[Chapter 30: Can you Like— Not try to Kill Me?]

Before I knew it, water splashed onto my face.

"WHA—" Sitting up in an instant, my head shook everywhere in a frantic. "Foolish little brother, what the fu— oh, it's you." I blinked in my drenched state, staring at the newcomer who was sitting on a chair next to my bed.

Shiori's brows slighter creased, lowering the... is that water "You are very difficult to wake up. Do you have no caution?" He waved with his nimble fingers.

My back sagged, running a hand through my wet hair. "As big as an old lady."

"That is subjective—"

I held a hand out, turning my head away with tired eyes. "Guahhhh," I let out groggily. It's too... I looked for the time. 8:32 am. It's too early for this. Rolling my shoulders, I tiredly stretched my arms out. "Why'd you wake me up in the first place? Did Naruto invade the hospital with plants again?"

"No, he did— wait," The pink-haired male's hands paused for a second. "Again?"

I giggled, wiping the rest of the water off of my face. "Yep, for a prank or something." Or cuz he simply had too much.

The older ninja let out a slightly audible sigh, "In anyhow, I'm here to teach you." He signed.

Huh? My head tilted. "Teach me?" When did this happen?

"Yes, teach you." He narrowed his eyes. For some reason, it felt like he was irritated by my bullshit already. But that can never happen, right~? Shiori stood up and with a swish of his fingers, the floating water flew into the vase on the other side of my bed. I stared in awe, is... is he a water bender? "Now hurry up. I do not wish to wait any longer."

"Ah." Within another blink, I rose up, stumbling out of my wet bed as he went through the doorway. "Wait— what about Kakashi?" Oof, there went an arrow to the gut. "I don't even know where we're going!"

"What am I supposed to call you?" I questioned when we walked through a random training ground.

"It does not matter."

I giggled, tilting my head in thought. "Shiori-sensei? Shisho?" I then gasped, clapping my hands together with a smile. "Shi-Shi!"

They just gave me a look.

I only smiled back, despite the thoughts in my head. I had the creative freedom! "Alright," I said, glancing up at my apparent teacher. "Soooo... what the fuck are we doing?"

The other person placed a hand under their chin, seeming in thought. "Well," His hand said. "We can start with this."

Within less than a second, he shot something at me. My eyes widened as my breath hitched, it's too fast! That's what I thought, but even then, my feet stepped back. A sudden rush of pain entered my thigh, causing me to hesitantly look down at it.

There was a senbon. Stuck. In. My. Before I could even let out a sound, my vision blurred. "Goddamn." I vaguely remembered spewing out. I felt myself stumble. "Po.. poison...!" And just like that, my eyes fly up as I crash-landed.

Welp.

That's how the story ends. Bye now!

...if only it was that simple.

With a gasp, I sprung out of my position, suddenly finding myself under the shade of a tree. "Eh?" I blinked at the change of my surroundings. Glancing down, my thigh had been wrapped nicely with new bandages. I turned my head. Sitting next to me was, once again, Shiori, staring at me with half-lidded eyes. A bit bored, if I must say.

"10 minutes and 13 seconds." He noted. "We'll need to work on that."

I could only let out a high-pitched squawk. "What the fuck was that~!?"

"That was poison."

"I know that!" I retorted, crossing my feet and leaning forward. "Just what was the point?"

The older person exhaled, "I was assessing you," Doesn't his fingers ever get tired from signing? "Even for a genin like you—" Is that a compliment or an insult? "—it seems you have quick reflexes, despite not dodging."

"Well, yeah," I commented, most of my agitation out of sight. "I'd be a disappointment of an Uchiha if I didn't." If I wasn't already, I still don't say 'hn' or do edgy stuff.

"Are you well with Chakra?"

A simple question. An innocent one, actually. And yet, all I could do was turn my head away in shame. "Ahahaha..." This time, I didn't even bother to weave fake cheerfulness in my voice. "We don't talk about that."

"Why not?" The jonin's fingers appeared right before my eyes. I reeled back, do they not know personal space? "Are they atrocious like Gai?"

"Oh— no, not like that," I pushed his hand away, making sure my eyes did not meet his. "But yeah, my control just sucks." I mean, do you even know how long it took for me to figure out how to do the fireball jutsu?! Oh my god, I almost became Saitama with all those almost-burn experiences!

Shiori's eyes narrowed before he pushed himself up. "Well then, let's start with improving those... basic-level skills," He signed, seeming in thought. I let out an offended noise. I'm a genin, it's perfectly normal! He then pointed at me. "Start with avoiding my attacks while tree-walking. And while fighting back."

