Chapter 73: Back to the Leaf

To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

-------------

Kisame, after several seconds of hesitation, finally took the scroll. He said, "I won't be returning to Kiri, but the sword will."

I nodded and replied, "The sword is yours, you do whatever you want with it."

Kisame nodded, pocketing the scroll, before asking, "Before I leave, will you tell me your name?"

Waving my hand, I took back all the wires I had set and said, "Not now, unfortunately. My codename is Spider though."

Kisame nodded, "I'll go with that for now."

He turned around, probably not even bothering to choose a direction. Before he could walk off though, I said, "Enjoy your life, Kisame. But I hope that when the time comes, you will not forget who gave you your world, nor the favour you owe."

Kisame stopped for a moment, but only replied, "Farewell, Spider." and walked off.

I watched him disappear, before jumping back onto Elder Nishio, who took off. As we reached the sky, she asked, "Was it really wise to let him go after seeing your equipment? You could have just dumped him somewhere, left to wonder who you really are."

I shook my head and replied, "Kisame needed a push to abandon his village, and I just gave him the final one."

Elder Nishio asked, "Why are you so sure he won't go back to his village?"

Well, I couldn't tell her that it was because I read about Kisame deserting his village in the original manga, so I shrugged and replied, "I can't be sure. But even in the worst case scenario, him going back to Kirigakure wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things, whether he has the sword or not."

Elder Nishio did not reply, and simply sped up toward Konoha.

Elder Nishio was much faster than any normal bird, so despite being a country away from Konoha, it only took us an hour to reach the vicinity of the village.

No matter how tired I was though, I couldn't just fly into the village, so I had Elder Nishio drop me right in front of the main gate, before I de-summoned her.

Still geared in my Anbu outfit, and with my mask back on, I stepped through the giant gates, heading toward the registration.

There, the two Chunins, Kotetsu and Izumo, were in charge, as usual. They looked at me strangely, and as I approached Izumo shirked away.

I frowned behind my mask, checking whether I was unconsciously letting out killing intent, but I wasn't. His partner, Kotetsu, fidgeted and finally explained, "Hum… You might want to go take a shower."

I looked down at myself, and only now did realize that while I had changed clothes, I was still pretty much covered in blood. Nishio or Kisame could have told me…

Whatever, I'm too tired to care.

Slamming my Anbu Ensign onto the counter, I said dryly, "Spider, Team Ro."

Izumo, who still stood back, quickly looked through his register, and after a moment said, "Found you. You must go see the Hokage right as you come back. But I'm sure the world won't end if you take a shower before…"

My voice still dry of emotion, I cut him off, "Have a nice day."

Not waiting for either of them to reply, I used the Body Flicker to quickly move through the village. I didn't pay any attention to my surroundings as I sped toward the Hokage's Tower.

Ignoring the people I passed, I walked up the stairs, before arriving at the reception. The receptionist, a woman I met quite a few times now, frowned and asked, "Yes?"

Taking out my ensign, I explained, "I have to see the Hokage. S Rank Priority."

Her frown deepened, and she said, "Lord Yondaime has asked not to be bothered, but S Rank… wait a second."

She pressed a button, and a few seconds later we both heard Kushina's voice say, "We told you we didn't want to be bothered!"

The assistant, whose name I had learned was Saeko in our numerous interactions, cleared her throat and said, "My apologies, but an Anbu is here with S Rank Priority…"

She looked at me and I said, "Spider."

Saeko nodded and transmitted my name. There was another several seconds of silence, before Minato hurried voice said, "Let her in!"

Saeko replied in the affirmative, before grunting, "Young couples, am I right?"

I tilted my head, and said, "I'll be going."

Saeko smiled awkwardly and I walked toward the door.

Knocking first, I then twisted the door knob, and got into the office.

Minato was sitting behind his desk, while Kushina was sitting at the window. They both tried to act like normal, but it didn't take a genius to guess what they were doing. Their clothes were crumpled as they had been put on quickly, and they were both blushing.

But their blushing quickly went away as they saw me. With a monotone voice, I said, "Mission accomplished."

Minato blinked and said, "If you want you can make your report tomorrow…"

I shook my head and said, "I would rather be done with it today. I have important news too."

Minato nodded helplessly, and so I started telling both of them everything I had done, not leaving out anything, be it the way I had manipulated people, killed them, killed Juzo, spared Kisame so he would take the blame, left the Executioner's Blade.

By the time I finished my report, I added, "The influence of Princess Takayama is what we should work around with. If we manage to…"

But before I could finish I was crushed into a hug by Kushina. I abruptedly stopped, and said, "Stop I stink of blood…"

But Kushina only hugged me tighter, while Minato muttered, "I'm sorry I made you do this. And while you were doing this I was…"

A small smile appeared beneath my mask, and I finally found some emotion rising in me as I said, "I'm 9, I would rather be doing what I was doing than what you were doing."

Minato choked on his words, while Kushina chastised, "Sukaina!"

Moving as well as I could while Kushina was holding me, I managed to take off my mask, and say, "I'm better than I look. I really am."

Kushina let go of me to look at me right in the eyes, and I added, "Yes, I'm tired, but I'm fine."

Moving my eyes from Kushina to Minato, I said, "I wouldn't spit on a couple of days of vacation…"

Kushina immediately butted in threateningly, "A week at least!"

I'm not sure whether it was aimed at me or Minato, but it definitely worked on both of us as we both nodded in scare at the same time.

Kushina made a satisfied smile and said, "Good. Now, we're going to take a bath. And I'm not taking no as an answer."

I exhaled, "Can I at least grab some clothes before we go?"

Kushina crossed her arms, and huffed, "I'll allow it."

I rolled my eyes and bowed to Minato, "Don't feel bad for the mission, Lord Hokage. If anything, I managed to make a good friend."

Minato nodded slowly, before saying, "Come back tomorrow at 9 pm. Your team will be there."

I nodded, before Kushina brought me away.