Chapter 35

Just to be clear: Aiko and Hikaru are male, Tachiko is female...just in case anyone was getting confused.

Chapter 35

"Okay you three, hold up. Before we go in, a few ground rules, break them at your peril."

Akari looked at each of the three Genin, her focus staying on Aiko for a few seconds longer than the others. "One, if I see any of you doing something stupid like playing around with a Kunai, I will hurt you, badly. Two, anything I say goes. if I tell you to do something, there's a damn good reason for it. And three...-" Akari pushed the door, open, revealing Naruto, who was leaning out from the side of the door and listening, with Monty wrapped around his neck. "-make sure this little kit doesn't get his hands on too much ramen." She muttered as he flopped to the floor.

Of course, being Naruto, he scrambled to his feet quickly, wrapping his arms around Akari. "Welcome home Kaa-san!" He yelled, making Akari groan in frustration as her Genin all gave her disbelieving looks. Naruto finally bothered to take note of the three Genin, looking at them each, then back at Akari. "Who are they Kaa-san?" Akari lifted Naruto up onto her arm, he was still plenty small enough that with her strength stat, lifting him was a breeze.

"They are my new Genin team. Say hello to Aiko, Hikaru and Tachiko." Naruto gave her a curious look, since she'd made it no secret how she didn't plan to have a Genin team. "Don't start, I honestly didn't plan on this in secret. You wouldn't want Akana-baasan to hear you broke her cake limit, now would you?" The boy turned pretty pale at that, shaking his head frantically. "Good. We're having...hmm, actually, I don't know what to make. Any of you have any preferences, allergies, any of that stuff?"

The three Genin shook their heads, so she looked at Naruto again. "Well, maybe Ra-" Akari narrowed her eyes. "-...ribs? You haven't made those chip things for a while either, maybe we could have those again?" Nodding, she ruffled his hair, setting him down. It was then that her Genin decided to pipe up. Or rather, Aiko decided to, since Tachiko was busy looking at all the stuff in Akari's apartment, and Hikaru was being his timid self.

He pointed at the hand that ruffled Naruto's hair, which was the same soft orange as before. "Akari-sensei, how did you do that thing with your hand? I haven't ever seen a shinobi with such a cool hand!" Akari smirked, lifting her Shadow Hand for him to look at closer.

"Well my adorable little Genin, this is my own invention, the Kage no Te Fuinjutsu. It uses a pre-existing Jutsu, but only takes a select portion of it, forming a corporeal hand. It's orange because I am dual-natured between Fire and Lightning, their respective colours merging together to become Orange. Since that's Naruto's favourite colour, I decided against Hengeing it. The white veins though...nobody knows, it's something only I have according to my brother."

Tachiko chose this moment to pipe in. "So Sei-sensei is your brother?" Akari nodded. "Do you think you could maybe ask him if he's...y'know, available?" Akari raised an eyebrow at the young Genin. Tachiko was twelve, while her brother was like...19 or 20 at least. She didn't actually remember his age, another thing her mind betrayed her on, but that was definitely a bit much for an age-gap. Fortunately, Tachiko cleared things up. "Not for me, for my sister. She worked with him a few times and apparently got the hots for him, but she never got the chance to talk to him, so she decided to use me to keep an eye on him until she was ready to make her moves on him."

The next half an hour was filled with Tachiko and Akari chatting about Tachiko's sister and Sei, their conversation moving to the kitchen where Akari could begin preparing food. Kurama hopped off her shoulders when she went in, for two reasons. Firstly so he could keep an eye on Naruto and the two Genin, make sure they didn't do anything mischievous whilst Akari was busy. But more importantly, so he wouldn't shed any hair into the food she was making.

Thanks to the fact his form was made of Chakra, he only shed hair which would dissipate after maybe an hour, but that still meant strands of hair in the food, and nobody wanted that, so he left the kitchen, a stick of Dango planted between his jaws thanks to Akari's outstretched hand as he left. She would never let it be said she let him go without snacks.

Besides, Dango was super easy to make, since it was basically just rice flour, sugar, water and flavouring. Granted, she then added a billion other things and turned her Dango into utter monsters of culinary awesomeness, but that meant they tasted way better...even if she did troll a few people by adding a ton of chilli powder to a few batches then served them as normally as ever.

The reactions were great.

"Yahoo!"

