By the time we were done eating, I was pretty sure I couldn't move anymore. I could pass on as an Akamichi clan member...
"Second bowl was a mistake," Sayuri muttered beside me, one hand over her stomach, as she wasn't any better either, moaning and groaning.
"You ordered it," I leaned back a little, stretching my arms behind my head. "So I'd say it was a great decision. Desserts?"
"You're unbelievable..."
"It's enough if you say no." I grinned, "So? Desserts?"
"Ugh… Don't remind me of food for a day... thanks."
I chuckled, shaking my head as we finally stood up, leaving with slow steps, and then turned off from the main street, heading toward a quieter part of the village. As we kept walking silently, the shift in the air was noticeable, starting with hearing much less noise, seeing fewer people, and getting paired with much more space between buildings. But that didn't mean we were not watched, as I could feel the eyes following us, more than anywhere else in the village. Sayuri was oblivious to it, but... yeah, I could notice them whenever I was visiting Kushina.
I didn't even need to turn on my Sharingan; it was enough to watch the subtle disturbances in the air that signaled that someone was moving from tree to tree, following us. It was paired with faint chakra signatures tucked away just out of sight, or 'villagers' passing by us, who, of course, were not exactly simple people.
"Way too obvious," I stretched, moaning and yawning.
"Hm?" Sayuri glanced at me, not really catching what I was saying.
"Nothing," I waved it off, "I just almost burped so loud the Hokage would have heard it."
"Ew! Idiot!" She laughed, elbowing me, and as I chortled, acting as if the force behind her strike made me sway, my eyes flicked once to the left, and this time, my Sharingan was on.
I saw the flicker, followed it up, then to the right, catching three figures, all of them wearing ANBU masks, landing on a thin branch not that far away from us. Actually, they were hidden very well, and if I didn't know what to look for, or if I didn't have my eyes, I most likely wouldn't have noticed them. Naturally, they noticed me noticing them, because there was a faint shift in how they stood, their masked faces locked onto me, giving me a nod while I turned my eyes off, straightening my back.
"They're watching us, aren't they?" Sayuri suddenly whispered, making me blink and stare at her.
"You can... tell?"
"Not exactly," she admitted, lowering her voice even further. "But this place feels… off. Always did when I came through, and I guessed it was because of that. It just makes sense, you know."
"Yeah," I nodded, chuckling, "You're not wrong. If you want, I can tell you exactly where they are."
"Yeah, no thanks. I'm fine not knowing it!" She rolled her eyes, "Sometimes it's better if you don't know things before you are ready to find them out by yourself."
"Huh. Point taken."
As we talked, we finally reached the spot where Kushina was living since our return and subsequent 'separation.' Officially, it was for her training, or whatever they concocted... But it was simply to keep her out of range of another kidnapping. As for the house itself, it was simple, with a plain exterior, clean lines, and no unnecessary decoration that you could see on it. Without hesitation, I stepped up and knocked, and about three seconds later, the door had already slid open with a loud woosh.
"Renji! Sayuri?!" Kushina practically exploded onto the scene with a happy squeal, her red hair bouncing wildly as she leaned forward, eyes lighting up the moment she saw us, but then... she suddenly froze. Huh? What happened? Oh... I knew it once since I saw how her gaze dropped straight to our hands that were still linked perfectly. "EEEEH?!" She pointed at us immediately, well, at our hands, "What's THAT supposed to be, dattebane?!"
"..." Sayuri stiffened beside me. "…Ah!"
I didn't let go, of course; instead, I raised our hands, keeping her locked with me, refusing to break it.
"What does it look like?" I asked, while Sayuri's face turned red instantly.
"R-Renji—!" She stammered.
"What? You gonna deny it now?" I grinned, throwing her a look, "It's too late for that."
"I—! That's—! You—!"
Kushina leaned in closer by then, her eyes sparkling, scanning our faces back and forth like she was some kind of hound, sniffing the air.
"Oi, oi, oi! Since when did THIS happen, dattebane?! No wonder you were late! Minato has been here for hours, saying you will come soon enough, over and over again."
