Argh!

I had to replace my mouse and mousemat since my old mouse was failing and the mat was practically torn up anyway, and now I can barely control my new one, it's like riding a fucking Bijuu while tap-dancing and wearing slippers, grah!

...This is why I hate having to get a new mouse.

Chapter 52

"Akari...we have a problem."

After spending half the afternoon bringing Minato and Kushina up to speed about what's been going on since they were last summoned, Akari heard Kurama speaking in her head, his voice pretty...worried, something she'd never heard before. Even talking about the Rinnegan he didn't sound worried. She left the other three in the living room, telling them that until they figured it out, Minato and Kushina were welcome to stay in her place, then went to her room and sealed it up. "Okay, what's wrong Kurama?"

He drew her into her Mindscape, something she had forgotten he could do, since he did it when she fought Orochimaru. "Gyuki and Kokuo have disappeared." Blinking, Akari opened her inventory, her finger scrolling down her list towards where she'd put the two sealed Bijuu, having sort of forgotten about them. Just as Kurama said...the two sealing scrolls weren't in her inventory any more.

"Okay...any idea how that happened? Also how the hell...oh right, I gave you access so you'd stop bugging me for Dango, oops." She shook her head. Kurama was now labelled as being in her...'party', though the only thing that she had enabled for it was that he could open her inventory and retrieve things. She had no interest in giving anybody else access, it...the Game was the only thing that really made her special. Maybe that made her selfish, but with all the other crap she'd put up with, Akari thought being a bit selfish was a worthy payoff.

The fox shook his head. "I'm not sure. All I know is that I had a hunch, I looked through your 'inventory', and those two scrolls had vanished. I haven't felt a major release of Bijuu Chakra anywhere nearby, so I, unfortunately, have no idea either." Humming, Akari tapped her chin.

As far as she knew, nothing could touch her inventory. The only one she could think of who could open her inventory was the Entity, since he was able to place items straight into there, he just preferred trolling her. Deciding to bite the bullet, Akari spoke. "Hey Entity, you still around? Something fishy is going on." But she didn't get a response. "Worth a shot I guess. Maybe he's just being a troll...nah, not likely, he probably knows I had planned to make a seal for those two so they couldn't be re-sealed. How your father never thought to do that I have no idea."

She brushed a hand against Kurama's fur, sitting down beside him and humming. "So, what do we know? Gyuki and Kokuo have vanished, the only thing I know aside from me and you who could remove them from my inventory would be the...no, there's the other one, 273." At the mention of his designation, Kurama growled. "I know boo, I don't want to entertain the idea either, but hey, if it does turn out to be him, I'll let you whoop his ass a bit before using whatever the Entity actually gave me to deal with him. It just worries me, since if it was him doing it...

...what would he want Gyuki and Kokuo for?"

The day after Akari brought Minato and Kushina back to life was the day they made their return to Konoha.

Akari didn't pay too much attention to exactly how they played their deaths off, something about making a deal with the Shinigami to bring them back to life in exchange for five years of time, only for the Soul Reaper to swindle them and hold them for longer than he was supposed to, eventually escaping thanks to Akari summoning Minato and Kushina's souls, which loosened his hold on the pair long enough for them to return to life, as per the contract between the Reaper and Minato.

A lot of people were pointing fingers at Akari thanks to the fact that her brother mysteriously had his eyes returned to him, making them ask about whether she could return souls to their corpses, but she put a swift end to those rumors, claiming that her ability could return somebody to full condition, but couldn't bring the dead back to life, and would permanently drain Akari of her health, a great excuse for not running around healing the entire village of their woes, whilst still leaving the opening for helping in extreme cases, sacrificing her own lifespan so she could save others. The public lapped it up freely, everyone loves a good self-sacrifice story after all. A few were still sceptical, but with the majority in her favor, she didn't need to heed them.

Of course, it made basically no sense, since Kushina wasn't anywhere near the site of Kurama's sealing, she'd died due to the immense strain that Kurama's extraction placed upon her, mixed with birthing Naruto right before that, but fortunately, people didn't seem to remember that little fact. What Akari did receive was a request from Hiruzen, sent through Inoichi Yamanaka who had apparently used a Clan Hiden technique to communicate what had happened in Konoha, to come to Tetsu no Kuni and retrieve him then take him back to Konoha after the treaties were all signed.

