Chapter 32: Returning to a storm

(Todays song is "Cry Baby" from Tokyo Revengers!! I seriously love the gangster vibes although I haven't watched much. So with that in mind,

We're near saying goodbye to Akali Hoshigaki. It's only a couple more chapters before this book ends and I'm glad that all of you decided to read this book and support me, but sadly, all things must  come to an end.)

~3 years later~

Pollux's POV

"Nothing but an embarrassment."

"Are you really Poseidon's child? Such brash attitude!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he sides with the enemy. Such a problem child."

That was what they said. I was born different, because of the eyes that came out with me. They called it a nightmare. They called me a nightmare.

"Some gods they are. I thought gods were supposed to be kind and forgiving?"

I crushed the can of soda that I just drank from not too long ago and threw it somewhere. I frowned.

Now that I was sent here to retrieve these human souls from the those demons that stole them, it feels like they have succeeded in throwing me away.

Good. I don't want to come back up there anyway. They are worse than demons. If only....if only they were—

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when I saw Akali fall down.

"Yo kid, you alright?"

She didn't answer and continued slashing endlessly amongst the sea of monsters that she gathered to attack her all at once. She kicked a big one from her back and she twirled so quick, forming my bones as she did so that it would protect her from outside attacks and cut everything around her to ribbons.

[Stack in effectCRITICAL HIT CRITICAL HITCRITICAL HITCRITICAL HIT]

The system alerted as she already killed so many, their corpse piling on top of each other as she took their life away from them. I smirked and lingered near the corpses and ate them before they vanish into pixels. Akali looked at me, her eyes devoid of any emotion as she defeated yet another final boss, therefore finishing the round.

I frowned and circled her.

"You have to stop overworking yourself. I get it, Asuga made you stronger! But come on! This isn't right! You haven't slept in a month!"

"I don't have to. I have to finish this level."

"Gosh darn it. Do I have to knock you out? You've already done so much for today. You stalked that high official Konoha wanted dead for 2 days without sleep! You've trained with Asuga as compensation 3 weeks straight! And now you're clearing and waiting for the ID create's timer for 10 times now! How much do you need?!"

I asked exasperatedly and flicked her on the head. Her left eye twitched but not blinked, as she avoided it with speed rivaling mine. Shit. She did get stronger.

"This is my last. I'll have to restore my sanity anyway."

She said in an emotionless daze as she ignored the boss music and quickly dashed towards the boss and started dealing damage. Each blow was doing critical, specially every third punch or kick. Once the boss became enraged, she looked at it impassively and waited for the attack to hit. Once the boss was coming down at her with it's ultimate attack, she didn't even hesitate to move a muscle. Instead, she took the whole attack head on and.....it didn't even chip away a small amount of her hp.

She sighed and summoned one of my teeth, froze it to become an ice sword and climbed up the boss coating chakra under her feet.

Her eyes flashed blue as she cleaved the head of the boss with one hit, and since it was a waste of food to just let it fall, I transformed into small megalodon and caught the head with my mouth.

The bones were pretty crunchy,the brain was kinda goey, but the blood was tangy so it washed out the icky texture.

[Level Up!

+1 to all stats]

I mauled the rest of the body while Akali sat down in front of me and tapped quite quickly on the tab in front of her.

"Don't wanna eat?"

"Nah. I'm gonna pass out after this so I don't want to have sleep paralysis."

She said without looking at me. I think she's claiming rewards?

"Hiw mwuch did ju kwiw?"(How much did you clear)

I asked and munched on the heart, the said organ beating one last beat before going limp in my hand. Hehe. That was cute.

I thought with a smile and devoured the rest of it.

"I cleared 10 level of abyss, won 30 matches on Delirious mode, I took first place on that petting thing, and took my daily 5 level clear in the normal dungeons..........."

[Exiting dungeon.]

I closed my eyes and puffed a breath. A little more and she could've been like that Gaara kid. She has very dark bags under her eyes, and she was snoring softly so quickly. It wasn't even a second ago.

"Stop looking at me like that. Would you rather I flap my way over here with my shark form?"

"Shut up Pollux. Just....get in."

She said softly and took Akali from my arms. She rubbed her cheeck on Akali's forehead before kissing it and mumbling profanities.

