Confession

"Sister!"

A hoarse voice rang out.

Chiyo lifted her eyelids and looked toward the door. Watching her younger brother approach with his hands behind his back, she slowly said,

"Fishing?"

"The matter hasn't been resolved!"

Ebizo shook his head. After glancing at the clear pond, he turned his gaze to Chiyo and said,

"Sister, please make me a copy of the Forbidden Technique: Reanimation Jutsu."

Hearing this, Chiyo pondered for a moment. Then she sized up her younger brother with her cloudy eyes, her tone full of disdain.

"This old woman thought you would bury him. I never expected you to use a jutsu—my jutsu, no less—to silence others."

"Sister~"

Ebizo's voice rose several pitches as he sighed.

"He can't die. Otherwise, Shimura Danzō will definitely make an issue of this. Sunagakure can't withstand any more damage."

"Poison!"

"The poison probably won't spread faster than he can repair himself with Medical Ninjutsu."

"Idiot little brother!"

Chiyo closed her eyes, then pulled a scroll from her robes and tossed it to Ebizo. In her aged voice, she said,

"I hope he won't use this jutsu on someone he hates."

"He probably won't get the chance."

Ebizo caught the scroll and shook his head.

"I've already sent people to the capital to clean up the loose ends.

And Uchiha Asuka will likely head through the Land of Wind to the Land of Water next.

Whether he can return to Konoha alive is still unknown.

Even if he does return alive, he won't be able to do anything with this matter."

Before he had even finished speaking, Ebizo heard his sister snoring. He looked up at the sleeping Chiyo, then slowly left the room.

Having settled these matters, he handed over all his duties as well.

He would spend the rest of his life with his sister.

On the third day, early morning.

Pakura walked through the village streets with a pack on her back, enjoying the villagers' enthusiastic greetings.

She had been away on a mission for nearly two months. The village seemed largely unchanged, yet it also seemed to have changed greatly.

Pakura rubbed the sand from her eyes, then looked at the villagers around her, who all seemed to have gotten fatter, and felt a wave of confusion.

Had these people eaten something that made them gain weight?

How had everyone seemingly put on a whole round of fat in barely two months?

"Sensei!"

Hearing a familiar voice from the crowd, Pakura stopped and turned her head.

"Maki?"

Looking at her chubby disciple in surprise, Pakura pinched her own chin between two fingers and hesitantly asked,

"Have you been taking hormones?"

"No!"

Maki squeezed through the crowd to Pakura's side. Seeing her teacher for the first time in two months, she excitedly said,

"Sensei, you're back."

"Mm."

Pakura nodded, then immediately asked,

"Did you get fatter?"

Fatter? Maki lowered her head and pinched the fat on her stomach, uncertainly saying,

"I feel like I'm doing all right!"

"Oh, you're back."

Just as Pakura began wondering whether her eyes had been playing tricks on her, a familiar voice sounded beside her again.

Following the voice, she saw Asuka squeeze through the crowd as well. He expertly pulled out a serving of fried chicken and handed it to her disciple. Seeing how expertly her disciple ate it, Pakura seemed to understand why she had gained weight.

With that thought, she grabbed Asuka by the arm. Her eyes kept drifting toward her disciple as she said sharply,

"I asked you to take care of my disciple. Is this how you took care of her?"

Asuka's gaze also fell on Maki as he said with feeling,

"I fed her, gave her drinks, and even taught her ninjutsu.

I've never treated my own disciple this well. She even has to pay for her own meals."

Pakura's cheek twitched. Looking at her disciple, who might start panting just from traveling, she could not help feeling irritated.

She was so fat that traveling was difficult. How was she supposed to carry out missions like this?

Thinking that, she pinched her disciple's plump cheek and said in frustration,

"I'll deal with you when I get back."

As she spoke, she seemed to remember something. She turned and glared fiercely at Asuka as well.

"And you."

Whoosh! Watching Pakura vanish from the spot, Asuka looked at Maki and asked,

"Maki, can you beat your teacher?"

Maki decisively shook her head.

"No."

"Sigh!"

Asuka shoved his hands into his pockets and walked in the direction opposite from where Pakura had gone, saying as he walked,

"I can."

Hearing that, Maki looked at the chicken in her hand, then raised her head to stare at Asuka's retreating back. Suddenly, the chicken no longer seemed quite so appetizing.

Knock! Knock! Pakura bent her fingers and knocked on the door. A deep male voice immediately came from within.

"Enter!"

"Lord Kazekage!"

Pushing open the office door, Pakura glanced at the Kazekage, who sat in his chair handling official business. She walked to the sofa beside him, sat down, and began resting.

