welcomed or restrained?

He saw the look she had on her face...she definitely knew him..kouse would have been surprised if she didn't know salzem. With the way his escape from jail was widely known he was more or less a popular missing ninja.
He kept spacing out with thoughts of the time he had had with sal..how things had changed so drastically.
Her question knocked him out of his reverie though.
"Well yes they were, more true than I ever expected" kouse frowned as the memory of Salzems voice,his face and actions popped into his mind. "He didn't even want to listen to what I said, he was absolutely sure that he would never be a konoha ninja again". The punch in the guts when kouse had finally made some progress with salzem...well or so he had thought.
"It was more or less a wasted effort, he won't be coming back to konoha willingly.. He'll have to be dragged back" kouse finished.
Taking a deep breath he quickly calmed himself.. He was close to losing his temper...salzem had surprised him to say the least.

You can be damned sure we'll drag him back here, dead or alive.

Kouse, though he might not know it, had just become an asset; a link to Salzem. Operative Wolf had plans for him. Unfortunately these plans involved allowing one who would fraternize with missing ninja walk free. However, the assumed pay off would be well worth it. In time Salzem, and any who helped him, would be tracked down and brought to justice. What this justice was? Well, that was not Ashi's job. Finding him was her job.

"Very well, Chuunin Kouse. You did the right thing in coming back." Ashi said reassuringly. "You are free to enter Konoha."

Accenting her point Ashi waved her hand in the direction of the main village.

"Do note that you will be monitored for your safety should Salzem try to come after you with ill intent, standard procedure and all that. Otherwise I wish you a good night."

Ashi sold the lie like a champ. Kouse was not being watched for his protection. No, he was being watched for the village's protection. After all, how could anyone know if the chuunin held any ill will towards Konoha? Time would tell. One thing was certain though: Kouse would be getting a visit from operative Wolf soon.

Chai, we have a lot of work in front of us.

On hearing his name and rank kouse raised an eyebrow..well those papers had some info after all. But still it wasn't what he was waiting to hear..he wanted to know if he was in trouble or not.
'You are free to enter Konoha.' Kouse let out a sigh of relief on hearing this..he had unconsciously been holding his breath for sometime now.
"Sure no problem..I doubt salzem would do anything though but we can't be too careful can we?" Kouse smiled at the ninja as he turned and walked away. 
He wasn't naive though..he knew that he was still a suspect..and was going to be watched closely for sometime..but he didn't mind..he was free to get home...at last.

Exit- Entering konoha.

Watching as the boy went on his way, Ashi knew she'd have quite a bit more paperwork to do. Hell, she'd probably be the one required to watch him. Maybe it would be easier to simply spirit the boy away in the night. Ashi knew how to make a person disappear forever. Better yet she could arrange it so the authorities would never look for him. Eventually he would fade into the background as if he were never there.

No, no, that wouldn't do. Don't get lazy now; the mission has only just begun.

Clearing her head with a shake, the Inuzuka looked down at Chai who met her gaze. Ashi had not yet met a person, animal, anything that understood her like Chai. Or course that was how things should be. Looking at Chai Ashi could almost see him smile, he knew. Chai knew Ashi's mind was no longer on drinking the night away later in the evening. No, she had a mission now; missions trumped all else when it came to Ashi.

The next few hours passed quickly into the late twilight hours when, at long last, Ashi's replacement arrived. The poor sap had the night shift; the Inuzuka woman did not envy him in the slightest. She would be spending the rest of the night in the records hall. Research before an op was key. Improper research led to mistakes and Ashi, like any anbu or person for that matter, hated mistakes-especially when they could be avoided with a little hard work.

[Exit]
{2028/2000 for memorizing Kouse's scent and chakra}