"Rest is also important for getting stronger you know...."

She quietly said with a pout as she carried Akali towards her room. I sighed and shook my head. In their case, as long as they level up, they can't be held down. Sleep is even a flexible option that they could just ignore. And as for the damned kid, she just took advantage of it.

"Hah........she's so hard headed. How about you two? How's your brats doing?"

"Fine. My Nao baby is very cute and innocent."

Chuckled the moon bitch. She just couldn't keep her hands off Akali so I made it certain that I'm awake every time she sleeps to guard the moon girl from harassing the kid. And I had to do that for 5 YEARS. You should praise me. Yes, you.

"Daiki is a dignified soul with great elegance. He knows when to yield. Unlike your kid. She's really persistent."

"Damn right. That's what makes her better than your kids tho."

I said with a proud smirk that made the two sigh. 

"I sometimes think why aren't you the overlord of pride, greed and gluttony all together?"

"That's the thing Thanatos-chan, I am."

I smirked and slung my arm around Thanatos who obviously was uncomfortable under me. I smirked.

"You should add a dash of lust there too. Apparently, he did it with Aphrodite."

"Oh come on. Even you did it with Aphrodite Artemis. Don't be a hypocrite."

"Yeah? You did Narcissus transforming into his face!"

"What can I say, the guy loved self-cest too much—"

"We're back. Please stop."

Sighed Daiki with Nao poking Pollux innocently.

"Did what?"

"Twister. When us, gods, are pretty bored of watching over humans, we play twisters that brings us to heaven."

I was trying so hard to contain my laughter, Diana was blushing and Thanatos looked so done along with his human while Nao was still blinking with a frilly background and a big question mark above his head.

"Well, I better get going. I'm gonna peek into Akali's dreams. Ciao~"

I said and transformed into a little shark plushie, floating around as I passed Asuga who doesn't look as pissed as she was with me in my human form.

"Oh how I wish you were always like this."

I scoffed and continued to walk past her and entered Akali's room. She was already in baby blue shark pajamas and is sleeping soundly on her bed. I chuckled.

"How fluffy."

I stated and transformed into my human form, taking one book from her shelves of other books and took a quick peek at them.

All she ever reads are detective fics. Sometimes about poison. Or even this;

"Perfect murder for dummies? What knowledge can she even gain from this?"

I said exasperatedly and read it's first page. It's even mostly pictures so it's definitely for idiots.

"Step one........bury a body, and then put a dead animal above the body. And then, grow an endangered plant above it so it's legally cannot be uprooted."

"That's it?"

I sighed and put the book back. I guess thinking like a murderer could lead you to his crime but this is just outrageous!

I leaned my chin onto my palm and watched the kid snore. Now I'm bored. Let's go into her mind. I'll give you a free tour, so be thankful and offer your life to me. Yes, you again. The one behind the screen.

I entered her mind once more and find the usual spot. There's bricks that serves as the floor for her mind, and then there's water that's around 1 inch above the floor. And upon entering her mind, there's a plain whiteboard looking screen up front. That's her......let's say, have you ever watched inside out? The control room there is like this screen, but the different is that this could be tapped on. This is where I usually play memories of her doing embarrassing stuff just so that I can bother her everyday.

Does she have a strong mental fortitude? Hell yes. 

Now, I normally spawn a couch here and watch with my popcorn, but other than that white screen, there's nothing else here but darkness.

"See that black stuff over there? That is a wad of anxiety, fear, extreme trauma, and sadness mixed in one concoction inside her soul."

I said and used a flashlight upon it. Like a black hole, it didn't reflect, reciprocate  or did anything with the light. It just continued to suck it until I turned it off.

Now, this is indeed dangerous for Gods! What she threatened me was absolutely enough to obliterate me inside the darkness of her mind.

That is, if I was blessed.

I'm a god yes, but I'm not exactly holy like the holy father, Jesus and his angels. Oh no, I am a nightmare. I am somehow corrupted by evil, that's why I have these eyes. So yes, I am completely comfortable in here.

In fact, I could take a snack off of these things but I can't because it's protected by the system.

"Speaking of the system, see this back here?"

