webnovel

Chapter 39 - Please Review!

Okay, just because somebody mentioned that Chapter 9/10 confused them with how the time-skip wasn't clear, let me be 110% clear here.

Tiem has skipped forwards a year and a half, Naruto is now 6 and has begun at the Academy. Akari is now 17 and a half. Everybody got that? Good. If you don't get that, then I really can't help you.

Let's get this show on the road!

"Naruto, if you don't get your butt down here in the next ten seconds I swear you won't even smell ramen for the next ten years!"

Leaning against the wall beside the front door, Akari counted the seconds loudly, hearing Naruto stampeding around upstairs. How he could manage to be late practically every morning she didn't know, it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy that if she didn't practically laser-beam him with focus the entire morning, he would manage to be late to the Academy. "But Kaa-san, I can't find Gama-chan!"

Growling, Akari zipped up the staircase, straight into his room. "And why do you need your wallet for school? Let's see. Bento, check. Writing kit, check. Clothes..." She looked Naruto up and down. "...half-check, you need to find a new shirt, that one has a sauce stain on it." Naruto grabbed at his shirt trying to find the stain. "Under the lapel. How you managed to spill sauce there I really want to know. Anyway, workbooks, check. Jacket-" Akari went down the list with Naruto, making him actually look at each thing before tossing it wherever it needed to go, either into his backpack or onto Naruto himself.

"Now, you're going to be late if you just go normally, so we'll just take a shortcut." Smirking, Akari planted her hand on Naruto's shoulder, watching his face scrunch up in preparation as she used the Hiraishin to transport herself and Naruto to a secluded spot only a block away from the Academy. He took it like a champion, only stumbling a little.

The only reason she was comfortable enough to use it was because Naruto was a sneaky little bugger when it suited him. He was listening in one night as Akari and Kurama discussed how she could make the Hiraishin stop making her so nauseous, how it could have been because the original Jutsu was for Minato's body weight, not hers. She caught him after hearing him step backwards and step on a board too loudly, but it wasn't worth the hassle. Besides, he seemed able to keep it a secret, so Akari just decided that as a reward for his secrecy, she would use it if he needed to get somewhere quickly. He also understood that because Akari spent a lot of time around the man, it made sense that she would be able to pick up on how his Jutsu worked.

Not that she was a taxi-service. Only certain important things like being late for the admittedly half-useless Academy were on the agenda. She tousled his hair a final time, surreptitiously fixing it more than she messed it up, even as he whined. "Have a good day cub." Naruto gave her a brief hug, disappearing off towards the Academy with a grin. Closing her eyes, Akari tugged on the seal back at their home, re-emerging inside of the living room of her very own house.

It had been hard deciding to move out, but with Akena preferring to be out of the summons realm, her Genin team spending a lot of time at her apartment, as well as Deidara, Anko and her other friends crashing there every so often, the old apartment just wasn't big enough, so they moved. Akari did consider trying to find a place inside the Uchiha compound, mostly to be closer to her mother and brother, but eventually decided on a spot near the middle of the village.

Sure, the price was at a premium there, but Akari didn't use her money for much anyway, so it didn't matter. A nice three bedroom detached house with a front and back yard, the back yard being a full half-acre of space, all walled up as well. That yard was a lot of the reason why the place was so expensive, you could build quite a few houses on that space after all, but it also meant that her weekly gatherings of kids could be done from her own home.

Since it was so central to the village, nobody complained about the location change, plus it meant she could make meals there, rather than having to prepare things beforehand and bring them along. As long as she had the ingredients for it, she could cater to pretty much whatever each kid wanted.

Slumping down on her sofa, Akari chuckled to herself, remembering the time Kurama had taken the last stick of Dango, inciting a faux-war between him and Itachi, who also wanted the last stick of Dango. After Itachi spat a Gokakyu which Kurama devoured, Akari separated them and reminded them both that she could literally just make more.

Needless to say, this raised her approval in Itachi's eyes immeasurably, as anyone who could make more Dango on demand was someone sent by the heavens themselves in his eyes. When she, out of nowhere according to his eyes, made a small pile of Dango appear on the plate, Akari had to make herself scarce before the boy started planning the wedding.

