Chương 68

"Well I learned Chidori from him and you, and he had told me to practice chakra manipulation and do whatever I wanted to. But now I want to see a different perspective." Sasuke said. Rei was impressed.

"Especially from someone who is at the same level as that man."

"Point." Rei admitted.

"You really live a life of luxury. What we learn would eventually be passed to you." Sasuke said.

"Haa.. Jealous?" Rei teased.

"A bit." Sasuke admitted. His relationship with Rei was a bit different than the rest. He could show all his tsundere vibes with the rest of the group, even Kakashi, but Rei was the one who had helped him the most and treated him like a brother. Besides, Rei had Sharingan, though secretive, but he still had it, so he felt closer to Rei and could act a bit normal. Whatever normal was in the eyes of Sasuke. And also Rei had promised him to help him in his fight against Itachi.

"Don't be. You are more talented than you realize." Rei said, as a matter of fact. Sasuke didn't reply to that and instead jumped onto a rooftop and went after Naruto. He wanted to force that pervert to teach him something that was powerful. Since he was a pervert, he should pay them by being useful. Rei didn't follow them. He just went back to the onsen and took a rest. The use of his new ability and the chakra spent was a bit too much for his liking.

If one didn't have proper control over his ability, a simple technique could expend more chakra than required. Even Naruto, when he learned Rasenshuriken for the first time, exhausted his chakra faster than he did much later. So Rei, who had finally learned full chakra control after taking the whole part of Karin, was trying his hand at the new ability that came with the Uzumaki bloodline, and it was taking time. After half an hour at the onsen, he was back home.

Daichi was out on patrol while Hana was at home after her shift at the hospital.

"How was the onsen?" Hana asked.

"It was good.." Rei replied.

"See, I told you. We went there for our first date.." Hana seemed to reminisce about her past.

"Who goes to onsens for a date? You both need better places to date." Rei was dumbfounded knowing that his parents' first date happened in an onsen.

"What do you know? You modern guys don't know anything about dating. In our days.." Rei wasn't ready to hear the same thing again and just shut himself off from the lecture she was spewing. Whatever! After that he completed his lunch and proceeded to return to the MCU for more practice. He was back in New York. The sun was still high when Rei arrived. Today the home was quite lively. The Demon Brothers were here.

They had been following Zabuza around the city and taking out trash, but that didn't mean the Demon Brothers wouldn't return here. Zabuza never showed his face but the twins would show up quite often. Probably because they seemed to love the food Laura made. And she was glad that she was able to 'seduce' men of power. She had seen how powerful these people were and started making connections.

Zabuza was way too dangerous, thus both Laura and Daniel made a small pact among themselves to make the two brothers feel homely. Oftentimes, they would invite the twins to come here and have her food. Of course, in extension they would invite Zabuza, only for him not to show up, which they had expected. From what they were reading in the news, such kinds of men entering their home was dangerous, forgetting the fact that the same twins were also responsible for some of the news they were reading.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Rei just shook his head seeing the two brothers stuffing their faces with food like they hadn't eaten for days. They were supposed to be feared missing-nin and assassins. Instead, they looked like two starving wolves who had discovered civilization.

"You both realize there is enough food for tomorrow too, right?" Rei asked. The brothers didn't even look up.

"No."

"Tomorrow doesn't exist." Rei blinked.

"What?" The other twin pointed his fork dramatically.

"If food exists today, why worry about tomorrow?"

"... That's surprisingly profound and incredibly stupid at the same time." They were busy watching the news and various reports came in. The twin brothers loved watching the news, which was both a good and bad habit. But who was Rei to stop them?

"... Authorities are continuing to investigate a mysterious object that landed near Puente Antiguo, New Mexico. Witnesses claim the object appears to be a large hammer embedded in the ground. Multiple attempts to move it have reportedly failed." The camera shifted briefly. A massive hammer sat inside the crater.

"... Ninja tool." The second twin nodded immediately.

"Definitely a ninja tool."

"What?"

"No normal hammer falls from the sky."

"Exactly."

"If nobody can lift it, then it must belong to someone important."

"Maybe a Kage."

"Or a very strong blacksmith." Meanwhile Rei looked at the news, and turned to Daniel who had just brought chips in his hands with some salsa. Who eats chips with salsa? It's nachos with salsa. Well whatever. He instead asked, not bothering with the food choice that this guy was cultivating.

"So how many scientists and professors are we sponsoring?"

"Eh! Umm.. I will have to see.."

"Leave it. We are sponsoring quite a few of them from Culver University, right?" Rei asked.

"Yes, Allied Universal is funding major researchers from Culver.. If you want me to contact the dean.." Daniel was confused about why Rei was asking about this. In fact, Allied Universal had always been quite the enthusiast when it came to funding universities and students. Before, Allied Universal would only invest in the IT departments and in students who were great with computers, especially in the hacking department. But after Rei came, he went on to invest in many others.

"No need. I remember there was someone named Erik Selvig, right?" Rei asked.

"Uh.. I will have to see. I don't remember the names but I am sure since you said it, it will be there." Daniel said after putting down the bowl of chips.

"Yeah. Call Erik, tell them I will join them in New Mexico."

"Eh! But this is Culver, which is in West Virginia.." Daniel was confused but Rei just looked at him, which was the hint that it was less questions and more action. Soon Daniel found out about Erik and was surprised to know that Erik was really in New Mexico with his research along with Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Soon he dialed some number and gave a thumbs up to Rei.

"So... our sponsor is coming." Thor, who was sitting and serving everyone breakfast, was stunned.

"Sponsor?"

"The people paying for our research." Jane replied.

"You require patrons to pursue knowledge?" Thor asked.

"Welcome to Earth." Darcy said.

"Dude, you need to let go of the method acting. You are all handsome and all, but you don't need to be an asshole like Jared Leto.."

"Who is this Jared Leto?" Thor was genuinely confused. Darcy looked at the beautiful face for one long moment and then just sighed. Erik meanwhile looked at his phone again.

"I still don't understand why Allied Universal suddenly took interest in our work." That was the strange part. The company was known for investing in technology, security and research. Astrophysics wasn't exactly their usual area. A few years ago, the company wasn't even well known as it was based on security systems. But suddenly, under supposed new management, they started investing heavily in every major department and even his own department.

Erik's good life, along with Jane and Darcy's, was also because of Allied Universal as they had given them lots of grants. And at a time like this it made him feel on edge. Thor, whose origin was still unknown, and the least believable, was with them after that whole fiasco with SHIELD. Though they were able to get away easily, he still didn't feel right. It had only been a day since the fiasco and that too played into his anxiety.

They all were waiting at the rented home waiting for this supposed sponsor to arrive. And it didn't take long. Soon from their huge windows they saw a car stopping right at the gate of their house. And out stepped a teenager. Everyone couldn't believe their eyes. At first they were looking at the car expecting a bigger man to come out but instead the car just went forward and parked ahead while the teenager entered through the gate.

"This is our sponsor?" Darcy couldn't help but look at Erik. Erik was having a headache now. A man-child was already too much, and now they would have to handle a child too? What was this? A vacation for families?