My New Life is Harder Than Expected(Naruto SI-Waifu Catalog) (Patreon)

Chapter 5

(6 Months Later)

Stepping out of the tree I had temporarily merged with thanks to my Mokuton, I looked at the unconscious burned form of Karatachi Yagura and the dying one of Biwa Juzo just moments after their battle had ended.

With Itachi nowhere in sight I quickly lean down and Stamp the form of Yagura before turning to the dying Juzo and quickly healed him thanks to my control over matter.

“Gghrk.” Juzo, not feeling like he was about to die anymore due to almost being cut in half by his own sword, tried to open his eyes only to come face to face with a pair of Sharingan eyes that definitely didn’t belong to his partner Itachi.

Before he could do anything though, Juzo suddenly froze before falling unconscious.

“That should take care of it.” I muttered quietly standing up and lifting Juzo along with me, leaving the Executioner Blade behind. “Now to get out of here.”

A portal suddenly opened behind me and without looking back I walked towards it with my new prisoner being dragged behind me. When we had fully stepped though, the portal closed leaving no trace behind for anyone to follow.

On the other side of the portal was the portal room, where as the name suggested held all the portals, I had access to.

“Oh? Is this a member of this Akatsuki you’ve been telling us about?” A sweet feminine voice asked from in front of me.

Looking up I saw Kushina looking at the unconscious form of Juzo as I dragged him uncaringly by one of his arms.

Kushina had upgraded her wardrobe a bit and was now wearing a yellow and purple short kimono, black sash, black skirt, black leggings and a pair of brown sandals. The most obvious change to my eyes though was that Kushina had lost a lot of the baby fat from her cheeks giving her a more pretty look instead of a cute one.

“Correct. Though to be more specific, he was only a temporary member that was partnered with Itachi before he would go on to be killed by the Fourth Mizukage.” I said before activating the Cloth Binding Technique. Basically, it surrounded the target in cloth and completely immobilized them preventing them from moving or using any technique.

I wanted to make sure he remained docile before he was sold after all. With that done I made a wood clone and had it carry our new prisoner to the basement where the holding cells were.

“How did you find him so fast anyways? One moment we were having dinner and then you suddenly stood up and abruptly left saying you were going somewhere?” Kushina asked curiously following beside me as we left the room.

“That’s thanks to my handy Map skill. You see I had already managed to tag Itachi the night of the massacre so I had been keeping tabs on him. The moment I saw his location move towards the land of water; I had a feeling he would be after the Mizukage so I went to make sure.” I explained.

“So, you basically lucked out huh?” Kushina summed it up with a few words sending as teasing smile my way.

I let out a small sigh at being found out so quickly. “Yeah, basically.”

“Hihihi isn’t that a good thing though? Luck is a literal thing that exists according to you after all.”

“Hahaha, I guess it is huh?”

Pulling the girl into a side hug, we continued our trek back to the main building while thinking about everything we had already accomplished since graduating from the Academy.

First of all, our Jonin sensei ended up being Shiranui Genma, the guy that had been the proctor for the finals of the first Chunin Exams in canon. Easily passing after kicking his ass, we became the new official Team 6 and finally started taking missions shortly after.

Of course, those missions were only D-rank and were basically mundane chores around the village. The look on Izumi and Kushina’s face had been priceless when they heard our first mission would be repainting a fence.

When the missions following that had been picking up trash and finding a cat, they finally resigned themselves to not getting any interesting missions for a while.

To be honest nothing of note had really happened other than completing D-rank missions, training and my recent trip to Kiri a few hours ago. My priority for the next few years was getting as strong as possible, training the girls and stamping and selling any weak filler characters.

I wanted to reach the rank of Jonin before I turned 12 and hopefully be strong enough to kill Orichimaru by the time he decided to attack the village during the Chunin Exams in 4 years from now with the help of Suna.

Feeling Kushina grab my hand suddenly, I looked down at the girl and saw her grab the hand I had over her shoulder. Blinking in curiosity as I thought she wanted me to let her go I was confused as she instead held my hand in her own and lead me to her room upstairs never once looking at me.