...Maybe not quite that far, but he definitely liked the fact that Akari had what was basically on-demand Dango 24/7. Hana thought the whole thing was a riot of course, cackling along with her Haimaru triplets at Akari's antics. Of course, the Inuzuka girl could also sniff out the fact that Akari was getting up to a lot more than they knew, all but dragging out at least some of what Akari had been up to, starting with what the hell she did to replace her hand.

That was at least something she could discuss, but the rest? Since most of it was S-ranked, even if she wanted to tell Hana, which she didn't since it'd encourage more questions, she couldn't. That at least saved her some hassle.

Speaking of her hand, she de-activated the Kage no Te seal, watching her sleeve droop. She rolled it back and looked at her stump, quirking her lips to the side. Kurama had brought up the idea of using her Mystical Palm mastery, just to see if she could regrow her hand using it. It didn't hurt to try, so she took a Kunai and debrided the end of her stump surgically, ignoring the pain with the experience of a Kunoichi.

She placed the Kunai back in her inventory then began channelling the Mystical Palm Jutsu, her mind picturing her hand re-growing, the sinews reconnecting and forming musculature over top, along with all the veins, arteries, capillaries, everything needed for a hand. She felt her stump warm up, then...the wound she opened re-sealed.

Sighing, Akari dropped her arm, absent-mindedly reactivating her seal and flexing her hand after she got over the sensation of nerves reconnecting. It didn't work. She would, of course, try again, but from what she knew of how her entire health system worked, she wouldn't be able to repair her arm that way. Perhaps by growing a new arm out of her own cells, then grafting it onto her stump, reconnecting each painstakingly-numerous nerve, vein and other essential parts, she could make the system recognize that she was no longer crippled, but it was unlikely, plus would be highly difficult to even begin an attempt at doing that.

It wasn't like she was actively hindered by the loss of a hand, considering that the current fix used one large dump of Chakra every few months or so to keep running. Plus, even if someone smashed her left hand to pieces with a hammer, it wouldn't affect her, since she could expend 15,000 Chakra and make a brand new hand. She heard a knock at the front door, sighing to herself as she wandered over and opened it. "Oh, uh, hiya Itachi-san, did you need something?"

From his expression, it was clear that this was more serious than a mid-day Dango visit. "Akari-san, I apologize for intruding but...I don't know who else I can go to about this...may I come in?" Akari shrugged, waving the boy, not even a teenager yet, into her house, sweeping her gaze around outside with her Sharingan for a second before closing and locking the door.

She sat down on her sofa, waving a hand at the other chair as she folded her legs over. "So what's going on Itachi?" She would have made a joke about Izumi, she knew he was sweet on the girl, but the situation really didn't call for it.

"I..." He tried to begin, but seemed lost for words. Akari gave him time, merely waiting patiently as he seemed to try and come to terms with the words he wanted to say. "The Uchiha..." He paused again. "My father and the other influential clan members are planning a coup to take over Konoha." Blinking, Akari looked at the floor.

She wasn't particularly surprised by that fact since she already knew that the Uchiha were planning a coup. The Hokage had told her that fact almost two years ago, it was why she was at least trying to keep an eye on the Uchiha. Shisui was meant to be helping, but the clan seemed pretty steadfast in their route even he couldn't dissuade them. Added to the fact he now only had one eye made his Kotoamatsukami not viable, as he could only use it occasionally. there were far too many members of the coup, changing the mind of only one or two would never stop them, and they'd likely point their fingers to him as the culprit.

Deciding to just be up-front with the boy, she looked at his eyes. "I know." She watched him draw a Kunai swiftly, though to her and her heightened speed...it wasn't that fast. "I'm not in support of it Itachi, the Hokage told me about it. We've been trying to find out a way to stop it from happening, but the clan knows me to be out of their sphere of influence, so I can't really do much, and neither can he." Though still visibly wary, Itachi put his blade away, though Akari noticed something amusing. "So, ANBU huh?"

His eyes widened in surprise as Akari brought it up, though she raised her hand and flexed it, making him realize his faux pas. He'd drawn and holstered his Kunai in the same way an ANBU would do. Sure, it could have been shrugged off as merely similar, but the fact he also holstered it the same way sealed the deal. "A month ago." He admitted, his eyes shaded as he stared at her table.

