220: Ungrateful Bastards (1)

Chapter 220: Ungrateful Bastards (1)

—

The Sand Ninjas soon reached the spot where the Konoha Ninjas were at. 

Kankuro had left the village with a large team to back up the Konoha teams who were trying to save Kazekage. They had to stop and take safety in the distance in their way once they saw some weird glossy silver creature taking on and then defeating the Shukaku, and quite casually on that.

The Sand Ninjas first thanked Naruto and Sakura for their help, though they were soon corrected by Sakura, saying- "Thank this sleeping… ‘guy’ once he wakes up. We don't deserve it."

The Sand Ninjas were confused, but Sakura and the others (even Chiyo) refused to elaborate. In defeat, they simply led them back to the village, bringing their heroes to rest.

—★—

In Konoha,

Shizune stood in front of Tsunade, reading out the report. "Kakashi omitted… almost everything, but it seems they have succeeded in their mission. Except for Neji Hyuga and his summon, they have been unconscious for 16 hours-"

"What?!" Tsunade jumped from her seat, slamming the table. "What's wrong with him?! What did Sakura say about his condition??"

"...He is supposed to be fine, just exhausted. But Sakura-chan still seems to be worried." 

"That's it, I am going." Tsunade wore her green coat, starting to walk towards the door. However, Shizune stepped in front of her. "...What?"

"Lady Tsunade…" Shizune sadly looked at Tsunade's eyes. "He's not… uncle. He's not Dan. Please."

"..." Tsunade's face was agitated for a minute before she opened her mouth. In the end, no words left her and she simply released a deep sigh. "Of course, he's not. I don't like him for that… It's because…" Tsunade soon realised she had no excuse. She just covered her face with her hands. "...Oh God. I am sorry, Shizune. I must look so… disgusting to you."

"It's fine, Lady Tsunade." Shizune hugged her mentor. "It's not your fault. He does look similar to my uncle. But… you should accept the truth. Please."

The hug lasted for a minute before Tsunade pushed her back and went back to her seat, putting her face on the table.

Shizune held back an annoyed grunt as she read the last line of the report. She didn't want to say it, but it was a very big thing to hide.

"But Lady Tsunade. It seems you do have to go to the Sand. It's about the Shukaku… something weird has happened to it. They wouldn't elaborate this too, but it seems like a big deal. We are invited to leave for the Sand right away." Shizune finished, watching Tsunade raise her head, looking relieved.

Shizune clenched her jaws at that sight. 'That's it. I will ask that Hyuga boy to clear things up right on her face. That should do the trick.'

"Let's leave right away," Tsunade said, leaving for the door. “It should take around 12 hours.”

—★—

"Mmhm…" Neji slowly opened his eyes. "Huh?"

Dozens of system messages were in front of his face.

[Quest, "Kazekage Retrieving Mission" has been completed!]

[Main Objective, save Gaara, have met!]

[Bonus Objective 1, kill Sasori, have met!]

[Bonus Objective 2, kill Deidara, have met!]

[Distributing rewards…]

[In total, you have received 15x MP potions, 30x HP Motions, 60x Stamina Potions!]

[You have received 50,000 Exp in total!]

[You have levelled up 15 times!]

[You have reached level 455!]

That's all the rewards there were, since it's a quest initiated by Tsunade, not directly the system.

Either way, he appreciated it.

Then as Neji tried to sit up, he noticed a weight on top of his chest, finding Kurai sleeping soundly on his chest.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up." He sat up swiftly, his gamer's body making it unneeded for him to stretch or wait out to fully wake up. "It's time for school."

"Eek!" Kurai jumped up as Neji tickled her. "Gah! Grr, Papa! I was having a nice dream!" She bit his hand, making Neji wince. "Tsk, that's what you get for waking me up early."

Neji just laughed, his hand healing in real-time. "Sorry sorry, but I think it's been a while actually. It's not 'early' anymore."

Kurai yawned and looked around the room. "Yeah, I guess. This isn't our room. Not the new one, anyway."

"We are in the Sand Village. It's quite a nice manor. I think it belongs to the Kazekage."

"Quite nice?" Kurai scoffed. "This seems like a basement compared to where we used to live."

Neji patted her neck. "Someday we will have bigger than those mansions. Don't sweat over it. Anyway, someone is coming." 

And someone did come. There was no knocking, the doorknob just twisted and a maid with a bucket of hot water and a towel walked in… and froze.

