I did plan to add Takigakure to this chapter, but got too distracted, so now it's next chapter, sorry if you were excited about that boos!

Going to explain something real quick, why will become clear. Akari is a weak sensor. She can feel Chakra signatures vaguely, but with a group, she'd stand no chance of telling how many there are, it'd be a massive blob to her, nor can she identify someone by Chakra aside from Naruto, because she feels his signature every single day.

She does, however, possess essentially a chakra-based sixth sense. Humans can tell someone is behind them in a vaguely-noisy room because they hear an audible difference as someone moves left to right, so subconsciously their brain tells them someone is behind them even if they didn't notice the audible difference.

Akari subconsciously does the same, as do all sensor-nin, allowing them to react, or in the case of a familiar signature, temper their reaction to being surprised. If you knew somebody was nearby, you wouldn't be as surprised when you got ambushed, it's kind of like that.

You'll see why I'm bringing this up during the chapter, don't worry.

Chapter 53

Running her Rolling Table, Akari avoided stepping on a pothole while she was distracted.

The Hokage had practically curb-stomped the other Kage's during his 'negotiations', but things had yet to be finalized, so they were staying in Tetsu no Kuni for one more night. Since it involved more than two villages, things had a tendency to get twisted around and confused sometimes, requiring a little finagling to get everything sorted, with plenty of hired help running around behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly, nobody wanted to piss the Five Kage off after all.

She could have taken them both back to Konoha, then returned them the next day, but it was easier to just stay until it was done, since all Hiruzen would be doing would be sleeping, and maybe getting an hour or two to talk to Minato before having to return, better to handle everything at once. Plus it meant she had an opportunity to wander around the reclusive village and take in the sights.

With the Three Wolves Mountains dominating most of the sky, snow belting down to cover everything perpetually in snow, Akari honestly felt like she was in heaven. It was cold, it was windy, and it was snowing, all three things Akari adored! Sure, warm weather was nice to relax, but cold weather was so much more satisfying. Shaking snow out of her hair, she grinned as Kiyo peeked her head out of Akari's collar, then made a snarling noise and ducked back into the warmth of Akari's vest.

Kurama was quite happy to remain draped over her shoulders, the cold didn't have much effect on him, and seeing snow was a novel experience for him, Konoha rarely saw proper snow-fall since the aptly named Land of Fire was too warm for it to stick around. She watched a squad of Samurai pass her by, only the leader of the group giving her a passing look as the group marched by, the others all focused, eyes straight ahead.

She resisted the urge to follow and observe them, their really rigid way of discipline rankled her the wrong way. Being a Shinobi offered a lot more freedom than being a Samurai after all, having to follow explicit orders, learn really boring techniques, then get stuck endlessly marching through a snow-covered landscape for days and weeks on end. Their Chakra blades and projection techniques were pretty cool, but, though she'd never properly used it, Akari was able to do that through her knives thanks to a scroll she got years ago for her Protection Duties quest.

No, she was way happier as a Kunoichi. Besides, Samurai resolutely refused to use Chakra for techniques. They used it for their swords, but other than that, they never did anything, only using the Tenketsu in their hands to channel their Chakra into swords for usage. Why they didn't branch out and use Jutsu was really silly, since apparently they followed the teachings of Ninshu that Hagoromo invented, but in a totally different way to Shinobi.

It was just...fucking stupid. They were denying themselves a powerful repertoire of weaponry simply because they believed Ninshu lay in the spiritual side, not the physical side, of Chakra. Even though they then used Chakra offensively by channelling it into blades, firing crescent arcs of it out as ranged attacks...it just made no damn sense. Akari shook her head, brushing a hand through her hair to clear it of snow. If they wanted to be idiots, that was fine by her. Sure, they were skilled at Kenjutsu, all of them, but Akari could still win quite happily by just using her Sharingan. Even if they were all extremely-skilled at Iaido, she was faster than even the fastest blade-strike...if she dropped her limit on her speed of course.

At her standard combat-speed Mifune, the leader of Tetsu no Kuni, would possibly be able to strike faster than Akari could dodge. Maybe, she'd never fought the man after all. But he was also vastly older and more experienced than she, so that was to be expected, especially for a man strong enough to hold Tetsu no Kuni together amidst Jutsu-wielding Shinobi villages constantly waging war. But, for as good as the man was, if she enabled her Sharingan and moved at top speed? She doubted even Hagoromo would be able to intercept her before she could land a blow or three.

As the Rolling Table came to a stop, Akari read the title of the item, humming.

Chaotic Immovable Necklace - Wearing this Necklace grants the temporary perks 'Chaotic' and 'Immovable'.

Chaotic: Imbues physical attacks with Chaos Damage modifier, granting a chance to strike with a randomly selected type of Elemental Damage alongside physical damage.

Immovable: Aids user in standing when taking heavy blows, 95% resistance to knockback effects.

Those two abilities were admittedly exciting-sounding...until she looked closer and realized they both were actually kind of useless. Chaotic sounded like great fun for punching someone and having her fist launch flames across their body as well, but aside from the novelty, if Akari actually needed to win a fight, she would just stab them with the Kusanagi.

