7 Chapter 7

Akira was now in front of the Hokage who was smoking from his pipe with his eyes closed.

"Akira-kun... do you realise what you have done?" Hiruzen said in a low yet serious tone.

"No... I have no idea." Akira tilted his head in confusion.

"You, my boy have just done a great service to the village!" Hiruzen said after opening his eyes.

"I have?" Akira tried remembering what he had done.

'Was beating Guy a great service?'

"The recipe you gave the Akimichi clan has just enabled them to increase the potency of the pills they create. Do you know what that means?"

Akira thought for a while and nodded, "It means that missions will be a lot easier for ninjas with the pills giving them more boost."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, a normal soldier pill would barely replenish chakra and was limited for consumption but with the help of the recipes you provided, they are able to compress more nutrients in the pills increasing their potency."

"Ok... so what now?"

"Now, you need to get ready for a party." Hiruzen said.

"Huh!?" Akira was confused with the development that was happening.

"The Akimichi are holding a party to celebrate the occasion of creating a new pill tonight. The Akimichi are quite obsessed with food related things after all. All the clans will be attending the party and you are going to be in the spotlight." Hiruzen said smiling at him.

"Can I at least bring Karin and Naruto with me?" Akira asked in defeat.

"You can but don't forget to dress in formal clothes. You need to dress up to show them proper respect. Same goes for who you are bringing along as well and you better to take a girl of your age as well." Hiruzen said sternly.

'Argg! I hate formal events!!!' Akira screamed internally.

At the Akimichi compound all the people there were busy chatting up with each other but what they truly desired was to meet with the currently infamous Taijutsu Master Akira Kurogane.

Hiashi Hyuuga was stoically looking at the entrance waiting for Akira.

'An alliance with him will prove to be quite useful but there are other clans as well who will seek to do the same. Making him an honorary member of our ckan should suffice.'

Hiashi Hyuuga may seem like a cold hearted person but he was actually quite a familial person who loved his family very much.

Hinata had been the only one to satisfy Akira with her training stances as all the other students just couldn't satisfy him.

Akira true to his promise taught her the combat stance, Pigeon Toed Stance of Wing Chun. The stance was perfect for her as she combined it with her Gentle Fist.

The whole Hyuuga clan had praised her and hailed her as genius unlike the past. She was even able to defeat Neji Hyuuga, the prodigy from branch member of Hyuuga.

Because of that Hiashi wanted to be in good grace of Akira.

The three Ino-Shika-Chou trio too were patiently waiting for Akira Kurogane. They didn't know much about him but nevertheless knew that he meant no harm to the village. They wanted to ally with him so they could help him out since he was too clueless regarding the affair of ninjas. He needed someone to guide him after all.

Akira moved uncomfortably under the stiff Yukata he was forced to wear.

"Akira-kun, are you sure you should be inviting me with you?" Kurenai questioned but was happy that he had invited her to such an event.

"Of course! You are one of the few people here I trust." Akira said confidently making Kurenai blush.

Currently only Akira and Kurenai were going to the party as Karin and Naruto declined giving him and Kurenai teasing smiles.

Kurenai was wearing a beautiful black kimono with white petal pattern in it giving her a charming and mature vibe. She had her hair curled and wore a pink lipstick with purple eyeshadow.

In other words, she looked gorgeous and Akira was finding it difficult to look at her properly but same could be said for Kurenai as well since Akira looked quite good in red yukata giving him elegant aura.

"Akira-kun, we are about to reach the party area. We should... hold hands. After all I am your date for now so we should act like one." Kurenai said trying her absolute best not to get embarrassed.

"Of course! I am sorry if you find it uncomfortable though..." Akira said but Kurenai shut him up with a glare.

"If I had found it uncomfortable then I wouldn't have agreed to this at all!"

Akira widened his eyes and shook his eyes.

"Thank you for being with me today, Kurenai-chan." Kurenai's face got fully red as Akira called her with the suffix 'chan'.

"Of course! Now lead the way!" Kurenai said holding Akira hand while glancing at him with a smile.

Anko who was watching from far away with telescope was shedding tears.

"Damn you Nai-chan! You may have won this battle but the war has yet to end." Anko said to herself. Though she and Kurenai was ordered by Hokage to get close to Akira, they had already forgotten about it.

The Hokage had miscalculated the level of friendly relation they had as both Kurenai and Anko had a crush on Akira.

