After Konan recovered her senses, she struggled out of Lin Yu's embrace, holding the bread and nervously looking at Lin Yu. Especially the Ninja headband hanging around his neck filled her pale face with dread and fear.
"P-Please... please let me go. I just want to survive. Please let me leave..." Konan's voice was humble and trembling.
Hearing Konan's weak and humble words, a strong pang of sorrow overwhelmed Lin Yu and Jiraiya.
They saw endless suffering and sadness in this poor little girl. At approximately five years old, who knew how much hardship she had already endured because of the war.
Lin Yu took a slight breath, calming his emotions. He knew more; he knew Konan's entire life —how she was displaced by war from a young age, later befriended Yahiko and Nagato, founded the Akatsuki Organization, silently supported Nagato and Yahiko from behind, upheld their beliefs, and finally, died protecting Nagato's corpse.
She was a woman who silently gave everything while standing behind her comrades, supporting the dreams of Yahiko and Nagato from beginning to end. Although she did not appear often and had a tragic ending, Lin Yu remembered her deeply and he swore it wasn't just because of Konan's cold, beautiful appearance!
Lin Yu looked at Konan's pale, tense, and frightened face. He wanted to reach out and rub her head but stopped his hand midway. He forced out what he thought was a very sunny smile and said gently, "Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. Do you remember what just happened?"
"Mhm... you're the older brother who just saved me!" Konan nodded her small head thoughtfully. She remembered that the older boy in front of her seemed to have saved her before she fainted, but she still hadn't lowered her guard.
"Hey, hey, we're together. Does that mean you're implying I'm the bad guy?" Jiraiya stared at Lin Yu with a mischievous look.
"That's debatable. Looking at your white hair, it's obvious you've indulged too much in a certain area."
"You hateful brat, what do you mean by 'a certain area'!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, figure it out yourself." Lin Yu curled his lip, his eyes involuntarily glancing downwards.
"Pfft..." Although Konan didn't understand what they were talking about, she pursed her lips and giggled when she saw them arguing.
Jiraiya looked at the laughing Konan, then cast a triumphant glance at Lin Yu, as if saying: Brat, this great one, the Toad Sage, cooperated well, didn't he!
Lin Yu gave him a look encouraging him to keep up the good work and tried to take Konan's small hand.
Seeing Lin Yu reach out to pull her, Konan's body involuntarily trembled, but she still didn't pull away, letting Lin Yu lead her to a chair.
Wafts of aroma entered her delicate nose. Her stomach uncooperatively let out a "grumble," and her face instantly turned red. She looked away, trying her best not to look at the table full of delicacies.
"Eat. All of this was prepared for you," Lin Yu said softly, holding Konan's small hand while sitting in the chair.
Konan swallowed, lowered her small head, and said in a heavy voice, "I, I can't eat..."
"Aiya, my little ancestor, I'm starving to death! Please pity me and start eating!" Jiraiya looked at the table full of delicious food, nearly drooling all over the floor.
"I..." Konan gripped the corner of her clothes tightly with her other small hand, bit her lip, and took a deep breath of the aroma. Her voice was barely audible as she blushed: "If... if possible, I want to take my portion back to eat..."
"No problem. Waiter, please pack up everything on the table and settle the bill along with the other portion." If Lin Yu hadn't had good hearing, he really wouldn't have been able to hear Konan's shy voice clearly.
"Wait a minute! Let me have a bite first!" Jiraiya yelled, looking completely bewildered.
Lin Yu ignored him, took the takeout boxes from the waiter, and led Konan outside, saying, "Hey, old man in the back, remember to pay the bill."
"Damn it! That hateful brat is going to infuriate me to death! Using my money to woo a girl, how shameless!" Jiraiya stamped his foot in anger, gritting his teeth.
However, he still obediently pulled out his wallet and paid the bill. After all, he hadn't encountered a small number of Ninja on this journey, and his private stash was still quite full.
With a dark expression, he followed the two figures, one small and one even smaller, ahead of him.
Konan looked up at the gentle and handsome boy beside her, blushing slightly, and said, "Um... my name is Konan."
"My name is Uzumaki Lin Yu."
... "Yahiko, Nagato, come out quickly! Look what I brought back for you!" Konan excitedly ran into their secret base a cave in a secluded jungle outside of town —clutching takeout boxes taller than herself. It looked like the three of them had been living there for a while, as there were signs of modification and refinement around the area.
Yahiko and Nagato were inside discussing their "Grand Survival Plan," though it was mostly just Yahiko talking while Nagato only listened and nodded.
"Hmm? Konan is back."
Yahiko called Nagato outside, where they saw Konan excitedly looking at them while holding a towering stack of takeout boxes.
"Wow, Konan, where did you find so much food? It smells amazing!" Yahiko quickly walked up to Konan, looking astonished at the takeout boxes that were taller than him.
After handing a portion to Nagato behind him, Yahiko opened a box. "Wow, this is Shu Xiang Ge's signature Scallion Chicken, this is boneless shark fin, and Golden Fried Rice! Konan, you are truly amazing!"
Konan shuffled her feet and stammered beside him, "Actually... actually, an older brother gave this to us..."
Crack!
