Chapter 32

Someone told me my AN's were really annoying and long, so...enjoy!

Chapter 32

"Stay out of trouble Naruto!"

Akari rolled her eyes at the indignant yell that followed her words, pulling the door shut then taking a deep breath. It was good to know that today was...hopefully going to stay completely normal, no vengeful entities, or hypnotizing old men, not even an irate enemy nin to deal with. Today was, like the past week had been, going to stay peaceful, normal, and totally... "I believe the term there is 'jinxed it'."

She resisted the urge to flick Kurama on the nose. She didn't, however, resist the urge to without warning leap from the walkway of her apartment straight across the street and onto the opposite building rooftop, Kurama scrabbling on her shoulder for purchase as he was almost flung off. "I'm not jinxing anything, I just don't think anything should happen for a while."

After getting resettled and yipping at her ear in agitated repose, Kurama chuffed when he realized what she said. "Each time you say it makes it more likely something will happen." Akari ignored him, a loud 'la la la' being yelled in her mind. She quickly oriented herself to head towards the hospital, bantering with Kurama the entire way. Ever since he had his 'familiar' given to him, he'd adopted a far more...forward persona, presumably because he was actually manifested in the world, not confined to a seal.

Whatever it was, it made him a great way to distract herself from the repetitive task of building-hopping across Konoha. Beforehand, he would have ignored most of her casually spoken or thought words, only occasionally jabbing at her logic or simply the logic of the world when it suited him, or just like during her incursion at Hideyoshi Depot, when it would inconvenience or sometimes even surprise Akari.

"Akari-chan!" She cursed under her breath, even as Kurama yipped in laughter on her shoulder. She twisted to look over at whoever was calling her, recognizing Komachi's ANBU mask and belatedly coming to a stop. If it was a random ANBU she would have just pretended to not hear them, at least until she arrived at the hospital. but doing that to Komachi wasn't in the cards.

Komachi quickly caught up to her, and though Akari couldn't see her face behind her mask, she got the impression the ANBU was pissed at her for something. "Uhh, hey there Komachi, didja need something? Because I kinda promised Itachi that I'd go visit Shisui in the hospital and see if I could do something." Komachi made an aborted gesture at Akari, as though she wanted to strangle her in anger, then slumped her arms to the side with a sigh.

"You seriously need to stop getting in situations like this Akari-chan, that's twice in one week you've nearly died. Hokage-sama wants to see you for something. I don't think it's a mission, if anything he seemed annoyed at himself for leaving whatever this is for so long. But seriously, can you not keep out of trouble for more than a damn week?!" Akari scratched her head trying to remember if she'd asked the old man for anything, but couldn't come up with anything. Since Komachi obviously didn't know either, she just shrugged.

"Alright. Shisui has waited a week, I think an hour or two more can be forgiven." She then glared at Kurama when he whispered a snide comment about fate into her ear. But then a real grin came across her lips. "Oh, so you think you can talk to me about fate? Hmm, what was it...several decades spent sealed up like food in a shop?" He nipped her ear for that one, a light growl coming from his throat. "Oh come on, so you can say stuff like that but I can't? Hypocritical freeloader."

Komachi was watching the by-play with every opportunity, though most of her attention was on the buildings they were leaping across. "Is he...always like that?" Akari and Kurama turned to look at her at the same time with curious expressions. Or as close to a curious expression as a fox could have. "Well, like...just so conversational?" Akari looked at Kurama and hummed.

"Well, I think being outside makes him far more willing to participate. Especially since most times when I went in to check up on you, you were having a nice nap-time on the porch. I remember that one time you'd rolled around so far yo-"

His next bite drew blood, interrupting Akari as she winced. Not much blood really, but enough that Komachi could smell it. "Did he just-" Akari batted Kurama's head in response, then leaned her head back so his attempted headbutt brushed past her chin, leaving him open to getting his ear flicked. She was careful to control her strength, just as he was careful to avoid hurting her too much.

Having won that round, she looked at Komachi again. "Don't mind us. If I ever actually have a problem...I'm sure you'd know." She turned her Sharingan on for emphasis when she paused, the masked ANBU nodding hesitantly in response. "Besides, it's not like we'd ever actually hurt each other. Well...much." Kurama snorted, dextrously walking around her shoulders, then down her arm when she raised it, staying in place despite the fast speeds they were travelling at, then back up and across her other arm, coming to a stop once again draped over her shoulders lazily. "See? Perfect trust in each other. Or at least close to it."