Thinking that she wanted to cuddle with my Slime form again I just shrugged and didn’t pay it anymore attention. Once we reached her bed, I turned into my Slime form and fell on top of her bed.

“U-umm Akari? C-can you stay in your human form please?” I heard Kushina ask in a shy tone while looking down at the floor with a blush on her face.

“Uh, sure.” Turning back into a human I sat at the edge of the bed and waited patiently to see if Kushina maybe actually wanted to talk or something.

Instead of talking though Kushina ran to the bathroom for a bit before returning now wearing a cute pair of pink pajamas and climbing on the bed and getting under the covers. Pulling up the sheets to just below her eyes she eyed me shily before speaking again.

“C-can you hold me tonight?” Kushina asked nervously sounding oddly vulnerable to my ears.

‘Looks like my hunch was right. Something must be bothering her.’ I thought silently and nodded to Kushina’s request getting under the covers and bringing Kushina to my arms.

Upon doing so I felt Kushina stiffen in my arms for a moment before she relaxed and hugged me around the chest with her head coming to rest just below my chin.

“What’s the matter Kushina? You know you can tell me if anything’s bothering you right?” I whispered gently into her ear.

“I know that, that’s why I asked you to sleep beside me tonight.” Kushina whispered back quietly before taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it. “N-nothing is really wrong with me, it’s just…I just really miss my parents.”

“Today was supposed to be my mom’s birthday and it just reminded me of all the times dad and I would wake up super early and make something for her. It’s been more than a year since their deaths now but…I just really m-miss them ttebane.” Kushina finally revealed letting out a small sniffle at the end.

‘Damn. Seems that I forgot that even after all the maturity she’s shown, Kushina is still a 9-year-old girl who lost both her parents not that long ago.’ I thought wanting to hit myself for being so stupid and only focusing on my own feelings.

Shoving my thoughts to the back of my head, I focused back on Kushina and gently caressed her soft and long hair. “I see. It’s okay to miss them you know? Just know that even if they’re no longer here, a part of them will always live inside you.”

My response surprisingly got a giggle from her as she quietly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Hihi that’s actually what mom told me once.”

“She must have been a smart woman then.” I said quietly hoping to lighten the mood further.

I breathed out in relief a moment later when I felt Kushina shake in my arms due to her light laughter. When her laughter finally subsided, Kushina leaned up to my cheek and gave me a small peck before laying her head down on my chest.

“Thank you Akari. For befriending me, for calling my hair beautiful, for helping me train and even gifting me power. Most of all though, thank you for being part of my life.” Kushina whispered looking up and giving me a small smile so full of emotions unlike any she had given me before.

Freezing in place I felt my cheeks warm up with a blush before instinctually muttering out a quiet ‘you’re welcome’. Then in almost no time at all Kushina suddenly fell asleep leaving me alone with my thoughts as I looked down at her sleeping form fondly.

‘The truth is Kushina, that I should be the one thanking you and Izumi for sticking around with me. Not long after arriving, I discovered that other than completing my current missions and leaving this world, I had no true purpose.’ I thought gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

‘However, spending time with you and Izumi I finally found it. I want to protect you two, for you to always be by my side and sometime in the far future, I want to build a family together.’ With those final thoughts I gently kissed Kushina’s forehead before joining her in the land of dreams moments later.

That night, I dreamt of Izumi and Kushina standing by my side as we looked over a goggle of children with red, black and blue hair.

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(Third POV, Hokage’s Office)

“Now then, in conjunction with beginning the Chunin Exam, let us first have those in charge of the rookie Genin come forward.” Hiruzen spoke to the gathered Jonin in front of him but looking specifically at Genma.

A few Jonin teachers stepped up and one by one they introduced themselves and gave their verdict if they felt the Genin under them were ready to take the exam. Then Genma’s turn finally arrived and the atmosphere in the room got a bit tense as everyone was now looking expectantly at Genma due to who was on his team.

“The Genma led Group Six…Senju Akari. Uzumaki Kushina. Uchiha Izumi. I Shiranui Genma, recommend these three for the Chunin Exam.” Genma said calmly causing quiet mutterings to immediately be heard behind him.