"Well, this?" I pointed at our hands, "This is a recent thing," I said casually.
"RECENT?!" she barked, a sarcastic laugh. "I would say it was a late development with how the air always was between you two, dattebane!"
"Please..." Sayuri covered part of her face with her free hand, "Can we stop? Hauh... "I hate you," she muttered under her breath, "Both of you! Bullies!"
"I love you too, Sayuri." I shot back without thinking, which made Sayuri freeze in place, turn redder than Kushina's hair, swaying, and if not for me holding her in place, I think she would have collapsed.
Naturally, Kushina clapped her hands over her mouth, then together, acting like she just saw the best show of her life, yelling even louder.
"I KNEW IT DATTEBANE!" she declared triumphantly. "I KNEW something like this was gonna happen, and soon! Ahahahahahaha!"
"You did not," I said flatly.
"I did!"
"You didn't."
"I DID!"
"Didn't."
"DID—!"
"Are we arguing about this now?" Minato cut in, stepping past her with a small smile. "We all knew, as you knew it about us," He said, pointing at my chest.
"OI!" Kushina turned to him, stomping in place, now it was her time to turn red.
"Okay, okay, let's go in, hm?" I snorted, finally stepping inside and kicking off my sandals, dragging Sayuri along with me before she could flee, but luckily, she didn't resist or try to let go anymore.
As for the inside of the house, it was much warmer than the featureless exterior would suggest. After entering the living room, Kushina flopped down onto the floor cushions, still staring at us like she had just discovered something super illegal and was now considering going and reporting it to Jiraiya-sensei or something.
"So?!" she leaned forward. "Explain, and don't leave out any details, dattebane!"
"Explain what? There is nothing to explain," I shrugged, sitting down across from her. "We finished the exam, I picked her up, ate lunch, and now we're here."
"Oi!" She rounded on me at once, like a dog, almost barking, "You're skipping a LOT of steps there, dattebanbe!"
"Just the unimportant ones." I shrugged, waving it away.
"No!"
"Okay, so," I started, "We entered the forest and—"
"Who cares about that?!" She slammed her palm on the table, her eyes shining, still going back and forth between us, "Minato had told me about it all already, I am asking about you two, dattebane!"
"Hauh..." Sayuri finally sat down next to me, still slightly red, but calmer now, at least calm enough to find her voice,
"Have you kissed yet?" Kushina asked, shifting gears instantly.
"Mhm." I nodded, but that was going too far, because Sayuri slapped the back of my head, and it began bobbing up and down.
"NO, WE DID NOT!"
"How long?" Kushina asked, almost salivating.
"Just under two hours," I said, rubbing the back of my head.
"YOU WERE KISSING FOR THAT LONG, DATTEBANE?!"
"NOOOOO, WE DID NOOOOOOT!" Sayuri screamed again, "He is talking about the exam! Stupid, stuuupid! Stupiiiiiid!" She cried, now punching my arm from the left, but there was not much power behind them, of course.
"HAHAHAHA—!" Kushina burst out laughing. "Good excuse!"
"IT IS NOT AN EXCUSE!" Sayuri cried out, looking pleadingly at her, "We didn't kiss yet! I don't even know how! Stoooop iiiiiit! All of you! Bullies! I hate you all!"
In the end, it took a few minutes, or more like half an hour, to manage to calm Sayuri down and stop Kushina from constantly trying to ask what else we did. Sparing Sayuri from more of my bullying, I also brought the topic back on the exam, because she hadn't heard it yet. Explaining it all again, Kushina wasn't bored at all, liking the fact she was hearing the story from another perspective than just Minato's.
"Of course you did," Sayuri rolled her eyes when I told them how we beat the Amegakure team, "You're both freaks." She snorted, trying to sound indignant after being embarrassed like that.
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment!" She pouted.
"It sounded like one." I grinned back at her.
"See?" Kushina leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand, speaking to her, "I told you they'd do something like this," she grinned.
"Yeah, yeah," Sayuri waved her off. "Still! Two hours?! That's just... ugh! That will never be broken!"