"Hmm, I don't know why the Hokage never suggested ANBU to me, it fits my skill-set pretty well, plus it's not like I'm much to care about killing people when I need to. Whatever. So why did you come to me Itachi? You could have gone to the Hokage." He shook his head. "Why not?"

Tipping his head up to stare at Akari, Itachi faltered. She could see the thoughts running through his head. The Hokage was the logical choice in this situation, he held enough power to potentially nip the coup in the bud. Thanks to Danzo being dead, his other two advisors found themselves flat-footed, giving him a solid opening to do as he pleased, which included simply making the lives of the Uchiha better.

But they had to have an excuse. They had to have some reason to do so. Simply improving the lives of the Uchiha clan would merely invite suspicion about why the village was suddenly being so supportive to the clan they'd scorned. But, if the Clan Head's son and heir went to the Hokage and informed him of the discontent within the Uchiha, it would give the old man an excuse for a meeting with Fugaku. If Itachi was also there, and in front of his father revealed their plans for a coup, only for the Hokage to then play the angered but still amicable village-leader, perhaps Fugaku could be brought down from his plans of a coup.

"Let's go tell him then." Akari said with a smile.

Though he hid it well, Akari could tell that the Hokage was surprised by her plan.

"Akari-san, the plan is not bad, I just worry that Fugaku may not react in the way you hope. He has been allowing this coup planning to continue for the last two years at least, which might make him react in violence when it's revealed the village now know of the treachery of the Uchiha Clan." Rubbing at her cheek, Akari had to admit the Hokage had a point.

But, at the same time, even if she wasn't really much of a member, she was still a part of the Uchiha Clan. "Well, we can't just let them continue. The longer this goes on, the closer they get to a plan which will give them control over Konoha, something I'm sure you'd prefer to avoid if you wished to keep your head on your shoulders. Though maybe you allow it so you can finally get that hat off your head. Honestly, it looks so ridiculous."

Hiruzen chuckled at that. Even in the face of what could potentially be the end of her Clan, Akari could still crack a joke. "Well, as your shoulders are unwilling to hold this hat up, I find myself at a loss for good candidates." Humming her assent to his words, Akari tried to think of an alternative plan, one that would guarantee the Uchiha Clan backed down from their idea of a coup.

"Maybe we could try to incorporate...no, they'd see through it and grow even more suspicious." She was going to suggest getting more Uchiha into the ranks of the Shinobi and out of the Uchiha Military Police Force, but they would likely see through that idea. "...Why don't you think of something Hokage-sama? You're supposed to be the professor after all. because I'll be honest, outside of my original plan, I've got nothing."

Hiruzen puffed at his pipe idly. "Your original plan would work so long as you could ensure that Fugaku would back down, or that we would be able to subdue him should he grow violent." Akari gave the Hokage a dead-pan look. If he really thought she couldn't handle one single man, he obviously hadn't been paying attention to her growth.

In the last year and a half, through quests, kills and general experience gains, Akari had managed to grind 34 entire levels. That put her all the way up to level 112, with 170 points. She'd evened her stats out at 70, with her Intelligence being raised by ten points to match her Wisdom. That left her with 130 extra points to push into her Agility, for a grand total of 296 Agility Points.

She had tried to control her speed without use of her Sharingan, but so far, she could handle maybe 30% speed before it was simply too fast. The upside? She was so used to moving at high-speeds that when she did use her Sharingan, controlling her speed was a cinch. The downside? She was probably never going to be able to control her full speed without the aid of her Sharingan, especially if she kept raising her Agility.

Deciding to prove a point, Akari activated her Sharingan, dropping her mental limit on her speed and zipping in a circle around Hiruzen's desk. When she stopped, she had her arms full of random thing's she'd grabbed from around his office, a cheeky grin on her face. To the other people in the room, it was the blink of an eye. "I don't think that'll be a problem Hokage-sama." Releasing a lungful of smoke, the Hokage smiled back at her.

"I suppose not Akari-chan."

