Later that evening, Taro was free from his job, skipped on heading home, and went straight to another place where he might get some answers regarding the shocking news that Takuma was back home.

He rang the doorbell in a lovely apartment building, too good for him to rent. It took three genin splitting the rent to afford to live there. He waited a few moments before heavy footsteps echoed from inside, and Masaaki, dressed only in a pair of tight underwear, opened the door.

"Why are you naked?" asked Taro as he stepped into his friends' apartment.

"I'm not," said Masaaki. He had changed a lot since the Akimichi clan had taken him in. He had gotten bigger in every way. He wasn't rotund like his patrons, but he had grown taller and packed on muscle and some fat, which gave him an almost abnormal strength. Moreover, he had been receiving guidance from an Akimichi jonin once a week and worked with clan chunin nearly every other day. He had truly managed to make the most out of his opportunity.

If they fought, Taro wouldn't last half a minute before Masaaki would break him in half. Thankfully, Taro had refused to spar with him so often that Masaaki no longer asked him out for spar sessions. It was one of the things he left to their other friend, who still entertained the spar requests.

Speaking of the friend, Nenro was cooking dinner for the trio of housemates. He looked up when Taro walked in and asked, "Are you staying for dinner? Tell me now while I can still make more."

"It's fine," Taro replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Unlike Masaaki, Nenro hadn't changed much other than growing few inches and his voice finally deepening. However, when it came to careers, Nenro was the one to have changed the most. Three years ago, he was the first among them to work with a chunin regularly, and within months, he was in the rotation for several chunin-lead teams. By the start of their second year, Nenro was a mainstay in teams of several high-profile chunin teams.

He was gifted in presenting himself as valuable, and it felt like he could sell himself to anyone regardless of who they were. For a while, it felt like he would leave the Genin Corps to join a department, but he continued to stay. Many people, including Taro, thought it was a waste of his talents—but then he surprised everyone when a jonin had him lead a C-rank mission as a genin.

Jonin were considered hotspots within the shinobi organisation. A jonin had several chunin working under them, who further had genin working under them. They felt like informal companies with a jonin at the top. Being connected to a jonin, even if it was through a chunin, was beneficial. Being on a jonin's team increased a chunin's reputation, which gave them better missions to lead and allowed them to recruit the best genin for their missions, further growing their reputation.

Nenro wasn't a chunin, yet a jonin had him lead a team of genin on a mission. It was uncommon, but not rare, as experienced career genin who didn't meet the criteria to be promoted to chunin were often allowed to lead teams on low-stake missions.

However, Nenro was far too young and inexperienced—yet a jonin had directly recommended that he be allowed to lead a mission. Nenro wasn't a clan kid, nor did he have shinobi parents; he wasn't even born in the Hidden Leaf village—he was a nobody, which made people curious. In the past year, he had created a reputation for himself.

People had even created a title for him: Mercenary.

He managed to convert that one mission into several and was now receiving outsourced missions from the departments other people wanted him to join. Instead of joining one department, he worked with multiple on significant missions. He was essentially a rankless chunin. Not only did it reflect positively on his resume, but he also worked on a variety of different missions, which wouldn't have been possible had he joined a department.

Taro entered the living room and saw the third member of the trio slumped on a couch with her face into the cushions.

"A surprise to see you here," Taro said as he patted Ai's calves, and she raised her legs to make space for Taro to sit before lowering them in his lap. "I thought you were still doing additional training in the evening. What happened?" he asked.

Ai turned her tired face out of the cushions but smiled brightly at him, "I managed to close a complicated kunai wound on my own today without any mistakes or assistance, so sensei let me go home. He also gave me Saturday off. I finally have a long weekend!"

For others, a long weekend meant three days or more of no work, but for Ai, a long weekend was the standard two-day weekend.

Ai was an iryo-nin who was in training and working at a hospital. She literally worked as much as the other two combined and regularly pulled 24-hour shifts to get real firsthand experience with iryo-jutsu.

"I hate your father," Ai said with malice.

She was an apprentice under Taro's iryo-nin father, who had recently been promoted to the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin for his skill in iryo-jutsu. Ai started learning under him when he was a chunin, but now she was a tokubetsu jonin's select few students.

She was getting the best training one could ask for, but it took a lot to become a competent iryo-nin.