She decided that in fact, she hadn't listened too closely to when exactly they wanted her to arrive, deciding to go straight there. Of course, Hiruzen would know what she was up to, but for the chance to grin at Onoki and know that, unlike last time, she'd be able to whoop his ass was totally worth the Hokage's ire. She Hiraishin'd to her marker as far north-east in Kusa no Kuni as she could, knowing that it would be faster to reach Tetsu no Kuni by cutting through Taki no Kuni rather than travelling from Konoha.

It did mean she'd have to be damn careful she didn't get attacked by any Taki-nin, but that wouldn't been too much of an issue.

When she said it wouldn't be too much of an issue...the writhing colossal tree certainly wasn't accounted for.

Mentally she elbowed Kurama, getting his attention. "Hey, don't jus-...oh." She normally would have smirked at his reaction, but she was a tiny bit distracted watching a branch snap out and shatter the heads of three Taki-nin who got too close. There were a few squads of nin who were volley-firing Katon Jutsu at the tree, but it seemed to be doing fuck-all to the living wood.

Well, living in the sense it was actually moving...but moving like a mobile...oh fuck it. Gnawing on her lip, Akari tried to justify not helping, despite knowing that this looked like the sort of thing that had the potential to be quite dangerous. If she left it alone, maybe something interesting would happen later on? Or maybe because she ignored a game event it would grow strong enough to destroy the world?

Shrugging to herself, Akari threw down a Hiraishin-marked stone, then distributed a few more every kilometre or so as she breezed past Takigakure towards Tetsu no Kuni. She could just tell the Hokage what was going on in the land of Waterfalls, see how he wanted to spin things. Maybe they could get ahold of the Jinchuriki for Chomei as payment for saving their bacon? Though with Gyuki and Kokuo disappearing from her inventory, maybe that wasn't such a good idea if somebody else was Bijuu-hunting, and had some means to access her inventory.

Perhaps there was a second...'player' in the Elemental Nations? Akari shook her head, the notion was extremely unlikely. The Entity wouldn't have done something like that without informing her. But why would whoever did it decide to do it now? If it was actually 273, why didn't he do it before? And if it wasn't him, then who the hell did it, someone she didn't know? Because her inventory was supposed to be secure, but if a regular Shinobi had a way to steal from it, then what was the point? Growling, Akari tossed down another stone with more force than necessary, ignoring the small crater the rock made as she passed it by.

She had a Hokage to pick up after all.

"I...see."

Akari stretched out, having gained access to the Village where the peace talks were on-going and intercepted Hiruzen returning to his temporary residence after a day of presumably negotiating peace-terms. "So, I don't know what you want to do about it, but it seems weird. Plus...Gyuki and Kokuo disappeared." The old Kage's eyebrows shot up. He knew she had an inventory, he also knew that it was supposed to be untouchable by other people, something Akari herself had access to, nobody else.

She hadn't told him that Kurama could access it, there was no point. "Well, if Takigakure send a request for aid, we would be foolish to not lend a hand in return for fair compensation. They wouldn't give up the Nanabi though, not unless their entire village was at risk of being destroyed." Tipping her head to the side, Akari nodded.

"I mean, it was a giant tree which looked like it had gained sentience and started smashing things that got close. If it managed to uproot itself and start actually traversing, with the village having been literally built around it, they'd be destroyed if they don't stop it. So anyways, enough of that, how long d'ya think we've got left before these negotiations are over?" Hiruzen sighed, puffing on his pipe.

The cloud of smoke that rose made Akari roll her eyes. Even now he was showing off by making the smoke thicker than it should be, little tricks which also served as his constant practice, letting him maintain his Chakra Control despite literally just puffing on a pipe to what other people saw. "Only one, maybe two days left. If you were to accompany me to tomorrow's negotiations, under the cover that you are returning me to Konoha for an important meeting by using your Hiraishin, that would give you good reason to be present, but would also be an admittedly less-than-subtle show of power to the other Kage's."

Smirking, Akari toppled backwards to relax against the cushion of the sofa. "I guess. I mean, I never observed any of the other Kage's, so I don't know how they match up to me, but I still reckon you could beat them. Since I'm confident I could beat you, that's, well, a pretty basic idea of I beat you, you beat them, I beat them as well." Sighing, Hiruzen tapped his pipe a few times, lighting more tobacco with a Hi Yubi no Jutsu.

"As long as you don't start a fight with Onoki over his height, I think we'll be alright."

