Two people were strolling through the center of Konoha, both engaged in lively conversation, drawing attention wherever they went. One of them was wearing a green jacket and black pants, with eyes and hair also in a shade of green.
The girl accompanying him had blonde hair, wearing a purple shirt and a black skirt. She had a comforting and warm smile, always smiling gently and nodding when the young man spoke.
They both stopped in front of a stall where an elderly lady was selling her sweets.
"Hello, Kaito, it's been a while since you've been around here," the old lady said with some excitement.
"Haha, I haven't had much time lately, Emiko-san," Kaito apologized with a slight bow.
'The old Kaito used to come here all the time to buy sweets, but since I took his place, I haven't been here again,' Kaito remembered some of the times he had visited this shop, the owner always with a gentle smile on her face and welcoming service. He would spend several minutes chatting with her.
"Hehe, it's alright, little green. This lady here understands. You've grown a lot lately. Maybe I should start calling you 'Big Green' in a while? Hehe," the gentle lady put her hand to her mouth and released a soft chuckle while her other hand squeezed Kaito's cheek.
Ino laughed lightly at seeing Kaito's cheek being stretched. She didn't expect the owner of this shop to be someone Kaito knew.
"You come here, Ino. You've grown a lot too, getting so beautiful, even more than before," Emiko looked at Ino and called her.
Ino approached the gentle lady, and her cheek was also pulled for a few seconds.
"Hehe, you two have grown up, so beautiful. I just didn't expect to see you two together. You really suit each other, you know. I didn't imagine you two kids would end up together like this," Emiko looked at Ino and Kaito with a smile, but this time her smile was more teasing.
Ino smiled even though she was embarrassed. She was happy to be mistaken for a couple.
"But I believe you came to buy some sweets, right?" Mrs. Emiko stopped teasing and spoke normally.
"Yes, we'd like to buy some of your delicious sweets," Kaito said with a smile.
"Yes, it's been a while since I had any of your sweets. I missed them," Ino agreed with Kaito.
"Hehe, alright. I'll get plenty for you kids," Emiko said as she walked into the shop and didn't take long to come back with her hands full of sweets.
Kaito and Ino grabbed the sweets and paid. Despite being very delicious, they weren't too expensive. They happily ate while chatting with Miss Emiko.
"I used to be a ninja like you guys, but after severe incidents, I lost everything I had and suffered a lot psychologically, so I retired," Emiko began talking about her past out of nowhere, leaving Kaito and Ino puzzled, but they listened attentively.
"I married my teammate, and on all missions, we always had the best synergy. We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, completed hundreds of missions easily, though we didn't have as much peace as today," the kind old lady sighed, her expression somewhat sad as she reminisced.
"The ninja war came, and many dangerous reconnaissance and information gathering missions appeared. Unfortunately, we were assigned one of those missions. It went smoothly at first, we successfully obtained the information, but when we were returning to the village, two enemy squads ambushed us. We fought bravely with all our strength to escape..."
Emiko spoke up to that point and fell silent for a few seconds, looking at Kaito and Ino.
"With our teamwork, we eliminated one of the squads and fled, but not without injuries. The other person from our team died in the escape while my husband lost an arm and suffered various cuts on his body. I suffered serious internal injuries. We could barely move, but with the hope of surviving, we kept running and finally stopped in a cave to try to heal our wounds. Unfortunately, my husband didn't survive the loss of blood." Emiko finished speaking, her voice rougher than usual.
"Kaito, Ino. I only told you this story so you can understand one thing. A ninja's life is full of adventure but also filled with dangers. We never know where we might die, so make the most of your lives, especially with the people you care about," after saying this, Emiko was looking at Kaito and Ino with hope. When she saw them, she immediately remembered her old memories, and the two looked like her and her husband from the past. So, Emiko hoped that they could be happy and stay together.
Kaito and Ino were shocked by this story; they never expected the old lady to be a ninja, let alone have such a sad past. She had never shown sadness before, always with a gentle smile on her face.
They nodded; they understood what Emiko was getting at. The ninja world would always be a dangerous place full of unpredictable events.
'Soon, this world is going to turn upside down, actually, it's already starting to,' Kaito sighed. He wanted to become strong to stop everything before it happened, but unfortunately, his level of strength was far from enough. His Kekkei Genkai might have given him a lot of power quickly, but he still lacked experience, strength, speed, and versatility.
Kaito knew that before he could freeze someone like Itachi, he would fall into a genjutsu. Against Might Guy, he wouldn't even get close to freezing his clothes, even without him using the inner gates. Not to mention various other powerful characters he could defeat in a matter of seconds.
