Chapter 54: Yakushi Kabuto
Setting aside Kurenai's frustration for the moment, Yuu stayed nearby and chatted with Kakashi for a while longer, then personally saw him off.
In the coming days, Kakashi would return to Konoha alone to report, so he would not be traveling back at the same time as Yuu and the others.
"We should head out too." After watching Kakashi leave, Yuu turned to Kurenai and smiled.
"A ah, okay."
It was clearly just a simple smile, yet Kurenai's face suddenly flushed.
In her eyes, Yuu's current figure was laid bare.
He still looked like a young boy, wearing a loose robe as he stood there quietly, his features handsome in a clean, refined way. His long hair fell naturally down his back, straight and smooth. Just standing there, he looked like a flawless work of art crafted by heaven itself. Every small movement felt breathtaking.
At that moment, he only offered a gentle smile, but in Kurenai's eyes, it already surpassed most of the world's elegance and scenery, leaving her a little dazed.
"If only it could stay like this forever…"
The thought rose in her heart before she could stop it.
If she could, she wanted time to stretch on like this, endlessly.
Yuu stood ahead, completely unaware of what was going through her mind.
As for the way Kurenai would occasionally space out, he had grown used to it. He did not think too much of it anymore.
He simply turned and left in silence.
Behind him, Kurenai hurried to follow.
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
During that month, Yuu had already moved locations.
He returned to Konoha.
"I'm back again."
Standing in his own home, he looked around at the room that had not changed at all and could not help shaking his head. "Looks like I'll have to clean it up."
By his count, it had been over a year since he first left.
After such a long time, the house was coated in dust. If he wanted to live here again, it needed a thorough cleaning.
For an ordinary person, it would take ages.
Fortunately, he was a shinobi now. His efficiency was on a completely different level.
Before long, he finished cleaning the entire place, restoring the room until it looked brand new.
Afterward, he left home and headed toward the orphanage.
The orphanage was far more crowded than he remembered.
Besides the children who had been there before, there were many unfamiliar faces.
The war had taken countless shinobi on the battlefield, and it had created countless orphans in return.
Those children were sent to the Konoha Orphanage in waves, creating the lively, chaotic scene in front of him.
"Big Brother Yuu is here!"
"I want candy!"
After he had walked only a short distance, someone finally recognized him.
They ran over excitedly and swarmed around him.
"Big Brother Yuu, we missed you so much!"
Their voices overlapped, their faces full of longing.
"I missed you all too." Yuu smiled.
After playing with the children for a while, he walked toward the director's office.
"Who are you?"
A small child stepped out and blocked his path.
The boy did not look very old. His features were not especially striking, at most delicate, and overall he seemed quite ordinary.
But what caught Yuu's attention most were the glasses on the boy's face.
Those glasses had once belonged to Nono.
"You are…"
Yuu's expression shifted with surprise, and then he immediately connected the dots.
"My name is Kabuto." The child looked at Yuu, seeming to sense that he was not a bad person, then added, "Are you here to see Mother?"
As expected.
The child in front of him was the future Kabuto.
Of course, at this moment, he was still just a kid, only two or three years younger than Yuu.
"I'm Nono sensei's student." Yuu kept his tone gentle. "Could you go in and let her know I'm here?"
"You're Big Brother Yuu?"
Kabuto's eyes widened, and pleasant surprise flashed across his face.
From the look of it, Nono had already told him about Yuu.
After confirming Yuu's identity, Kabuto led him inside.
In the office, Nono was seated as usual, seemingly working through documents in her hands.
She looked serious, yet there was a faint trace of worry between her brows, as if something was weighing on her.
"Ah, Yuu, you're back."
The moment she saw him enter, joy returned to her expression.
She stepped forward and pulled him into a warm hug in welcome.
"What have you been doing during this time, Sensei?" Yuu asked with curiosity. "I don't remember seeing you on the front lines."
"Same as you." Nonou smiled back at him. "I was carrying out medical missions on the front lines too. We were just stationed in different areas."
During the war, Konoha had opened multiple battlefields. On the surface, it made perfect sense that they would not run into each other.
But Yuu understood this was most likely just Nono's cover story.
As an elite of Root, the missions she carried out were probably not so simple.
Still, he had no intention of exposing her. He only smiled and continued chatting naturally.
"Is that child's name Kabuto?" Yuu asked, smoothly turning the topic toward the boy.
"Yes. He's a war orphan. Both of his parents have passed away." Nono nodded, then sighed softly. "He also lost his past memories because of it."
"So I brought him back. I wanted to give him a fresh start."
"Sensei, you seem to like him a lot." Yuu smiled. "You even gave him your own glasses."
"Yes." A gentle smile appeared on Nono's face, and she did not deny it in front of Yuu. "I just feel he's very similar to how I used to be."
"When I look at him, it's like I'm seeing myself back then."
Nono clearly found resonance in Kabuto, as though she were looking at her own childhood.
Perhaps that was why she had chosen to take him in.
"Also," she continued with a smile, "his talent in Medical Ninjutsu is quite good."
"Not as good as yours, of course, but he's much more outstanding than I am."
"And he's willing to work hard. Maybe he'll grow into a fine medical ninja in the future."
His talent is not limited to being a medical ninja.
The thought flashed through Yuu's mind as he met her gaze.
But he did not say anything more. He simply agreed with a smile.
.....
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