The grave was simple.
A small mound of earth beneath the trees.
A few stones placed carefully around it.
Nothing grand.
Kisuke stood in front of it with his hands in his pockets.
He didn't say anything.
Neither did the others.
The evening air had started cooling by then. The forest was quiet again, but it wasn't the same quiet as before.
This one stayed heavier.
Kushina looked from the grave to Kisuke.
Then she stepped closer.
"You should come back with us."
Kisuke didn't look at her.
"No."
Her brow twitched.
"You answered too fast."
"I thought about it."
"When?"
"Just now."
Shikaku, a few steps back, sighed.
'Still doing this.'
Kushina crossed her arms.
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Minato spoke before she could snap back.
"You can't stay here alone."
Kisuke finally looked at him.
"Why not?"
Minato held his gaze.
"Because you're nine."
Kisuke shrugged.
"I've been doing just fine."
"You weren't alone."
That came from Kushina.
Kisuke looked away again.
For a second, nobody said anything.
Then Kushina spoke more quietly.
"It was his last wish."
Kisuke's shoulders stiffened.
He stared at the grave.
Minato stepped up beside Kushina.
"You don't have to trust us."
Kisuke said nothing.
"But you trusted him."
Still nothing.
Shikaku shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.
"And if you hate Konoha, you can hate it after you get there."
Kushina glanced at him.
"That's not helping."
"It's the honest truth. I hate Konoha and I live there."
Kisuke let out a breath through his nose.
He still didn't turn around.
The old man's last words were fresh in his head.
'Take Kisuke back to Konoha.'
Even at the end, he had still found a way to win the argument.
"That's annoying," Kisuke muttered.
Kushina frowned.
"What is?"
"Him."
He jerked his chin at the grave.
"Can't even die without telling me what to do."
Minato almost smiled.
Kushina looked at Kisuke for a moment.
Then said, "So you are coming."
Kisuke clicked his tongue.
A few seconds passed.
Then he scratched the back of his head.
"…Fine."
Kushina blinked.
"Fine?"
"I said fine."
He finally turned around.
"I'll go."
Kushina's face brightened immediately.
Then she forced it back down.
"Good."
Kisuke narrowed his eyes.
"You looked happy for a second didn't you?"
"I did not."
"Yes you did."
Minato smiled faintly.
Shikaku looked at the grave one last time.
Then the four of them left.
---
The trip back started quietly.
The sun had dipped lower by then, and the forest had started turning gold.
Kushina led again.
Minato stayed near the front.
Shikaku drifted a little behind.
Kisuke moved with them easily.
He was quieter than before, but not by much.
That didn't last.
Kushina glanced back at him after a few minutes.
"You're really coming."
Kisuke gave her a look.
"You were there for the conversation."
"I know. I'm still surprised."
"By what?"
"I don't know."
Kisuke shook his head.
"You know. Tomatoes aren't supposed to act like that."
Kushina nearly missed her landing.
She whipped around on the branch.
"I told you to stop calling me that!"
"You are still weirdly red."
"That's my hair! Besides, you have red hair too."
"I have red hair yes, but I don't have a round face. Which means I don't qualify as such."
"YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!"
"Sounds like a tomato problem."
Shikaku closed his eyes.
'Here we go again.'
Minato glanced back with the faintest hint of amusement in his face.
Kushina pointed at Kisuke.
"You say it one more time and I'll hit you."
Kisuke grinned.
"So violent Tomatoe."
"I'm going to kill him."
"No you're not," Minato said.
"Yes I am."
"No, you aren't," Shikaku added.
Kushina glared at both of them.
Then Kisuke's expression changed.
It was instant.
One second he was smirking.
The next, all of it was gone.
He slowed slightly on the branch.
Minato noticed first.
Shikaku second.
Kushina caught it a heartbeat later.
"What is it?"
Kisuke didn't answer immediately.
He closed his eyes and opened his Mind's Eye.
And he sensed it. Multiple chakra signatures coming fast.
And headed straight for them.
His eyes sharpened.
"Someone's coming."
Minato's face went serious.
"How many?"
"Several."
Kisuke turned his head slightly.
"More than four."
Kushina clicked her tongue.
She already knew who they were.
A second later, black shapes dropped into the trees around them.
ANBU.
They landed on branches with barely a sound.
Masks.
Short blades.
Tight formation.
The forest changed in an instant.
Kushina's face hardened.
"You found me."
The ANBU in front answered flatly.
"You left the village without permission."
Kushina crossed her arms.