Despite her urges, Akari did manage to keep herself contained to only two height-related sentences whilst talking to the other bodyguards of the Kages.

While the Iwa-nin didn't look too pleased about her words, the Kiri ones certainly seemed amused, as did the Suna-nin. The Kumo-nin were too busy glaring at her to care, probably angry that she'd basically stolen their Bijuu and she wasn't planning to ever give them back, if she still had them of course. Since Kiri only lost manpower, something that with their notoriously-violent graduation exam was made clear they cared little for, the Kiri-nin were able to appreciate a good joke, ignoring the fact that she'd killed at least a hundred Kiri-nin with her actions.

She paid absolutely no attention to Hiruzen's negotiations with the other Kages, diplomacy was never something that caught her interest, and since she'd already been in this room bodyguarding for the Hokage's negotiations once before, she really just wanted this to get done with so she could go find out what the hell was happening in Takigakure, the idleness was killing her.

As Onoki stood up, balling a fist and slamming it against the table, Akari tuned back into what they were arguing about, a grin on her lips. "-hen on top of that you have the gall to bring the one in question here?! Practically dancing in our faces the fact that you have stolen our Bijuu from us!" Hiruzen pointedly did not smirk there, even if Akari could tell he wanted to. Onoki always did get angry during negotiations, at least from what she knew, since this was twice in two peace-talks that he'd gotten angry.

"Perhaps you do not recall who exactly gave those Bijuu to the other villages for the intents of peace?" Akari blinked. Hiruzen was...oh shit, he was going for it. "Perhaps, much as a mother disciplines her child, if the Bijuu are merely being used as weapons of war, then those same weapons should be taken from hands who would use them and placed in the arms of those who would ensure peace?" Hiruzen waved his hand to the side.

Akari had to admit, that was a pretty great way to rile people up. Why exactly Hiruzen was doing so...that was not as clear. "Our terms are simple, and after speaking to Kazekage-san here, he is in agreement. The relinquishment of all Bijuu to Konoha's holding. In return, financial restitutement will be given to the Hidden Villages most afflicted by this conflict." Onoki's face looked almost like a spluttering fish rammed into a brick wall.

"Y-you call this a fair deal?!" Hiruzen chuckled, the pressure in the room rising as he puffed at his pipe.

"Fair? No. Do NOT forget, Tsuchikage-san, that it was your villages who started this war, and OUR village who stopped it. If you wish for a fair deal, we would be demanding compensation on top of control over your Bijuu, plus economic restrictions and levies for warmongering. Or have you forgotten exactly why you were so reluctant to continue this war?" Though he didn't look, the other Kage looked at Akari.

Giving a smile and a finger-wave, Akari observed each of their reactions. Onoki obviously loathed even looking at her, whilst A had a thunderous expression, probably because she'd killed his brother. Surprisingly, Yagura, the Jinchuriki for Isobu, looked at her with a calm expression, probably reflecting the attitude of his nin that those who she killed were simply too weak to survive, and that by fighting so many and willing revealed that she was strong, which most Kiri-nin respected. He was probably not happy about the idea of having to having his Bijuu extracted, but since Konoha had displayed their fangs and horns, goring Iwa and preparing to do the same to Kumo, maybe he was the kind of Kage who would sacrifice his own power for the sake of his village?

Whatever the case, it was clear Iwa and Kumo both heavily disagreed with the idea, even if Suna obviously were amicable to it, Konoha were the ones pushing it, and Kiri seemed to be going along with it. "You come here to this place of negotiations with threats and demands? You have grown heavy-handed on your old age Hokage-san." The deep voice of A spoke, though Hiruzen met his words with another laugh.

"Yes, I have become...harsher in my old age. But, with my village being set ablaze for a fourth time in my life, enemies picking at our borders like vultures to a corpse, and our strongest fighter a seventeen-year-old Jonin? I feel that at this point, being heavy with our dealings is my only chance to see peace in my lifetime, or the lifetime of my son and grandson, where they do not have to grow up living, breathing and drinking warfare as Akari-chan here had to, alongside hundreds, if not thousands of other Shinobi, giving their lives at such young ages, trampling on the dream of the Shodai Hokage."

Tuning back out since she was getting bored of all the chatter, Akari focused on her left palm, puffing a small dragon the size of her hand into existence, much to the surprise of the other nin around her. "Oh relax, Kiyo here wouldn't hurt a fly...unless I wanted that fly hurt." As if emphasizing her words, Kiyo twisted up and sat on her palm, the little dragon's head resting on her body as her onyx eyes peered around the room.