"I'll be sure to tell him," Taro said with a smirk.

"I'll kill you," she hissed. "The difference between some medicines and poison is in the dosage."

"Make it painless."

Ai scoffed before closing her eyes with a groan that partially sounded like she wanted to cry.

Masaaki returned from his room with a pair of shorts on. He slumped on the recliner opposite the sofa, working grippers in both hands. He truly was only concerned with being a combat shinobi with no other special skills. Most people stressed about narrowing their scope too much, but Masaaki was a single-minded individual who picked a goal and ran toward it without worrying about anything else.

"How was your day?" asked Masaaki.

"I had lunch with some academy classmates today," Taro replied, getting right to the topic he had come to discuss. "You remember Taketori Kameko from basic training?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ai, Masaaki, and Nenro weren't from the Hidden Leaf village and were trained at the local academy near their hometowns.

"The mean girl with the fast sword," Masaaki answered after a moment.

Ai opened her eyes and frowned at Taro. "Takuma's… teammate?"

"Yes, her. Apparently, she's back home, and Takuma returned with her," said Taro.

"What!" Ai immediately sat up, almost hitting Taro in the face with her legs

The sound of something being beaten by a mixer stopped, and Nenro walked into the room while wiping his hands with a hand towel. "How long?" he asked, mimicking Taro's own thinking when he first heard about Takuma's return.

"A week."

"Where is he?" asked Masaaki, clenching the hand grippers shut.

"Is he alright? Did he get injured? Is that why he hasn't reached out?" asked Ai, the worry having snapped her sleepiness away.

"I don't know," answered Taro. "Kameko told one of our friends that he didn't have a good time out there, but I don't know if he's injured or not," According to Aimi, Kameko didn't want to talk a lot about her time in the war and combined with her natural reservedness, she didn't get to know much.

"Where is he staying?" asked Masaaki.

"An inn or hotel? He stopped renting before he left," said Nenro.

"Or he's living with his teacher." Taro put his guess out. "Maruboshi Kosuke, the old man who stayed with Takuma when he was hospitalised. Does anyone have his number or address? He might know about his whereabouts even if Takuma's not with him."

Nenro and Masaaki replied simultaneously that they'd find Maruboshi's address.

"I'll find the address," Nenro took the responsibility. "I know a few people who might know."

"Why do you think he hasn't reached out? Even if he didn't want to meet, he could've just informed us that he's back home," Ai fell back and slumped into the coach as the short burst of energy left her. "And if we should be waiting for him instead of going to him? Maybe there's a reason he's taking his time, and we should respect it and give him his time."

Taro had considered that as well. He said, "That's conjecture. We don't know why he hasn't called, and hearing it from his mouth is better than to think of reasons without a basis. We go find him, and if he needs more time, we give it to him—but I think we should see how he is.".

"How long will it take you to get the address?" Taro asked Nenro.

"I'll have to make some calls, but I think... by tomorrow afternoon."

"Great, we go as soon as possible."

———

.

Maruboshi was worried because over a week had passed, and Takuma hadn't left the house since his arrival. He was recovering well—he didn't shut himself in his room and even took over the dinner cooking duties—a huge positive as Takuma looked burden-free while preparing the food. He took long barefoot walks in the garden, spending at least a couple of hours outside, but he hadn't shown any desire to wander into the village.

He understood that everyone had their own time of recovery, but Takuma had no contact with anyone except for him. By now, he should've called up his friends to inform them that he was back, but when he asked him to call them, Takuma replied he would do it tomorrow but never got to it. It was as though he was avoiding returning to his life before the war.

Maruboshi decided to see if he could pull him out of the home.

"Takuma, I am stepping out for some vegetables. There is a fresh breeze running through the village. Do you want to accompany me?" he asked.

Sitting in the living room and reading the day's newspaper, Takuma looked up and shook his head.

"I'm fine here. Please go ahead," said Takuma. "I'll do some cleaning in the meantime." He folded the newspaper and got up to go clean the bathroom.

Maruboshi silently sighed. While it was good that Takuma showed initiative without prompting, he preferred leaving the house and reconnecting with the village. With jute bags tucked under his arm, Maruboshi left the house and was surprised to see a group of people at his front gate as he stepped out the door.

