章節 163: The Voice of the Dead

"It wasn't as hard as I initially thought!" I sighed with satisfaction as I saw Mikoto alive again, trying to reacquaint herself with the sensation of having her own body.

She didn't even care that she was still naked!

Well, that's a professional kunoichi for you, and the rest is just nonsense.

Seriously, Dad?

I don't know why Nemu is giving me the Saitama face; things got a little out of hand, I admit, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.

Is it because I almost put Mikoto's soul backward in her body?

I fixed it before it became irreversible!

Is it because the medical casing exploded halfway through the process due to Mikoto's involuntary chakra release, covering us all in a sticky, purple liquid that smelled like berries?

The electrical fire that happened when the control panel overloaded with three times the tolerable electricity?

Or is it because I almost created a black hole? A small one.

Poor Ryuk, he couldn't even claim those baskets of apples I owed him; we'll miss him for… however long it takes me to make another one if necessary.

No, it has to be something else…

I got it! I stained Nemu's glasses; that's definitely it.

"... I'm going to take a shower before this dries completely," Nemu gave up on telling me the reason, but I'll assume it's the glasses.

"Alright, I'll take care of the monitoring controls," I nodded as I approached Mikoto with a bathrobe so she could cover herself before catching a cold.

Not that it's possible; the lab's temperature is controlled, but it's not polite to leave her like this longer than necessary.

"How do you feel?" I asked as she gratefully took the robe and covered herself. "Any discomfort or anomalies?"

I shifted into my elemental form for a moment to get rid of the purple liquid on my body so I wouldn't stain her, well, not more than my robe already was. I should've done things in reverse order.

"I feel fine," Mikoto said, making some movements to assess her condition. "My balance is good, my chakra flows smoothly, and I don't feel any muscle stiffness, which I actually expected a bit. In fact, I feel great. It's like being back in my best physical condition, before I gave birth to Sasuke," she happily summarized while rubbing her arm and cheek. "I even feel like my skin is better!"

"I see that spending time in the Pure Land can work wonders for your mental state," I noted, relieved that everything had gone well.

"Actually, exchanging a few 'words' with my husband helped me a lot," Mikoto nodded while staring at me. "I have to thank you for your patience and care with me. I know it wasn't easy when I was… more absent. You also brought trouble with my death."

"Your apple pie recipe more than makes up for it," I shrugged, brushing it off. "And I should apologize for not being able to protect you better despite the measures I took."

"You don't actually know Kushina, do you?" she asked suddenly.

"I think that was the first thing I told you, remember?"

Mikoto was completely stunned, and she knew I was right. She burst out laughing, clutching her stomach with a few tears streaming down.

"Seems like spending so much time among Konoha's intrigues made me overthink things," she said with a slight tone of disdain toward herself while wiping away her tears of laughter. "But I still appreciate what you did. I still consider you a good friend."

"So, I guess you spoke to her in the Pure Land, didn't you?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

"More or less, it seems her son used some of the chakra Minato left behind a year ago during some reckless training with Jiraiya-sama and was able to get a rough idea of how things went," Mikoto explained as she stroked her hair. "He's not happy at all, neither with the village nor with the Third Hokage. He also found out about Karin and Mariko, as well as his complaint that Naruto uses the Uzumaki surname."

Wow, even the dead have their ways of hearing gossip.

"And I suppose she's against it," I reasoned. It's normal for a mother to want her son to use her surname.

"Actually…" Mikoto gave an ironic smile. "Maybe I told her about the genetic manipulation of Naruto you mentioned that one time when you were drunk, and also, maybe Mito-sama was present when she explained how things went after Kushina's death…"

Oh, no.

"They were very happy to know there are more Uzumaki clan members alive and that you're looking after them, away from Konoha's darkness," Mikoto affirmed before shifting to a more somber expression. "But… Kushina got a huge shock when she learned the truth about Naruto. She became like… well…" she pointed at herself with her index finger. "My old self, if you know what I mean."

I imagine that learning the child you carried for nine months has very little of your blood could leave any mother in despair. The fact that Kushina's soul broke even while in the Pure Land reveals how brutal the impact was. I hope she improves with enough time.

It's the kind of thing no mother should go through, like outliving their children.

"And then…" Mikoto seemed to struggle to find the right words. "It's too complicated," she sighed after five minutes of debating without finding a way to explain it. "The short version is that Mito-sama deliberated for months and, after talking with several generations of Uzumaki, declared that Naruto is not part of the Uzumaki bloodline, so she actually accepts Karin and Mariko's claim as valid. She also asked me to convey her deep gratitude for taking care of Tsunade, especially after what happened."

That was something I didn't expect. I thought Mito would say something like: "If he was born an Uzumaki, he is an Uzumaki and always will be!"

"And she also said, well…" Mikoto looked clearly uncomfortable.

"There's more?" For some reason, I had a bad feeling.

"She said it would be a shame if the Senju bloodline died out," she mumbled in a barely audible voice. "Since you have several women and get along well with Tsunade, you should go ahead and consider her granddaughter. Just knock her down with determination; Mito-sama would take it as a favor…"

Me: What the hell?!

I think my expression revealed 100% of my thoughts because Mikoto awkwardly laughed while looking away.

"Yeah… I didn't see that coming either," Mikoto admitted with a guilty look. "Mito-sama can be very flexible in her thinking on these matters; she even gave me some tricks so you'd have more chances with Tsunade and manage her personality… including bedroom tricks," she added, her cheeks slightly flushed.

And why the hell would I want a favor from a dead Mito?

Wait, that's not the point!

"I'm not doing that," this time, I gave the Saitama look. "Not to mention, Mito seems to have forgotten to add Tsunade's feelings to the equation. Yeah, you should remember that we get along very well as friends, and she's a good student, but I'm not going to ruin that when she simply doesn't want anything more."

"And if she did?" Mikoto boldly asked.

"She'd have to pass Ameyuri, Pakura, and Anko's approval first," I replied without missing a beat. "And maybe more in the future… but that's something for, well, the future."

"Really?" Mikoto looked me up and down before sighing in frustration. "Why didn't I meet you sooner?"

"I didn't exist."

I couldn't have said it more literally.

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As someone (OMN1CR0N_JUEGOS) deduced with surprising accuracy, I actually write in a different language and forgot to translate this one due to lack of sleep, fixed.

Oh, I suddenly remembered how people said it made no sense to save Mikoto if she would die later in the Chunin exam, making her an irrelevant character.

We'll always remember those clowns and the slap they just received... ^^