Chapter 9: Good Night

Yujin woke up again after Tsunade. He watched her go to the bathroom and got up from the floor. Stretching a bit, he went outside and resumed his daily routine.

Tsunade witnessed him exercising again, feeling the same peace of mind he did after his morning workout and fresh air. She felt at peace, even though it was the second time this happened.

Tsunade went back to take care of some pending business. Not only was she retiring, but she also planned to leave the village, so there were many things to attend to. However, she hadn’t shared her decision with Yujin, who was more than content exploring the village.

For the next few days, the two repeated their routine. They did their own things during the day, and at night, they drank until they fell asleep. In the morning, Tsunade woke up first, and Yujin exercised.

Days later, the routine was disrupted when Tsunade brought Shizune to the apartment.

Surprisingly, Yujin was very comfortable with the little girl.

Tsunade noticed that he knew how to take care of children, as if he had done it many times before. He knew how to communicate with the girl, and they quickly became friends.

Because of Shizune, they reduced their drinking. In the early hours, they were still quite sober, and Shizune was sleeping with her head on Yujin’s leg.

“You’re really good with kids.”

Yujin smiled upon hearing that. He did have quite a bit of experience with it.

“Remember the girl I told you I became friends with?”

Tsunade’s smile faded upon hearing that. Even the calm Yujin always seemed a bit down whenever he talked about Xu Rong. This time, however, there was only a smile on his face.

“She was an orphan. She was only twelve when she passed away.”

Yujin smiled as he looked at Shizune, reminiscing about the past. Xu Rong was Yujin’s first real friend. Despite being a few years younger, he saw her as a little sister and spoiled her whenever he returned to the village with things from his travels.

“I don’t know ... After what happened to her, in my travels, whenever I saw orphaned children, I remembered her. Because of that, I always tried to help them as much as possible, even though it was impossible for me to take responsibility for all of them, I wanted to help.”

Yujin had a special place in his heart for children. Tsunade didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent.

“Yujin, I wanted to tell you something.”

She decided to change the subject and reveal her plans.

“In the past few days, I’ve been busy with some preparations. I’ve retired, and I plan to leave the village.”

Yujin didn’t seem very surprised by the news; he simply nodded in agreement.

“You knew?”

Tsunade was surprised. She hadn’t told him anything because she didn’t want to talk about it. The two had been having a great time in recent days, drinking and talking about fun things, especially the things Yujin saw in the village during his walks.

“I didn’t know, but I guessed. In my eyes, ninjas in the Leaf Village are elite forces. They are combat specialists, assassins, and information gatherers. The fact that someone like you, with a reputation as great as yours, was so lax around a stranger like me, shows how tired you are. If you were to return to action in this state, one mistake, and you’d be dead. And knowing you, I knew you would make a similar decision.”

Tsunade laughed a bit at his explanation, intrigued.

“Wait. One moment you say you’re a stranger, and I’m lax around you. The next, you say you know me, and that’s why you knew I would make this decision. You’re either a stranger, or you know me; both can’t be true.”

Yujin realized the small contradiction in his words and smiled shyly but explained.

“I meant a stranger in the sense that you’ve known me for a short time. And even though it’s a short time, I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t want to return to the battlefield, although I am a bit surprised you want to leave the village.”

Tsunade accepted his explanation but still didn’t give up.

“How do you know I wouldn’t want to? Even if I’m tired of war, I could come back after resting a bit.”

Yujin shook his head and replied seriously.

“You’re not tired physically or mentally. You’re tired spiritually.”

Before Tsunade could respond, he stopped her.

“It takes a lot of spiritual strength to do something that goes against your values.”