I asked and pointed at the blue chip that has roots that latched onto her brain so tight.

"That is the system. That's how those things can control the players."

There was a very thin line around the darkness and the screen, around the chip and a small part of her mind. That's what's left of her sanity. If this darkness were to break this line and consume this all, her memories will be back as well as her past emotions, regrets and whatnot.

She will become Aila Ivanov once more.

"Hey you, the one that's reading this. You want to know a little secret?"

"..."

"I don't care what your answer is, I'll tell you anyway. Deus ex Machina isn't the one that's controlling the games."

"I see. Go on?"

I almost jumped out of my skin as Akali yawned and appeared out of nowhere.

"O-oi.....were you listening all along?"

"Not really. But I did hear about you talking to someone about what the fuck is actually happening. Care to enlighten me?"

She said seriously. Her thoughts literally echoed through the walls of her mind since we're inside it.

"I need to know. I need to get out of here. I need to win the game."

Was what she had in mind. I sighed.

"The reason why I'm not telling you is because it's not a good news. There is no happy ending for this. Still want to know?"

Her shining blue eyes glared at me and with that, I new exactly what she wanted.

"The truth is......."

"You can't win the game."

.                        .                      .

Akali's POV

I yawned and stretched my limbs, obviously tired from staying in one place for too long. But in the contrary of my body, I feel so refreshed for some reason.

"Pollux. Hi."

I said and looked at the shark god, who looked so confused. I just shrugged and walked outside my room, letting my feet drag me downstairs.

"Wow. Acting so casual after what happened last night."

"Shut up. I just don't want to think about  anything for a day at least. I'm still human."

"Heh. So even you get tired huh?"

"Yep. Always has been."

I said and entered the bathroom, took a quick bath and came out with the turtle neck and the cargo pants of the survival set. Today is the day I'm visiting Rin and reporting to Konoha, but I don't think Asuga would take this well. I mean, it's already been five years. The contract I did is done, and I have carried out all the orders Konoha gave me while I was here. I guess it's time for me to fulfill my end of the bargain.

[Happy Biiiiirthday to youu!!!!Congratulations! You are now 17 years old!🦈❄💞(And still no boyfriend sheesh)

Rewards:+1 dungeon anti-ban card+10 to all stats]

"You just have to insult me every birthday huh?"

I said with a smile and accepted the rewards. I adjusted the cloak so it won't choke me and just let my hair down. Oh and if you're thinking, yes. I've learned how handsign-less Hyoton works. It's the same case with Daiki and Nao, and with that we're basically Ice wielders.

"You're actually leaving huh?"

I turned around to see mom leaning on the door frame, her arms crossed with a solemn look on her face.

"I'm still a Konoha shinobi Okaa-san. And Rin-san is also out there, alone. I need to visit her too."

"You'll be back right? Promise me you'll be back."

She said and hugged my head to her chest. I'm pretty tall now so I leaned on her shoulder for my neck not to be stiff.

"Yep. I'll visit you once in a while. Don't get into fights with Mei Terumi-san okay? Kirigakure already has so much mist going on. Don't make more by clashing lava with ice."

"You said that right. They're both exes by Kisame, too. Damn. I still have goosebumps every time I remember their fight......everything was jiggling..."

"Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself."

I sighed and shook my head slightly. My mother chuckled and went downstairs with me as Nao and Daiki waited for us at the living room.

"Before you go, I have one last thing to give you. Here, put this on and show it to us."

She said and pushed a bag of clothes towards me. I sighed and nodded, going to a near room and changing.

"I can wear this to war....but not for usual business. It's kinda too sharp."

I said and went out, showing the spiky costume to them.

"I'll keep the gauntlets tho. They add to my defense and attack."

I said and walked away from them. All they did was give a shrug so I'm guessing that was a no. I kept the blue sando crop top outfit and wore the claws Pollux gave me. I then wore the ice gauntlets and froze them with my own ice so that I can turn them on and off easily. The edges are really sharp so I have to be careful.

"Hey brat let me do your hair."

I grunted in approval and felt Pollux's fingers touch my scalp, pulling here and there just to keep some of my now very long hair away from my face. I wore the cloak that gave me plus stealth, and now I was ready to go back.