Though she didn't look very convinced, Komachi apparently decided to drop it, instead filling the time with inane chat about Dango, deployment annoyances, things like that. She let herself get dragged into the conversation easily, it was preferable to silence or getting into arguments with Kurama. Then again, doing that was probably more fun than hearing that one of Komachi's friends managed to get pregnant finally. Or that apparently Towa was being skittish about something recently.

Those were normal problems, and Akari's life never seemed to have those. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a day where the only things that occurred were comparatively-normal issues. There was always something ridiculous going on, even if it was something as 'casual' as inventing a Fuinjutsu replacement for her hand, or as extreme as re-sealing the strongest Bijuu then wandering back into the village like she'd gone out foraging berries.

Nothing was ever normal for her.

"Ahh, Akari-san, come in please."

Akari refrained from giving the old Kage the stink-eye when she entered. He probably had a good reason for summoning her to his office. He could have picked a better time, but how was he going to know when she was just about to head out? So instead of getting annoyed, she just waved. "Hi there Hokage-sama, Komachi said you needed me for something?"

Said ANBU had already vanished to linger somewhere in the room, and while her Sharingan would probably reveal her location, it just wasn't worth it. "Indeed I did. Now, during that particular incident, as your partner might attest, I made a verbal promise, but have been slightly inundated with paperwork, so it's taken me some time for a clear moment to address this. Uchiha Akari!"

At his tone of voice, Akari unconsciously straightened. She might have been a really laid-back and casual person, but something about the way Hiruzen could speak just drew her to attention. Even Kurama seemed more attentive. Slightly. If she tilted her head and looked off to the side...with one eye closed. "For services rendered to Konoha in protection and pre-emptive defence, as well as actions undertaken during the Third Shinobi War, I hereby grant you the rank of Jonin." The old man ended with a smile, evidently happy for Akari.

Meanwhile, in her mind, Akari was running around in circles screaming her lungs out, and not in a good, nor remotely happy way. This wasn't good, this meant she'd have to take a team, she'd have to look after three fucking brats! Naruto was plenty for her, having to go out every fucking day to corral three annoying-ass kids wasn't something she wanted to do, period. Plus this would eat into her time doing shit like making the Kage no Te seal. Then again, she was already pretty much done, the last weeks calm having been put to damn good use writing those seals out, then tearing them into shreds and re-doing the damn thing when they each inevitably failed and blew off the arm of her clone. One of them even ripped her clone cleanly in two, which was mildly terrifying.

How Tobirama managed to corral so much Yin-natured Chakra into a tangible shape to form a Shadow Clone, then make a Jutsu of it...she would never know. To be honest with herself, if she never made another Jutsu involving Yin-natured Chakra, it'd be too soon. Then she stopped and felt like smashing her face into Hiruzen's desk.

She could have just fucking asked the damn man himself! Akari cursed her forgetfulness, asking Kurama, politely mind you, to remember for her so she could have a chat with the man who invented the Shadow Clone Jutsu, if only so she could learn how many times he lost control of the Yin-based Chakra and nearly tore his own body in two. Then she reopened her eyes in the real world, having abused her mindscape's time dilation ability to full effect. "Uhh, Hokage-sama...I don't really have time to-"

The Hokage stopped her by raising a hand silently. "Akari-san, you don't have to take a team you know. Or at least, you don't have to accept them. I understand that your own situation was unique thanks to the ongoing war, but a typical Jonin-sensei will be met with three Genin once every three months when the Academy exam occurs, and they will either accept the team and train them, they will fail them all, or they will take on one, rarely two of the students, and make them an apprentice." Akari raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh, once every three months?" Hiruzen nodded, his everpresent pipe belching a small cloud of smoke upwards.

"Indeed. The Academy has graduation examinations every three months to which any student can opt into if they believe themselves ready. Of course at the end of the year that graduating class must partake in the examination to decide if they actually become Genin, but students can take the examinations beforehand as well. That's how Itachi-san, Hatake-san and yourself graduated after all. Though if I am correct I recall you didn't opt into it, you displayed increased proficiency and were fast-tracked through your courses regardless of your own preference thanks to the need for more Shinobi in our forces?" Akari grimaced.

Around that time was when she'd unlocked the game, but she didn't want Hiruzen to start digging into her past and realize just how drastically she'd changed after she got it, or he might put two and two together and realize she wasn't really Uchiha Akari. So she did what she often would, she just shrugged, avoiding the unspoken question. "I guess so. So if I don't like any of the kids I can just turn them down?" Hiruzen frowned at her.

