Having just gotten out of bed, when Yagyu arrived in the living room, he saw Ino preparing breakfast.
"Ino, where's my mom?"
Seeing Ino there had already become normal for him, so he casually asked the question.
Hearing that, Ino turned around and looked at Yagyu with sparkling eyes.
"Auntie went shopping with my mom! Later they'll probably even go soak in the hot springs. Your entire daily life today has been entrusted to me! Hehehe... so? Surprised?"
Looking at his little girlfriend's delighted expression, Yagyu walked over to her and nodded.
"I really am surprised. But if Uncle Inoichi finds out about this, he'll probably glare at me for another few days."
Hearing that, the corner of Ino's mouth twitched.
She waved her hand indifferently.
"It's fine, don't mind that old-fashioned middle-aged man... Besides, I don't have any missions today either. How about we finally go on a proper date again?"
Yagyu nodded.
He did not refuse Ino's suggestion.
Thinking about it, ever since graduation, they really hadn't gone on many dates together.
After all, once they became ninja, the high-level missions Yagyu carried out often took him far away from the village, so naturally their time together became much less frequent.
Yagyu also understood Ino's girlish feelings.
Just from the fact that she was wearing a casual dress today and had clearly dressed up more beautifully than usual, it was obvious how much she had been looking forward to this long-awaited date.
"After I wash up and eat breakfast, let's head out and walk around town."
Looking at the expectant Ino, Yagyu smiled and added,
"I'll spend the whole day with you."
Ino nodded obediently.
She waited in eager anticipation.
Time flew by like an arrow, the months passing in the blink of an eye.
Before they realized it, more than three months had passed.
On this day, inside the Hokage Tower.
In Tsunade's office, while Yagyu was in the middle of handing over a mission report.
Knock knock knock.
The sound of knocking on the door rang out.
After Tsunade responded, Jiraiya, with his head of white hair and the enormous scroll strapped to his back, walked in through the doorway.
"Tsunade, I'm back."
After greeting Tsunade, Jiraiya's gaze shifted toward Yagyu.
"So Sousuke, you're here too."
Looking at Jiraiya's carefree appearance, Yagyu smiled and nodded.
"Senior Brother Jiraiya, did you bring back some new intelligence this time?"
Hearing that, Jiraiya did not hide anything and simply shook his head.
"Not really. The only information I managed to gather is that the Akatsuki seems to have temporarily halted their activities and has started actively recruiting new members. They appear to be preparing for something, so there probably won't be any major actions from them for the time being."
After hearing Jiraiya's words, Yagyu nodded and did not interrupt.
Tsunade, however, sank into thought.
"So that's how it is? What a pity. Since we still haven't located their hideout and have almost no information on them, we currently don't have any initiative at all... troublesome indeed."
At this point, Tsunade raised her head and looked at Jiraiya with a smile.
"Then this time, you're probably planning to take Naruto away for training, right?"
This was not exactly a secret.
Anyone in the village with a certain level of status already knew about it.
Jiraiya nodded with a grin.
"Naruto is Minato's son after all. Even though I still don't know why Minato sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto back then... I'm certain Minato wouldn't have done something meaningless."
After all, if Minato had wanted to.
He could have sealed the entire Nine-Tails into the stomach of the Shinigami.
But instead, Minato deliberately left half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto.
That action alone was difficult to explain.
The only conclusion was that Namikaze Minato had another plan in mind.
Yagyu listened quietly to the discussion between Jiraiya and Tsunade without interrupting.
Even though he knew the true reason Minato left the Nine-Tails behind, it was not something he could casually explain.
"Senior Brother Jiraiya..."
After listening for a while, Yagyu finally spoke.
"When you take Naruto traveling for training, the most important thing is helping him build a solid foundation. Improving his strength is secondary. As long as his fundamentals are strong enough, I have ways to make him rapidly become stronger later on."
Hearing that, Jiraiya froze for a moment before nodding.
"Mm, I understand. Don't worry, I'll properly arrange Naruto's training plan."
Yagyu nodded and said nothing more.
As for the matter of the Nine-Tails.
To Yagyu, it really was not difficult at all.
Once he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, dealing with the Nine-Tails would practically be effortless.
So he was not in any hurry about it.
Three days later, in the morning.
At the gates of Konoha.
Sasuke and Sakura from Team 7 had come to see Naruto off before he departed on his training journey with Jiraiya.
As for the others, they were currently away from the village.
Naturally, they could not come.
After completing the registration procedures and records, Jiraiya glanced at Naruto, who was chatting with Sasuke and Sakura, a smile appearing on his face.
"All right! Naruto, it's time for us to leave."
Hearing Jiraiya call out to him, Naruto, carrying a backpack, turned toward his two teammates with a bright smile on his face.
"Well then... Sasuke, Sakura, I'm heading out!"
After saying that, Naruto waved his hand and directly followed Jiraiya as they departed from the village.
Once Naruto's figure completely disappeared into the distance, Sasuke and Sakura also returned to the village one after another, each with their own things to do.
Meanwhile, atop a tree near the village gate.
Yagyu watched the farewell scene of Team 7 below and could not help but sigh emotionally.
Then he turned his gaze toward the person beside him.
Kakashi was there as well, holding one of his little adult novels in hand.
"As their instructor, you're seriously not even going to see Naruto off?"
Looking somewhat speechless at Kakashi, Yagyu said,
"Aren't you worried Naruto might complain about it later?"
Kakashi lazily shook his head.
"Not at all. Naruto's not the kind of person who would think that way."
With his usual smiling expression, Kakashi spoke with a hint of emotion in his voice.
"Things turning out like this... honestly isn't bad."
Hearing that, Yagyu nodded in agreement.
Things really were pretty good now.
Naruto had gone off to train under Jiraiya.
Sasuke had also begun further training under Yagyu's arrangements.
And Sakura, after successfully passing Tsunade's test thanks to Yagyu's recommendation letter and becoming Tsunade's disciple, was no longer the infatuated girl she used to be.
All three members of Team 7 now had clear paths ahead of them.
That alone was already a very satisfying outcome.
"I'm heading back."
Retracting his gaze, Yagyu spoke,
"Kakashi-senpai, before long, hand Sasuke over to me completely. I'll personally take him on high-level missions and push his Sharingan development to its limits."
Hearing that, Kakashi nodded without objection.
"I don't have a problem with that... though if that happens, Team 7 will basically be temporarily disbanded."
As he spoke, Kakashi could not help but feel a little sentimental.
After all, he had only been their Jonin instructor for such a short time.
----------
Patreon Advance Chapters: patreon .com/OneFic