"Don't be so sure about that," I hummed, and at that, Kushina flopped backward dramatically, making a loud thumping noise.
"So unfair... I'm stuck here while you idiots are breaking records, dattebane! You will become a Chūnin while I stay a Genin? What kind of nonsense is this? Will I stay a Forever Genin? Never to be more than that? Is this a Jinchūriki-type curse or something?"
"Huh," I shrugged, because it may very well be one, "Then you can become the strongest Genin ever?" I tried, and it made her look at me with one eye.
"That's not much to boast about, unless you can go toe-to-toe with the Kages."
"Who said it can't be done? Maybe if not you, your future son?"
"Like I would let him become one!" She snorted, and although she was red as a tomato, including Minato, who also blushed heavily, mouthing at me to shut up, I just grinned.
"That reaction," I leaned over to Sayuri, but kept looking at the two, speaking loudly enough for them to hear, "Tells me that they had already kissed."
"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, DATTEBANE!"
"But my kissing affairs are yours?!" Sayuri shot back, and it was then that Minato stepped in before the topic could spiral out of control again.
"At least Kushina will be allowed out for the finals."
"It stands like that... for now." Kushina turned her head toward him, sounding sarcastic. "You think so it will stay that way? Because I have been told one thing and another a moment later, way too many times through those damned ANBU bastards. I don't believe what they are asking!"
"I do know it," Minato said, leaning in, kissing her face without thinking.
"I told you," I whispered to Sayuri, but this time, Kushina did not bother to throw a tantrum or something.
"I will blame you two if they change their minds!" she pouted a little. "Because I'm NOT going to miss that, dattebane! I'm gonna be there, front row!"
"Cheering for me, obviously," I added.
"HAH!" Kushina pointed at me, then at Minato. "In your dreams! I'm cheering for HIM, of course, dattebane!"
"Excuse me?" Sayuri leaned forward, a bit confused.
"What?" Kushina blinked her eyes, now also confused, "The last round is always a tournament-style brawl, no? If so, we all know what the final will be! Minato versus Renjiro. Duh!"
"And..." She stammered, realizing it, "You're picking sides already?!"
"Yeah?"
"Well then, I'm with Renji," She said, crossing her arms with mine, pulling me over to her side.
"Traitor!" Kushina said with a grin, clearly joking.
"You started it!" Sayuri shot back at once.
"Minato's clearly winning!"
"Renji literally broke the exam!"
"Minato carried him!"
"EXCUSE ME?! HE DID NOT CARRY HIM!"
Soon... I couldn't tell if they were joking or not, so I looked over at Minato, mouthing my question.
"Hey… You are hearing this, too?"
"'..." He nodded, wordlessly, of course, "Should we be offended?"
"Probably not." I shrugged.
"I agree." He nodded again, and it was then that Kushina stood up suddenly.
"Alright! We'll settle this properly, dattebane!"
"Oh?" I raised a brow.
"Final match!" she declared dramatically, looking at us all, "Winner takes bragging rights forever!"
"Forever?" Sayuri scoffed before I could. "That's bold."
"I'm confident!"
"You shouldn't be."
"Khm!" Minato cleared his throat before the girls could get into another rowdy round. "This is getting out of hand."
"No, no," I waved him off, grinning, "Let's simplify it." When I said it, three pairs of eyes turned to me, "If Minato and I do face each other, we will just settle it with rock, paper, scissors."
There was a pause... a very, very, very long pause. For the first time ever, even I felt a bit ashamed. I thought it was a good idea...
"That's stupid," Kushina said with a so flat tone, I thought she was a robot.
"It's fair..." I pouted.
"It's random!" Sayuri and Kushina yelled at me. "Everyone would be super angry! Us included!"
"Why?" I shot back, but then waved my hand, "Okay, okay... Whatever... Go, get lost in your betting frenzy!" I added with a shrug, "I will win anyway."
"Oh?" Minato suddenly smiled, leaning forward, catching my eyes and maintaining contact, "I wouldn't be that... confident about that."
"Without confidence," I smirked, both of us grinning more and more broadly, "why even enter an arena, hm?"