36. Another One.

Next Day

Konoha's Entrance.

At the village gate, Izumo and Kotetsu were inspecting everyone coming inside. A large dust cloud appeared on the horizon, drawing their attention to what looked like a girl being chased by a man carrying two girls in his arms and a third on his back. As they came closer, Izumo and Kotetsu saw the man smiling while the girl was huffing and sweating.

The girl reached the gate and fell face-first. Seeing the man approaching her, they jumped into action. Kotetsu grabbed him by his collar while Izumo appeared behind him, placing a kunai at the man's neck. "Don't move. Unhand the girls," Izumo demanded.

People began pointing at the man, guessing his crime.

"He must be a pervert, catching all these beautiful girls."

"He must be a serial kidnapper. Get back; he must be strong if he thinks he could kidnap people in front of Konoha."

Understanding the situation, the man said, "Hey, hey, I am her teacher."

Izumo showed contempt and replied, "Good try, but I don't believe you."

The silver-haired girl on the man's back woke up, rubbed her eyes, and asked, "Are we there yet?" She opened her eyes to see the situation and instantly, her eyes turned red and her expression darkened. She turned to Izumo and asked, "What are you doing?"

Izumo felt his body freeze seeing Koemi's eyes. Hearing Koemi's words, Akira knew the situation might get worse if he didn't act. He released Suiren and Ajisai, who were also asleep. He grabbed Kotetsu's arm and threw him like a doll, crushing Izumo. He slipped from Koemi's grip and turned back to hug her, lightly shifting her face toward him. "This is just a small misunderstanding," he said.

He looked at Izumo and Kotetsu for confirmation. They were taken aback but couldn't speak under Koemi's cold gaze. Finally, Suiren, Ajisai, and Fuyo woke up and explained they had run continuously all the way from Ame. Hearing their words, the misunderstanding was cleared. Izumo and Kotetsu apologized, saying, "You are the second person I know who does this much physical training."

"Do you know another devil like that?" Fuyo asked.

"You might see him training in the streets in the morning," Izumo replied.

"Many people train in the morning," Suiren noted.

"Not like him. You'll know who I mean when you see him," Izumo joked, remembering Guy's 100 laps around the village while walking upside down.

"So, can we enter now?" Fuyo asked, eager to explore the village.

"Wait for a while. The Hokage will send someone to be your escort during your stay in the village," Kotetsu stopped them.

"Escort, more like surveillance," Ajisai criticized.

"Yes, go ahead, Ajisai. Complain to the security guard about his country's policies," Akira cheered her, but his words only irritated her, earning a smile from her team and Koemi.

"Sensei, be serious," Ajisai complained. Her sensei was smart, but his decisions didn't always make sense to her, like actively helping their enemies when they could just sit on the sidelines and watch them kill each other. He seemed to treat everyone as a non-threat, which was a big problem in her eyes.

"But being serious is too much work. The brooding expression doesn't suit me. You do it better; it suits your whole 'too much experience with a dark past' thing you have going on," Akira said, looking at the others who nodded in agreement.

Ajisai shook her head. It was pointless to point out her sensei's flaws since he treated his flaws as his strengths. While they were waiting, another group of important guests reached the gate.

Team Ajisai recognized someone among the group—Gaara. While the Suna group was talking to the guards, Akira walked up to them and started conversing with Gaara.

"So she is your new Kazekage," Akira said, looking at Pakura. Gaara nodded.

Akira observed her figure. She was a fairly tall kunoichi with fair skin and pupil-less brown eyes. She had green hair tied in a bun with a hair needle running through it and one short and long strand of hair with orange tips framing each side of her face. Her typical attire consisted of a sleeveless, backless top and short, tight pants, with two lapels on the front and the back. She wore an obi around her waist, as well as purple arm-warmers extending up to her shoulders, and had bandages around her thighs and ankles.

Akira gave a thumbs up and smirked, "I approve of the village's choice."

Gaara agreed, saying, "She is a hero to villagers and kind to her students. I also think she is the best choice for Kazekage."

Hearing Gaara's sincere word Akira didn't bother to tell his perverted logic. After filling out their details, Pakura and Lu Xiyan walked toward Gaara. Pakura looked at Gaara talking to an Ame shinobi and was surprised. She asked Gaara, "Who is your new friend?"

Before Gaara could answer, Akira stepped up and said, "I am Akira, a jonin from Amegakure. I am a jonin and 16 years old."