They finally reached the place as all the people present there looked at them especially at Akira with glee.

"Welcome Akira-kun! I am glad you finally made it!" Chouza said welcoming Akira and Kurenai inside.

"I wouldn't have imagined you being with him, Kurenai. I had thought you were interested in Asuma... seems like I was wrong." Chouza said jokingly but Kurenai's mood instantly dropped.

Akira looked worried and grabbed her hands tightly and whispered, "I don't really mind what others think. Right now, you are with me."

Kurenai's heart raced as she felt lightheaded with joy at the declaration.

Akira had no idea that his flirting skill was in effect making Kurenai fall deeper in love with him.

"Anyways thank you for the recipes you gave us. If there is anything we could do for you, don't hesitate. The Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka will be there for you." After saying that Chouza went to attend to other guests.

"Akira-kun, do you know what he just implied?" Kurenai said to the oblivious Akira.

"They just said that they are now allied with you. All three of the clans!" Akira widened his eyes.

"Just because of recipes!?" Akira exclaimed.

"You don't know how valuable those pills they have made using your recipes are. It's not just Soldier Pills but a brand new Rejuvenation Pill which will restore stamina as well." Kurenai informed.

"Wow! I had no idea that my recipes would be this valuable." Akira said in surprise.

Kurenai smiled at his cluelessness, "Lucky for you Akira-kun I am here."

"Yeah... I am really glad." Akira said looking at her softly.

Kurenai felt this was it, as her face got closer to his and unknowingly his too was getting closer as he was mesmerised by her beauty but the moment was interrupted.

"Akira-dono, I wish to speak with you." It was none other than Hiashi as he didn't realise he had just interrupted them.

'Damn! We had almost kissed but he had to interrupt!' Kurenai fumed.

Akira was snapped out of his stupor as his flirting mode was gone.

"Ah! What is it Hyuuga-san?" Akira asked politely.

"It is a very private matter and you may call me Hiashi." Hiashi said stoically as he looked at Kurenai.

Kurenai understood that it was something important so she excused herself.

"Akira-kun, I will be waiting."

Hiashi and Akira got to a secluded area to speak.

"So... what do you wish to speak of?" Akira asked.

Hiashi bowed, "Firstly I wish to thank you for imparting such an amazing technique to my daughter Hinata. She has always been seen as a disgrace to our clan but with your teachings she was able to come out of her weak shell."

Akira's eye furrowed in mild anger, "Hiashi-san, there is no need to thank me but telling that your daughter was a disgrace is not acceptable."

Veins started to appear around Hiashi's eyes, "Akira-dono, what do you mean?"

"If you think something is useless then it is going to be useless more so for living beings since if you make them think they are useless then how can they improve with that mentality?" Akira berated him.

Hiashi frowned, "It was meant to make her work harder so she would improve."

Akira laughed at the logic, "You all made her think she was already useless, not going to be one in the future. Words are sharper than swords Hiashi-san. You should be careful with it."

Hiashi closed his eyes, "Yes... you might be right. Maybe we were the one at fault."

Silence permeated for a while as Hiashi looked at the sky, "Akira-dono, I would like you to become an honorary member of our clan. Our clan needs someone like you... no my daughter needs someone like you to guide her both physically and mentally. Will you accept it?"

'Guiding Hinata? Wasn't Kurenai-chan supposed to do that? But still... maybe I can help her more.'

"Alright then Hiashi-san, I will accept your offer. Is there anything I have to do?"

"Just do whatever you can Akira-dono. I believe in your skills as a teacher." Hiashi said as he bowed and walked away.

"Akira-kun? What did you speak about? If it's personal you don't have to share." Kurenai said as she came looking worried since being called by the Hyuuga head for private talk was definitely a big thing.

"It's... just that I am a honorary Hyuuga clan member and will be guiding Hinata." Akira said shocking Kurenai.

'The Hyuuga made him their honorary member and are also allowing him to guide their heiress!?'

"What do you think Kurenai-chan?" Akira asked as he looked at the shocked expression of Kurenai.

Kurenai quickly composed herself, "I was just shocked that they allowed you to have such a big role."

"Let's forget about all these things and enjoy ourselves." Akira said deeply looking in her eyes.

"Ah! Yea..." Kurenai meekly said as Akira hold her hands lovingly without even knowing he was in his flirting mode again.

Anko meanwhile felt angry for some reason and decided to vent her anger on the poor prisoner she was supposed to be interrogating.