From her place sat cross-legged beside the Hokage's desk, Akari had to stop herself from tipping side to side in boredom.

She'd been sat there shrouded in the Kiri-Woka no Jutsu for at least a half-hour so far, which was totally not her schtick. She could do it, but she would certainly not be happy to be doing it. It was why her missions were so much more action-focused. She was pretty much a one-woman wrecking ball that Konoha could use to smash its enemies.

She cracked her neck and suppressed another groan. Fortunately enough, an ANBU member chose that moment to hop in through the window, just as Akari began considering playing a verbal game of tic-tac-toe with Kurama to pass the time. "Hokage-sama, Fugaku-san is currently on his way here. His son is following him." The Hokage accepted their report with a curt nod.

"Allow them passage. When they enter this room, I want all ANBU, including Wolf, the leave the room, to which I shall then activate my privacy seals. This is an S-ranked secret, and I want no questions asked. Understood?" The ANBU gave a curt salute and vanished with a swirl of leaves, leaving the Hokage mumbling. "Why can nobody use the damn door any more?" Akari decided to whisper her response to the old man.

"Well, I came in using it." And got a mild glare but an amused chuckle from the man, even as he began focusing on his paperwork again, just to look as though he weren't using this as an excuse to slack off. His secretary would certainly punish him with extra work as well as 'misfiling' certain reports, just to be a nuisance. He might be the most visibly-feared Shinobi in Konoha, but he had nothing on a pissed-off ex-Kunoichi.

After a few minutes, his intercom went off, the secretary informing him that Uchiha's Fugaku and Itachi had arrived, and were requesting to see him, though the word request was audibly strained. "Let them in, then take a ten-minute break please Asha-san." As he spoke, the twin doors were pushed open, Fugaku walking in with a carefully-composed face.

To her Sharingan though, she could see the minute twitches that gave away his anger at whatever Itachi had told him. Taking this moment, Akari decided to observe the man who was the Head of her Clan, finding him...lacking. He was level 71. Only two levels above Hiashi, who had levelled up once in the year and a half since she'd first met him. Itachi, by comparison, was a level 53, which made the fact he became an ANBU even more impressive. Evidently, levels weren't everything, but they still gave her a very solid a gauge to judge strength with.

"Hokage-sama, a...matter has been brought to my attention by my son." The Hokage waved his hand at the chair in front of his desk, which Fugaku took, though he appeared slightly reluctant. Akari covered her mouth to avoid snickering at the next part. The original plan had been amended just a little so Fugaku wouldn't come expecting a fight. "He told me you have also signed off on his...request."

The words were all but forced from his mouth. Though it would have been funny to continue the charade, it was decided that they would keep Fugaku on the back-foot as much as possible. "Let us not beat around the bush Fugaku-san, we know about the coup." Credit to the man, he didn't leap up with a Kunai in hand, ready to battle. He looked between Hiruzen and Itachi, releasing a sigh of pure exhaustion.

"So...that's how this is then Hokage-sama?" The man didn't say anything, merely puffed on his pipe as he observed Fugaku. "Is this to be the end of the Uchiha clan then? After years of supporting Konoha, putting up with our ostracization, all of it?" The Hokage furrowed his brows, his anger audible as he spoke.

"And yet, did you ever once make mention of this fact? Did you ever even attempt to speak to me about this, as amicable humans from one to another, and what I could do to aid your clan? No, you decided to believe that I would simply take your words as excuse to further ostracize your clan. The clan, mind you, that brought Konoha's strongest Shinobi into our mix." Though nobody could see it, Akari grinned.

Sure, it wasn't really something the Uchiha's did, the Game was responsible, but her mother was still a member of that clan, so it was fair to say the Uchiha clan was partly responsible for her strength. "Would you really have done so five years ago when the rumour first spread of our culpability in the attack by the Kyuubi?" Akari was glad that she'd left Kurama at home, he wouldn't have been happy to hear that.

"Of course I would have!" Hiruzen's yell even startled Akari, she wasn't expecting him to get so angry at Fugaku's words. "You know how I've protected your clan in the past. How Danzo and my other two 'advisors' blunted my aid on every turn, forcing my focus to other areas just as important, while you stirred in discontent, unwilling to publicly and directly ask for my aid, since it would be 'beneath you.' I have swallowed my pride for Konoha numerous times, but is your image so valuable that you can't stand the thought of simply asking for my aid?"

