Chapter 90: Returning Home

Tonbo leaned across the counter. "Tobitake Tonbo. Have you forgotten me already?" Ino studied the pale hair, uncovered eyes, and unbandaged face. Recognition arrived slowly, then all at once. 

"You're the old weirdo!" 

Her mother looked between them. "Tonbo? No wonder you cover your face in public. Shopping must become inconvenient." 

"It can," Tonbo admitted. "I am a married man with two children, and I still had to disappoint several hopeful strangers on the way here." 

Ino's suspicion returned. She circled the counter and examined him from different angles still wondering whether he was deceiving her. 

"Then why did the figurine you gave me have bandages? It looks nothing like this." 

Inoichi had begun teaching her chakra refinement. The little woven figure was awkward, but when she fed it chakra, it could repeat the message Tonbo placed inside it. 

"It says Uncle Tonbo is the most handsome man in the world," he reminded her. 

"That makes it worse." 

Her mother hid a smile. Ino returned behind the counter with as much dignity as a small child could assemble. "Why are you here? I am Mother's assistant, and I know what every flower means." 

Tonbo had studied advanced mathematics, biology, and geography, but never the language of flowers. It was not what he looked for in other people's memories, either. 

"I have been away on a long mission. I want a bouquet for my wife and children." 

Ino considered the commission seriously. "Sunflowers mean hope and happiness. Tulips mean sincere affection. Lilacs mean longing. There are roses, but different colors mean different things, and—" 

She continued until Tonbo realized she intended to recite the entire shop. 

"Lilacs," he said. "Longing is appropriate." 

Ino hurried to wrap the lilacs and handed him the bouquet. The child extended one hand. Tonbo laughed and paid. She was so cute. In a few years, Maki might look just like that. A lovesick Maki chasing some boy would be another matter, though. He would have to see that his daughter had more sense than that. 

In the Hokage's office, affection was absent from the conversation. 

"You concealed knowledge of the Rinnegan from me for two years," Hiruzen said. 

Tonbo's report lay open across his desk. 

"Secrecy protected Konoha," Danzō replied. "If too many people knew, it would no longer be a secret." 

"You sent multiple teams into Amegakure after I ordered restraint. Their deaths exposed our methods, endangered an authorized mission, and nearly provoked war with a ruler capable of defeating Hanzō." 

Danzō's expression remained still. "Power of that scale cannot remain outside Konoha's control." 

Hiruzen struck the desk with one palm. "That belief does not give you authority to drag the village into another war." 

Konoha had only recently recovered from the last conflict and the Nine-Tails' attack. Hiruzen had lived through three great wars. He had no intention of allowing his oldest friend to begin a fourth because possession seemed safer than diplomacy. 

The report made the danger plain. Six bodies carried identical Rinnegan and shared vision; even a summoned animal possessed the eyes. Tonbo reasonably inferred that the Paths were controlled puppets rather than six independent wielders. Destroying them would not necessarily kill their creator, and the Naraka Path could restore damaged bodies during battle. 

Worse, Pain now knew several of Tonbo's techniques. A second operation could not rely upon the same traps. 

"You will make no further attempt against the Rinnegan wielder," Hiruzen said. 

"You will regret leaving that power in hostile hands." 

"Perhaps. I would regret sacrificing Konoha to your certainty more." 

Danzō glanced toward the section describing the masked Sharingan user. Wood Release and an Uchiha dōjutsu in the same body suggested Orochimaru's experiments. Had Orochimaru's Wood Release experiments succeeded? Which Uchiha had been killed to produce someone with both powers? That was the only explanation Danzō could think of. 

"Then we must discuss the Uchiha," he said. "Someone with their eye attacked Konoha shinobi while wielding the First Hokage's power. The clan's militant faction continues to grow. We cannot ignore the connection." 

Hiruzen closed his eyes. The Uchiha... 

Tonbo left the flower shop carrying lilacs. 

Angry voices rose farther along the street. 

"Stay away from my stall." 

"My husband died because of that fox." 

"You're not welcome here." 

A small blond boy fled between pedestrians with both hands over his head. Adults pulled their children aside, and two boys shouted that the monster would eat them if they came close. 

Naruto struck Tonbo's leg and fell backward. 

"Ow." 

Tonbo shifted the flowers safely to one hand and looked down. Naruto had grown since their afternoon by the river, but the loneliness in his face had become easier rather than harder to recognize. 

"Hello, Naruto. It has been a long time." 

The boy stared at the unfamiliar face. There was something familiar about him despite the uncovered face, something in the easy way he spoke to Naruto. 

"Uncle Tonbo?" 

"The same one," Tonbo said. "The bandages are resting." 

More than a year had passed since their afternoon by the river. Naruto had waited for the bandaged man to return, then gradually decided he never would. 

His eyes brightened.