I left the room and went to the living room where they all waited patiently. Once I was out, Asuga hugged me again, with Oka just looking from the sidelines.

"Be safe. Don't provoke danger. I know you will do well."

"I will."

I said and went for the door and left.

"And with that, I just skipped almost 3 years of Naruto in Sasuke's tail. 1 year earlier just before Naruto arrives after his training with Jiraiya and a small amount of time just before Gaara gets kidnapped by the Akatsuki. I'll have Rin come back here though.....I can't risk her being found by Obito while Pein attacks Konoha. But what if she refuses.......?"

"Ah whatever. My brain will work once I encounter the situation. For the mean time......"

I put two fingers in my mouth in a c shape and whistled quite loudly. A screech answered my call and with a smirk, my blindfolded eyes looked up and saw the very animal I wanted to see.

Arima swooped over just as I reached the sea side. Once there, she flapped her white wings quite strongly that sand flew all over. Good thing I'm blindfolded, but that doesn't save my hair from getting a little sand on it. I jumped at her back and held her soft feathers tightly as she started to fly once again, heading towards the same direction I once took 10 years ago back when I was still starting this wretched game.

"Take me to Konoha, will you Arima?"

"WHOO WHOO!"

A few hours later, we arrived at Konoha mountain. Arima fluttering her wings and slowly coming to a stop above Tobirama's head. After we're fully on the ground, I ruffled her feathers and gave her  a couple of rabbit meat.

"Bye Arima. We'll see each other again."

I smiled at her which she answered with a hoot. She then left to go back to Kiri, and now I'm back here once again where I trained for a couple of years.

"Is it just me, or is it hot?"

"You've grown far too accustomed to the cold."

"It's a good thing tho."

I said with a smirk and jumped off the hokage mountain, bracing myself for impact as I was quickly falling down to the Hokage's office. I activated the gauntlets and used it's sharp claws as breaks against the rock walls that slowly  prevented ny fall. Once I stopped sliding down, I deactivated the gauntlet and jumped quietly above the building's red roof, jumping down the stairs as I took them like a normal person and knocked through the Hokage's door.

"Come in."

"I'm back again~"

"Good, because we need back up. Gaara has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki."

My eyes twitched in surprise as the first greeting to me when I came back was already a bad news.

"Well shit. I hope Arima hasn't flew too far."

Third Person's POV

After an enthusiastic but not so cool morale boosting high fives from Might Gai's team, all of them dispersed in order to break down the barrier that covered the rock wall that separated them from Gaara. Although it was only despair that awaited them once they enter, the famous Akatsuki duo, Sasori and Deidara can't help but feel that the teams were doing this on purpose.

"I better get going. I—"

Back to the other side of the rock, Pakkun was interrupted just as he was about to leave.

"What's the problem Pakkun?" -Kakashi

"There's someone coming......faster that 100 km per minute. Be careful."

He growled as the three, along with Chiyo tensed in anticipation. Was it an enemy or an ally?

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!*

Their eyes widened as a humongous white owl appeared from the sky, flapping it's wings in preparation to land. Confusion filled their faces as it stopped midway, instead a blue blur falling down from it as it screeched angrily.

"I'm sorry okay? Ask mom to give you a treat once you get home!"

A woman's voice shouted as the owl left as soon as it came, leaving them with a familiar girl with white hair.

The said woman ran up to them with a smirk.

"Focus, everyone. I was just sent to be back up."

"A-Akali?"

"We're in position. Removing the seal in three, two,"

The rest, even though confused at a sudden white haired girl's arrival, returned their focus to the task at hand.

"One!"

As soon as Kakashi ripped off the seal, Sakura quickly punched the giant boulder. It broke into pieces and with it's debris falling, all 5 of them entered the cave to see the Akatsuki duo with the corpse of Gaara.

"You bastards! I'll kill you dattebayo!!"

Shouted Naruto as soon as his rage settled in, and the unmoving state of Gaara didn't help his anger die down.

"You'll probably be angry at me.......but I'll take the Jinchuuriki, Sasori-danna."

"Oi....the leader said one Jinchuuriki per person."

"You see, an artist's passion dies easily as long as he isn't finding another inspiration un."

