At the edge of the village gates, I meet up with my two favorite Genins.
Well, not Genins anymore! They grow up so fast, it really brings a tear to my eyes. Eye, actually.
"Congratulations on your Chunin promotions!" I praise both of my teammates, and both Shinya and Shigeru look extremely pleased with themselves. Their smiles, too bright! Where did all the light come from? It's blinding me!
Both of them worked hard, went to Kirigakure to take the Chunin exams and showed off their mastered techniques and leadership skills. Shinya even designed a mega big explosion tag for the individual's sparring round! Shame I wasn't there to see my teammate turning into a proper Megumin. He's male in this case, so Meguman?
This shit is why people don't let me name stuff.
Still, I am incredibly proud of them. Chunin at fourteen may not be very far from the time of promotion for the average Genin with a Jounin instructor, but I can safely say that their skills far surpasses a normal Chunin. With a Yamanaka using seals on our team, and a Kurama that is quite creative at using his Genjutsu, our team has now become quite formidable.
"Thank you, Akari!" Shinya chirps. "With this, the Hokage will put us back into a team of three, won't he?"
"Unless any of us gets promoted to Special Jounin or Jounin." Shigeru mock glares at me. Aww, what a tsundere! "Don't you dare get promoted so quickly, Miss 'Prodigy'!"
"Why does everyone assume I'll be the one getting promoted and leaving the team behind?" I pout. "I'm not going to do that again! Probably, I'm not making any promises. I think I'm just a tad too talented for me to be completely sure."
"Ha, how arrogant of you. Don't be so eager to get rid of us yet!" Shinya says, while dragging us off to Yakiniku Q. Ah, it's one of those days, huh? "Come on! Since you're congratulating us, you better pay up! Me and Shigeru are going all out today!"
Looking at my teammates joyfully walking into the restaurant, bickering all the while, I look at them fondly. I know that one day, I would remember this with the largest smile on my face.
Or a grimace. It really depends on how much they spend, honestly.
God, I can already feel my wallet crying out for help. Stay strong, my hard earned cash!
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'Yep, definitely going to remember this with a grimace in the future.' I think, looking at the receipt given to me by a waiter. It seems that my teammates have spent the equivalent of 3 C-rank missions worth of money on food. They don't even bother looking sorry for my loss!
They really have no shame. Others would at least feel a bit guilty and not call all the premium cuts if someone offers to pay for their meals, but not the two of them.
"Hey, Akari, since we graduated, let's relax and have some fun. There're these really neat hot springs hotel to the west of here. Shinya and I already booked a place for two, asked Yui sensei too, but she declined, said something about her kid. Wanna come?" Shigeru asks.
"I don't need to pay for you this time, right?" I voice my suspicions. "I'm tired of set-ups. I don't want to be the poor sod that falls for your schemes, you do understand."
Shinya has the nerve to laugh at my plight, the little shit. "Nah, not this time! Yui sensei paid for it so you didn't have to! So, are you going to come? If we go now, we can still book a room for you to stay the night!"
Let me think. I have no duties to the hospital for now, since I already asked for a two day holiday. There might be some clan duties, but I never gave them too much thought, I'm not going to suddenly start caring about them now, those old froggies can choke on their lunch. "Yea, I don't have anything important today or tomorrow, what time should I join you there?"
"Let's go with seven, the place is called Fujiya Hotel, don't be late!" Shinya waves while he and Shigeru walk away. "Me and Shigeru are heading out to buy some supplies now, we used up a lot of our tools in the exams, Shame that it's going to be pretty expensive."
The nerve of that man.
I wave back and walk aimlessly to find a place to kill time. Might go to the middle of the forest to take a nap. Hopefully no one disturbs my slumber this time around! It might feel like tempting fate, but I'm pretty sure Danzo won't make any more big moves so soon.
Might be a good idea to actually go to the areas inside the Uchiha district, now that I think about it. Not a lot of trees there, however. How come the Nara gets a whole fucking garden for their deers and cloud glazing activities? Favoritism, I say.
I guess I'll just take a break at the edge of the forest near the district. I'm getting ready to have a good time daydreaming when something makes some noise behind me. On guard immediately, I take out a kunai and point it towards the noise. Lo and behold, out comes Shisui, holding up his hands in an unthreatening gesture.
"You again?" I groan. My day was just starting to get good. I swear, this man keeps bringing trouble straight to my doorstep.
"Cheerful as always, Akari!" He goes for a smile, but it ends up being pathetically fake. "Why do you always stay at places where people can't find you? You are practically asking to be ambushed at this point."
It's really weird. Whenever Shisui's not around, I can fully appreciate what he's doing for his clan and the village. But the moment he opens his mouth, I have this irresistible urge to punch him in the face.