"Huh?" I blinked, does he really expect me to— a needle flew back at me. A meep fell out of me, my eyes darting to where it had landed. Very close. I took my attention back to Shiori. Oh— oh , he's serious.

Man, Sonic must be jealous at my body-flicker cuz I zoomed the fuck out of there.

⚙∀⚙

Was I... was I like this to Sakura?

This... diabolical???

I have fainted like, 14 times. And it's only almost ten in the morning. Guahhhhhhh...

Flopping on my back against the soft grass, I practically melted into a puddle of sweat and flesh under the sweet death of the universe. "Hahhhh..." I wheezed out. "I... I'm drained...!" Hearing footsteps nearing me, I weakly turned my head at the Uzumaki. "You've got me down. Do it: kill me."

Shiori scoffed with narrowed eyes, crouching down next to me. "This was not that difficult. Even for your level."

What kind of— "Are you a prodigy?" I managed to say under ragged breaths. Based on the look they gave me, I didn't bother to wait for his reply. "Figures."

"Figures what."

"It's only people like you who are insane enough to put awesome and adorable people—" I placed a hand over my chest with a wide smile. "—like me under these intense shit!"

The older male-only stared at me. "I have said this before: one must push another to—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I waved it off with a sigh, sitting up with tired arms. "So what are we doing next? Just gonna sit here like little ducklings?"

He stood up, crossing his arms as their eyes still bore into mine. "No. Why would you ever think of that." Ok, now I seriously think he has been deprived of anything humor-related. Dry as Itachi. "We're going to discuss plans."

"Plans?" I blinked, what plans?

Shiori's brows creased. "Are you brainless? Plans about saving the so-called future."

Like an idiot, I blinked again. Plans for the... oh! "Oh." Was all I could say. What my plan?

"Did..." His hand motions paused as if to express disbelief, his nose scrunching. "Did you not have a plan?"

I giggled. And giggled some more. Not because I thought the situation was funny but because— oh , I don't have a plan. "I mean," I tried to reason with a perfectly normal voice. I am so not cursing myself right now. "I do have a few ideas...?"

"I asked for an answer, not another question."

I could only giggle more. This it'll be a long time skip.

"I won't, whether you like it or not. How does that make you feel?"

Kurama grumbled in his cage, turning his fuzzy head away. I giggled, I guess he's already succumbed to his fate. It was later on the same day, when I was visiting Naruto in the hospital to only realize that he was asleep. And me being me, decided to bother Kurama instead. His voice was so dry that it almost didn't sound like a question.

"Hehe," I laughed out, well, it's not really out loud, is it? Straight into my back in my chair that I poofed into existence, I placed a hand over my chest with a wide smile. "Aw, fluffy bum bum, I'm glad you asked!"

He totally didn't say that. Nope, it was just my imagination! Let my heart forever be in denial! "Well," I started in a terrible sing-song voice, "I just think that we should collaborate!"

He repeated with a huff. The large fox laughed as if he was— oh wait, he is— mocking me.

I giggled again, sinking back off the back of the chair. "I don't mean you and me~" I explained properly to the oh-so-grumpy-being-that-could-very-well-kill-me. "I meant you and dear Naruto!" I waved a hand at him, despite his annoyance. "Your jailer? The person you might manipulate and kill? Remember him?"

His brow bones knitted together, scrunching his nose in disgust.

I crossed a leg over the other, whipping out a notebook out of nowhere. "Cuz you guys have a common goal." The bijuu didn't show it but he was curious by my statement. I opted to add more, watching one of the pages suddenly get filled with words. "Ya know, the whole Akatsuki shit?"

"Objection!" I slammed my hands against the flat desk that suddenly appeared. Pointing at the large being with a smile, I placed the notebook down. "There is a point!" Leaning back with a giggle, I spun a finger. "Cuz if they succeed, then the ten-tails get revived."

I swore his fur stood up. His comment was loud and enraged, booming across the whole seal. RIP eardrums, I internally (?) noted.

"Yup," I popped the 'p'. "So, fluffy bum bum—"

"Hey!" I puffed out my cheeks childishly. "If you can call me an 'Uchiha brat', a bit racist by the way, then I can call you that! Anyways," I cleared my throat. You ruined my momentum. "You better care about that or your papa will get very angry."

"Mhm, the great Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo!"

It was then that Kurama himself slammed his own paws. He roared aggressively. The force of his paws rumbled the room, the waters splashing away. His red eyes held such anger that if glares could kill, I would've been already dead. Or by a bijuu bomb. I didn't cower back though— I knew that he couldn't do anything.