"Yeah. I know."
Another ANBU's attention shifted to Kisuke.
Then stayed there.
An unknown child with red hair, no village mark and insanely large chakra.
Traveling beside Kushina.
That was enough.
Kisuke felt the focus turn on him and immediately tensed.
Then three ANBU moved.
Too fast.
He slipped the first grab.
Twisted off the branch.
Caught a lower limb.
Another ANBU was already there.
A kunai pressed against his throat before he could reset.
His body froze on instinct.
An arm locked around him from behind.
Kushina's eyes widened.
"Hey!"
One of the ANBU spoke without emotion.
"Unknown target secured."
"He's with us," Kushina snapped.
Kisuke glanced sideways at the kunai near his neck.
Then at the mask behind it.
Then deadpanned, "That feels a little dramatic don't you think."
No one reacted.
Kushina stepped forward.
"Let him go."
Two ANBU shifted between her and Kisuke at once.
Minato's jaw tightened.
Shikaku stayed still, watching.
Another ANBU formed hand seals.
[Tiger → Snake → Ram → Dog]
Minato's eyes flicked to the motion.
'Genjutsu!'
The technique hit Kisuke before he could process anything.
Temple of Nirvana.
Sleep crashed into him all at once.
His body went heavy.
His knees weakened.
The trees blurred.
He tried to stay upright.
Tried to force chakra through the haze.
Didn't matter.
The drowsiness dragged him under fast.
Kushina's expression turned ugly.
"Are you serious?!"
Kisuke muttered one last weak complaint.
"Wow… six ninja for little old me…"
Then he went limp.
The ANBU caught him before he fell.
Restraints came out immediately.
Wrists.
Ankles.
Seal-marked bindings tightened into place.
Kushina stepped forward again.
"This is too much."
The lead ANBU answered in the same dead tone.
"These are concrete measures for an unknown variable."
"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!"
Minato looked at Kisuke's unconscious face.
Then at the restraints.
He didn't say anything.
But he didn't look happy either.
Shikaku let out a quiet breath.
Kushina glared at every ANBU in sight.
"If you hurt him, I'm going to make your lives miserable."
No one answered.
The forest had already gone cold with procedure.
---
When Kisuke woke up, his first thought was that Konoha apparently had terrible taste in hospitality.
Stone walls.
Iron bars.
A dim lamp outside the cell.
And restraints.
Again.
He sat up slowly and looked down at his wrists.
Bound.
His ankles too.
There were seal tags worked into the bindings.
He stared at them for a second.
Then sighed.
"Wow."
A masked ANBU stood outside the bars, silent and unmoving.
Kisuke looked at him.
The ANBU looked back.
Kisuke tilted his head.
"So."
Nothing.
Kisuke smiled faintly.
"You guys really see nine-year-old little old me as that much of a threat?"
Silence.
He lifted his bound hands slightly.
"I'm tiny."
The guard didn't react.
Kisuke kept going.
"Like, genuinely tiny. Look at this. Very manageable size."
Still nothing.
Kisuke squinted at him.
"You're trying very hard not to talk."
No response.
"Did they pick you because you're the least fun one?"
Nothing.
The guard's voice came out flat.
"Be quiet."
Kisuke's grin widened.
"Oh, he speaks."
The guard said nothing after that.
Kisuke shifted until his chains rattled on purpose.
"You know what's really funny?"
Silence.
"That you all needed kunai, a sleep jutsu, restraints, and a jail cell for one child."
Nothing.
"That's got to sting a little."
The guard's shoulders stiffened.
Kisuke brightened.
"Oh wow, it does."
"Quiet."
"No."
The guard stared at him through the mask.
Kisuke shrugged.
"I'm just saying. If I were you, I'd be embarrassed."
He raised his bound hands again.
"Look at me."
The guard inhaled slowly through his nose.
Trying very hard not to get baited.
Kisuke noticed that too.
Then smiled even more.
"You're definitely mad."
"I am not mad."
"Now you sound mad."
Silence again.
Kisuke leaned back against the wall.
"This is fun."
Then footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Unhurried.
The guard straightened instantly.
Kisuke turned his head toward the sound.
Two ANBU came into view first.
Then the old man walking between them.
He was shorter than the guards.
But the moment he entered the corridor, the whole atmosphere shifted around him.
The guard outside the cell immediately dropped to one knee.
"Lord Hokage."
Kisuke blinked.
His eyes moved from the kneeling ANBU to the old man.
Then back again.
His eyes widened.
"Hokage!?"
---
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