"You can, but I would advise you not do that. You must at least give them a chance to prove themselves worthy of what you can teach them." Akari rolled her eyes. "Do not be so quick to dismiss Genin, Akari-san. One can easily kill even the most skilled Shinobi if they get lucky with their strike." Akari shook her head.

"That wasn't what I meant. You know my situation, and you know what I do can't be passed on. I can teach them anything I've already learned, but any of my more special abilities just can't be passed on, you were told that by the E-...the guy anyway." She narrowly avoided bringing up the Entity in front of the ANBU in the office.

Hiruzen stood up, walking around his chair to look out across Konoha. "...I never wanted to pick this hat up again." Akari walked up beside Hiruzen, her own sharp red eyes looking across Konoha even as she listened to his words. "When Minato took the hat from me, I believed my days of being Hokage were over, that it was time to let the younger generation take over. Well...-" He chuckled humorlessly. "-we both know how that ended up."

Akari remained silent, not quite sure where Hiruzen was going with this. "Now, I know you'll never, ever accept this position, and, to put this as bluntly as I can, I don't think you're remotely suited to the role." Akari snorted, nodding her head in agreement. To get her to put that damn hat on, she'd have to have gone insane. "But...there is another role, one you inadvertently opened up with your actions. I will let you settle into your Jonin role before I discuss it further, but know there may yet be a place for you in Konoha's higher ranks. I'm sure you'd appreciate the freedom that comes with it in any case. But at least consider taking a team before we speak more on this."

While Akari was curious, she didn't get a chance to question him on the mysterious 'role', because Hiruzen took a scroll from his robes and laid it out on his desk, channelling a hair of Chakra through the seal inscribed on top of it, 'poof'ing into existence a green vest. A Jonin vest. Akari took it when Hiruzen gestured at the item, exhaling slowly. "I hope you don't expect me to wear this permanently, it'd throw my whole style off."

Hiruzen laughed loudly. "Just as your Tokubetsu Vest, hmm? Doomed to the closet?" Akari shrugged again, dropping the vest and making it disappear into her inventory. A flicker of surprise came across Hiruzen's face, recognizing that whatever she just did most certainly wasn't a typical storage seal. "Was that your...ability?" Akari nodded, smirking as Kurama informed her that all the ANBU in the room had visibly started at what she just did, raising a finger to pat between his ears. "I see...that would certainly explain some of the impossible things I've seen you pull off before."

Akari slumped in place. "Aww, I thought I got away with it all. Lemme guess, it was when I brought those bread-roll-bacon-sausage thingies out of my inventory to eat? Because fuck no if you think I'm sitting for eight-straight hours watching Kushina eat Ramen and not getting my own food. Besides...-" She hid her hand, then brought out one of those aforementioned food items, still steaming even after so long in her inventory.

"-it's still warm more than four years later."

After leaving the Hokage's office, Akari made her way to the hospital, this time not being waylaid at all by anything aside from a short pitstop to grab some Dango.

Of course, Kurama just had to try some, so she ended up getting two sticks. Watching a fox eating Dango was definitely not something she ever expected to do in her life, but it was funny to watch his reactions. At first, he stuck his tongue out in disgust, then he took another bite, then the stick of Dango became just a stick, the Dango vanishing into nothingness. It was pretty funny, though she promised to not bring it up again when he finally noticed Akari was watching, her Sharingan lazily twirling around in her eyes.

She did open the notification that had been blinking in the corner of her vision.

Title Earned - Jonin - +25% Experience gained working with Genin

It was annoying to lose the +25% experience for doing Solo Missions, but it wasn't the end of the world. Perhaps picking up a team wasn't too bad of an idea. Hiruzen had informed her that the next Exam was happening in three weeks time, so she'd have to show up, look at all the Genin, see if there was even a single one she'd be willing to work with, then test them. it was first-come-first-served, so if she wanted a lot of options, she'd have to show up bright and early.

She shook her head then dropped off the rooftops, landing deftly on the road outside of the hospital. Akari quickly made sure that Kurama was settled before entering the building, ignoring the whispers, pointed fingers and stares from at least a quarter of the lobby as she walked to the front desk, giving a jaunty wave at the Chunin operating the desk. "Hey there Daisuke, you doing alright?" The Chunin returned her wave with a smile.

"I'm well Akari-sama, thank you for asking." Akari rolled her eyes at the honorific, it still felt just as weird being called same for anything. Sure, she single-handedly fixed blindness for a good portion of the Shinobi forces, but that wasn't really big compared to some of the stuff she'd heard performed by Tsunade, at least in her eyes. "Do you have a reason to be here today Akari-sama? I recall that you would normally deliver your seals on a Thursday?" Akari nodded, her eyes drifting to the stairwell.