Akari smirked up at Naruto from her place leaning against the doorframe, watching as he hung from the ceiling fan in his room, Aiko pushing it round and round as fast as he could, whilst Hikaru watched with his hands covering his eyes, awaiting...exactly what happened, as Naruto's grip finally failed him, sending him flying feetfirst into Aiko's face. The pair then flew backwards where Akari was waiting to grab them but by their collars. "Kaa-san, can we do that again?!" Naruto yelled.

She gave him a smile, then turned her gaze onto Aiko. "Sorry cub, but I don't think so. Now Aiko-kun, I believe I made it clear that if you do something stupid like say...spin my son around as he dangles from a ceiling fan, I'll hurt you?" The boy nodded quickly, his eyes wide. "Well, I sure do hope your memory is alright, since it appears as though you'd forgotten such a thing." She looked over at the other Genin in the room. "Hikaru-kun, I know Aiko can be a bit boisterous, but you need to know when you should either put your foot down on his antics, or come and get me to cuff him one." Tachiko leaned around the doorframe at that moment, taking in the scene then looking at Akari, who just gestured at the three boys. "Hey, you're the female team-mate, this is your problem."

Or at least that was how Akari saw it, since pretty much all Konoha teams had two boys and one girl, presumably so she could balance the two stupider members of the team out. Her own team of course defied that convention, just like pretty much everyone other typical Konoha team attribute, by having two guys to one guy. "Why do I have to deal with it? You're our Jonin-sensei."

"Because don't forget that I won't be holding the team together myself. You three have to get used to dealing with each other's crap. You've already got tactics down just fine, but you need to be able to happily live with each other for days, weeks, maybe even months when out on long-term missions." Akari tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, using that to cover her momentary lapse as she remembered Nui and Shichu. "Not that that'll be happening for a while. Since we're at peacetime, you lot don't get to skip what is arguably the worst part of any Genin's existence..." She paused for emphasis. "...D-rank missions."

The three Genin looked between each other in confusion. "Uhh, Sensei, what are D-rank missions?" Tachiko asked.

"Very good question...I honestly don't know much about them, because you're looking at the only Jonin in all of Konoha to have never, ever, done a D-rank mission. So this will be a bit of a learning experience for us all. I know what the missions detail, but I can't really help you, since I don't know what to do either, this'll be fun." Akari shrugged, leaving the room with Aiko and Naruto still in her grasp. "Now then...you little mister-" She looked at Naruto. "-aren't allowed to do that again. If I catch you doing it...no ramen for a month." His wide-eyed expression told Akari that he'd taken it to heart, that was good. "And you...hmm, I don't know you well enough to think of a good punishment, so I'll let you wallow in fear for a few days until I figure something out." She then released the collars she was holding, both boys falling to the floor unprepared.

As she left, she put at arm up, letting Kurama climb down from the shelf he was sat on. "Thanks for warning me boo, wouldn't want Naruto flying out the window." She plucked another stick of Dango from her inventory, frowning as she gave it to him. "Hmm, gonna need to make more soon, running a little low." Kurama made an uninterested noise, yelping when Akari jabbed him. "Or maybe one fox should cut back on pinching them all."

"It's not my fault human food is so delicious!"

Akari blew on her food, watching each of the Genin as they eyed their plates curiously.

Naruto had decided it, so they were having ribs and chips, a pretty standard meal...by her old world standards. In the new world, a lot of the stuff she made had never been seen before, so she decided that she'd make as much random food as possible. Ribs and chips, burgers, kebabs, hot dogs, everything she could think of, Naruto was her willing taste-test subject, since he always seemed to like her food.

Of course, that meant that when other people like Anko tried it, they'd practically beg to know where Akari got the recipe. It was great telling them that they weren't something that could be found. Of course, she didn't outright lie and claim it as her own food, but keeping it a secret wasn't hard since it was literally from another world. And now her three Genin were about to take their first bites.

She hadn't quite gotten a good flavour of barbecue sauce, at least for her tastes, so she was instead using a glaze made from things like ginger, soy, honey, rice wine, sweet chilli sauce and a few other ingredients, which made it smell pretty heavenly. She was waiting to take a bite, since Aiko, being his normal self, plucked one rib from his rack and brandished it, then took the entire strip of meat from the side of the bone, chewing it up and swallowing. "Well, how is it?" Tachiko asked him.

The boy blinked, then looked down at the ribs on his plate and snatched another one, whilst Akari hid her smile behind a glass of water. "It's...so...good! You've got to try this!" He thrust the rib in his hand out towards Tachiko, who just looked down at her own plate, which had a rack of ribs as well. "Oh, right..." Aiko muttered, scratching his head, before bouncing right back and devouring several more strips of meat in the time it took Tachiko and Hikaru to each eat one piece of meat. "Sensei, it's official, you're cooking all the meals while we're on missions!"

