The two walked for a while before Tanako mustered the courage to speak to Yoruha.
"Yoruha, what do you think about Ino?"
Yoruha paused, looking at Tanako with curiosity. Why would she ask such a question?
"What about her?"
Tanako's face turned as red as if she were running a fever, but she still managed to voice the question that had been on her mind.
"Do you think she's pretty?"
"And since she's a girl from the Yamanaka clan, you boys must like girls like her, right?"
In truth, Tanako was more attractive than Ino and had a quieter, gentler deanor, which was often more appealing to boys.
However, Yoruha didn't understand the purpose behind Tanako's question.
He had always assud that Yamada Jumoku and Tanako shared a special bond. The only reason he was walking her ho today was because Yamada Jumoku had claid he had an urgent matter.
Yoruha thought for a mont and replied, "Ino? Yeah, she's pretty."
Tanako suddenly grew anxious and turned to look at Yoruha. "Then… do you like her?"
Yoruha froze for a mont before replying, "We're friends, of course I like her."
"I don't an as a friend! I an, do you like her as in liking her romantically?"
Tanako asked nervously.
"Definitely not," Yoruha said. "We just t today. Why do you ask?"
Yoruha's curiosity was piqued as he looked at Tanako.
Hearing his answer, Tanako let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Because I think she acted a bit differently toward you today compared to other boys."
"I could tell—it seed like she had a crush on you."
Yoruha chuckled. "You're overthinking it. Ino acts that way toward any boy she finds good-looking."
Tanako was montarily taken aback.
She hadn't expected Yoruha to crack a joke.
She patted Yoruha's shoulder playfully and said, "So, you're saying you think you're good-looking?"
Yoruha laughed. "Am I not?"
"You are," Tanako admitted with a smile.
The two locked eyes and burst out laughing.
Under the streetlights, their playful interaction would have easily led any onlooker to misunderstand the nature of their relationship.
At that mont, their bond undoubtedly grew stronger.
To Yoruha, Tanako was soone he could joke around with.
And to Tanako, she saw a new side of Yoruha—he wasn't as distant and unapproachable as he seed on the surface.
As they chatted and laughed, they soon arrived at the gates of Tanako's ho.
Looking at the grand estate before him, Yoruha teased, "Wow, talk about a mansion. I guess Jumoku wasn't exaggerating—Tanako, your family really is loaded."
In the pri, expensive real estate of the Hidden Leaf Village, her ho resembled a large manor, far beyond what most could afford.
It was clear her family was exceptionally wealthy.
The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't just ho to shinobi; it also had many ordinary residents. After all, shinobi weren't engaged in production or trade.
The village relied on ordinary people to sustain its economy and infrastructure.
Additionally, so wealthy rchants and nobles from the Land of Fire chose to live in the village for the sake of security.
This also explained the abundance of low-level missions available in the village.
Of course, the primary source of inco for the Hidden Leaf Village ca from the military budget allocated by the Land of Fire.
Hearing Yoruha's remark, Tanako grew a little worried.
She was worried he might distance himself because of her family's background.
Her nervousness overca her shyness as she grabbed Yoruha's hand and said, "Yoruha, you wouldn't dislike because of my family, would you?"
Yoruha glanced at Tanako's hands—smooth and fair, almost srizing for a brief mont.
But he quickly collected himself and asked, "Why would you think that?"
"Having a rich teammate is a good thing. Why would that make dislike you?"
Hearing Yoruha's response, Tanako sighed in relief.
She explained, "In the past, when people learned I was from the Bunya family, they didn't want to play with ."
"The older I got, the worse it beca."
"They were always afraid of upsetting ."
"Since I entered the ninja academy, Jumoku has been the only one willing to play with ."
As she spoke, Tanako's mood turned somber.
Yoruha patted her shoulder and said, "Well, starting today, you've got one more friend. Since we'll be fighting side by side from now on, I hope I can trust you all with my back."
Tanako was moved by Yoruha's sincerity and nodded enthusiastically. "Yoruha, I'll make sure not to drag you down in the future!"
She was well aware that her talent wasn't outstanding, but Yoruha seed strong. She resolved to work even harder so as not to beco a burden to the team.
Yoruha smiled and reassured her, "You won't. You and Jumoku are both great. Anyway, I should head ho—it's getting late. You should go inside now."
Tanako nodded, her heart already considering Yoruha as soone important.
Children's emotions are simple—they can easily grow fond of soone, and just as easily harbor resentnt.
For now, Yoruha still saw Tanako as nothing more than a child.
After Yoruha left, Tanako remained at the gate, staring in the direction he had gone until his figure disappeared completely.
"Is that your new teammate?"
The dazed Tanako was startled by a sudden voice near her ear.
She turned quickly and saw her mother.
"Mom, you scared ! Why do you walk so quietly?"
Tanako's mother, Senju i, bore a strong resemblance to her daughter.
She was about 170 cm tall, with waist-length golden hair tied in a ponytail. Despite being nearly forty, she looked as if she were in her twenties.
Her deanor was elegant and composed, and her beauty was undeniable.
Most intriguingly, she bore the surna Senju.
Had Yoruha been there, he would have been astonished.
In his impression, there were no known mbers of the Senju clan living in the Hidden Leaf Village.
However, he didn't believe the Senju clan had been wiped out. Such a powerful and prestigious family, renowned in the village, couldn't have been eradicated in just a few decades.
If they had been wiped out, it would have been as widely discussed as the downfall of the Uchiha clan.
But Yoruha had never heard anything about the Senju clan in the village.
He speculated that the Senju clan had simply integrated into the village.
After all, even Tsunade didn't use the Senju surna, so many clan mbers had likely abandoned it as well.
This assumption wasn't far from the truth.
Many mbers of the Senju clan in the Hidden Leaf Village had indeed forsaken their surna, but not all of them.
Although so retained the na Senju, the clan hadn't produced many extraordinary talents since the days of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju.
While so rged into the village, others remained active in various key departnts within the Hidden Leaf.
Yoruha hadn't noticed this before simply because he'd had little interaction with others in the village.
This wasn't unusual; even with the Sarutobi clan, he'd only ever t Asuma Sarutobi and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, over the years.
However, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, many mbers of the Sarutobi clan erged.
In quieter tis, these clans typically didn't draw much attention unless it was story-relevant.
With over ten thousand ninja and tens of thousands of civilians, the Hidden Leaf Village was massive, more akin to a large city than a village. Its training grounds alone spanned a 20-kiloter diater, underscoring its true scale.
Tanako's mother was a mber of the Senju clan, but she wasn't a ninja, despite keeping the Senju surna.
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