After Yahiko finished teaching those thievery skills last night, she had originally thought it would be at least a few days before she was dragged out for a practical mission.
After all, her body had just recovered, and she could barely walk steadily; surely she needed a few days to recuperate?
But early the next morning, Yahiko squatted in front of her, looking at her with a dead-serious expression.
“Luna, come with me today.”
Luna held half a bowl of fish soup left over from last night, stunned for a moment: “… Where to?”
“To the street,” Yahiko said very naturally.
“You have to try it eventually; just listening without practicing is useless. Don’t worry, I’ll take you on a simple run. You don’t have to do anything, just watch and learn.”
Luna opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she only nodded silently.
She also knew that it was impossible for her to hide in the cave forever.
In this world, no one had the qualification to be a bystander.
…
The rain lessened somewhat, changing from a torrential downpour to a continuous drizzle.
Luna followed Yahiko out of the cave, walking along the muddy path toward the direction of the town.
Her heart beat fast, her palms were full of sweat, and her steps felt a bit weak.
Stepping on the slippery muddy ground, she almost slipped several times.
Yahiko walked in front, his pace brisk and practiced.
He had walked this path countless times.
He wore that washed-out, ragged jacket, the collar turned up to hide half his face, his eyes darting around as he scanned everything around him.
“We’re here,” he stopped behind a crooked-necked tree, squatted down, and jerked his chin forward.
“Over there, see it?”
Luna looked in the direction of his gaze.
Ahead was a small town—though calling it a town was a stretch, as it was really just one main street with a few sparsely opened shops on both sides.
There were a few pedestrians walking on the street, all with shrunken shoulders and in a hurried manner.
An old woman sat under the eaves of her house, with a small stall in front of her displaying a few bunches of wild vegetables and a few shriveled fruits.
“Do you see that granny?” Yahiko lowered his voice and said.
“She sets up her stall there every morning and packs up by noon. Her eyesight is bad, and her movements are slow. She’s the best target to hit.”
Luna glanced at the granny, then looked at Yahiko: “… We’re going to steal from her?”
“We’re not stealing her things,” Yahiko shook his head and pointed to the side.
“Do you see the cured meat hanging at the doorway of that shop? The shop owner goes out to pour water every morning, leaving a gap of about ten-odd seconds. We need to sneak in during that time, grab something, and leave.”
Luna looked over following his finger.
It was a grocery store, with a string of air-dried cured meat and a few salted fish hanging at the entrance, exuding an irresistible salty fragrance in the rain.
Her stomach gave an uncooperative twitch.
“Your task is…” Yahiko turned his head and looked at her earnestly, “Stand at the alley entrance and keep watch. If anyone comes, cough once.”
Luna’s heart suddenly jumped to her throat.
Keeping watch.
That meant she was responsible for the most crucial link.
If she failed to signal in time, Yahiko would be trapped inside the shop.
“Don’t be afraid,” Yahiko seemed to notice her tension and grinned, “You just need to stand there, leave the rest to me. Even if something really happens, I’ll find a way to escape.”
He spoke very casually, but Luna noticed that he clenched his fists tightly when he spoke.
He was nervous too.
He just didn’t say it out loud.
The two of them sneaked along the shadows of the street into a small alley next to the grocery store.
Yahiko stopped at the alley entrance, poked half his head out to observe, then turned back, raised one finger, pointed at his own eyes, and finally pointed at the store entrance.
This was the signal they had agreed on last night: Watch closely, wait for my signal.
Luna nodded and stood in a shadow at the alley entrance according to the plan.
From this angle, she could see both directions of the street.
If anyone walked over, she would be the first to spot them.
Yahiko took a deep breath, then suddenly dropped his shoulders, darting out like an agile little kitten.
Luna’s eyes closely followed his figure.
Yahiko’s movements were fast yet steady.
He didn’t head straight for the shop entrance; instead, he first pretended to squat down by the street to tie his shoelaces, sweeping his peripheral vision around.
Confirming that no one was paying attention to him, he stood up unconcernedly and leisurely sauntered to the grocery store entrance.
The boss was indeed not around.
The entrance was empty, and that string of cured meat swayed gently in the wind.
Yahiko reached out, his movements as fast as lightning.
With a tug and a shove, two strings of cured meat disappeared into his oversized jacket.
Immediately after, he also swiped a few salted fish hanging on the side and tucked them into his chest.
The entire process took no more than five seconds.
Then he turned and left.
Yet just as he was about to leave the store entrance, a middle-aged man’s voice came from inside the shop:
“Who?!”
Luna’s heart contracted violently.
She saw Yahiko’s body stiffen for less than half a second, and then, without a word, he bolted!
“You little bastard! Stop right there!”
A stocky man rushed out of the shop, holding a rolling pin, and chased after him with a furious expression on his face.
Yahiko ran extremely fast, his small legs alternating so quickly they were almost sparking, but his chest was stuffed with things, making him run somewhat clumsily, and the distance between him and the adult man was shrinking bit by bit.
Luna’s mind went completely blank.
Then she saw Yahiko running toward her side.
No, he wasn’t running toward her.
He was deliberately leading the man to the fork in the road behind her, while he himself abruptly turned into another narrower alley.