"What do you want?" I ask, completely done with his bullshit. "I was chilling. Can't anyone get some peace and quiet these days?"
"Wow, so blunt! Can't a friend congratulate you on your teammates' promotion to Chunin?" He's still keeping up that annoying fake smile, huh.
"Wipe that smile off your face, Shisui. It looks fake as hell." I reply. "Plus, friend? We barely know each other, no chance."
"Don't be like that! I made some dumplings for you!" Bribing me with food? It normally works, and has worked before. But I just ate like ten cows and pigs total at the BBQ restaurant, so not today!
"I'm full, you can eat it yourself if you want." Shisui laughs, undeterred. He's persistent, I'll give him that.
"Ah Akari, always a joy to tease!" Does that even count as teasing if it's completely one sided? "Not that I won't like to continue talking to you about your teammates, but…"
Ah, there it is, the billion dollar question.
"Does the clan seem off to you? Surely you must have noticed something?" He asks hesitantly.
I look at him, faking a disbelieving face. "Shisui, do I look like someone who pays attention to clan politics?"
No words are exchanged after that. Damn, Shisui looks like a kicked puppy. I really do hate dealing with this guy. One moment he's infuriating, and the next you regret making him feel sad.
I grabbed a dumpling and stuffed it in my mouth. "You're a good cook, but don't make it so spicy next time." His smile looks slightly genuine now, if a bit tired. "Goodbye, I'm off to celebrate with my teammates at seven, so good luck with whatever you're dealing with."
At least Shisui ignored that it was about four in the afternoon when I started walking away. He's a redeemable human being, shocker!
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Since I have those wonderful Uchiha genes in me, I physically can't even fathom the thought of being slightly late and arrive at the hotel half an hour early. It's been drilled into me to the point that even Kakashi can't corrupt me. Thank the lord, eh?
I immediately check in for Shinya and Shigeru and then put all my bags in my room. Might as well deal with it sooner than later so I can point and laugh at them while they're hauling ass. They get what they deserve, those leeches. But then again, the two of them never bring too much luggage with them and it's just a one night stay, they'll be settled down in no time. Shame, I can't mock them for too long.
Can't wait for the precious few minutes gifted to me by god himself, then. I'll try to cram in as many insults as I humanly can. Quick, think of some while they're not here yet!
Let me see. Hmm… So much luggage, you guys make Itachi look bad? My grandma can unpack quicker than you lot? So many options, so little time.
I don't know how those drill sergeants do it, I really don't. It seems like I still have much to learn until I've mastered the skill of pissing people off.
Oh whatever, I'm going to read some magazines on the counter at the hotel lobby to pass the time. I just finished the second one when they finally decide to show up, ten minutes past seven. So undisciplined.
"Told you she'll already be there, and you didn't listen." Shigeru says, and starts to mimic Shinya's voice. "Oh, no need to worry! We've been there before so we know the path better. She'll take forever to find the right directions anyways, so just calm down and have a drink! Now I bet you feel stupid. Hell, you look stupid."
"Cut me some slack. I was actually having fun chatting with those guys. It's no difference if we're a bit late anyways. I just know she already checked in for us. Am I right or am I right, Akari?" Shinya gives me a cheeky grin, and that grin widens when he sees me nod. "Told ya. Ha, who needs mind reading jutsus anyways? Just need to think smart, kiddo. You can learn a thing or two from me if you beg."
"You wish. Now zip it and just hurry up, we're behind on schedule."
"And whose fault would that be, hmm?" He continues to get on Shigeru's nerves, I might need to defuse this situation if this heats up. "You're the one that introduced this nice, fancy bar to me, so isn't it your responsibility to take good care of me and make sure I don't go off the rails?"
"No, it's not." He says, "I've booked a meal soon, so I won't waste any more time arguing with you. Just take care of your things and I'll take care of mine. Meet at the hotel's second floor restaurant at half past seven."
"You're no fun." Shinya sniffs, and walks away with his bag while sulking exaggeratedly. "Don't be so stuck up all of the time, won't kill ya to loosen up, will it?"
Shigeru's the one that reins us in when our antics get too overboard. If he loosens up, this team is going to be chaos incarnate. I don't know who was in charge of putting the three of us in the same team, but kudos to you, kind stranger!
Single-handedly reduced the number of arson cases in this place, that's for sure. And with Shinya and his schemes, no one will ever figure out that it's us messing the village up. Konohagakure would have been a smoldering crater if no one kept the two of us in check.
Ah, I forgot to berate them for being late, I can't believe I've fumbled this once in a lifetime chance. The chance was literally presented to me on a silver platter, come on!
At least the feast later can help raise my spirits. I'll think of better ideas anyways after I've filled my stomach. Maybe a new devious prank or two's coming their way, who knows?