Akari rolled her eyes. It was pretty likely she'd have to do that even if her food was deemed unacceptable, since it wasn't like the Academy actually taught them how to pitch a tent or cook on a campfire, that was stuff she had to teach them. Why, she had no idea, it seemed stupid, but that was how the Academy worked. "Well, good thing I like cooking then. Though..." She held her hand up, a small plate of steaming spaghetti on it. "-with how much food I have stashed away, I doubt I'll ever have to cook something when on mission."

Her Genin were all a little too distracted staring at her hand to actually speak. "Kaa-san, I think you've broken them." Naruto muttered, poking Aiko's cheek with his finger. Akari just shrugged, making the food disappear into her inventory again.

"Well, if that broke them, they wouldn't last around me."

"Team 3, fail."

Akari folded her arms, watching the other Jonin announce that their teams failed or passed. Why she couldn't have just told the Hokage they passed then left she didn't know, but now she was forced to stand there waiting as each Jonin spoke, until it finally came to her team. "Team 13, pass." She muttered, busy talking to Kurama about what her team was getting up to in her absence, since she'd asked the three to look after Naruto while she went to report the formation of their team.

She didn't miss how almost all the ambient noise in the room from people shuffling stopped on her announcement. "Are you sure Akari-san?" Hiruzen asked, his eyes watching hers closely. She tipped her head, then nodded.

"Yeah, they surpassed my expectations, they'll make a good team." Nodding, Hiruzen accepted her words for what they were, continuing down the rest of the Jonin as Akari restarted her conversation with Kurama. She felt the Jonin next to her elbow her lightly, getting her attention away from Kurama. She looked upwards at the man and raised an eyebrow, only to see he wasn't even looking at her

Evidently whatever he had to say wasn't worth actually speaking to her. Probably some stupid question about whether her team was ready, leaving unspoken the fact she was sixteen. Just because she was young didn't mean she couldn't corral a team with the best of them. Or at least that was what she assumed he was going to say. For all she knew he wanted to ask her what kind of hair products she used. Granted, less likely, but still possible! Or he might have just bumped her by accident, infinite possibilities!

She gave him another brief look over before shrugging to herself and looking out the window, Kurama talking in her head about how Aiko and Naruto had already formed a fast friendship, which was unsurprising. What was more surprising was that Tachiko seemed to have little concept or perhaps simple care for boundaries, seeing as she was currently lazing around in Akari's room. She wasn't doing anything in particular, but most people wouldn't go into their bedroom like that, even with permission to go anywhere in the apartment while she was busy.

Just another thing to deal with, since the meeting seemed to be over, with all the Jonin filing out of the room. Akari made to join them...-"Akari-san, a moment please." -but of course Hiruzen had to stop her. She stepped out of the way of the other Jonin, watching the mall leave them looking at the Hokage. "Take a seat please." He gestured at the chair in front of his desk. "I must say, I didn't expect you to actually pass your first team."

Akari took the seat, since if she didn't, Hiruzen would just wait for her to sit down, he was way more patient than her. "I didn't think I'd be taking one either. But...they surprised me." She shrugged. "I mean, I changed the test a little, and they just...kinda ignored the whole idea of being split apart and made to fight amongst themselves for the chance to pass. They were all more than happy to go back to the Academy, or even enter the Genin Corps, because it meant they'd be together as a team. They already knew they'd work well together, so really it was just a question of getting the bell, which they did."

Akari dangled the destroyed bell from her hand. "I see. So, you really believe you'll be able to handle Team 13?" Akari thought it over for a brief moment, then nodded. "Hm, very well. Bring your team here to my office for personal assignment come Monday morning." Akari tilted her head, confused. It was Thursday. Before she could voice her confusion, the old Kage clarified. "You can take Friday and the weekend to make sure any growing pains have been worked out. Even if they appear to click, I'm sure that there will be some ideology clashes in the near future."

Akari frowned, but nodded all the same. "Alright."

"Akari, you should probably try to get home soon, Aiko seems interested in finding a secret of yours, just so he could say he knew one."

Akari sighed and doubled her pace. There wasn't really anything she cared much about...or at least, that Aiko could find out. In her life, there were maybe three secrets she wanted to keep. Firstly, the Game, obviously. Second, for the time being at least, her second Mangekyo ability. And finally, Naruto's parentage. As Danzo helpfully pointed out, she wasn't infallible, nor could she be everywhere at once.