The man chased in without hesitation.
Luna hid in the corner, her heart pounding wildly, her legs turning weak.
She held her breath, listening to the sound of footsteps passing through the alley, getting further and further away, and then gradually disappearing into the sound of the rain.
After about two minutes, Yahiko’s figure emerged from the corner of another alley.
He was panting heavily, but his face wore that signature smug smile, his chest bulging, and he was still carrying those two strings of cured meat and salted fish.
He winked at Luna: “Let’s go!”
…
The two of them ran out of the town in one breath, stopping only when human habitation was completely out of sight.
Luna bent over, supporting her knees with both hands, panting heavily.
Her face flushed red, and her legs were trembling slightly—not from exhaustion, but from fright.
Yahiko’s condition was somewhat better than hers, but he was also panting heavily.
He threw the cured meat and salted fish in his arms onto the ground, plopped down on a nearby stone, tilted his head back, and laughed out loud:
“Hahahaha! It worked! Look! Didn’t I tell you! It’s easy!”
Luna raised her head, looking at his smug expression, and couldn’t help wanting to smile too.
But the moment she opened her mouth, she found she couldn’t smile; her lips were trembling.
At that moment just now, she had really thought Yahiko was going to be caught.
“You…” Luna’s voice trembled slightly, “You almost got caught just now.”
“Almost,” Yahiko smiled, patting his chest, “But almost caught means not caught.”
“But…”
“No more buts, look at this!” Yahiko grabbed a piece of cured meat and waved it in front of Luna, “We get to eat meat tonight! Not wild vegetable soup, not thin porridge, it’s meat! Smell it, how fragrant!”
He brought the cured meat close to Luna’s nose, and the rich smoky aroma hit her face.
Luna’s stomach growled again.
Yahiko smiled even more happily.
Luna looked at him, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.
The Yahiko before her could not overlap at all with the future founder of the Akatsuki Organization in her mind.
He lacked the aura of a leader, the profundity of an idealist; he was just an ordinary, wandering child running desperately so that his companions could have a bite of meat.
But perhaps it was precisely because he was such a Yahiko that he could still maintain that firm conviction in the dark years to come.
Yahiko rewrapped the cured meat, stood up, and patted the mud off his butt.
“Let’s go, back to the cave. Konan and Nagato must be waiting anxiously. Tonight we’re having a feast!”
He walked in front, his back appearing somewhat small and thin in the rain, yet inexplicably making people feel reliable.
Luna picked up those salted fish and followed behind him.
The rain was still falling, but she felt that today’s rain didn’t seem so annoying anymore.
The fear from being chased just now was replaced by a strange feeling at this moment.
That was a tacit understanding of “we did something bad together.”
A kind of…
accomplice feeling.
Quite novel.
And pretty nice.
…
When they returned to the cave, Konan was standing at the entrance anxiously looking out.
Seeing the two of them walking from afar, she first breathed a sigh of relief, and then her gaze fell on the two strings of cured meat in Yahiko’s hands, pausing for a moment.
“You guys… really pulled it off?”
“Of course!” Yahiko held the cured meat high up, as if showing off a trophy.
“When Lord Yahiko goes out in person, how could he possibly return empty-handed!”
Konan looked at the cured meat, then looked at Luna.
Luna’s clothes were soaked through by the rain, her hair clung to her face, her cheeks were flushed red, still carrying the tension and excitement that hadn’t completely faded.
“Is Luna okay?” Konan walked over, examining her closely, “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Luna shook her head, “I… I just kept watch, I didn’t do anything.”
“She did a great job!” Yahiko said loudly from the side, “She kept her composure on her first time keeping watch, didn’t panic, and didn’t run around blindly. She has talent!”
Luna felt a bit embarrassed by his praise, lowering her head to pretend to tidy up the soaked hem of her clothes, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help curving up slightly.
Seeing her expression, Konan also smiled.
“That’s good,” she reached out and gently patted Luna’s somewhat stiff shoulder, “… You’ve worked hard, welcome back.”
Luna raised her head, looking at the shallow smile on Konan’s face, which was almost identical to hers, and that strange feeling welled up in her heart again.
She was praised.
Not because she was how great, but because she didn’t hold them back.
In this world, not holding others back turned out to already be something worth celebrating.
Yet she really was happy.
Nagato sat by the campfire, silently adding a few pieces of firewood to the fire.
The firelight flickered, illuminating his quiet face.
He didn’t speak, but the faint, almost imperceptible arc at the corner of his mouth already indicated his attitude.
That night, the long-absent aroma of meat wafted out from the cave.
The four of them sat around the campfire, each holding a piece of sizzling, oil-dripping cured meat.
Although the meat was a bit salty and somewhat hard, this definitely counted as a rare delicacy.
Yahiko ate until his mouth was oily, mumbling vaguely: “Tomorrow… tomorrow I’ll go get some rice, and we’ll cook meat porridge!”
No one objected.
Luna took a bite of the cured meat in her hand, the aroma of fat melting in her mouth.
Looking at the three figures before her in the firelight—some wolfing down their food, others chewing quietly—she suddenly felt…
Perhaps surviving in this world wasn’t an impossible thing after all.