'Well, I won't be weak for much longer. I have many things to learn, mastering Sage Mode would give me extra power, perfecting my sword skills to a level near my father's, or learning to master my Kekkei Genkai like my mother did,' Kaito thought about the various things he could and would do to become stronger, and he relaxed a bit. He wouldn't be alone; he still had help from the protagonists of this anime, like Naruto and Sasuke, who were now much stronger than before, especially Naruto.
He felt his arm being pulled to the side, which snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking around, he realized that while he was distracted with his thoughts, Mrs. Emiko had returned to her shop. Ino was now clinging tightly to his arm.
They said their goodbyes to Emiko and started walking again, but Kaito noticed something was different. Ino was unusually silent, which was not normal for her, as she liked to talk a lot with him.
"Is everything okay with you? If something is bothering you, you can talk about it," Kaito spoke as he looked at her. She remained silent for a few seconds, but her mouth moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something.
"Promise me, promise me that you'll be okay?" Ino hesitated a lot before speaking, but she finally managed to say what was on her mind.
Kaito was slightly surprised but soon released a gentle smile as he looked at her with calmness.
"You don't need to worry, Ino. I promise I'll come back fine." he assured her with a smile, and Ino also smiled joyfully upon hearing that.
Unbeknownst to them, they had been together the entire day, and neither of them was bothered by it. They were having fun and chatting as if they never ran out of topics.
...
Haruki was walking leisurely when he caught a glimpse of a green shade in the crowd, so he decided to discreetly follow.
"Hahaha, didn't expect this. So, the kid is finally growing up," Haruki smiled upon realizing that his son was walking hand in hand with a girl.
He continued following his son, who didn't notice his presence. Haruki felt very proud of his son.
"Haha, I have to tell Hana," Haruki said with a smile. Kaito would have a surprise tonight when he got home.
Whoosh!
...
Kaito and Ino visited various shops and parts of Konoha, stopping only to eat at Ichiraku Ramen. After all, it was Kaito's favorite place, and Ino had started to enjoy ramen as much as Kaito.
They finally approached the Yamanaka residence; by now, it was close to the time for him to leave, so they stopped walking for a moment.
Ino gazed into Kaito's eyes, smiled at him, and he returned the smile. She then let go of Kaito's hand and took a step back.
"Thank you for staying with me until now, Kaito. It was really nice to spend this time with you," Ino thanked him as she turned around.
"No need to thank me, Ino. I enjoyed it too," Kaito approached a bit as he spoke. However, he didn't expect that right at that moment, Ino would turn around. Ino stood on her tiptoes since Kaito was a bit taller than her and gave him a quick kiss. In the next moment, she ran off without giving Kaito a chance to react.
A few minutes passed, and Kaito was still paralyzed. However, he regained his thoughts, putting his hands to his mouth. He could still feel the warmth on his lips.
Kaito was very confused about this. He didn't expect it, had no reaction, and didn't know what to think. He slowly walked back home, his thoughts still lingering on the kiss he had just received—or rather, the stolen kiss.
He quickly arrived home and walked into the living room. Hana and Haruki were waiting for him.
"Hahaha, well done, son," Haruki said to him while giving a thumbs-up in approval. Kaito obviously didn't understand what he meant.
"My little baby is finally growing up," Hana ran to Kaito, hugging him tightly, which left him even more confused.
"Why didn't you bring her for us to meet?" Hana spoke while letting go of her embrace, and Kaito finally understood everything.
'How do they know about this? Is my father spying on me?' Kaito looked at his father with a suspicious glance.
Haruki, upon realizing, started whistling and looked in another direction, pretending not to be involved.
"Don't get me wrong, Mom. She's just a friend," Kaito said while touching his lips lightly. He hadn't realized his involuntary action, but his mother surely had.
"You'll have to introduce your 'friend,' but be careful not to break a girl's heart, okay?" Hana spoke while pinching his cheek.
"Al- alright, Mom," Kaito said as his mother finally released his cheek.
Haruki remained silent the entire time, as if he wasn't there. But Kaito soon turned to him.
"It was you, you stalker. Don't you have anything better to do with your old bones?" Kaito said, mocking his father.
"You damn kid, want to test if my bones are really old?" Haruki spoke somewhat annoyed, placing his hand on his katana.
"Forget it, I'm afraid I might break those old bones of yours." Kaito spoke again, standing behind his mother.
Haruki wanted to say something, but upon seeing Hana in front of Kaito with her hand on her hip, he let it go.