Naruto: IY Ch. 45

Finally, people from Konoha had arrived too.

Kakashi was really nice to look at. For example, right now he had an idea in his head. Three pretty boys debut as a group at age twelve, attracting legions of young and old female fans.

Not only would they make tons of money, they'd also be so good at fighting that they wouldn't even need to hire bodyguards.

"Yo, Mr. Zero Points Genius."

As soon as they met, Yahiko said something that left everyone confused.

Only Kakashi knew what he meant, he was thinking about that childish version of himself from some years back. The tips of his ears turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Everyone has their immature moments. When you look back at decisions you made one or two years ago, you just want to travel back in time and punch yourself.

He was no exception.

"Zero points?" Minato's blue eyes were full of curiosity.

"Kakashi's ever scored zero on a test?" Sakumo's mature face was filled with doubt.

"No, don't listen to his nonsense."

Kakashi's face under the mask looked uneasy as he tiptoed to try to cover Yahiko's mouth.

Tsunade grabbed him by the collar, looking him over with a smirk. "So, you've scored zero before? Shizune told me you were a prodigy, a role model for all the Academy students. Heheheh."

That "heheheh" left Kakashi utterly speechless. He didn't care about being called a prodigy, it was just an empty title anyway. "Whatever."

"Chunin Kakashi, you wouldn't want news of that zero score to get out, would you?" Yahiko came up to Tsunade's side, tiptoed, and whispered in Kakashi's ear.

Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply. This scene, why did it feel like something straight out of Pain's books?

And for the record, he'd never read Pain's books.

His teammates had read them during nights on missions when there was nothing else to do.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kakashi thought, I'm just a normal kid, it's not like anyone would bother keeping my old test papers.

And with that, a thing called "confidence" rose up inside him.

"Heheheheheh." If it had been someone else, Yahiko might have let it drop. But this was Kakashi.

"Alright, let's all go take a stroll around the village."

He patted Tsunade. Since there were a lot of people here, he'd give Kakashi some face. He began introducing the unique features of the village to everyone, focusing especially on Tsunade.

At this point, Tsunade wasn't the broke gambler she'd become later. Aside from the Senju clan inheritance, Mito had only died a few years ago, and according to the elders, all the Uzumaki clan's Konoha assets had gone to Tsunade and Kushina.

Once they entered the village, they saw Kakuzu without his mask, his face working like a living vacuum cleaner in the middle of the street.

The village had developed so quickly recently that it almost caused a disaster, dust from construction was giving residents respiratory illnesses.

But he didn't care. He didn't dodge, he didn't avoid, he just kept sucking in all the dust.

Why didn't he avoid it? Because he wasn't afraid.

The Konoha folks clicked their tongues in wonder.

"Is he an idiot?" Kakashi looked at Kakuzu with dead eyes.

"This... idiot?" Sakumo seemed like he'd misheard. He looked at his son in disbelief, You're saying Kakuzu is an idiot?

As it happened, Danzō had been looking for Kakuzu lately, because this was the only man who'd ever gotten the upper hand against the Uchiha.

That day the cinema was smashed, and the Uchiha had been extorted out of a fortune.

"Then why does he do that?"

"If it's a threat to the village, even if it's your friend, your teacher, or even your brother, they won't be spared," Yahiko said coldly with arms crossed.

Tsunade's mouth twitched. Why did that sound so familiar? Wait, wasn't that exactly what her grandfather used to say?

"Never mind."

Yahiko led the group on to continue their sightseeing.

Minato bought Kushina milk candy, a little iron toad, a plush bear...

He even spent 100,000 ryō on two brick-sized devices, not caring whether Konoha would even use them, just because the salesperson's pitch sounded good. He went so far as to set them up with matching couple phone numbers.

Tsunade, though she usually acted like a tomboy, couldn't help but feel a flicker of something complicated in her heart when she saw Minato carefully picking out gifts for Kushina.

Where the hell is Jiraiya-sensei? Serves you right you can't beat Dan!

Yahiko caught that brief moment of disappointment before Tsunade put her usual devil-may-care mask back on.

"That red-haired woman from the Uzumaki clan last time..." Minato asked about the one he'd glimpsed in a drunken haze.

"You mean Kana?" Yahiko asked in puzzlement.

"That's right. Wow, that name... perfect." Minato's face suddenly lit up with joy.

When he got back, he'd mentioned it to Kushina, before she came to Konoha, she'd had a two-year-old cousin with that exact name.

He'd only been taking a shot in the dark, but somehow, he'd actually found her.

"Oh, I see. Alright, let's go meet her."

Yahiko used "showing him around" as an excuse to blatantly slack off, no way was he going to let Minato get off without doing a bit more work.

Nice.

Sakumo and Kakashi hadn't seen each other for a while, so they slipped off for a private chat, with Yahiko's blessing to slack off as well.

Tsunade went into a toy store alone.

Sigh... Jiraiya-sensei is destined to be forever alone.

Not that Yahiko could do anything about it, you couldn't exactly force romance.

He led Minato down another street, this one lined mainly with food stalls.

---

"Take care now!"

"Well, I'll be damned, haha! Never thought I'd be served personally by Nagato himself. So down-to-earth!"

What a coincidence, Nagato was slacking off in the shop too, having just helped Kana send off a customer.

This shop, in fact, was run under Kana's name.

"As the director of Public Health, do you really need to be out here selling buns?"

Nagato and Yahiko locked eyes for a long moment. The awkwardness was... palpable.

Off to the side, Minato smiled faintly.

Nagato only replied, "To serve the people."

He didn't take a single coin from them, he was helping ease their workload. What was wrong with that?

Yahiko was left choking on his own words.

He eyed the "Shinra Genius Steamed Buns" sign. He refused to believe Nagato was totally clean.

It was prime real estate, right near the city center, and the only bun shop for blocks. The shops on both sides and across the street were all empty.

He immediately pulled out his Call Brick and called Genno.

"Construction department, tomorrow morning I want to see a Rasengan Dumpling shop directly opposite 'Shinra Genius Steamed Buns.' Got it?"

"That's right. I need it built within a week."

"What kind of dumplings? Konoha's three-color dango look pretty good. Copy them exactly."

He hung up, meeting Nagato's utterly done expression.

Minato, pretending he hadn't heard a thing, went to buy a bun and struck up a conversation with Kana.

Seeing this, Nagato nearly exploded on the spot.

"It's a misunderstanding, Kushina is Kana's cousin. If you think about it, that actually makes you related?" Yahiko pulled back Nagato, who was a hair away from using the Rinnegan like it was a Sharingan.

Hero vs. Villain.

If those two were outside the village, Yahiko wouldn't bother stopping them, let them fight it out.

Two legendary-level monsters, who would win?

Place your bets!