247: Confusion (2)

Chapter 247: Confusion (2)

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Obito Uchiha was leaning against the wall while his single eye looked down on the blonde, sleeping boy in front of him.

Though he initially bought Naruto Uzumaki here to make him serve Akatsuki, he now had a decision to make.

Should he kill this kid? Make the Gedo Statue absorb his chakra? Or should he go after one of those Kyuubis in Konoha?

That boy, Neji Hyuga, might have killed the two foxes the same way he killed Shukaku. If that's the case, Naruto's chakra would be the only option left for the completion of the Gedo Statue. But… no, he shouldn't be too sure about the death of those two beasts, he should go visit Konoha once more, and if it turned out that the two foxes were still alive – he should send Nagato and Konan there to retrieve them.

Then again, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea, given what he saw back there – Obito doubted if Nagato would be able to defeat Neji in that white-cat form.

The man in question, Nagato Uzumaki, was sitting in the corner of the room – with Konan beside him – and spoke while looking at Naruto. "Interesting thing. This boy has become the Nine-Tails beast itself, rather than a Jinchuriki. Unlike a Jinchuriki, directly absorbing his Chakra wouldn't kill him, so we can take as much chakra as we need and – as long as we don't take his entire reserves – he will still be fine, in fact he would regenerate his chakra given time. Interesting indeed."

Obito didn't know that. Then again, it would only make sense for Nagato to know more about the Statue than himself, as the other man was the only one who could summon it.

In any case, that worked too. Obito gave the skinny man a nod, his eyes inevitably falling on the apathetic expression of Konan on the side, rendering him to chuckle softly.

"On a side note, you two don't look bothered at all even though you just killed your mentor an hour ago," Obito said in a deep voice, but he got no response from any of them. Amusing. "That is a good reaction."

Jiraiya of the Sannin, the once mentor of Nagato and Konan. He had come spying on them here – in the Land of Rain – and had confronted "Pain" in a battle that he lost and died. Obito made sure that he was indeed dead and a situation like his own wouldn't happen. That body was very deep underwater, where it will be hard to find (let alone recover) even for Obito.

He then looked at Naruto again. Six more tailed beasts. That's how many more they needed to catch to complete the Gedo Statue, starting from the Three-Tails to the Eight-Tails. Now, with the Nine-Tails on his hands, that would be an easy game.

"Place Hiruko on another team," Obito Uchiha said, smirking under his mask. "I will be teaming up with Naruto." He watched him nod before continuing. "Then bring Hiruko's team with yourself and attack Konoha."

Four Akatsuki, along with Hiruko's own subordinates. Obito wanted to see how that Hyuga boy would fare against that.

Yes, finally things were starting to look interesting.

—★—

Tsunade was very pleased with the situation at the hospital. Though the people who died were still dead, the ones who had even an ounce of life left within them were saved. Konoha just survived the attack of two tailed-beasts with the most minimal of casualties.

Her single greatest regret was that… Naruto was dead. Missing too, probably turned into ashes by a tailed beast bomb. Yamato was dead as well, but Naruto's loss in particular made a gap in her happy heart.

…Perhaps it's because she gave him her necklace? Really, that seemed possible. At least even that necklace was gone – that cursed thing.

Sitting in the window of her office, pouring the expensive booze that Neji got her two weeks ago, Tsunade absentmindedly stared at the fountain below the Hokage building.

 'Jiraiya…' what would he do once he learned about Naruto's death? Will he… blame her? But then again, she did deserve the blame. She couldn't protect the boy, even though he reminded her of her younger brother. 'Grandpa… what do I do?'

Tsunade felt like a helpless little girl.

Most of the people of her era were gone. Dead for the most part, but even the ones alive didn't have a close relationship with her. Not anymore, excluding Jiraiya. He was the one who she could share some personal things with – who she could talk about the past with. It would hurt her a lot if he hated her for being unable to protect Naruto.

Suddenly, the fountain she was looking at trembled –the water rippling strangely– before a green frog jumped out of it.

Huh?

The frog then looked around, its eyes soon locking on her, as it leapt upwards – jumping higher than any normal frog should be capable of and falling on her lap.

"Tsunade-girl," the frog said, causing her to refrain from punching him. She recognised him now. Fukasaku, the Great Toad Sage. "Jiraiya-boy has been killed."

"..."

…What?

—★—

Things certainly went well, but it didn't feel well. Neji was confused, initially, but now he made his decision.

He had enough girls to complete his God quest anytime. He didn't need Tsunade and Hinata, they could stay alone. There was no reason to waste any more time on this world – no reason to needlessly get attached to them to only hurt them in the end by destroying their home, where their family and friends lived.

It was time to leave Konoha.

["Sorry,"] he heard Lady Luck's voice in his head. ["I didn't want to make you depressed. I just… wanted you to enjoy yourself, you know. Not to rush things and let nature do its charm. But… I understand my fault. Tsunade reminds you of your mother, so you don't want to get attached to her too much – in case history repeats itself."]