Immovable would certainly be useful...if she didn't already have a hundred points of strength. The only things which stood a chance of knocking her down were Bijuu or extremely large Chakra Beasts. With the necklace on, not even a Bijuu wouldn't be able to push her back. Akari still threw the necklace on, tucking it in under her vest where Kiyo batted at it playfully a few times, making her smile as the dragon peeked back up, resting her head on the cusp of Akari's vest.

It sucked that Kiyo really didn't like the cold much, but hey, even dragons had to have flaws.

As soon as the peace-talks had officially came to an end, Hiruzen came right to Akari, the pair disappearing back to Konoha.

She decided to bring them back just outside of Konoha's main gates, that way he could make the return through the gates and re-ensure everyone that the war was officially over. Maybe she should have brought his escort back wit him though...nah, too much effort, they could walk back. She subtly snickered at their misfortune, but she wasn't a taxi-service, only VIPs got Hiraishin deliveries...and Naruto, of course, as the most important of VIPs.

Akari didn't know exactly what was going to happen with Naruto now that Kushina and Minato were back, since he was actually their son, Akari just adopted him because they'd both died. But Akari was sure it'd all get figured out somehow, right after the rest of this business was wrapped up. She hadn't told Hiruzen much about Minato or Kushina's sudden return, even if the knowing glint in the Hokage's eye told her he knew she had something to do with it.

He didn't know exactly what, even he wasn't omniscient, but Akari was confident in saying he would likely figure it out on his own, or a version of it. While the old man was one of the few people she'd trusted with even the basics of knowledge involving her Game, she still had that distrust of telling people anything that could be used against her. Even knowing she had his backing didn't help to imagine if word got out about what she possessed. Couple that with her Sharingan, Rinnegan, the fact she was a Jinchuriki...if another village could ever get ahold of her and contain her...she didn't even think a word longer on that line of thought, it...scared her.

Approaching the gate of Konoha, Akari was about to disappear, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "People already know about your Hiraishin, is it so hard to believe that you would be used to bring me back?" Sighing, Akari shook her head, reaching her arm to pat Kiyo on the head for support. She never was one for the limelight. She whooped ass, sure, but being congratulated and having lights shown at her for her actions just didn't suit her.

"Okay..." Akari narrowed her eyes, glaring at the old man when she realized his game. "You're doing this to get revenge for me making you walk through Konoha and not telling you how Minato and Kushina came back, aren't you?" The Kage puffed at his pipe, making a very similar noise to an Uchiha, his 'hn' sound making her growl, walking faster so she didn't have to look at him, all the while carefully shifting Kiyo out of her vest and onto her shoulder, since they were now long-gone from the cold of Tetsu no Kuni. Kurama wasn't happy, only nudging enough to allow the little dragon a tiny perch.

He probably saw Akari's shoulders as his real estate for lazing around, and he wasn't happy sharing it, even with a dragon. Eventually, Akari gave up trying to get Kiyo settled on her shoulder, Kurama grinning at her as he reclaimed the space. Wit ha mean grin of her own, Akari plopped Kiyo right onto his head, making the fox yip in surprise. Kiyo then jumped off his flailing head and onto Akari's head, curling up and sitting down with her head glaring down at Kurama.

She hissed at the fox, who returned it with a growl, the pair glaring each other down until Akari bopped them both on the head. "If either of you starts a fight on my head and shoulders you're both being forced to walk." That got them both to at least look away from the other disdainfully, though Kiyo tilted her neck to peer at Akari with her face upside-down.

Gritting her teeth, Akari didn't give in to Kiyo's cuteness, though she did raise a hand to brush her head with her finger. "I still can't believe you managed to create such a creature." Hiruzen spoke. Smiling, Akari nudged Kiyo's head so she was back up atop Akari, ensuring the dragon didn't fall off as she turned to look at the Kage.

"Well, I made this didn't I?" Akari waggled her left hand. "Oh, right, speaking of which..." Akari focused a little of her immense Chakra reserves, changing it to a mix of lightning and fire Chakra, then pushed it into the seal on her arm, much to Hiruzen's confusion. "I...uhh, now that I have all five Natures, if I just pushed my natural Chakra into it, it'd become white. So I wanted to test it by pushing Katon and Raiton Chakra into the seal. That should mean that when it runs out of the old Chakra and uses the new stuff...it should retain the normal orange colour. If not, I can always write a seal which overlaps an orange-tinted Henge over the surface of my hand."

Nodding in acknowledgement, the Hokage said nothing more, the pair of them approaching the colossal gates of Konoha. As they got closer, the gate guards obviously recognized the Hokage arriving, a crowd forming as word spread like fire that he was already back. People probably took note of the fact he had only one person escorting him, but when they recognized Akari, they likely pushed those thoughts aside.

As they entered the village, Hiruzen greeted a lot of nin by name, reassuring everybody that the war was over, peace had been attained again, though subtly he was smirking at Akari every chance he got. As for her, well, she didn't much like such dense crowds, especially not those who were thanking her for being the one to end the war, questioning whether she could maybe heal someone they knew who was wounded in the war, things like that.