So all I did in response was a giggle, like the little shit I was. "Same reason I knew how to get here. You need to be a LV15 close friend, by the way." The fox fell silent, staring at me with narrowed eyes as his nine tails swished silently.

I just took that as I sign to continue. "Anyways, teaming up with our little sunshine won't even be bad! You should know, you're stuck with him." I drummed my fingers against the table in thought. "Hell, despite all your prejudice against mankind, you gotta admit that he's much better than whoever's gonna use you for their plans."

Standing up, I grabbed the notebook and tore out the page that was filled up. I then threw it into Kurama's cage, watching it expand big enough for the fox to read. My smile stretched wider. "Read that when you're bored, maybe it'll sway your opinion."

Suddenly, the seal slightly rumbled, indicating that Naruto was about to wake up. Just in time too, a thought passed through my mind. With the same smile, I waved the suspicious being good-bye before teleporting myself away.

"And so that's how I almost died multiple times."

"Huh," Naruto let out under his sheets. "Actually, I can see them doing that, dattebayo."

I giggled behind a hand. After Naruto woke up, we ended chit-chatting, talking about foods, Hinata, everybody else, and now Shiori's hellish training. My eyes glanced at the lack of bandages, goddamn, Uzumaki blood, Kyuubi-chakra? OP as fuck. I plopped my elbows onto the bed and cradled my face, "So you're going away for a while?"

"Yeah, with Pervy-Sage so I can become stronger!" The blond exclaimed with a fist up, not minding the sudden shift of topic. "So that I can bring back Sasuke!"

"And kick the Akatsuki's ass," I added on with a smile.

"And kick the Akatsuki's ass!" The boy repeated.

I only giggled in response. Humming a random tune idly, I glanced around our surroundings. As bland as ever, how come they don't bother to change things up? Cuz it doesn't matter in the end? The money? Or is it because of the

It was only a moment with just my random thoughts that, huh, it's only my random thoughts. Turning my head to my friend, his head was slightly down as he stared at his lap, being unusually quiet. Naruto's brows were creased downwards, emotions of frustration and anger swirling in those blue eyes of his.

Ah, I know what's bothering him. I placed a hand onto his, causing the young boy to perk up and dart his attention at me. The ends of my lips quirked up, "I've told you this before— I don't hate you for not bringing Sasuke home."

"But I promised—!" He tried to finish if it wasn't for my index finger pressing against his lips. Why is everybody getting depressed recently? That thought was so true that it stabbed me in the gut.

"I don't care if it's your ninja way or whatever!" I puffed out my cheeks, "My foolish little brother's just in a distraught, overly dramatic phase. And, you have many other opportunities to drag him back!"

His eyes widened, shocked at my exclaim. "...ok." Naruto finally said. Something told me that he wasn't completely over it but was better nonetheless. His back then sagged, leaning back into his pillow. "Even if he did say he'll come back, that Teme's still near that gross snake dude!"

I giggled at his response. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, probably cuz the author suddenly remembered this detail. I mean— what? Anyways, Sasuke actually didn't try to kill Naruto this time. Crazy, right? Well, the little sunshine was still injured, but they were not near to any vital areas, or at least not much. I guess the years prior to being teammates really did much.

We fell into another silence, though this time, it was comfortable. "Oh yeah, Naruto," I called out to him with a lock of hair in between my fingers. "You're the Kyuubi holder, right?"

The boy tensed at the mention of that. He darted his gaze, yet slowly nodded with hesitance. "Have you ever talked to them?"

"Eh?" Naruto looked back at me, not expecting that kind of question. "I mean, I guess?" His brows furrowed once more, "That fox is mean, dattebayo!"

I laughed, "Welp, I can kinda understand."

The young ninja blinked. "What do you mean, Megumi?" His head tilted in an adorable manner, looking like a curious child.

I refrained from gushing at the cuteness. "Well, wouldn't you be pissed if you were suddenly shoved in a jail with absolutely nothing to do?"

He hummed, crossing his arms in though. "...Yeah, I would." Naruto answered after a small moment.

With a smile, I pointed a finger at him, "Exactly! So I think that he's not really an evil thing. Just a grumpy, grumpy fluffy bum bum."

He snorted at the nickname, grinning at me. "Fluffy bum bum...!" The young shinobi repeated with stifled laughter. After he recomposed himself, the jinchurikki's face relaxed, as if in deep thought. "...Do you really think so?"

"Of course I do! What, do you doubt the awesome me?" I joked around. "Hey, it's food for thought— so think about it. Who knows, you guys might even become friends!"

And so, just like the chest, the valuable pieces were slowly going into place.