"...A-ah!" Her face burned as she met Neji's eyes, and to avoid eye contact, she looked down, only to see his naked chest. Being done, she just turned around. "S-sorry. I thought you'd still be sleeping. I-I was tasked to wash you up with hot water."

Neji would have teased her if not for Kurai, so he acted normal. "It's fine. Also, I don't need the bath anymore. I have some Jutsus to help me with cleaning."

"Alright. T-then I guess I will take my leave." She said before walking away at light speed.

"Bye." Neji waved at her, even as she was gone. Ah, he should have asked her how long he's been knocked out for. "Anyway Kurai, use [Cleanse]. On both of us."

"Tch, don't you know the spell already, Papa!" Kurai complained, though she still performed the Spell. 

"I will." Neji replied, watching himself get cleaned. "Guess you'd have to train me then. Not just this one, but the other ones too."

Immediately, she snapped her head at him, looking at him with a frown, even as she was clearly flustered.

"O-of course. That is my job, is it not? I will be so strict that you won't have time to do weird adult stuff when the time comes!"

"Yeah, right." Neji just hugged her.

—-

Soon, a butler came, and upon asking what happened to the early maid, he was informed she suddenly caught a fever and had to take an early leave. Sad. He hoped she was alright.

Wearing the shirt he was provided with, Neji went out with Kurai, being guided by the butler.

"It's been almost two days since you've been sleeping. The Hokage actually came to check on you just a few hours ago and confirmed you'd wake up soon. You're quite lucky that the Hokage herself decided to visit you." The old butler made some casual talk as he guided Neji to a hall. "Here, this is the dining hall. Everyone has eaten already, but we have made food for you again."

"Thank you." 

Neji smiled at the guy and soon ate his fill. However, just as he washed his hands, someone came bursting through the door, followed by Kakashi and Shizune.

"Neji!" Tsunade yelled, running at him and hugging him entirely too tightly. "You are finally up! I was so worried!"

Neji just hugged her back, while Kurai eyed their interaction with unamused eyes.

['You already traded mommy with another blonde?']

'I am so glad to see you have the common sense to not say that out loud. I love you, but shoo, go play outside.'

['Tsk. Cheater. I will complain to mommy the moment we meet again! Just you wait!'] Kurai hmphed and casually jumped off the dining table, walking out of the room uncaring about anyone's gaze.

"I am fine only thanks to my Lady Hokage. I heard you came to check on me?" Neji replied. "Now, people will talk if you don't release me."

She didn't release him. "Let them talk."

Neji didn't mind of course, but from the looks on the black-haired assistant, Shizune's face, someone did mind.

"Ahm, Hokage-sama." Kakashi, the person who was too chill to mind anything (and also somewhat bandaged), cleared his throat. "I think we were here for something else…"

"Shut up, Kakashi." Tsunade grunted, but she did release the hug this time. "Anyway, Neji, I apologize in advance, but you'll have to answer some questions, okay? Though we can hold the meeting a few days later if you're still exhausted."

"I am fine." Neji confirmed.

"Alright. Then please come with me. Don't answer if you don't find it comfortable, I will handle it." Tsunade said, leading him out of the room.

From her words, it didn't seem she was going to be the one asking questions, and he was right. Soon, he was led to a big meeting room filled with old geezers wearing Sand elder outfits. At one end of the table, Gaara was sitting, with Temari and Kankuro taking the seats beside him, and at the other end, three seats were vacant. Tsunade took the middle, and gestured to Kakashi and Neji to take the other two. Shizune stood behind Tsunade.

Temari looked at Neji with an apologetic gaze. Obviously, she didn't like the fact that her village had prepared to interrogate her saviour, the type who didn't save her life, but actually brought her back to life. Gaara gave a similar look, though it was clear the boy wasn't that good at expressing his emotions. There was no other Leaf Ninja in the room, and upon using Lord’s Eye, Neji found his team and Sakura (and Naruto) in the marketplace of the village.

Huh. They were in the market in the middle of the night? Girls. (Naruto was there as Sakura's bag carrier).

"Now that the… culprit is here, we can start the meeting." One of the Sand Elders said, eyeing Neji with a glare. "Hokage-sama, how do you wish to repay the damage your Ninja caused? He killed our village's Tailed Beast!"

'Uh...?'

Shouldn't they be grateful?

Neji was entirely too confused.

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