Watching carefully as Fugaku and Hiruzen went back and forth, Akari gave herself a moment to look at Itachi. He was holding himself together well, as expected of the Uchiha Prodigy, making it to ANBU at twelve was impressive after all. Hiruzen slamming his hand on the desk pulled her attention back towards the on-going conversation. Fugaku had activated his Sharingan at some point during the argument, though Hiruzen wasn't afraid of making direct eye contact. Even if Fugaku had the gall to attempt a Genjutsu, Akari was there to knock him unconscious and break the Jutsu.

Of course, Fugaku didn't know that, but he did know that the room was surrounded by ANBU, which was what likely stayed his hand. The fact their voices were lowering was a good sign. Right now they were discussing exactly what needed to be done, since, in all honesty, neither side wanted a coup to occur. Fugaku and his clansmen felt forced to pick between destruction or domination, whereas Hiruzen had his hands tied in terms of helping them, when by the time he was free to aid them, all his aid would do was cast suspicion on his actions.

The first sign that something was wrong however, was when Hiruzen stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. At the same time, Fugaku drew a Kunai, suddenly lunging at his surprised son. Though it took a moment for her to shake off her surprise at the sudden attack, Akari drew her daggers, only for Hiruzen to charge at her, forcing her out of the Kiri-Woka with a flurry of attacks.

Akari cursed as she realized what the Genjutsu actually was, leaping sideways to avoid his Taijutsu strikes, then flipping over on one hand and activating her Sharingan, which some way into the negotiations she had disabled to save her Chakra. As soon as she did so she could see the foreign Chakra in his system. But, what was peculiar, as she dodged another strike, was that Fugaku showed signs of chakra in his system which weren't his own.

She couldn't afford to be distracted though, not against Hiruzen, and certainly not when she couldn't afford to injure him. She parried a Kunai strike with her knife, stepping into Hiruzen's guard as she dropped her weapon into her inventory, then looping her arms around his own, her legs around his neck. Completing the hold, Akari used her weight to force his down to the ground, tightening her legs on his wind-pipe and choking the old man out. As he suffocated, he tried to use hand-seals, but a sudden adjustment of her weight smashed his head against the ground, disorienting him long enough for him to finally run out of oxygen and pass out.

As soon as she was certain he was out for the count, Akari released the man, mumbling an apology even as she drew her knives again and hurried across the office to where Itachi was surprisingly holding his own against his father, though he was breathing in ragged gasps, a large cut running across one hand, and one of his eyes was winking closed, purple bruising visible on the cheek below.

Leaping, Akari slammed her feet into the back of Fugaku's head, smashing him to the ground brutally. As he bounced back up, Akari was already there and ready for him, a knee on his spine as she wrapped an arm around his throat, wary in case he tried to wrap an arm around himself and stab at her. Itachi was right there as his father snatched a Kunai from somewhere, quickly trapping his arms as Akari choked out the second person of that day.

As Fugaku's eyes closed and he also fell into unconsciousness, Akari released her hold after a few more moments, slumping back with an exhale. "...This is going to be a bitch to explain." She mumbled. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Itachi laughed. After a moment, she giggled as well, eventually falling onto her back as she caught her breath. A rustling of fabric made her immediately bolt to a standing position faster than Itachi could blink, her knives raised then lowered as she saw the Hokage coming to.

She was still wary, but her Sharingan couldn't pick up any of the foreign chakra which was presumably the cause for his sudden attack. "Akari-chan...what happened?" She scratched her head sheepishly.

"Uhh, I wasn't careful enough, so Fugaku got an opportunity to use a Genjutsu of some kind on you. But, he didn't seem to be doing it willingly, he also has foreign chakra in his system, though it was really faint, somebody had implanted the Genjutsu a long time ago." Palming her chin, Akari tried to dredge up anything she had on Genjutsu but came up blank. "That's all I've got, I don't really know Genjutsu." Looking over the Hokage quickly for injuries, Akari then went over and offered to heal Itachi's wounds, which he accepted gratefully.