"Yeah, there's someone I need to see, Uchiha Shisui, I believe he's still in the hospital?" The man leaned back, opening one of the cabinets behind himself and flicking through sheaves of paper, coming to a stop at one point then drawing the page out and laying it on her desk. She refrained from using her Sharingan, even if it'd make the whole situation faster.

He pointed at a specific point on the page. "He is, just head on up to room 306. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how to get there?" Akari hummed thoughtfully, tapping her chin for emphasis. "Akari-sama, if you are ready...?" She blinked and looked behind herself, realizing she was slightly holding up the queue.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I'll see you around Daisuke, yeah?" The Chunin nodded, his attention already focused on the next visitor. Akari headed over to the stairs and began climbing. Thankfully, room 306 was only on the third floor, so that was convenient. If Shisui was in room 1016 for example, ten flights of stairs was annoying, since she wasn't allowed to use Chakra to climb up, it would interfere with the electronics in the hospital too much.

As she climbed, she considered the oddity of technology in the Universe she was currently inhabiting. They had earpieces that wirelessly connected to each other, she'd even used some during her first mission when she lost her hand for the first time, as well as hospital machinery such as life support systems, but they didn't have computers, or common televisions, or even telephones. It was a weird disparity of technology, one that confused her.

She didn't really feel the need to correct it though. No doubt with enough time, Shadow Clone abuse and frantic experimentation she'd be able to recreate guns, computers, all sorts of things. She just...didn't really want to. She was having fun. Granted, sometimes bullshit like 273 decided she wasn't allowed to have fun, but since he was gone, she was free to, as the Entity put it, treat the world as her oyster.

She shelved her thoughts for the time being, having arrived on floor three quickly, following the placards along the hallways until she reached room number 306. She knocked softly, loud enough that a Chunin like Shisui would hear it, then entered when he spoke. "Hey there Shisui, how are you?" She said to the boy. And he was a boy...only 11 years old. 11, and he had his eye stolen just like that. It was fortunate that it was his left eye, since she vaguely recalled that he was right-handed, so losing that side of his vision would be even more crippling.

He turned to look at her when she'd entered, raising his right arm in greeting, his left a visible stump much like her own, though still wrapped up in bandages, whereas hers was bare and visible to the world. "Hiya Akari-chan! I'm...well, alright I guess. So, did Itachi send you?" Akari nodded, wreathing her right hand in green medical Chakra as she activated the Mystical Palm Jutsu.

"He did. Do you mind if I take a look at the stump?" Though visibly confused, Shisui did so, raising his left arm and letting her get a good look at it, even as her Chakra seeped into the area and told her all there was to know about the injury. "Okay, clean-cut, sealed with a coagulant...how the fuck did you seal a hand amputation with a coagulant?!" Shisui looked sheepish when her voice rose to a shout. "I don't even...look, Shisui, two options, and I swear after this I'm gonna go kick the ass of whatever Med-nin deemed your arm beyond help."

He grinned at that, but stayed silent, so Akari continued. "Either I clean this up, you get used to fighting with one hand, and that's that. Or, second option, I heal your hand. The good news? You get your flesh and blood hand back, yay. The bad news? It'll probably be stuck with a severe case of arthritis. Opening and closing the hand will be painful, as will really any kind of motion. The reason is that I'm basically building an all-new hand out of material gathered from your arm, so the ligaments aren't going to..." She trailed off when she saw his completely bewildered expression. "Basically doing anything with your hand will hurt like a bitch, until one day a ligament will inevitably snap, meaning you can't move your hand properly at all."

Akari then hummed softly. "Well, there is a third option, but it's pretty invasive." Shisui stared at her, and though it was offset slightly by the fact he only had one eye, the onyx-black of Uchiha eyes was perfect for intimidation. Granted, she wasn't, but she still felt his unspoken 'Go on.', so she did. "I'm working on a seal to replace my own hand for a time, it's gonna be called the Kage no Te seal. But it'll only work for me because I can perfectly synchronize the fake hand to the nerves and Chakra Network of my arm. To do it to anyone else, I'd have to watch you make a bunch of motions, channel Chakra for various Jutsus, then tune the seal so it registers-"

Akari sighed in despair when she realized Shisui had drifted off entirely to Neverland. She snapped her fingers loudly to get his attention again. "Oh-what? Uhh, I could just learn how to fight with one hand. I mean, you're known for being able to use one-handed seals, I could pull it off" Akari shrugged, her right hand casually pressing into the single seal needed for the Fire Finger Jutsu.

