Under Orochimaru's guidance, Shindai and Pakura reached the border of the Land of Water and boarded a ship bound directly for the Fire Country's coastline.
Orochimaru had already sent a summoned beast ahead of them to Konoha to report everything about Pakura to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
On the boat…
Pakura frowned as she looked at her sandals.
Her soles had practically worn through.
And who else could be responsible but Shindai?
Sitting in the middle of the boat, Shindai rambled on, "You saw that, right? Who said I couldn't carry you? Look—I got you onboard! Now say you're sorry!"
Pakura stared at him in disbelief. "What did you just say? You want me to apologize to you?"
Shindai held his head high, sounding so self-assured, "Exactly! Apologize! Who told you to underestimate me? And who made fun of my height? Let me tell you, I'm not done growing yet. When I am, I'll be two heads taller than you—believe me!"
Pakura rolled her eyes. "Believe you? Like that'll happen! Apologize to you? Not even in my next life! Dream on!"
Pakura's words enraged Shindai. "You… You're tough enough, and your tongue's sharper than a kunai too!"
"You called me tough?!"
Pakura immediately headbutted him.
"Hiss!"
Both Shindai and Pakura sucked in air from the pain.
Especially Pakura, who moved too aggressively and pulled her wound.
Shindai rubbed his head furiously while Pakura dared not touch hers, afraid of making it worse. She quickly turned to Shindai, "Hurry, rub my head—it hurts like hell!"
Rubbing his own head with one hand and gently massaging Pakura's with the other, Shindai grumbled, "Why should I? You headbutted me, and now you want me to rub your head? That make any sense?"
Pakura snapped back, "I don't care! You provoked me, didn't you?"
Orochimaru sat with his back facing them, eyes half-closed, expressionless.
However, a throbbing vein appeared on his forehead.
Since boarding the boat—no, actually since Shindai met Pakura—their mouths hadn't stopped bickering nonstop.
It was like having a broken speaker blaring white noise straight into Orochimaru's ears.
Even Jiraiya had never annoyed Orochimaru this much.
He really wanted to sew both their mouths shut—especially Shindai's. That guy clearly took the cake.
At last, they reached the shore of the Fire Country.
A summoning bird flew and landed on Orochimaru's shoulder.
A scroll was tied to its leg.
Orochimaru removed the scroll and opened it, reading carefully.
After seeing this, Orochimaru turned toward the two still bickering and said, "Sarutobi-sensei wants us to return to Konoha immediately. There's no need to go to the border anymore—the situation there has stabilized. Also, the Daimyo of the Land of Water has finally agreed to hold a meeting among the Daimyos to discuss ending the war. Unless something unexpected happens, the war is about to end."
When Shindai heard the news, he practically shouted with excitement: "Yay! That's awesome!"
Shindai was happy, but Pakura couldn't bring herself to feel the same joy.
The war might be over, but she had been betrayed by her own village and could never return.
Shindai gave Pakura's shoulder a pat and said, "Forget about them already! If that cold-hearted village doesn't want you back, then just forget them! No need to be sad. Let me tell you, Konoha has lots of amazing food places. I'll have Obito and the others treat us later—you'll feel way better once you eat some good food!"
Pakura looked down at Shindai and snapped, "Hey, where do you think you're slapping with that meaty hand?"
Shindai glanced at where his hand landed and quickly pulled it back, forcing a laugh as he said, "Oops, sorry sorry, my mistake."
"Enough, stop talking nonsense. Let's head back to Konoha now."
Orochimaru interrupted Shindai and Pakura. He just needed to put up with them a little longer before he could finally get some peace.
Right now, Orochimaru couldn't wait to waste not even a second more—he wanted to return as soon as possible, then kick Shindai aside and finally let his ears enjoy some peace.
Moreover… when returning this time, Orochimaru also planned to talk to Hiruzen Sarutobi regarding his experiments.
...
After traveling for another while, they finally arrived at Konoha's main gate.
Pakura, who had been forced onto Shindai's back, instantly tensed up.
After all, she used to be their enemy. It was still hard for her to accept that she was now walking into what used to be enemy territory—even if things had changed.
Shindai reassured her, "Relax. Don't stress. When I first came to Konoha, I was super nervous too, but it got better once I got used to it. People inside are actually quite nice. Besides, you're doing much better than I did back then—I came here totally alone. You've got me with you now, so there's nothing to worry about."
Hearing Shindai's encouragement, Pakura relaxed slightly.
Thinking about how helpless Shindai must've felt arriving in Konoha completely alone…
"You know what," Shindai continued, "When I first visited Konoha, Minato-san treated me to dinner. Their tempura was really amazing. At first, I ate so much that I almost threw up. Later, after getting used to all the delicious foods, eating tempura again didn't seem that impressive anymore. Barbecue's way better, trust me.
But barbecue is pretty expensive, and Obito and those three tightwads definitely won't treat us. If we want barbecue, we'll have to hit up Minato-san or Kushina-nee instead..."
Pakura pursed her lips. *'Helpless'?* From the way Shindai described it, it sounded like he'd actually had a blast during his first visit to Konoha!
Shindai's eyes sparkled as he looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama, wanna grab some barbecue? Me and Pakura are kinda in the mood for it!"
"Not interested. Once we meet Sarutobi-sensei later, make him treat you two. He'll probably be thrilled anyway. Now hurry up and get inside!"
Orochimaru was already at a loss over Shindai's sheer audacity.
Even though Shindai was clearly terrified of him, there were moments when he acted like he wasn't scared at all.
Treat Shindai to barbecue? Not entirely unthinkable. But after all the psychological torment he put me through on our trip—should I even bother feeding him?
Just thinking about it, he considered sewing Shindai's mouth shut.
As they entered Konoha, it wouldn't look good if Shindai kept carrying her, so Pakura hopped off his back and walked beside him and Orochimaru into the village.
Inside Konoha, Pakura gazed around in wide-eyed wonder at the lively streets.
Despite the ongoing war, Konoha showed no signs of conflict whatsoever.
It was thriving. Even in peacetime, the atmosphere of Sunagakure and Konoha couldn't have been more different.
After all, in that desert village always choked with sand, everyone lived only to survive.
Shindai grinned and asked, "So what do you think? Pretty nice place, huh?"
Pakura couldn't stop glancing around in awe and nodded, "Mm-hmm, it really is amazing."
Following Orochimaru's lead, Shindai and Pakura stepped into the Hokage Building to meet Hiruzen Sarutobi.
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