In Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart, Uchiha Tonan’s worth spiked, and he immediately consoled the boy, “Tonan, your experience is too little. If you had been born in my time, you would have realized death is very common. Almost every once in a while, there would be fewer familiar faces around. Too many people I knew have died. If what you said is right, wouldn’t I be an ominous person as well?”
Hiruzen’s words seemed to have an effect. Tonan feebly asked, “Really… it’s not because of me?”
Hiruzen smiled and replied, “It’s alright. When you have enough power, you’ll be able to protect the people you want to protect.”
He approached Tonan again and reached out to stroke his head. This time, Tonan didn’t dodge but stared at him with grateful eyes. “Hokage-sama…”
After a while, Hiruzen and Tonan came to the railing and looked down at Konoha. Under the morning sunlight, both of them seemed to have relaxed. Some time had passed when Hiruzen casually asked, “How have you been lately?”
Tonan thought for a bit and replied, “Everything is fine. In the clan, only the Great Elder is kind to me. I don’t know why but the others always look at me with strange eyes.”
“Silly child! Because they think you are one of my people, they don’t want to associate with you.”
Hiruzen chuckled lightly and said out loud, “The Uchiha clan is like this. They are arrogant by nature and don’t like to be close to others…. What’s wrong? Is there something on me?”
Hiruzen suddenly noticed Tonan staring at his clothes, and even brought his head closer to sniff.
“Hokage-sama, your clothes are dirty.”
Hiruzen remembered that because he had been feeling vexed all this time, he did not even change the haori he had been wearing. Looking a bit embarrassed, he said, “It doesn’t matter, there’s another one in the office. I’ll wash this when I go back in the evening.”
Unexpectedly, Tonan said, “Hokage-sama, you work hard all day long for the village. Do you still have to do chores like washing clothes?”
Hiruzen waved his hand, “It’s alright, it’s just a trivial matter.”
However, Tonan stretched his hands and pulled the haori off Hiruzen, “Hokage-sama, take it off, I’ll wash it and deliver it to you.”
“… Alright.”
Hiruzen was unable to reject Tonan’s kind intention, so he took off his outer garment. They chatted casually for some more time. Seeing that it was almost time, Hiruzen left the Hokage Rock and went to the Hokage Residence to work.
In the evening, when he had just returned to the Sarutobi clan district after completing his official duties for the day, he saw Tonan holding a neatly folded haori and squatting outside the gate.
At this moment, a Sarutobi clan ninja who was patrolling outside happened to pass by Hiruzen. He pointed at Tonan and said, “Hokage-sama, that young fellow came to look for you. He has been sitting there since morning.”
Hiruzen nodded and walked over to Tonan, “Tonan, why are you here?”
Tonan stood up immediately. His eyes lit up seeing Hiruzen. He hastily handed the haori to him and said, “Hokage-sama, I have washed it.”
Taking the package, Hiruzen nodded, and said, “Thank you, why didn’t you bring it to the office?”
Tonan smiled and scratched his head as if he was a little embarrassed, “It was not a big deal, and I didn’t want to disturb your work.”
Gurururu~ Just at this moment, Tonan’s belly roared. His face flushed and he smiled feeling embarrassed, not daring to look up at Hiruzen. The corners of Hiruzen’s mouth rose as he thought, this child must have focused solely on waiting for me, and didn’t even eat his lunch.
He patted Tonan’s shoulder and said with concern, “Come in and have a meal.”
Tonan looked up, and unable to hide his joy, he asked, “Is that alright? I don’t want to disturb you.”
Hiruzen shook his head, “It’s alright, just an extra pair of chopsticks.”
Tonan followed Hiruzen and swaggered into the Sarutobi clan district. If his guess was not wrong, then he might be the first Uchiha to ever enter this district.
Hiruzen’s courtyard was larger than the Great Elder’s courtyard. There was a flower bed in the middle and there was a strong white pine standing in it. It was just that the courtyard owner seemed to not have trimmed it for a long time.
Also, the lawns on both sides of the path were covered with weeds and various kinds of plants, giving people an unkempt feeling. The two walked into the room. Tonan looked around curiously and asked, “Hokage-sama, are you alone at home?”
Hiruzen was taken aback. He looked at the photo placed on the wall of the drawing-room and nodded, looking desolate, “Yes, alone. You sit for a while. I’ll go to cook.”
Tonan hastily grabbed the older man’s sleeve and frowned, “Hokage-sama, how can you tire yourself like this? Let me do it.”
Hiruzen hesitated but he had experienced many things in the past few days, which truly left him exhausted both physically and mentally. He agreed to Tonan’s request and said, “Alright. Looks like I’ll be troubling you.”
A happy smile appeared on Tonan’s face as he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He took out the frozen meat from inside and smelled it. Frowning, he said, “This meat is stale. Eating this is not good for the stomach. We should throw it away.”
He then fiddled with the vegetables inside a few times. He took out one vegetable, and shook his head, “Eating this now will make it difficult to sleep…”
Finally, he selected the ingredients from the refrigerator that he needed for tonight. He also smelled every seasoning to check whether it was edible or not.
“Hokage-sama, this soy sauce has expired. I’ll go out to buy a new bottle.”
Tonan held a bottle of soy sauce and shook it toward Hiruzen who was staring blankly at the photo in the drawing-room. He then walked out quickly.
Hiruzen reached out and caressed the photo. He looked up and sighed, muttering, “Expired? I really didn’t notice.”
Since the loss of his sons and the fight with his wife, Hiruzen had been absent-minded all day long. Only when working did he stabilize his mind as much as possible. When he was not working, he just sat on a chair in a daze, recalling the moments together with his family.
It was as if both Shinnosuke and Asuma were still playing in front of him. However, when he came back to his senses, everything vanished like a bubble bursting. Hiruzen felt indescribable pain in his heart. Looking at the photo in his hand, he finally let out a mournful sigh.