"Heh. You call that art? Art is something that lasts forever.....Art is eternal!"

"Ah, but as far as I respect you as a fellow craftsman, art is fleeting and ends with a spectacular boom!"

"Are you making me mad on purpose?"

"That's why I told you you'll probably be angry hm?"

Naruto wasn't having any of the art shit that the two were spewing, and the puppeteer seemed to be enraged at the blonde bomber.

And so this somewhat urged Naruto to throw a big ass shuriken at Sasori's direction, the said man deflecting it with his tail that dripped in poison. Deidara smirked and threw a clay bird in the air. Weaving a few hand signs, the bird grew big, but not as big as Arima and chomped down Gaara's body until only his feet was visible.

"Teme! Give me back Gaara!!"

Naruto shouted and blindly followed Deidara outside the cave. Kakashi sighed and followed after Naruto.

"Protect them Akali. Make sure to be safe until Gai's team returns."

"Hai."

She said and let her blindfold become her scarf, revealing her eyes.

"Ah this is getting annoying. I'm not going to be victimized by the bloodline purge now anyways, so maybe I should just drop this."

She thought and looked straight ahead, humming a quick tune that made a barrier appear on each of them.

Sakura gulped in fear. Inside her head, she's probably monolouging about how far their battle experience is from one another and how it's impossible to beat him.

"Do not fear Sakura. Step back, and I'll handle this."

Akali prevented speaking or interfering as much as possible in order to let the natural flow of the plot continue.

"You really are insisting on defying me. Very well. I shall annihilate all of you, Obaa-san."

He said and ripped the rest of the Akatsuki's cloak that covered his puppet. Once released from it's restraints, it revealed it's extra limbs menacingly and positioned it's tail in his advantage. But the most disturbing thing is that the puppet has a big face of an oni as it's back, to others, it may seem like it's okay. But Akali knew how he made those puppets. She knew what horrors he did just to make sure the puppets are ready for his disposal. But it didn't reflect on her face the slightest, as she dealt with the thought of decaying corpses and rotten flesh back in her darkest days.

"That's right. Once I'm finished with you, my collection will be exactly 301 puppets! My art shall be expanded!"

"Art huh?"

"Chiyo obaa-sama?"

"Yes. Do you know how I make my puppets? First I pull out their organs, and once I make sure they're nice and clean, I inject formaldehyde in them to make sure they don't decay, and then I add weapons to make them into my perfect design!"

"Indeed. The one that you two are currently seeing now is Hiruko, who is also a shinobi when he was alive."

Sakura covered her mouth as if she was about to throw up, Akali remained silent and relaxed her form as it was taking forever just by their endless babbling.

"Then we can defeat him as long as we discover what hidden cards he has right? And you know about a lot of it from experience. We have the upper hand."

"That's what I thought so too."

"Thought?"

"I realized that he is using a different version of Hiruko, other than the one I used to know."

"What do you expect? He'll obviously eliminate all possible weaknesses in his arsenal."

Akali said and activated the gauntlets.

"You're the one who knows him best Chiyo. You make the plan. I'm going to distract him and try to weaken his shell until then."

"Don't be so hasty! You'll be killed!"

The white haired girl smirked and secretly saved the checkpoint.

"Oh trust me, I won't die that easily."

She said and ran up to Sasori, dodging as many needles as possible while the two finished the plan to take him down. Sasori glared at Akali. She was quite fast at dodging his poisoned needles and was quick to remove herself from his range and occasionally poke damage onto Hiruko, it made Sasori aggravated.

"Too bad there's no puppeteer Kekkei Genkai. You would've been unstoppable if you can control people against their will."

She smirked and barely dodged his tail, the said thing going through her hair. Akali then vanished from his sight like a mirage, in her place, Sakura raised her fist and like a falling meteor, crashed onto Hiruko's body like it was brittle candy.

From there, the beautiful red head emerged with a smirk. Chiyo however, was very surprised.

"Nothing has changed......"

"Would you look at that. Another res head. You wanna seduce him by any chance?"

"...no. I'll do something better."