"I guess. But wouldn't you-"

After Shisui politely but firmly turned down any assistance she could offer, even after several attempts, Akari honestly felt a bit defeated by that.

Since the Entity wasn't around, it didn't become a Quest to fix Shisui's hand, but it still felt very in-the-spirit of her Game that she would fix his hand and everything would be great again...aside from his eye of course. But he turned her down. It honestly felt weird to be rebuffed like that, even if she didn't let it get her down too much. Besides, as Kurama was on her shoulders anyway, it wasn't like he'd let her get depressed over something so stupid. Now...no Dango in the shop? That was a depressing-level event right there, at least in his now-experienced eyes, aware of the world of Dango and it's deliciousness.

Akari pulled a stick out of her inventory for him, smiling softly to herself as he devoured it, completely ignoring everyone else as she walked down the street. He was definitely eager to try things, that was good. Considering how massive he was before, of course he'd never actually had a chance to try Dango, or ramen, or any kind of food, so it must be pretty awesome to experience the world of delicious food after a thousand years without eating.

He didn't need to eat, of course, his body was fueled by his own Chakra, but he could still taste things, even if they were disintegrated entirely by his body after being eaten. It was just that, being such a huge fox, that meant it was extremely difficult for him to ever really enjoy anything. Those things being animals 99% of the time, since he also couldn't just waltz into Konoha and ask for some dumplings to go.

Though, the mental image for that was definitely worth it, since imagining this giant fox just hopping the wall of Konoha, ignoring everyone to go to a dumpling stall and buying some...that was pretty funny. "If I didn't get sealed again that is." Akari rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, don't ruin it, now I've got that part in my head, that's no fun." He made a non-committal noise and went back to gnawing his Dango stick. "Did I ever say sorry?" Kurama paused in his chewing, twisting his head to look at her. "For sealing you? It's not like it was your fault really, you were forced into it. Of course, with this one-" She gestured at her abdomen. "-you had a choice. Not a good one really, but at least you got to choose. Before though..." Akari trailed off, yelping in surprise when Kurama nipped her ear. "What the hell?"

Then stopped when she saw Kurama actually glaring at her. "Don't think for a moment you have to apologize for something like that. You were just as trapped as I was, there had to be somebody to hold my seal when I lost control since physically stopping me was beyond Minato's capabilities. You didn't have a choice, just as I didn't." Akari opened her mouth to argue, but a growl from Kurama stopped her. "Yes, perhaps you could have chosen to be the one to perform the Reaper Death Seal, but that's not the point."

Akari considered it for a moment. The big fact was that because she was liked and well-known in Konoha, aside from a handful of assholes, life really hadn't changed after she became a Jinchuriki. Since she just kept on doing hat she was already doing, people pretty much just carried on as well, nothing changed. Now that she had Kurama as a physical presence on her shoulders, that would probably change, but as long as he kept up the cute fox act, she didn't really see a problem emerging. Then she grinned. "So, you're just a big ol' softy in the end, huh?"

Being batted in the face by his tail was definitely worth the expression on his face.

Not a long note, just want to say something.

To the guest person who leaves reviews reminding me of Watching Rose, I promise I'm writing chapter 18, it's just a bit difficult for me since Illustrious had to disappear. I have no idea how long it'll take me to write it, it's only got 800 words right now, but hopefully before the end of May I'll have it actually wrapped up.

I will also probably do her experimenting with her Agility next chapter, she's gonna be surprised at how fast she can push herself now!

Name: Akari Uchiha

Level: 77

Age: 16

Experience: 65,945/77,000

To Next Level: 11,055

Title: Sannin-slayer - Defeating one of the three legendary sannin is no easy feat, but you managed it. Future opportunities unlocked.

Secondary Title: Jonin - +25% Experience gained working with Genin

Health Points: 18,500 - (100 Base + (Vit x End)) x 5

Regeneration Rate - 3600/m - 60/s - Vit x End - Halted when afflicted with bleed status.

Chakra Points: 36,620 - (100 Base + (Int x Wis)) x 5

Regeneration Rate - 7200/m - 120/s - Int x Wis - Halted when continuous chakra drain Jutsu in use.

Strength - 70

Vitality - 60

Endurance - 60

Intelligence - 80

Agility - 161

Wisdom - 90

Luck - 60