A few days later, Orochimaru's house.
Kano ate in silence. Orochimaru sat opposite him in simple home clothes, which seemed to wash away his usual coldness and cruelty.
There was silence at the table… Both Kano and Orochimaru demonstrated perfectly the rule of "When I eat, I am deaf and dumb." Therefore, their meal passed in complete silence.
After eating, Kano sat aimlessly on the veranda, looking at the only tree in the yard, from which almost all the leaves had fallen.
Orochimaru's house was huge. The courtyard alone was as big as a regular house. However, there was only one old tree growing in the courtyard. Because of this, it seemed that when it finally dried out, the large courtyard would turn into a desert.
A few days ago, when he learned that Orochimaru would be taking care of him, Kano felt uneasy. However, the thought that Orochimaru had unusual abilities brought him some comfort. After all, in order to return home sooner, contact with someone who had such abilities was very useful.
For these few days, Orochimaru, having brought him to this house, seemed to disappear. Kano even began to think that he had been forgotten. There was no food in the huge house, and all these days he was hungry.
Returning and seeing Kano almost dying of hunger, Orochimaru said nothing. Under the boy's indignant gaze, he went to his room, changed into his home clothes, then went out somewhere and returned with a small amount of food, from which he quickly prepared a meal.
Because Orochimaru often left the village to carry out missions, sometimes for long periods of time, he never stored food at home, buying it only when necessary.
"I didn't think that such a person could cook," Kano thought, looking at the old tree, remembering the delicious food.
"If you were a little smarter, you would have noticed the money on the table in the living room." A cold voice rang out. It was Orochimaru. Whether he heard Kano's words was a mystery.
Kano was taken aback. He really didn't see any money on the living room table. The house was so big that he concentrated on the kitchen when looking for food.
With that said, Orochimaru sat down next to Kano. Although he had volunteered to take care of the boy, having another person in his empty house was unusual for him.
Kano stole a glance at his guardian's pale face, hesitating a little. He wanted to know a lot, but he didn't know how to start the conversation. They sat on the veranda, looking at the lonely tree in the yard, and both were silent.
"If you have nothing to do, you can take a walk," Orochimaru finally said and stood up, heading into the house.
Kano looked after him, puzzled, not knowing what to say.
People are not machines, they need rest. Orochimaru, who had just returned from a mission, only wanted to rest in his free time.
During this turbulent time, when conflicts were flaring up everywhere, local skirmishes seemed to never stop. The Konoha ninja were busy with their daily activities. Fortunately, the Second Shinobi World War ended, giving all the hidden villages a chance to catch their breath.
Although Kano had been in this world for almost a week, he knew nothing about it. Since he was brought to Konoha, he had spent all his time in Orochimaru's house and had never gone outside.
"Go for a walk…?" Kano stood up and went into the living room. When he entered, he saw about ten copper coins on the table. He took them and put them in his pocket. He had no idea what he could buy with that money, but he decided that he needed to have at least some money on him.
Leaving Orochimaru's house and walking forward a little, he found himself on the street.
The street wasn't very crowded, but there were many shops on both sides. The prosperity of a village can be judged by the number of shops that were open. Konoha sold almost everything. And judging by this, Konoha was more prosperous than other villages. After all, this village's geographical location was much better than others. Its lands could even be called fertile.
The atmosphere of despondency that is typical of wartime was not felt here...
Kano walked slowly down the street. The people passing by did not pay much attention to him, as if he were a stranger. On the contrary, when Kano looked at them, they smiled and nodded in response, which surprised and embarrassed him a little, and eventually he stopped looking at everyone around him.
Because of his thinness, Orochimaru's clothes, which were left over from his childhood, hung on him like a sack, looking rather ridiculous. They constantly fell off while walking, and Kano had to adjust them every now and then.
"Even though I don't know anything about this world, it's definitely much better here." Walking down the street, Kano compared it to his deserted village. The difference between the two was enormous.
Lost in thought, Kano, passing by the corner, did not notice the little boy and collided with him. The slight push made him fall on his back.
"Damn." He winced in pain and looked at the child who was slightly taller than him. He realized once again how weak his body and organism were. The most important thing now was to regain his strength as soon as possible.
The boy Kano encountered was about seven or eight years old. He had golden hair and pleasant features, and his sapphire eyes were now full of apology.
"Are you… okay?" Minato Namikaze asked, reaching out his hand to the fallen Kano, his young face showing genuine remorse.
Kano looked coldly at the child's outstretched hand, said nothing, and stood up on his own, shaking off the dust. After that, ignoring Minato, he walked on.
Seeing Kano ignoring him, Minato froze with his hand outstretched, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand and turned to watch Kano leave, his small face filled with confusion.
The meeting with Minato was just a minor episode. So, ignoring it, Kano continued his way towards Orochimaru's house. He felt pain in his legs. His body was too weak, and any collision could cause him harm. In order to recover faster, he would have to turn to Orochimaru, no matter how much he wanted to. In order to gain access to unusual abilities faster, and return to Earth faster...
He decided that when he returned, he would tell Orochimaru everything. He needed to regain his strength, and for that he needed good nutrition. He needed to return to Earth as soon as possible, and for that he needed to learn more about this world.