Sure, having a literal dragon just appear out of nowhere might be a bit...aggressive, in terms of diplomacy. But, if asked, Akari could quite honestly say she brought Kiyo out because she was bored. Plus, she was cute, and, y'know, a dragon. Who didn't want to have a hand-sized little dragon to pet and adore? "Foxes are still better."

She grinned at Kurama's words, speaking in her mind. "Well if you want to come out and relax you're welcome to, I've got plenty of Dango for ya." Kurama took her up on her offer, appearing beside her with a second puff of smoke, irritating Onoki even more than before. He gave a dismissive look towards the Kage in the room, turned his nose up at Kiyo, then climbed up Akari's arm so he could sit across her shoulders. "I swear, why do you like sitting there so much?" He merely grinned at her.

"That's beautiful." The Kiri Kunoichi spoke up, her eyes transfixed by Kiyo's as the dragon turned and yapped at her, exposing rows of sharp teeth. Smiling, Akari made a passing gesture, the Kiri-nin's eyes widening before she extended an arm, allowing Kiyo to hop across the gap and hand on her outstretched arm, carefully keeping her claws from jabbing the nin as she perched there, her neck twisting in a bird-like way to peer around curiously. "So...how does it work?"

"She." Akari said pointedly, tossing another ball of Dango over her shoulder for Kurama to chew on. "Kiyo is a she, not an it. I don't care if I just summon her from nothing, every time she's the same dragon, with the same personality, so...it'd be like calling a summons animal 'it', they have feelings after all." She snorted as Kurama dipped his head down to snatch the entire stick of Dango out of her hands. "Greedy guts." She muttered, getting and annoyed clawing at her ear for her troubles. "But...I don't really know. I mean, I think it works mostly on imagination. If I pictured a two-hundred-foot tall bipedal lizard to appear, it would, but it'd also drain a lot of Chakra."

The Kunoichi eyed Kiyo curiously, raising her arm and observing her scales, eventually raising her other arm to brush against the dragon's head, getting a half-purring, half-chirping noise from the dragon as she ran a hand across her scales. "Well, she's beautiful." Her words obviously got to the dragon, since Kiyo started tipping her head up and standing about as regally as a hand-sized dragon could, making Akari snort.

"Now you've done it, she's gonna be all snooty now."

A bit of a short chapter with some filler, yes, but it's also tying up the war, giving Hiruzen a bit of the limelight with his righteous anger at the other villages.

We don't know much about how Yagura acted before Tobi hit him with a Genjutsu, so this is his 'true' personality. Someone who protects his village above all else, even his own strength, willing to give up his bond with the Sanbi if it meant Kirigakure was safe. Since he's a true Jinchuriki and able to communicate with Isobu, I'd imagine the Bijuu would be happy to go to Konoha, since it meant he would finally be able to relax without being used for warfare constantly.

I think Hiruzen demanding every Bijuu be returned to Konoha since they were being used as weapons of war, not for maintaining peace, is reasonable. Plus, with Akari being so strong, and everyone believing that Konoha also have the Eight and Five-tails, the other villages know they are majorly disadvantaged.

Hope you enjoyed, next chapter Takigakure is going to get some attention, things are going to go bad, and the story will move to its final conclusion, before Akari goes to other Universes to have some fun.

Today's story recommendation is Kenji the Shinobi Craftsman by Redwall6921, the story of a guy from our world going to the Narutoverse and assimilating with a boy who collapsed, the pair becoming something new and deciding to use their newfound abilities to open...a shop! It's what inspired me to put the newest addition into my profile moshpit, so go check it out if that interests ya!

Name: Akari Uchiha

Level: 149

Age: 17?

Experience: 83,888/149,000

To Next Level: 65,112

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: 303,000 - ((100 Base + (Vit x End)) x 10) x 3

Regeneration Rate - 20,000/m - 333.33/s - (Vit x End) x 2

Chakra Points: 599,625 - (((100 Base + (Int x Wis)) x 10) x 1.5) x 3

Regeneration Rate - 26,450/m - 440.83/s - (Int x Wis) x 2

Strength - 100

Vitality - 100

Endurance - 100

Intelligence - 115

Agility - 400

Wisdom - 115

Luck - 100