different from seeing during the day.

It couldn't compare to specialized kekkei genkai like the Sharingan or Byakugan, but Lin Ze was already quite satisfied with this improvement.

Back at the orphanage, Lin Ze quietly climbed over the wall. He was just about to sneak back to his room when a gentle voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Back so late. Were you off training again?"

Lin Ze stiffened and slowly turned around. Yakushi Nonō stood in the shadows of the corridor, her eyes behind her black-framed glasses holding concern and a trace of helplessness.

"Big Sis, you're still awake?"

Lin Ze scratched his head and gave her an awkward but polite smile.

That was right!

Lin Ze, whose mental age was nearly thirty, called the eleven-year-old Nonō "Big Sis." It made him feel just a tiny bit awkward.

But in all fairness, having grown up sheltered from the darker side of life, Lin Ze wasn't necessarily more mature than Nonō. Calling her "Big Sis" wasn't entirely undeserved.

"I was waiting for you." Nonō stepped forward and gently brushed the snow off Lin Ze's shoulders. "I saved you dinner. It's in the pot in the kitchen."

Warmth filled Lin Ze's heart.

Nonō was arguably the person closest to him in this world. Her meticulous care over the past six months had given him, an orphan in both his lives, his first taste of the warmth of a "home."

"Thanks, Big Sis!" Lin Ze grinned, and his stomach obligingly let out a growl.

Nonō couldn't help laughing. "Go eat, then. Get some rest afterward. There are new children to settle in tomorrow, and you'll need to help."