Sasori glanced at her unmoving figure, clearly suspicious about what is she planning when he saw;

Her sparkling eyes looked at him with such a malicious gaze that sent shivers down his makeshift spine. He glared at her and made a barrage of hands cover Sakura that trapped her. According to plan, Chiyo pulled back Sakura with chakra strings and made the puppets of Sasori's parents fight the new puppet he just unleashed.

Eyes open, Akali neared Sakura and hummed a healing song. She then made her take a chakra pill to replenish what she lost on that fight.

"Sakura. Listen, I can't fight those sand irons head on. Take them one with Chiyo's help while I vanish from his peripherals and destroy him."

Since her healing was weaker than most medical focused shinobi, Akali hasn't returned Sakura to her proper state. She's still slightly fatigued, but she stood up and nodded at Akali, the said girl smiling mischievously before running towards the puppet master in great speed.

As Sakura and Chiyo deflected the magnets that the third Kazekage sent, Akali started working on where would Sasori land after every blow Sakura gives him.

"Sakura....you..."

"Don't worry Chiyo obaa-sama. I used an antidote."

That was Akali's signal that she successfully faked and outplayed the third Kazekage, so she stepped back with a glare from Sasori.

"He hates you."

"You're annoying."

Both stated by the shark and the red headed puppeteer as he stripped himself from the cloak that hid his body.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Akali smiled with closed eyes as she stopped before Sakura who's currently healing Chiyo.

"I'll obliterate you!"

He said as he shoot fire from the mechanisms on his palms. The fire burned so hot that it even melted Sakura's kunai when she flipped and hid on another rock. Chiyo and Akali jumped away and hid just as a faint blue light went off of Sasori's back.

His body twitched slightly, moving onto the next battery on his back which contained

"Water?"

Akali shouted with a smirk as both Sakura and Chiyo was sent flying by the strength of it's pressure. While the two hid from it's way, Akali ran forward with a delirious look on her face.

"Akali-chan no!!"

"Trust me will ya?"

She shouted and held one of the water lines, instantaneously freezing it rock solid. All of the spectators' eyes widened in shock as the ice traveled faster than they can imagine, freezing over the metals and eating away the rest of Sasori-danna body just like frostbite.

Once a thin layer of ice paralyzed Sasori's movements, Akali dashed at him like a madman and wove hand signs faster than the eyes could see, instantaneously covering Sasori in a big ball of cold ice as Akali paused for 30 seconds. After such a suspenseful wait, she finally moved from her position that held the final hand sign of her jutsu, and whispered,

"Hyoton: Diamond Shatter"

With one tap of her finger, the ice that contained Sasori broke into a million pieces. Scattering the shards of his body into the air as it melted like it wasn't even there in the first place.

Chiyo and Sakura looked at her in utter shock, wondering if the long fight was finally over.

"He's not going to be a nuisance again. His body and core was shattered along with the ice, so you can rest easy."

She assured the two which made them sigh in relief.

"Let's go. We still have to meet Gaara."

She murmured and wove another set of hand signs, summoning San Salvador out of thin air.

"We'll be faster this way."

Sakura nodded and carried the limping Chiyo. Akali wasn't as surprised, she looked like she was indeed affected by the poison as per the anime's plot flow.

"Now I only have to get there in time."

.                    .                  .

As soon as they arrived, Deidara was already done exploding. They were gathered around Gaara's dead body who laid flat on the ground. All of them had a solemn look on their face as Sakura checked for any signs of life in the Kazekage.

After a few minutes, she shook her head. Ah, the universal sign of death was showed as Naruto started tearing up and shouting profanities and his regrets when it comes to him.

Akali ignored the commotion and sat beside Gaara, looking at him through half-lidded eyes.

"He's gonna live tho. As well as Deidara. This is so boring, but I have to see it through because this is the main plot. Ugh."

She stared as Naruto's words finally sunk in Chiyo's conscience, the old woman limping towards Gaara and placing her hand before his stomach.

"Gotta support her in this one. I wonder if I could save her? She might be useful to Rin."

"Nah. That shits life for a life. Unless you can sacrifice one of these dudes, you can't bring her back."

Akali sighed. It was a shame that such a powerful jutsu would go to waste, but it's fine since other than her, no one else would be able to learn it. It means it's sealed within history now.