"I am...proficient in Genjutsu." Itachi spoke calmly as Akari healed him, even if he was clearly still a little frazzled from being attacked by his father like that. "It was likely a conditional mind-control Genjutsu, designed to react to certain detrimental situations. Rather, detrimental to the original user." As Akari healed him, he discussed with the Hokage about what it could have been.

Since the man was known as the Professor, his own Genjutsu knowledge was certainly not limited, but all their talk went pretty much straight over Akari's head. Genjutsu was the one skill she really hadn't put any effort into learning. It sounded strong, she supposed, but not something fun, or really what she wanted to even do. It was the same reason she didn't do other things people would deem smart, like keeping her stats at sensibly-balanced levels. She wanted to have fun.

Plus, with where she was right now, as evidenced from the fact she just 1v1'd the Hokage and won without a scratch, even if he was under a Genjutsu, she was still plenty strong. As Fugaku began showing signs of waking up, Akari quickly pulled out some sealing paper, scrawling possibly the worst paralysis tag she'd ever written, quickly slapping it onto his neck.

It wouldn't last long, ten minutes at best, but it would suffice. "Fugaku-san, are you yourself again?" Hiruzen spoke diplomatically, but received nothing in response, even as Fugaku's eyes opened. She could see peripherally that they were the blood-red of the Sharingan still, and from the fact he wasn't talking, alongside the slivers of Chakra she still saw in his network, he was still being influenced by a Genjutsu.

"This could be a more severe problem than we presumed, Hokage-sama." Itachi was the one who spoke first, a frown set on his lips. "If the Genjutsu lasts through an unconsciousness, it's extremely powerful. If this Genjutsu has now trapped Fugaku-san like this, the Uchiha clan will be baying for blood." He knelt down to look at his father with empty eyes, evidently from his words his ANBU personality had come through to protect him.

Hiruzen sat down behind his desk after righting his fallen chair, lifting his smouldering pipe and muttering when he noted that his tobacco had burnt away. "They need a scapegoat..." Akari mumbled, shamelessly sitting down on the floor with her legs crossed as she palmed her chin. "If we give them a target, somebody to focus on, then their anger will be redirected.

"But who? We don't know who originally inflicted this Genjutsu upon Fugaku-san, so we don't have a viable target." Hiruzen spoke bluntly. The problem was exactly that, who had cast the Genjutsu? It had to be somebody who was either well-placed enough, or simply skilled enough, to reach Fugaku every so often to ensure the Genjutsu still held him.

"Well we can't paint it as somebody from Iwa, Kumo or another village, the Uchiha would never believe it." Hiruzen nodded along to her obvious words. "Danzo and the advisors are out, since he's dead and they are, no offence, spineless without him." The Hokage gave a grim frown, he didn't like to be reminded of his 'failure' as he put it. "Of course, Orochimaru would also be a great scapegoat...whoops." Sighing, Akari looked up at the Hokage's eyes.

"So...what about me?"

Please...tell me if you guys think this is a good idea.

I think this could be the start of a really...sad but beautiful arc for this story. But, as with 273, I might be totally wrong, people might hate it, so PLEASE, tell me your brutally honest opinions in the reviews. If you think this is dumb and I should amend it, tell me now before I start going down this road and make the story something you won't enjoy reading.

I adore writing, but if people all loathe my work, then the point is lost, at least a little. Even if the world hates my stories, I'd still write, simply because I enjoy writing so much, but...it'd definitely put me off a little.

Name: Akari Uchiha

Level: 112

Age: 17

Experience: 71,732/112,000

To Next Level: 40,268

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: 25,000 - (100 Base + (Vit x End)) x 5

Regeneration Rate - 4900/m - 81.6*/s - Vit x End - Halted when afflicted with bleed status.

Chakra Points: 41,000 - (100 Base + (Int x Wis)) x 5

Regeneration Rate - 8100/m - 135/s - Int x Wis - Halted when continuous chakra drain Jutsu in use.

Strength - 70

Vitality - 70

Endurance - 70

Intelligence - 90

Agility - 296

Wisdom - 90

Luck - 70

Chapitre suivant