It probably helped that Kiyo and Kurama were both not exactly being friendly to those who tried to get closer, that helped keep the crowd back at least a little. "I swear I'll get you back for this." She mumbled just loudly enough for the Hokage to hear, his only reaction being the corners of his lips turning up in amusement. "Maybe a persistent bird decides your head is the perfect place to drop nuts...or just drop things in general." Now it was Akari's turn to react as Hiruzen lost his smirk. "Truce?"

The man nodded. "I concur, a truce."

When they reached Hiruzen's office, the noise the Kage made seeing his desk actually clear of paperwork cracked Akari up something fierce.

The Shadow Clones who had handled the work disappeared one after the other, the Hokage taking his seat with a sigh. "So, you want me to fetch Minato and Kushina? When they came back, I kinda offered them my place to live since their old place got torn down." He nodded, allowing Akari to disappear in a flash, appearing in the living room of her place, immediately smelling food cooking in the kitchen.

Walking in, she controlled herself enough to not stab Kushina with a Senbon as the redhead suddenly wrapped her arms around Akari. She'd forgotten how physically affectionate the older Uzumaki was. Naruto was certainly one to adore cuddles, but she'd spent seven years living with him, so she was used to him, whereas she hadn't seen Kushina in years, which meant her sixth sense for Chakra signatures identified her as unknown.

Still, after she tucked away her Senbon, she wrapped her own arms around Kushina, subtly breaking free of her grasp when she began to get a little uncomfortable. Plus, she wanted to see exactly what Kushina was making. "Aww, Akari-chan, I have seven years to make up for..." Rolling her eyes, she gestured at the living room.

"Go hug Naruto then, I'm more interested in whether my kitchen is going to go up in flames, which...it was, you should have waited and asked me how this damn thing works." Akari fiddled with the knobs on the oven, preventing it from doing anything drastic. Kushina knew how a stove worked obviously, but the actual wall-oven was a mystery to her, it having only been invented after their deaths. "You're lucky I came back when I did or you would have actually set this place on fire." She said in a super-serious voice.

Then a few moments later grinned at the panicking woman, calming her down. She saw the swing coming but didn't bother moving out of the way as Kushina bopped her on the head. "Idiot, getting me all panicked like that! So, did I set it up right?" She asked a little more sheepishly. Humming, Akari twisted one knob around.

"Well, you didn't turn the fan on, and it was too hot so it would have burned whatever food you tried to cook in there, but for a first try, close enough." Akari hadn't actually remembered that because they'd been dead for seven years, there was going to be a pretty major culture-shock, new inventions throwing them off as they wonder how things like, well, ovens worked.

Akari did not look forwards to teaching the pair how microwaves worked. "Well, Hokage-sama wants to see you two, he'll probably drag me into this. Is Minato upstairs playing Fuinjutsu with Naruto?" Kushina snorted, lifting a pan off the hob and switching it off, then leaving the kitchen.

"This is Minato we're talking about sweetie, having his son point out a mistake in his signature Jutsu...well, you could have asked him to be more tactful." Akari raised her hands in surrender, it wasn't her fault Minato hadn't actually incorporated different weights into the Hiraishin, which is half the reason she became so nauseous when being transported through his variant.

She then grinned. "Also, I didn't tell him to do that, I'd just told him how irritating it was that I had to rework his Jutsu to work for me. Him telling Minato was probably him trying to corral the man into teaching him Fuinjutsu...uhh, Kushina?" The redhead turned to face her at the base of the stairs. "Do you...did you and he ever talk about when you'd teach him the Hiraishin? Because I don-." She bit her tongue. Naruto wasn't hers anymore. She shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

Kushina frowned, but didn't press, just heading upstairs while Akari slumped onto the couch. That was just the big thing, wasn't it? Naruto wasn't really hers, he was Minato and Kushina's son, not hers, she had no right to say what he would and wouldn't be taught, that was their decision, they were his actual parents after all. Gritting her teeth, Akari wrote a quick note telling them where Hiruzen wanted them, then closed her eyes and transported herself to one of her markers at Takigakure.

She needed a distraction, so a massive, sentient, mobile, human-killing tree sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

I know, I know, short again. Next chapter Akari starts digging in for what'll be the final major fight in the Narutoverse.

She's acting irrationally, yes, but don't forget, Akari has been looking after Naruto for 7 years now. Minato and Kushina would never separate the two, not a chance, but Akari sees how Minato is already making up for lost time, Kushina is cooking in the kitchen, they're a family...Akari feels like an outsider now, especially being seven years disassociated with Minato and Kushina. They aren't family, they don't have that immediate connection. That's her thought process anyway. It's not true of course, Kushina and Minato both adore her and would happily accept her, but, well, Akari still feels that way.

Today's recommendation is The Gallant Gamer Gal by xBUBBA1995x, a story of a girl who commits suicide, creates a character where she's got two very interesting parents, then gleefully becomes a badass, gets trolled by an AI, and a bunch of other awesome things I've forgotten. It sadly got synopsized at the end due to a buildup of problems I think, but it's still an incredible story!

Hope you enjoyed!

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