The white haired girl opened her eyes and cleared her throat, sucking in a deep breath as she reached deep into her diaphragm,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNhKAJwlj04

(Imagine this is Akali's voice hihi☝︎☝︎)

~I hear the sound, echoes beneath......Angels and skylines meet. And I'm straining to reach,

The light on the surface, Light on the other side~

A faint blue glow was seen as Chiyo poured her life force onto Gaara. The others watched in astonishment and awe.

~I feel the pages turning, I see the candle burning down

Before my eyes, before my wild eyes!

I feel you holding me. Tighter, I cannot see. When will we finally.........breathe?~

~Breaaaaaathe? Breaaaaaath? Breathe.~

As Akali's soothing voice almost lulled the others to sleep, Gaara's people came. All worried for the well being of their beloved Kazekage as he was being brought back to life.

"Gaara......."

Naruto muttered as he stared at the said boy, sitting next to Akali while she supported Chiyo in both health and chakra.

And then at last, as Akali finished her song, Gaara's ocean foam green eyes came to light, greeted immediately by Naruto's baby blue ones.

"N.....Naruto?"

Everyone rejoiced as they once again heard their Kazekage's voice. Some cried for the death of Chiyo. All mourned for her depart.

"But they haven't actually won this war, did they?"

"Yes. They haven't retrieved Shukaku, and now the Akatsuki is just one step closer on achieving their goal. But I guess Suna benefits on retrieving their Kage back."

"Indeed. Haaah......how sad. They're just set up for disappointment after this small victory. Isn't it hard to know the future?"

"Yeah. But at least I'm not alone to carry the burden of knowing it."

Akali thought as she stood up and walked away from the commotion. Gaara's eyes trailed to her figure.

"Ah, how I want to take advantage of this situation and dissappear. That would make me questionable tho since I've been gone for almost 5 years."

She thought with a chuckle.

Soon, the Kazekage was once again back to Sunagakure. The rest of the Konoha teams reported to him and his subordinates. With that, Akali offered for them to ride her San Salvador which she summoned yet again. It was quite angry seeing as it was used for transportation rather than for attack.

And so, a bizarre ship made out of water sailed in the skies of Sunagakure.

The air was awkward for Akali who just left without them knowing.

"I feel like you have questions."

She said with a sigh that immediately aroused screaming.

"Yeah why did you suddenly leave dattebayo?! We were worried!!"

"Where did you go?"

"What did you do for five years?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?"

"....."

"Okay okay settle down."

She said with a sigh as she set San Salvador on autopilot.

"First, I left because of my parents. Someone gave me a lead to them and I spent 5 years trying to find them and get stronger. I didn't tell you why I left because I thought it doesn't matter, plus I told Juichiro and Jhin to tell you that I'm gone. I thought that would've been enough."

She said that caused silence in the ship. Again, Akali was being hard on herself thinking that her existence didn't matter to them as they had their own story. But she was wrong. They do care.

"Why wouldn't it matter dattebayo? You're my friend! Of course I'd be worried!! I thought you were gone like Sasuke......"

"I see. That explains why I saw him back then."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I thought you 4 were in a mission  so I didn't interfere. I didn't know he was rouge by then."

"When did you see him dattebayo?"

"2 years ago."

And with that, all was silent yet again. Sakura averted her gaze and looked at the clouds. Naruto clenched his teeth, Kakashi sighed and Team Gai was clearly uncomfortable.

"Don't be so down! What's important is that Akali-chan is back isn't it?! And we saved Gaara too so it's just right that we celebrate yeah?!"

Shouted Gai in which Rock Lee nodded aggressively to.

"We're here. This is the widest my San Salvador can fit through."

She said and slowly lowered the ship. Once firmly on the ground, San Salvador vanished in a splash as the water exploded to water the trees nearby.

"San Salvador was only able to heal Kakashi-san's physical state. He still need to rest so let's go."

"He said it was a parting gift for defeating him......Tenchi Bridge, Kusagakure. That's the meeting place for Sasori's spy on Orochimaru."

"And what if it's a trap? What if the Akatsuki will be waiting for ambush there?"

"Then.......I will fight!"

"Fight? Kakashi is bedridden for a week, and of what you said is happening, it'll be in six days, am I correct? You lack a teammate. And I don't think Akali can fit that role."

