Yubi's home stood in a relatively outlying part of Sunagakure.
Like the other buildings, it looked like a "sandbag" from the outside.
After several months away, dust had accumulated all over his doorstep.
He unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Looking around the familiar room... he flopped onto the bed with a thump.
His home was simple, with just one bedroom and a living room.
This kind of housing was standard for most ordinary ninja in Sunagakure... two memorial portraits hung on the living room wall.
They were Yubi's parents.
An entire Shinobi World War had left many of the village's children orphaned.
Although he was a transmigrator, losing his parents had saddened Yubi for a time, but he understood... he could not stop it.
He had only hoped the two of them could survive until the end.
In the end... they had still died young.
An ordinary ninja's chances of surviving on the battlefield were very slim.
This border mission had given Yubi firsthand experience of that, too.
After resting for a while, Yubi was just about to get up and see if he could find something to eat... when someone knocked on the door.
He opened it and found Chiyo there.
"Granny Chiyo."
Yubi immediately broke into a smile.
"Yubi, I hope I'm not disturbing you?"
Chiyo spoke kindly.
"No... please, come in."
Yubi turned and gestured for the old woman to enter.
Then, somewhat embarrassed, he tidied up the messy room.
Since his parents' deaths, Yubi had lived alone and completely let himself go... the place was not exactly filthy, but things were scattered about at random, and the bed was unmade, making it look rather untidy. His teacher from the Ninja Academy would come help him clean up from time to time, but within a few days, it would be like this again...
Chiyo did not mind... in her eyes, Yubi was only a child, after all.
Having lost his parents was heartbreaking enough... a child this young did not know how to do much housework, either.
"Your father, Hase, and your mother, Rika, were both very good people... what a shame..."
Once seated, Chiyo glanced at the photographs on the wall and sighed softly.
"Granny Chiyo, did you come to see me about something?"
Yubi chuckled, went into the kitchen, and put on a kettle of water.
"I came to talk to you about Sasori..."
Chiyo said.
"Sasori? What about him? I think he's doing pretty well..."
Yubi understood.
He had thought Chiyo had come about him becoming a medical ninja or a puppeteer.
Seeing Yubi's cheerful manner, Granny Chiyo felt a jumble of emotions. How she wished Sasori could maintain the same sunny, optimistic attitude as Yubi.
He had also lost his parents, yet Yubi still came across as so cheerful.
He had a good outlook.
Of course, losing both parents was bound to have some effect on a person.
But such things were hard to avoid... it still came down to one's own outlook.
"Arai told me a little about you two... you and Sasori get along very well," Chiyo said with a smile.
"Yes... we're good friends."
Yubi sat down opposite Chiyo, his mind conjuring up Sasori's cold looks, especially the undisguised hostility during the time they had competed with each other in the raid on the Land of Rain's border... he spoke with firm conviction.
"When I saw you at the border, I noticed it too... Sasori seemed to pay you some attention."
Chiyo did not doubt Yubi's words at all.
"Ever since his parents died, Sasori has grown more and more withdrawn. I'm very happy he could become friends with you..." Chiyo said.
Has she already noticed?
Listening to Chiyo, a thought flashed through Yubi's mind.
Chiyo very likely already had a premonition that Sasori, growing up in "darkness," would eventually head down a path of no return.
As expected of his own flesh and blood, Chiyo understood Sasori well... she already had an intuition about this.
Of course, he could also see that Chiyo loved Sasori dearly, but had no way to reach his already closed-off heart.
"Yubi, I hope you can help me change Sasori a little. Try to talk with him more. With a friend like you around, I believe... he'll get better and better." A legendary kunoichi of Sunagakure and a member of its leadership, the old woman seemed to have shed all her prestige as she faced a little kid like Yubi, leaving only an elder concerned for her grandson.
"I understand!"
Yubi nodded firmly.
He seemed to have agreed to Chiyo's request.
But he knew very well... Sasori's personality could no longer be changed.
Even now, Chiyo had not realized this... it was true that his parents were the root of what had affected Sasori.
But it was the village's decisions that deepened his descent into darkness.
And all Yubi could do was change the course of Sasori's future... as for his personality itself, that was hard to say.
The biggest problem is... in the short term, I have neither the means nor the ability to change the village's will. That means, at least as far as the course of the Second Shinobi World War is concerned, Sunagakure's subsequent plans will follow the original story for some time to come... White Fang's death, the peace talks between Sunagakure and Konoha, the atmosphere of treating people as tools and prioritizing interests fostered under the Third Kazekage's rule...
Yubi thought.
These... were the hands pushing Sasori into the abyss.
But there was no helping it... without peace talks, they could not beat Konoha. If this went on, Sunagakure would face an even worse fate.
Then Yubi rose and made Chiyo a cup of tea.
The old woman told him many stories about Sasori's childhood... hoping to give Yubi a deeper understanding of Sasori.
Only after dark did Chiyo get up to leave.
Before leaving, she thanked Yubi again.
"Yubi... you're a child who knows his own mind. Regarding the Kazekage's proposal today, whatever you decide, you can talk to me if you have any thoughts. Whether it's Medical Ninjutsu or the Puppet Technique... if you want to learn, I can teach you."
Chiyo said.
"All right."
Yubi nodded.
Then he bowed politely toward Chiyo's receding figure.
A very kindly elder... but ultimately, she still follows the usual approach of Sunagakure's leadership. Nothing has changed at the core. She, too, thinks I'm valuable to the village... and that value is still viewed in terms of how I can be used. There's a little human warmth, but not much... birds of a feather flock together. Perhaps it's not just Sunagakure. In this Shinobi World, the major ninja villages might all govern the same way...
After all... this wartime mindset is still the norm.
Yubi smiled wryly, thought of the group in Konoha led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and shrugged.
It was just that... sometimes, these people went a little too far, with no understanding of how to maintain a balance.
A little later, Yubi headed out onto the street as well.
He planned to find somewhere to eat.
Early tomorrow morning, he still had to register his newly developed Ninjutsu.
He needed to go to bed early.
"Yubi."
However, just as Yubi was about to enter an oden shop, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
He looked back and saw a little girl with her hair in a bun.
"Pakura."
Yubi called her name with a smile.
Yes, this girl was none other than Pakura, the inheritor of Sunagakure's Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai, the "hero" who would be sacrificed by the village... in the latter stages of the Third Shinobi World War.
She was a little younger than him and Sasori, and still attended the Ninja Academy.
Maybe I can't change Sasori's personality, but I have to save Sasori and Pakura from their fates!
As he watched the little girl running toward him, a thought flashed through Yubi's mind.