That's another reason that he wanted to leave right away. Nawab wasn't here, but the Gods would be. Gods would catch up to him if he didn't leave before the six months time limit. He didn't want to send the girls he got close to in this world away as well, nor did he want them hurt or dead. So he had to move faster than planned, and stop thinking about getting his dick wet.

"That's fine, you are not omniscient." Neji said while packing his stuff. His inventory had enough, but they were mostly modern attires, not suitable for this world-line. "Anyway, looks like someone is here – talk to you later."

Lady Luck gave him an agreeing hum as knocks fell on the door.

"Come in, Hanabi." Neji said, not caring to turn around even as the door opened. He could see her anyway. "Anything you need?"

"Hinata onee-chan is awake…" Hanabi said, looking at him packing his things. Midnight's sleeping gas had finally worn off. "We aren't telling her about the incident – knowing how she will react. You should talk to her." She went silent after saying that and watched him keep packing in silence. "What are you doing, Onii-sama?"

"Preparing to leave." He said. "Also, sorry, I can't help with Hinata. I am not a therapist." He could try, but he saw no reason to waste his time with her anymore. "Have you eaten?"

"I have. What do you mean by preparing to leave, though?" Hanabi asked. "Did… the Hokage exile you?"

"She didn't. That's exactly why I am leaving." Neji turned to her. "Another reason is- I am searching for someone. I have limited time. So I have decided to go all out now."

"It's one of those five girls, isn't it?" Hanabi asked, looking into his eyes. "Who are they really, Onii-sama?"

Neji stared at her. "Do you want to know?" He shrugged. "Actually no, I am not going to tell you yet."

"..." Hanabi's lips thinned. "I heard those two maids are still alive?"

"They are."

"Why?" Hanabi looked at him in confusion. "I heard the story. They planned to hurt you. Why did you let them live?"

Neji smiled awkwardly. "Well~ guilty conscience? Because I like them? Basically, I hurt them and destroyed their everything. Their action is completely justified, in that sense, it's only natural they'll try to hurt me too. Not that they're succeeding. Anyway, they have apologised – and I can confirm it was a real apology given I didn't sense any negative emotion."

Hanabi opened her mouth again. Probably to ask him just what he did to them for their actions to be justified. But she never mouthed her question and shut her lips. A minute passed and she looked at his luggage. "Who else is going with you?"

"Temari," he said. "Hm, and Tenten too now, I sent a clone to her and she agreed right this moment. My three maids will also come with me."

"Then…" Hanabi started slowly. "Why didn't you tell me to pack things up? Do you… not want me going with you?"

"Are you ready to leave the clan and village you were taught to dedicate your life to?" Neji shrugged at her. "Temari is ready, she left her own village for me. Tenten is… well, she's an orphan. She's had a crush on me for ages, and now that she has been loved like never before - it would be weird if she chose the village over me. But are you ready though?" He looked at her. "Ready to leave with the guy who hangs out with multiple women and has also crippled your father? Heck, I basically degraded your Hyuga Clan as much as possible without destroying it outright."

Hanabi was silent.

"You deserve better." Neji said and turned around, putting his luggage into his inventory.

"What the hell are you up to now?" Hanabi snapped, her voice growing louder for the first time. "Is this some sort of test? Some sort of prank?? You aren't acting like yourself, Onii-sama!"

"Because it's not good for you if I act like myself now." Neji turned and walked over to her. "Do you really trust me, even though I hide so many things from you? Are you even sure I am who you think I am?"

"Does it matter?" Hanabi looked up at him. "I love you. You love me back. It's not about skinship, or you would have had me warm up your bed by now! You didn't. I asked but you didn't. Don't just… don't just assume I am less loyal than the others! Do you know how much it hurts, dammit?!"

It was Neji's turn to fall silent.

By then, she was pulling him by the collar (having tip-toed to do so) and glaring at him with her Byakugan activated, her eyes gleaming with tears. A minute passed and her breathing slowly calmed down and she released his collar, wiping her eyes with her sleeves before looking away.

"Sorry. I… I will go pack my stuff. Don't leave without me. Okay?" she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and prepared to walk away. "I will be back right away-"

However, she was stopped by her arm and pulled towards him, her body spinning to let her chest hit his. He pulled her up by the waist, his one hand behind her head pulled her face towards his, and at last his tongue peeked out to spread her lips and invade her mouth. 

"Mhmmh?!"

He kissed her as if she was a delicacy. Hanabi resisted out of surprise for the first few seconds, but soon she gave in – this is what she's been waiting for, after all. Her tongue moved with his while he embraced tightly. There was no groping or feeling each other out, it was just a primal… passionate kiss.

The kiss ended and Neji pushed her against the wall. "You..huff..cute little thing."

"I am not..huff..little anymore." Hanabi said, panting and as red as a tomato while grinning at him. "I grew 29 centimetres, remember?"

She will still be his cute little thing though. Besides, she was still 20 cm shorter than him.

Instead of pointing it out though, he kissed her again.

Hah… these two kisses felt different.

Refreshingly so.

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