The sound of a snapped twig echoed inside. Yahiko quickly put down the food box, shielded Konan and Nagato behind him, and stared nervously at the two people slowly walking in.
"Aiya, I told you to be careful. How did you still step on a twig?" Lin Yu complained to Jiraiya.
*You were the one who stepped on it. When did I become the scapegoat? I'm not Danzo. Wait, why did I mention Danzo?* Jiraiya inwardly grumbled, then his gaze fell upon Nagato, or more accurately, his long red hair. He frowned slightly: *A descendant of the Uzumaki Clan?*
"These foods were given to Konan by you, right? We haven't eaten them yet. We're giving them back to you. Please leave." Yahiko suppressed his hunger, closed the food boxes, and gently placed the takeout containers at Lin Yu's feet.
Lin Yu looked at the small boy with orange-yellow hair. Although his body was clearly trembling, he still shielded Nagato and Konan behind him, prompting a look of appreciation from Lin Yu.
Although his future ideal was a bit naive, that was fine. While he was still young, it wasn't impossible to change. Raising children must start early!
Lin Yu raised his head, revealing the face hidden by his hood, and said softly, "I have never taken back something I've given away."
"We don't need your things. Please... Huh? You are the Guardian Deity!" Yahiko felt the young man in front of him looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, he blurted out in surprise.
What's going on? The Guardian Deity? Now it was Lin Yu's turn to be confused. Did he mistake me for someone else?
"Then is that white-haired person behind you the Toad Guard?" Yahiko looked excitedly at Jiraiya, who was standing next to Lin Yu.
"What Toad Guard? Brat, I am the great Toad Sage!" Jiraiya jumped up and struck a standard pose.
"That's right, that's the pose! You truly are the Toad Guard!" Yahiko's eyes, now sparkling like little stars, were filled with excitement, as if a fan had finally met his idol.
Konan looked at Yahiko, then at Lin Yu, shaking her small head back and forth. Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to flash above her head. "Oh! I know! You are the 'Vigilante Duo' who travel around the Land of Rain helping the weak and treating refugees."
Lin Yu suddenly realized. He vaguely remembered someone calling him and Jiraiya that, but what was this Guardian Deity nonsense?
Yahiko's eyes were filled with fervent heat, shining brightly as he stared at Lin Yu: "You treat the refugees in the Land of Rain and punish the wicked Ninja, bringing hope to the war-torn Land of Rain. Aren't you the Guardian Deity sent by Heaven? As for you, you are the Toad Guard sent by Heaven to protect the Guardian Deity!"
"I'll say it again! this great one is the Toad Sage, not this brat's Guard!" Jiraiya yelled frantically in anger.
"I didn't realize I was this famous," Lin Yu said, rubbing his nose awkwardly.
"So, are you still going to give these foods back to me?"
"Of course not! These are the foods bestowed upon us by the Guardian Deity! We have finally received the Guardian Deity's protection, woo woo woo." Yahiko quickly distributed a food box each to Nagato and Konan, then buried his head and began eating, crying as he ate.
Even a five-year-old boy, beneath his strong exterior, hid a fragile heart. He also longed for protection from others.
Ever since he learned from other orphans and refugees that there were two Ninja who traveled around helping the needy and punishing wicked Ninja, Yahiko had regarded them as his faith and goal.
"Nagato, why aren't you eating?" Nagato held the food box unopened, his gaze beneath his long red hair fixed intensely on the headband hanging around Lin Yu's neck. He remembered that the Ninja who killed his parents wore that exact type of headband!
Lin Yu noticed Nagato intently staring at his headband and couldn't help but say, "Not every Konoha Ninja is a bad person. Sometimes what your eyes see isn't necessarily accurate; you have to feel it with your heart. I think I'm a good person!"
Seeing that Nagato remained unmoved, Lin Yu helplessly pulled back his hood, revealing his shoulder-length fiery red hair.
"Na-Nagato, the Guardian Deity's hair is red, just like yours!" Yahiko, his mouth greasy, looked at Nagato and Lin Yu with an astonished expression. Could they be relatives?
"That's right! Both you and I are orphans of the Uzumaki Clan. To a certain extent, you are one of my few 'relatives'." Lin Yu sighed inwardly as he looked at the silent Nagato. He wasn't wrong; maybe Nagato's mother was one of his distant aunts!
Come to think of it, the future leader of the Akatsuki Organization is his nephew how prestigious is that to say aloud! Later on, he could hook his arm around Hiruzen Sarutobi's neck and say, "See that leader of the Akatsuki Organization who's causing chaos in the Five Great Nations? He's my distant nephew. I'm his uncle. Didn't expect that, did you?"
Ahem, I got sidetracked.
*A relative. I actually still have a relative!* Nagato stared blankly at Lin Yu's fiery red hair. It was the same color as his, and a feeling of closeness spontaneously arose.
He desperately wanted to cry out loud, but he held back, burying his head and frantically eating the food to hide his inner excitement.
Konan watched the two boys wolfing down their food, and the smile on her beautiful small face grew wider. Her lovely eyes glanced at the young man who was only a few years older than her, and a strange thought arose, causing a sudden blush to rise on her face, making her look adorable and charming.