Akali stood quiet, leaning on the wall with closed eyes as she listened to Sakura report what happened. She can be away from that scene, specially that she has something much more important to do.

"But please, exclude Naruto—"

"Have I not make it clear Shizune? They will succeed in retrieving Sasuke just because they are his teammates. Besides, I already told you about Naruto. I believe in that kid."

"Heh. Believe she says. What if a player intervenes and is on the Akatsuki's side? That will make a turn for the worse."

"Now, Akali. Report about your findings."

"Is it okay to be said here? This is very confidential."

"It's alright."

Akali nodded.

"For the past 5 years I have killed every single one you made me target, along with their families, connections, and any other proof of existence they left in this world. No one suspected me, or Konoha for their death. And as long as the rest are afraid of me, they will never speak."

"I see. What method did you do?"

"Mental manipulation. They don't have the ability to speak as they will have convulsions before they even try."

Sakura's eyes widened. She was thankful that her teacher trusts her this much, but to think that Akali was the one that carried all of Konoha's dirty work was............scary. The pink haired girl looked at Akali. Not an emotion was portrayed on her face as she talked about death like she always had it for breakfast.

"And what of your parents?"

"I found them. And sad to say that it's not so pretty for me."

"Why is that?"

"My mother is Asuga Yuki."

"The Uncrowned Sannin of the mist huh?"

That explains why she was able to produce ice out of thin air. Sakura thought. But what's with the title?

"Yes......and my father is Kisame Hoshigaki."

"I....guessed so. What do you plan on doing now?"

"Continuing this job I guess? As long as I'm not an enemy to any nation, I could continue this job for as long as you need me to be."

"I see. I'll ask for every assassinations paper work later. For now, settle in. Dismissed."

Akali bowed and left.

"What a bunch of crap. I can't believe you managed to say that with a straight face."

"Me too. But for now....."

Akali looked back and forth before going outside Konoha's border again. She whistled loudly and as soon as she did, Arima appeared once again. This time, taking her to the edge of Konoha's map where an island awaited.

She shot ice from her hand and onto the thick mist that covered this small island from the rest of the world. When she did, the mist opened up and closed from behind them.

Once they were past the mist, they were greeted by a tornado. It swirled dealy with thick shards of ice everywhere in sight, but only Arima's wings can fly through such dangerous obstacles.

Once they are at the eye of the tornado, Arima stopped flapping her wings, and straight up dropped inside it finally arriving at the island that's mysteriously in a good weather even thought they literally just dropped inside a tornado.

"WHOO WHOOO?"

"Why am I here? Well, I have important business to make."

"Who.......?"

"What do you mean I can't come and go? Mom literally gave us this place."

"WHOO WHOO WHIOOOO!!"

"I know I tired you today. Promise, I'll give you ostrich egg scramble."

"WHOOO!~"

"I feel loved."

Akali chuckled as she walked inside the mansion that the island has, stopping and the forest in front and opening her inventory.

She then took quite a big item from it, and then set it down. Tapping onto it once and making the ice that covered it receed.

"Hello Sasori."

Character Info

Name: Akali Hoshigaki

Title: Miss Detective

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Level: 250 (5 000 000 /9 500 000)

HP: 1 000 000/1 000 000 mysterious(regen 20.00 per sec)

CP: 3 000 000/3 500 000 (regen 50 per sec)

STR: 500

VIT: 500

DEX: 1000

INT: 1150

LUC: 17

STY: 100% (peaceful)

Endurance: 100% (calm)

Team Daya admires you!

Udon no Kuni (Land of Noodles) is proud of you!

Yugakure no Sato acknowledges you!

Sunagakure no Sato is wary of you!

Kisame Hoshigaki loves you unconditionally.

Konohagakure no Sato respects you!

Affiliation: none

Money:100 000 000 RYO

Unspent points: 0

Runes: 100 000 (max)

Once was a ruthless detective, she was cold hearted towards the ones she brought to justice even if each of them had a reason why they did each crime. She was challenged by Deus ex Machina to change her ways, to be in the shoes of those she turned a cold shoulder, to kill in order to survive.

Hallo I'm back hehe. Here's a picture of Arima hehe