Chap.72 End of break

"I've returned Konohaaaa!" —was heard throughout the village.

"Damn, peace is over," Tony sighed as he stroked Fenrir.

In a few days a request will arrive from Sunagakure that will make Naruto and company go to rescue Gaara, who has become the new Kazekage and will be kidnapped by Deidara and Sasori of Akatsuki.

"Too bad I won't see his expression when he finds out that he's still the only genin." After all, the rest have already ascended to chunin in this time while me and Neji are jonin. I mean, even Kankuro has become a jonin!

Tony was sure that old hag Chiyo had a hand in the test and tampered with the results.

"The question is: will they involve me in the rescue?"

He was familiar with Gaara and Temari from his visits. Tony's shops and his food made the relationship between Sunagakure and Konoha better than in the original timeline. Even Tsunade suggested that she will lower the prices in Sunagakure a bit.

And not having a Danzo behind the scenes was definitely a huge bonus.

But then again, Naruto should leave with Sakura and Kakashi if memory serves him right, only to be joined later by Guy's team. There were no other teams on the Kazekage's rescue mission, which was weird when you think about it. Perhaps it was because of the difference in the quality of the forces, but some support teams should have followed Naruto and the rest.

So Tony wasn't sure if he could avoid facing Akatsuki or not.

For one thing, if he avoided him he might manage to avoid attracting Zetsu and Obito's attention. He wouldn't have to see Chiyo or attend her funeral when he revives Gaara. He could stay in the village and let the plot do its thing while he and the others got stronger. Furthermore, Fenrir still hadn't had a single fight yet.

On the other hand, facing them was an opportunity to try and get in touch with Itachi and see if he could convince him to eat a bowl of Pearl Jam to cure his illness, which might come in handy later. At the same time, he could deliver "accidentally discovered" information about Pain's attack plan, which should happen after Jiraiya's death.

A death that Tony still doubted if he tried to avoid. Although it would be a devastating blow and necessary for Naruto to take senjutsu training seriously, his concern is with Tsunade, who will take the brunt of it.

Tony had grown very close to Shizune and Tsunade in these three years, it's likely that even Naruto doesn't have as much trust in them as they do in Tony. He even he could tell that both women were part of his family by how often they stopped by his house, either to eat or to teach Karin.

But Jiraiya had made too many mistakes and his presence could twist the development of many things, especially his ideology and attitude towards certain issues. And let's not talk about the old toad who manipulates him as if he were in the palm of his hand with dreams and prophecies.

"Perhaps if I get Tsunade to not bet on his return, that will be enough?"

Fenrir noticed that Tony stopped stroking him and complained playfully biting into his hand.

"Okay, let's stretch our muscles a bit," Tony told him.

Be that as it may, I would know soon. Now, his priority is to make Fenrir awaken his terrifying combat instincts. He tried to arrange some training battle with the Inuzuka clan, but the ninja dogs simply didn't dare to attack Fenrir due to the life form suppression. They were completely frozen.

The scandal that the Inuzuka clan put together for that reason was a headache.

They even featured some females for Fenrir to have cubs!

Depraved! Fenrir was barely days old and even if he was an adult, the Inuzuka ninja dogs would be unable to take Fenrir due to the disparity in size. He adds the fact that Fenrir disdained such pairings, there were simply no chances.

But do you know what followed?

The Inuzuka clan asked Tony if he was interested in any clan girl to marry! They were even about to send someone to the Akimichi clan to make an arrangement. It turned out that there were several Inuzuka girls interested in Tony and as long as he defeated them in a serious battle, they would be happy to pair up with him. They would get a life partner with whom they would have strong and manly offspring in addition to Fenrir, a potential stud for their ninja dogs.

Tony didn't understand people's obsession over the years with offering him a marriage!

Was it really that good of a match?

The thing escalated to such an extent that he had to ask for help from Tsunade, who trying not to laugh, agreed to bail Tony out in exchange for some bottles of fire whiskey.

Tony directly handed him a barrel.

Perhaps it was due to some gossipy people, but Tayuya found out what happened and sought out Tony to reaffirm their relationship in such a way that Karin suddenly became aware of how thin the walls of her house were and became unable to look. Tony for a few days, much to the complete bewilderment of the other party.

Maybe she was on those days of the month?

And why was Fenrir looking at him with admiration?

…Several days later…

Tony was preparing the meal when an ANBU suddenly appeared in the kitchen and before he could speak, the ANBU felt fangs just inches from his neck. He didn't dare move a single muscle, because his instincts screamed that if he did, he was dead.

"Okay Fenrir, he's a guest," Tony said without turning his gaze. Inwardly he was very pleased with the battle wolf's reaction to the sudden intrusion into his "territory" — what's wrong?

Sensing that his teeth receded and there was no danger, the ANBU subconsciously sighed in relief before delivering the message he had been ordered to.

—The Hokage has called you to his office, it's urgent.