"You are..." Standing before him were Takuma's friends and former teammates. He recognised them from Takuma's time in the hospital. He immediately closed the door behind him and walked forward to greet them.

"Hello, sir," said Ai. "We heard that Takuma's back home, and we're wondering if..."

"Good afternoon to all of you. Yes, Takuma is back. He is living with me. Do you want to meet him?" Maruboshi smiled because it was more than a pleasant surprise that Takuma's friends had come to his door.

The teenagers exchanged looks with each other.

"Yes, but we aren't sure if we're inconveniencing him. As long as he's fine, we can always come when he's ready to meet us," said Ai.

"No, no, you children are more than welcome to meet him," Maruboshi dismissed that opinion. He wanted Takuma to reconnect, and his friends coming to his doorstep was the best way to start it. "Truthfully, Takuma has had some difficult days since his return," their faces immediately fell, so he continued quickly, "but he is doing considerably well. I am worried because he has not left the house since his return, and I believe that meeting with all of you will be tremendously good for him... You have done the right thing by coming here."

He invited them inside and called for Takuma from the entrance hall without revealing the surprise.

———

.

Takuma rolled up his sleeves, put on rubber cleaning gloves, and was about to start cleaning the bathroom and the bathtub when he heard Maruboshi call for him. It sounded like he was at the front door. His ears twitched, and he picked up the other sounds.

He wasn't paying attention, but it sounded like there was someone with Maruboshi. He heard someone offering the customary apology for disturbing them. He wondered if it was one of the neighbours. Unlike his previous neighbourhood, the neighbours in Maruboshi were well-acquainted with each other. In his former place, the doorbell only rang once a month when the landlord came to collect rent.

"Coming!" he announced as he removed the gloves and stepped out.

He could already tell there were multiple people with Maruboshi just from the sounds. He reached the end of the hallway and reached the entrance hall, only to be frozen in his place when he saw his friends. He was stupefied, and his wide eyes jumped from person to person as the freeze response of his body kicked in.

"Hello, Takuma," Ai spoke first and tried to hide her worry in her smile, but her hands joined in front of her chest. The way she stepped forward the moment she saw him, everything about her body language, it all betrayed her thoroughly.

In response, Takuma turned his back to them. It was incredibly insulting, but Takuma wasn't concerned with his manners at the moment. He didn't want to see his friends—to be more precise, he didn't want his friends to see him. He was perfectly cognisant of his behaviour for the past week. He hadn't missed Maruboshi's subtle attempts to get him to step out of the house, but he felt safe in the four walls of the house that separated him from the outside world.

He knew he was being weak and pathetic—but he didn't want his friends to see him in this state, which was why he hadn't told anyone that he had returned or where he lived. Staying inside guaranteed he wouldn't run into anyone he knew because he genuinely didn't want anyone to see him as he was.

He closed his eyes as his heart began to beat faster. He racked his brain about how to deal with the situation now that his friends were there. He hastily formulated how to react and respond, wiped his eyes with his shirt, and put a smile on that felt torturous to face his friends.

He turned only to see Masaaki clear the entrance hall to reach him.

"Hey, Masaaki—" Takuma tried to sound upbeat but was cut off when Masaaki hugged him without saying a word. Masaaki was shorter but much bigger than him, and Takuma felt enveloped in his embrace. "It's nice to see you, buddy—"

"It's okay," said Masaaki, again cutting him off. "You're my friend. You don't have to pretend, just be you... I—none of us will judge, so it's okay if you don't want to smile; you never did it much before anyway. If you don't want to talk, that's also fine; we can just spar."

Takuma wasn't going to let his smile fall and was about to convince him that everything was fine, but when he heard that they could spar instead of talking, a massive wave of comfort and warmth spread through his body. His mind, which had been slow and heavy, felt lighter than ever before.

All his thoughts and the empty words he was about to utter disappeared, and just like that, he didn't feel like saying anything.

He was weak and pathetic—but he also was being stupid.

There was never a need to say anything.

He slowly raised his hands and patted Masaaki on the back.

"Got it," he said as the smile disappeared.

Even though he didn't want to smile and laugh, he realised he didn't need four walls to feel safe. He had no reason to worry because there were people who cared for him, and he could lean on them for support when he needed it.