The evening breeze carried the scent of flowers as Arata and Tanako walked side by side through Konoha's lantern-lit streets.
For a while, neither spoke — until Tanako suddenly gathered her courage.
"Arata," she asked softly, "what do you think of Ino?"
Arata blinked, a little caught off guard.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Tanako's face turned red — not the faint kind of blush, but bright and full, like she'd caught a fever.
But she pressed on anyway.
"I mean…" she hesitated, then blurted it out in one breath, "do you think she's pretty? She's a Yamanaka girl — most boys like girls like her, right?"
Arata tilted his head slightly, puzzled by where this was going.
He didn't realize Tanako's heart was racing so fast she could barely breathe.
"Well," he said finally, "yeah. Ino's definitely pretty."
Tanako's eyes widened. "Then… then do you like her?"
"Of course I do," Arata replied without thinking. "We're friends, aren't we?"
"I don't mean that kind of like!" she said quickly, clutching the strap of her bag. "I mean… like between a boy and a girl."
Arata chuckled. "Oh. No, of course not. We just met today."
"Why do you ask?"
Tanako's shoulders relaxed a little, and the nervous tension faded from her face.
She smiled faintly. "I just thought… she was acting different around you. I think she might like you."
Arata laughed softly. "You're overthinking it. Ino acts that way around every handsome guy."
Tanako blinked. "Wait—did you just call yourself handsome?"
Arata smirked. "Well, am I wrong?"
Tanako giggled. "No… you're not."
Their laughter mingled under the soft glow of the streetlights. For a brief moment, the night felt lighter — the kind of easy warmth that made things a little less lonely.
To Arata, Tanako had gone from a polite teammate to someone he could joke with — someone real.
And to Tanako, Arata no longer seemed distant or unapproachable.
He was… kind. Human.
By the time they reached her home, they were both smiling.
Then Arata stopped short.
"Wow." He looked up at the massive estate before them. "Tree-boy wasn't exaggerating — your family really is loaded."
Right in the heart of Konoha stood an elegant walled mansion, its gates carved with intricate designs, lanterns flickering softly behind them.
A private residence like this, in the most expensive part of the village, spoke of enormous wealth.
Tanako's smile faltered slightly. She looked… worried.
"Arata," she said nervously, "you won't… dislike me because of my family, right?"
She reached out instinctively, holding his hand before realizing what she'd done. Her palms were soft, warm — delicate.
Arata looked down at her hand, a little startled.
"Why would I dislike you for that?" he said with an easy smile. "Having a rich teammate sounds great to me. Maybe you'll treat us to barbecue again."
Tanako blinked, then laughed in relief.
Her voice trembled slightly. "It's just… people act differently when they find out who I am. They start walking on eggshells, treating me like glass.
At the academy, only Itsuki ever treated me like a normal person."
Her tone softened near the end, a hint of loneliness seeping through.
Arata rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Well, from now on, you've got one more person who'll treat you normally. We're teammates — I need to be able to trust the people watching my back."
Tanako's eyes widened. The quiet sincerity in his voice made her heart skip a beat.
"I won't let you down, Arata," she said seriously. "I'll work hard — I'll make sure I'm never a burden."
Arata smiled. "You'll be fine. You and Itsuki both have good instincts."
He stepped back slightly. "Alright, it's late. You should go in."
Tanako nodded, her face glowing with warmth as she watched him turn to leave.
In her heart, she'd already decided — this boy was someone important.
Even when his figure disappeared down the street, she stayed there, staring into the distance.
"Is that your new teammate?"
The gentle voice came suddenly from behind, making Tanako jump.
She turned quickly — and froze.
"Mom! You scared me!"
Her mother stood at the top of the steps — tall, elegant, and impossibly graceful.
Her name was Senju Mei.
She looked like an older version of Tanako — long golden hair tied in a neat ponytail, eyes soft yet sharp with intelligence.
Though nearing forty, she carried herself with the calm beauty of a woman in her twenties.
And more than anything, her surname…
Senju.
If Arata had been there, he would've been stunned.
Because in all his years in Konoha, he had never met anyone bearing that name.
To most, the Senju clan was a legend — founders of the village, ancestors of Hashirama and Tobirama, long since vanished from public life.
But in truth, they hadn't been wiped out.
They had simply faded from view.
After the great wars, many Senju abandoned the name, choosing to live quietly as ordinary citizens to avoid political attention.
Even Tsunade herself rarely used it, and with time, the clan became part of the village's unseen backbone — serving quietly in its departments, never drawing attention.
Arata had never noticed them because, like many things in Konoha, the Senju were hidden in plain sight.
And Tanako's mother — Senju Mei — was one of those who had chosen to keep her family name.
Though she wasn't a shinobi, her bloodline carried the quiet strength of her ancestors — a heritage that would soon place her daughter closer to Arata's fate than either of them yet realized.