Her seals would have protected him, but apparently one of those ROOT agents managed to convince the four-year-old to open the seals. Naruto, naive as he was, assumed she wouldn't want to be annoyed by the alarm, so he turned it off...he knew better now. But it was a good lesson for her to learn, that no matter how hard she tried to protect someone, there was always the chance everything would go wrong anyway. That was why she protected Naruto, but she also wanted him to be able to protect himself.

When he got to a Chunin-level, Akari would be confident enough in his ability to protect himself that he would be able to know about his own father. Heck, he could scream his parentage from the rooftops if he wanted, as long as he was strong enough to deal with the aftermath, or at least strong enough to get to her. He of course already knew his mother was Kushina, though he wasn't allowed to spread that information. Anybody even remotely observant knew that Kushina and Minato were close, so if it came out that Naruto was Kushina's son...things would go badly.

It, unfortunately, was public knowledge that Naruto was an Uzumaki, though thanks to his fathers hair and his birthmark whiskers, he wasn't really attributable to Kushina's fiery red hair and whiskerless face. But that meant he was already a valuable...'asset' to whichever village had him, since he was one of the last few, perhaps the last in general, Uzumaki.

Akari landed on the walkway of her apartment building, quickly brushing herself off before unlocking the door, then peering inside silently. Nobody was in the living room or kitchen, which left only a few places they could be. She slipped through then shut the door behind her, walking across the apartment then dow nthe short hall to her room, placing her head against the door and hearing the four of them quietly talking.

She walked up the wall and peered through the small gap in the door, but couldn't really see enough, it was too thin. Deciding to just throw a torch to the whole thing, she dropped back to the floor and flung the door open, then had to cover her mouth in laughter.

Aiko was currently sat tied up on Akari's bed next to Hikaru, who looked rather uncomfortable at the whole situation. Tachiko was stood beside Akari's wardrobe with her arms crossed and tapping her foot, all but glaring at Aiko. Naruto was just stood beside Tachiko looking confused. "So, who wants to say what happened first?" Akari spoke with an amused tone, making it clear she really didn't care what happened.

Unsurprisingly, Aiko tried to speak first, though Tachiko's firm voice cut past his. "He tried to mess with the seal on that safe. I was all for him trying, but I didn't want us to get into serious trouble." Akari scratched her neck, looking at her safe with a frown. She was going to have to change a lot of her seals, since it had a fail-safe which would electrocute anyone trying to seriously interfere with any functionality in the seal who didn't have the key.

Not a lethal dose for a Chunin or Jonin, but it could have killed a Genin if they were susceptible to electricity. "It's a good thing you stopped him..." Akari reached out at the safe and tripped one of the fail-safes, letting the Lightning Chakra in the seal zap out towards her hand. She grit her teeth and took the damage of the lightning, 2500 hitpoints gone instantly. "...since that would have probably killed him. I have a secondary Lightning nature, so I can just take it, but since we don't know your natures, I have no idea if that'd kill you or not."

Aiko was staring at Akari's arm, Tachiko looked pretty smug at having possibly saved his life, and Hikaru joined Aiko in staring. "Sensei...your arm." Aiko mumbled, drawing everyone's attention to Akari's right arm. There were bands of red lightning currently coiling around her arm, shooting here and there in erratic patterns. Akari blinked, then pushed a little Chakra through her arm, watching the red lightning brighten as it devoured her Chakra the instant it left her Tenketsu, then after a few moments, settled back around her arm in tight coils.

"Oh...well, that's new."

I KNEW there was something I forgot.

When Akari released that lightning-infused Rasengan-like technique, she was left with Lichtenberg marks, but more importantly, there was red lightning sparking across her skin. When she got zapped by her safe-seal, it basically, for lack of a better word, woke up that ability.

Akari will experiment more with that next chapter, but...I really hope that's the last thing I forgot to do. If there's something else, my head is gonna meet my desk. Next chapter will also be the first mission that Team 13/Team Akari take on. Yay for D-ranks!

...And yes, I know Akari could have used her left arm, which would have just taken the damage since it's made of nothing but Chakra, but this is Akari we're talking about, she just does whatever she wants. Like giving an example by electrocuting herself with her seal, just for emphasis.

Name: Akari Uchiha

Level: 78

Age: 16

Experience: 8945/78,000

To Next Level: 69,055

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

5 Skill Points Available