Although it had been a long time since they'd last met, the conversation between Hoshiyomi and Nono didn't feel awkward at all. Nono was gentle by nature and extremely considerate of others' feelings.
It was precisely because of this temperament that she could manage such a large orphanage so gracefully — every child under her care seemed to carry sunshine in their hearts.
After chatting for a bit, Hoshiyomi became even more certain of one thing: Nono was exactly the kind of woman who could keep Jiraiya tied down for life.
Her gentle, nurturing personality was lethal to a free-spirited old bachelor like him.
The two talked first about the war from years ago, then about the orphanage. During the conversation, Hoshiyomi subtly probed Nono about her personal life and feelings.
From her answers and his own observations, he concluded without a doubt — Nono was single. Her entire heart seemed devoted to the children, and there wasn't a single decent man around her.
Good, Hoshiyomi thought. That means Jiraiya's got a real chance here.
With that realization, his confidence in the plan he and Tsunade had cooked up grew even stronger.
Glancing at the softly smiling Nono, he decided not to beat around the bush anymore.
"Nono," he began, "there's actually another reason I came here today."
"Whatever it is, Hoshiyomi-sama, please tell me. As long as it's within my power, I'll do my best," Nono replied sincerely.
"Ah—no need to sound so serious. It's just that I suddenly realized… I've never once heard you mention having a boyfriend or anything like that."
Nono froze for a moment, her eyes growing a little strange.
She had already found it odd that Hoshiyomi kept steering the conversation toward emotional topics.
As a former ROOT operative, she'd received special training in reading intent — so she immediately sensed what this might be about.
Wait… could it be that Hoshiyomi-sama wants to introduce me to someone?
Now that she thought about it, she really was in her thirties and still single…
If Hoshiyomi was offering to introduce her to a good man, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing…
Just as she was preparing to hear him out, the office door suddenly burst open with a loud bang!
Both Nono and Hoshiyomi turned their heads — only to see several children piled up at the doorway, groaning as they tried to untangle themselves.
Startled, Nono quickly rushed over to help them up, scolding gently:
"Honestly, you all need to stop being so mischievous. If you get yourselves hurt again, I'm not patching you up this time — you'll just have to cry it out yourselves."
But the children didn't seem to care about her lecture.
The chubby boy at the bottom of the pile scrambled to his feet and blurted out:
"That's not important, Director Nono! What's important is—you have to say yes to Hoshiyomi-sama!"
"Huh???" Nono and Hoshiyomi both froze, identical looks of confusion on their faces.
"Say yes to what?"
Another little girl clenched her fists, her face shining with excitement.
"To his proposal, of course! Hoshiyomi-sama just proposed to you! We heard it from outside!"
The other children chimed in, shouting one after another:
"Yeah! It's Hoshiyomi-sama! The unbeatable Hoshiyomi-sama! Director Nono, you have to accept!"
So that's what happened — the kids hadn't fallen over while playing, they had been eavesdropping, got too excited over the "big news," and forgot that the door wasn't open.
Hearing their words, Nono's face immediately flushed bright red. She quickly tried to explain:
"What on earth are you all thinking?! Hoshiyomi-sama is already married to the Fourth Hokage! How could he possibly be proposing to me?"
As for Hoshiyomi—he was completely dumbfounded, standing there like that famous meme, Nick Young's confused face:
Who am I? Where am I? What is happening right now?
Panicking that Hoshiyomi might be offended, Nono hurriedly turned back toward him to explain—
"Hoshiyomi-sama, they're just children. They don't know about you and Lady Tsunade — please don't take what they said to heart."
Hoshiyomi waved his hand dismissively, showing he didn't mind, and gestured for Nono to check whether the kids were hurt.
After she finished scolding and reassuring them, Nono sat back down across from him — now with several little "tails" trailing behind her.
Hoshiyomi didn't mind the gaggle of curious children watching them. Smiling, he continued,
"It's nothing serious. I just remembered you've been single for a long time, so I thought I might introduce you to a friend of mine.
You actually know him — he's one of my comrades, Jiraiya.
Don't be fooled by his silly behavior. He's a good man, and I think you two would really suit each other. What do you say?"
Before Nono could even react, the group of little "tails" behind her started whispering and muttering excitedly:
"Who's Jiraiya? Is he strong?"
"If he can't protect Director Nono, then I'm against it!"
Nono's face turned red from embarrassment. She turned around and scolded them gently:
"Kotaro! If you say one more word, I'll give your meat at dinner tonight to Kabuto!"
The chubby boy called Kotaro instantly clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head furiously.
Nono didn't notice, but at the mention of Kabuto's name, Hoshiyomi's eyes flashed for a brief moment — he knew right then that coming here today had been absolutely the right move.
As for the matchmaking, Hoshiyomi didn't need to say much more. Nono agreed to meet Jiraiya without hesitation, and after chatting about him for a bit, Hoshiyomi smoothly shifted the topic toward the orphanage children.
Naturally, Nono offered to show him around the place — and that was when Hoshiyomi finally met the boy he'd been thinking about: Kabuto.
Like the other orphans, Kabuto had come to peek curiously after hearing about Hoshiyomi's visit.
But unlike the loudmouthed Kotaro, Kabuto was quiet and reserved — rather than rushing in, he lingered by the doorway, quietly observing.
The moment Hoshiyomi laid eyes on him, he knew he hadn't made a mistake.
That was the Kabuto Yakushi from the original story — not only because of his appearance, but because of something far more telling: his talent.
Among all the orphans, only a few had managed to awaken chakra at all — and those who had possessed barely a trace of it.
Kabuto, however, was different. His chakra reserves were immense — he shone among them like a firefly in the dark.
Nono clearly noticed Hoshiyomi's attention and took the opportunity to explain softly:
"This child's name is Kabuto. He's been here for two years now, and his talent is exceptional.
If he could attend the Ninja Academy, I believe he'd grow into an outstanding shinobi.
And the boy beside him — his name is Shin. I found him not long ago in a small village on the border of the Land of Fire.
He's still very young, but when I examined him with medical ninjutsu, I discovered something unusual about his body.
He seems to possess some kind of special trait — perhaps even a Kekkei Genkai.
Of course, I'd need to conduct more thorough tests to be sure.
I've actually been thinking about taking them both to meet the Hokage soon."
At the mention of Shin's name, Hoshiyomi's eyes went wide.
His expression turned as bright as if he'd just spotted a rare panda.
What kind of lucky day is this?
The two people he'd been planning to look for — Kabuto and Shin — had just been conveniently delivered to him together!
...
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