Pakura asked curiously, "Akira from Ame? You must be the one who helped Gaara. On behalf of the village, I thank you for your help."

Akira laughed and said, "I am honored, but I was just looking out for my village."

Pakura was intrigued and asked, "How?"

"Well, whenever the balance of power shifts significantly, it increases the chance of war. Whenever war happens in the world, Ame always suffers," Akira explained.

Pakura was amazed at the fact that a ninja could clearly think about the consequences of his actions on a world stage. She smiled, reached out her hand, and said, "It looks like Gaara has a smart friend."

Akira shook her hand and felt embarrassed by the compliments. He smiled, "You are the first Kazekage I met, but I can confidently say you are the best one."

Seeing Pakura and Akira laughing and chatting as if they were friends irritated Lu Xiyan. He interrupted, "Kazekage-sama, I think we should get going. We can't keep Hokage-sama waiting."

"Looks like I have to leave. It was great talking to you. I hope we can get a chance to talk again, if you don't mind," Pakura said politely.

"Of course, I would very much like to know more about you, Kazekage-sama," Akira replied.

"Pakura."

"Huh!"

"You can call me by my name, Pakura." Pakura smiled. Hearing this, Akira thought for a moment, but in the end, all logic couldn't stand in front of a beautiful girl's request, "Okay, Pakura-san."

"Hmm." Pakura nodded in appreciation and called Gaara, who was chatting with Team Ajisai. Pakura said goodbye. Watching her figure walking away, Akira was lost in thought and heard a soft voice whispering in his ear, "Do you like her?"

Akira nodded but then snapped out of his stupor to see Koemi was the one talking. He hurriedly said, "I do kind of like her, but I think she is way out of my league."

Koemi smiled and said, "But I think Akira-sama can easily get her."

Akira wrapped his hands around her waist, "Why do you think that?"

Koemi answered confidently, "Because I believe in Akira-sama's capability."

Akira grinned, "Of course, you will know my capabilities."

Their atmosphere was interrupted by another complaint from Ajisai, "They are also from an enemy village. Why can they go in without an escort?"

Akira released the hug and walked in front of her. Ajisai looked up at him, "What?"

He pinched her cheeks and pulled them, "What you see is not always as it seems. To get the full picture, you have to observe it more. Suiren, how many ninjas are surrounding Gaara's team?"

Suiren closed her eyes to sense the chakra of Anbu surrounding Gaara's team. She could clearly see their chakra, as they were not trying to hide it to warn the Suna delegates. Opening her eyes, she answered, "At least five jonin and ten chunin."

He released her cheeks. Ajisai rubbed her cheeks and turned her head, complaining, "Sensei, I am a ninja. Don't treat me like a child."

Akira smiled and rubbed her head, "When you stop with your childish complaints, I will treat you as an adult."

------------

Lu Xiyan complained, "Kazekage-sama, you should not mingle with a man like that. He must have used his status to have a female group as his companion. He seems like a womanizer."

Pakura looked at Gaara, "What do you think, Gaara?"

Gaara thought for a moment, "He is smart and powerful, but he seems to treat people kindly, even if they are from an enemy village. He seems to follow some type of moral compass. Even after that, he was sent as a delegate, which means he is either strong or related to someone strong. As for being a womanizer, I agree with it. His decisions have a high chance of being affected by his lust for women."

Gaara had fought with Team Ajisai and felt they were way more useful than Karin in a fight, but still, Akira took Karin as his companion in exchange for Team Ajisai. After that, his antics with Karin supported his conclusion.

Lu Xiyan continued, "See, Kazekage-sama, even Gaara can see his true nature."

Pakura smiled and answered, "So a man who is only after me because he likes me. I think he would be a good friend. After all, there are many other bad reasons for which people try to get close to me."

Pakura thought about all the betrayal she had to face when she survived Kirigakure's ambush. After becoming Kazekage, she went through all the details about Suna and Kiri's plan to ambush her. She found out the names of people she couldn't even dream about betraying her. She also found it suspicious how Iwa knew of Gaara's return, which only a few people in the village knew.

Since becoming Kazekage, every time she met someone, she could read the undertone of asking for a favour. Meeting Akira, who was only interested in her as a person, was a nice change. She happily hummed a tune while walking to the Hokage's office.

........

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37. Team 7.

38. Akira Vs Sasuke.

39. It's Princess Tsunade.

40. Teaching A Uchiha Fire Release.

41. The Plan.