“The Senju Heir huh?”

“Senju, Uchiha and Uzumaki. Who would’ve ever thought that we would be hearing those names spoken in a sentence together or in a team no less?”

“Quiet!” With that single order from the Hokage everyone immediately settled down. “Very well. Let us continue.”

The talk then turned to other matters such as security and who would be proctoring each section of the exam. When everything was said and done the Hokage ordered Genma to follow him back to his office where they could talk privately.

“Now Genma, please give me your honest opinions about your students.” Hiruzen requested calmly while taking a seat behind his desk.

Genma seemed to sigh at that before he straightened and looked at the Hokage with a serious expression. “In a word. All three of them are monsters, especially Senju Akari.”

“Hoh, continue.”

“First we have the Uchiha. She’s extremely adept in all shinobi fields with Taijutsu, Bukijutsu and Ninjutsu being her greatest strengths. With her fully matured Sharingan, she only becomes all the more lethal. I would say Genjutsu is her weakest point but we’re talking about an Uchiha with a Sharingan here so I’m not sure how true that holds out. She also seems to be the calmest of the three and is able to make rational decisions while under pressure.” Genma informed before stopping for a moment to take a breath.

“Next we have the Uzumaki girl. Extremely adept in Ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu, Iryo Ninjutsu and Kekkai Ninjutsu. Has massive chakra reserves even dwarfing my own and I bet every Jonin in this village along with the precise chakra control for something as delicate as Iryo Ninjutsu. Genjutsu and Taijutsu seem to be her weakest points but makes up for it with her chakra control and her special chakra. Among the three, she’s rash and barely listens to instructions unless they are given by Senju Akari.” Genma stopped again before suddenly slumping forward as if in exhaustion.

“Finally, we have the Senju boy. He’s…a complete monster.” Genma said with a small shiver.

“Has a natural affinity for all 5 Nature Transformations, is extremely skilled in every shinobi art, has already recreated many jutsu or invented his own, has a freakish body allowing him to regenerate almost instantly from any wound and can obliterate human sized boulders to dust with his bare fists.” As he continued listing all the abnormalities about the boy, Genma’s voice became more and more monotone.

“Next his chakra reserves are monstrous, the largest I have ever felt in my life. Has almost perfect chakra control and is a great sensor. Need I go on?” Genma asked raising his head and staring at the Hokage feeling exhausted.

“Hmm, how are his leadership abilities and his capacity to think under pressure?” Hiruzen asked curiously already knowing most of what he had heard already thanks to his own analysis of the boy.

“The boy is a natural born leader. As for his capacity to act under pressure…” Here Genma shivered again much to the Hokage’s curiosity. “If I hadn’t seen with my own two eyes how he acts with his other teammates, then I would say with complete certainty that the boy wasn’t human.”

Blinking at such an answer the Hokage narrowed his eyes a bit and leveled Genma a hard stare. “Explain.”

Straightening up at that Genma sweated a bit and hurried to explain himself. “To my knowledge, everyone I know about has always hesitated after their first kill. Kushina and Izumi are not exempt from this rule.”

“Akari however, he never once showed any remorse even after slaughtering a bandit camp by himself with a blank look on his face. To my eyes it looked almost as if he didn’t care about others lives except those close to him, something I have only seen on veteran Shinobi.”

Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment and contemplated what he heard before opening his eyes again. “While slightly concerning, it’s not much of a problem with him being so young still. Was there anything else?”

“He’s extremely charismatic and has a way with words that is strange to describe. His other two teammates also think the world of him and in their eyes, he could do no wrong.” Genma then paused for a moment as if remembering something.

“I also believe he is training them in private as none of them are ever surprised about what the others can do. If you want my honest opinion Hokage-sama, there is nothing I can teach them. I feel like I’m actually holding them back from reaching their full potential.”

“Thank you Genma. You have given me plenty to think about. You are dismissed.” Hiruzen waved the shinobi away.

A moment later the Hokage was finally alone and turned towards the portrait of the First Hokage hanging on the wall.

‘It seems the time has come for me to step in and finish his training.’