Chapter 36: Return To Village

The return trip took the full three days.

They ran hard the entire way, pushing through forests, rivers, and open plains without stopping longer than necessary for food and short rests. Conversation stayed light and sparse. Sakura glanced at Kael more than once during those days—quick, uncertain looks that never turned into words. He was grateful for the silence. Every time her eyes met his, the memory of what he had done to her in the tent and by the rock rose up like bad wine. He had treated her that way because the System demanded it and because, in the anime he remembered, she had been selfish and cruel. That justification felt thinner now that she was a real person walking a few meters ahead of him. He kept his distance and let the quiet hold.

Sasuke, surprisingly, filled some of the empty space. He was not the brooding, rage-filled boy from the stories Kael knew. With his family still alive in this world, the constant edge of hatred seemed missing. He talked about small things—how the mission had gone smoother than expected, how the Cloud team had been more competent than rumors suggested, even a dry comment about Karui’s temper. There was no rivalry in his voice when he mentioned the massive Rasengan that had ended the beast. He simply sounded glad the job was finished and that no one had died.

On the afternoon of the third day the walls of Konoha rose into view. They slowed at the gate, showed their identification to the guards, and stepped inside. The familiar streets opened up around them, busy with the usual afternoon traffic of civilians and shinobi.

Sasuke adjusted the sword on his back. "We should report to the Hokage’s office."

Kael shook his head a little too quickly. "You two go. I’ll... catch up later."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura looked at him for a second longer than necessary, then nodded without argument. The two of them headed toward the tower. Kael watched them leave and let out a quiet breath.

He was almost certain that the moment the System laid eyes on Tsunade it would spit out another quest, and he was not ready for that particular disaster today. Or any day.

He turned down a side street and walked.

People moved around him the way they always did in a living village—shopping, talking, carrying packages. A few noticed him and actually smiled or gave a small wave. One older woman selling vegetables called out a casual "Welcome back," as if he were any other returning shinobi.

Kael slowed.

That was wrong.

In the version of this world he remembered, the villagers had treated Naruto like a walking curse. Cold stares, muttering, parents pulling children away. None of that was happening. People were... polite. Some even seemed glad to see him.

He was still turning that over in his head when something hard connected with the back of his skull.

"Ow—what the hell?!"

He spun around, one hand already rubbing the sore spot, ready to yell at whatever idiot had decided to—

Kushina Uzumaki stood there with her fists on her hips and an expression that promised violence.

Kael’s brain short-circuited.

She was alive. Red hair, violet eyes, the exact same sharp features he had only ever seen in flashbacks and filler episodes. Alive and standing in the middle of the street looking furious.

The words left his mouth before he could stop them.

"Why are you alive?"

Kushina’s face went from irritated to full crimson in under a second.

She reached out, grabbed both of his cheeks with both hands, and pinched hard enough to make his eyes water.

"So," she said, voice climbing, "first you run off on a mission without telling your own mother, and the first thing you say when you see me is ’why are you alive’?!"

A single theatrical tear slid down one cheek. It looked about as real as a paper prop.

"You already decided to live by yourself like some stubborn little hermit, and now you can’t even be bothered to come home and say hello? Do you know how long it’s been? Do you?!"

Kael tried to pry her fingers off his face. It was like trying to bend steel.

"What in the world is going on..." he muttered, more to himself than to her. "Nothing is going the way it did in the anime..."

Kushina either did not hear or did not care. She released his cheeks only long enough to grab the back of his jacket collar with one hand. The next thing he knew his feet left the ground. She lifted him as if he weighed nothing and started marching down the street, red hair swinging with every angry step.

"You’re coming home with me right now," she declared to the entire street. "And you’re going to sit at the table and eat something that isn’t instant noodles, and you’re going to explain why you thought it was acceptable to disappear for days without a single message. And if you say one more weird thing about me being alive I will make you regret the day you learned to talk."

Kael dangled in her grip, still trying to process the fact that Kushina Uzumaki was currently manhandling him through Konoha like a misbehaving child.

He had no idea what timeline he had landed in anymore.

But he was fairly certain it was going to give him a headache.

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Give me power!!!ℯℯ𝑙.