After walking for a while, Tada finally gathered her courage and spoke.
"Yoru… what do you think of Ino?"
Yoru blinked, looking at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
Tada's face was red enough to look like she had a fever.
Still, she forced herself to ask the question weighing on her heart.
"Do you think she's pretty?"
"She's from the Yamanaka Clan too. Boys probably like girls like that, right?"
In truth, Tada's appearance was even more striking than Ino's, and her quiet personality was the type many boys found appealing.
But Yoru had no idea why she was asking this.
He had even assumed that Shumu and Tada might have something going on.
He thought Shumu had left earlier because he had something urgent to attend to.
After thinking for a moment, Yoru replied honestly, "Ino? She's definitely pretty."
Tada immediately grew anxious.
She turned to look at him. "Th-Then… do you like her?"
Yoru paused. "We're friends. Of course I like her."
"I don't mean that kind of like," Tada said nervously. "I mean… the kind between a boy and a girl."
"Of course not. We only just met today."
"Why are you asking that?"
Yoru looked genuinely puzzled.
Hearing his answer, Tada quietly let out a breath of relief.
"I just feel like she treated you differently from other boys today," she admitted with a smile.
"I could tell she seems to have a good impression of you."
Yoru chuckled. "You're overthinking it. Ino treats all good-looking boys like that."
Tada froze for a second.
She hadn't expected him to joke.
Then she lightly smacked his shoulder. "Oh? So you think you're good-looking?"
Yoru grinned. "Am I not?"
"Very," Tada replied, smiling brightly.
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Under the glow of the streetlights, their interaction would have easily been misunderstood by anyone passing by.
At that moment, their relationship did grow closer.
For Yoru, Tada became someone he could joke with.
For Tada, she saw another side of him—he wasn't as distant and unapproachable as he first appeared.
Soon, they arrived at her home.
Looking at the large estate before them, Yoru teased, "This really is a wealthy household. Looks like Shumu wasn't exaggerating."
In the very heart of Konoha—where land was incredibly valuable—stood a mansion resembling a private estate.
This was beyond merely rich.
Konoha wasn't composed of ninja alone.
There were countless civilians as well.
Ninja didn't engage in production; ordinary people maintained the village's daily operations.
Some wealthy merchants and nobles from the Land of Fire also chose to reside in Konoha for security.
That was one of the reasons there were so many low-level missions.
Of course, Konoha's primary income came from military funding allocated by the Land of Fire.
Hearing Yoru's comment, Tada suddenly looked worried.
She hurriedly grabbed his hand.
"Yoru… you won't dislike me because of my family, right?"
Yoru glanced at her hands—fair and delicate.
For a brief moment, he was distracted.
Then he replied calmly, "Why would I?"
"Having a wealthy teammate is a good thing. Why would I dislike you for that?"
Tada visibly relaxed.
"In the past, when people found out I was from the Motoya family, they didn't want to play with me."
"The older we got, the worse it became."
"They were all afraid of hurting me."
"Ever since entering the Academy, only Shumu was willing to treat me normally."
Her voice grew quieter as she spoke.
Yoru gently patted her shoulder.
"Then from today on, you have another friend."
"We'll be fighting side by side from now on. I want to be able to trust you with my back."
Feeling the sincerity in his tone, Tada nodded firmly.
"Yoru, I won't drag you down."
She knew her talent wasn't exceptional.
But Yoru seemed strong.
She only hoped to work harder and not become the burden of the team.
Yoru smiled. "You and Shumu are both great."
"It's getting late. Go inside."
Tada nodded, already placing Yoru in an important spot in her heart.
Children's feelings were simple like that.
They could fall for someone easily—and resent someone just as easily.
To Yoru, however, she was still just a child.
Even when he appreciated her beauty, it was only admiration.
Nothing more.
After Yoru left, Tada stood by the gate, watching until his figure disappeared from view.
"That's your new teammate?"
A voice suddenly sounded beside her, startling her badly.
She turned around.
"Mom! Why do you walk without making any noise? You scared me!"
Her mother smiled gently.
Her name was Senju Mei.
Tada resembled her somewhat.
About 170 centimeters tall, with waist-length golden hair tied into a ponytail.
Though nearly forty, she looked barely in her twenties.
Elegant, composed, and exceptionally beautiful.
And most importantly—
Her surname was Senju.
If Yoru were here, he would have been shocked.
In his impression, he had never encountered anyone in Konoha carrying the Senju name.
But he never believed the Senju Clan had been exterminated.
A clan that powerful and prestigious couldn't simply disappear within a few decades.
If it had, it would have been mentioned as often as the Uchiha Clan.
Since he had never heard anything of the sort, he had concluded that the Senju had gradually integrated into the village.
After all, even Tsunade no longer commonly used the Senju name.
In reality, his guess wasn't entirely wrong.
Many members of the Senju Clan had indeed abandoned the surname and blended into Konoha.
But not all of them.
After Hashirama and Tobirama, however, no one of comparable brilliance had emerged.
Some kept the surname.
Some did not.
Members of the clan still existed throughout Konoha's major departments.
Yoru simply hadn't encountered them.
After all, Konoha had tens of thousands of ninja.
And even more civilians.
The village's size was closer to that of a massive city than a mere village.
With just one training ground spanning twenty kilometers in diameter, it was easy to imagine how vast Konoha truly was.
Senju Mei was one such descendant of the Senju Clan.
Though she retained the surname—
She was not a ninja.