During the war, she had not thought much of it. But after the war ended, she discovered that the village seemed rather short on ninja.

Over these past two months, she had barely had any free time.

She had thought she could rest for a few days after returning to the village. Yet before she had even stepped through her front door, the Kazekage had summoned her again.

After finishing the document in his hands, Rasa looked at Pakura, who was boredly fiddling with her hair, and smiled.

"Pakura, you've had a hard journey."

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Kazekage."

Pakura let go of her hair and looked at the Kazekage, her tone somewhat weary.

"Is there another mission?"

"Mm."

Rasa nodded.

Then he searched through the documents on his desk, took out a scroll, and placed it on the table. In a low voice, he said,

"The negotiations with Kirigakure have yielded results. After discussion among the senior officials, we have agreed to their terms."

"Oh?"

Pakura perked up and looked at Rasa, frowning.

"What terms?"

Rasa interlaced his fingers. After making several changes to the treaty Sunagakure had signed with Konoha, he slowly said,

"Cease hostilities with Kirigakure, pay reparations, and provide military support under certain circumstances."

After hearing Rasa describe the terms of the ceasefire, Pakura's face darkened, and anger instinctively rose in her heart.

Pay! Pay! Pay! At this rate, Sunagakure might as well disband.

"Oh, right!"

As Rasa tossed the scroll in his hand to Pakura, he continued,

"Next, we need to send an envoy to Kirigakure.

The villagers still do not know that the village intends to make peace with Kirigakure. The higher-ups are also afraid the villagers may cause trouble, so they have chosen to suppress the matter until the right time in the future, when they will reveal everything to them.

So this is a confidential mission. You alone will go to Kirigakure—"

"Understood."

Pakura stood up and accepted the mission scroll expressionlessly. After bidding Rasa farewell, she left the Kazekage Office at once.

If she had a choice, she truly did not want to accept a mission related to a ceasefire agreement.

It was not only humiliating—it damaged the village's reputation.

Once the daimyo learned that the village had signed another agreement like this, he would probably cut the already meager funding again.

A vicious cycle.

At that moment.

The instant Pakura used the Body Flicker to leave, Asuka hurried home to start tidying up.

For the past two months, he had been staying at Pakura's house.

It was fairly clean overall, but cat hair was everywhere.

Tap!

Asuka was cleaning up cat hair when he heard a faint sound at the windowsill. Without even raising his head, he said,

"Fei Fei, how about I just shave all your fur off?"

The Orange Cat, which had just returned from Konoha, froze midstep. It raised its head and stared at Asuka, busy in the living room, with disbelief before indignantly saying,

"Bastard, how is that any different from stripping someone in the street?"

"I'll make you a couple of outfits to cover yourself up."

"Pah! Who would wear clothes made from your old underwear?"

As it spoke, it jumped onto the table Asuka had just wiped clean, removed the secret letter tied to its back, tossed it onto the table, and continued,

"Your superior has assigned you a mission."

"What mission?"

"Her husband went missing. She wants you to try your luck in the Land of Water and help look for him."

Hearing that, Asuka set down his broom and asked in confusion,

"Why not send ninja from the village?"

"Concern clouds judgment!"

The Orange Cat stretched lazily and said casually,

"The village already sent people.

But another person means another pair of hands. She saw that you were nearly done with your mission, so she simply had you make a trip to the Land of Water. Think of it as sightseeing."

Hearing this, Asuka picked up the mission scroll on the table and scanned its contents.

A moment later, he turned toward the Land of Water and said with some schadenfreude,

"Is Sarutobi Shinnosuke really that stupid? How could an assassination end up like this?"

"It's not entirely his fault!"

The Orange Cat suddenly perked up. It jumped onto Asuka's shoulder in a few quick steps, pressed close to his ear, and shared the gossip it had heard.

"Apparently, before Sarutobi Shinnosuke could succeed, a Sand Ninja accidentally discovered his identity.

But because they were allies, he did not attack the Sand Ninja.

Later, apparently Sunagakure and Kirigakure were preparing to make peace. Then, after getting drunk one time, the Sand Ninja who had uncovered Sarutobi Shinnosuke's identity reported him.

And after that... Sarutobi Shinnosuke got unlucky."

Asuka looked through the window at the pedestrians coming and going along the street, an exasperated look appearing on his face.

The people of Sunagakure had turned on their allies awfully fast.

Less than three months after signing the treaty, they had sold a Konoha Ninja to Kirigakure.

This style of doing things was even more rotten than Grass Country's.

Still, using words like "apparently" meant there was no evidence.

To preserve stability with Sunagakure, the village probably would not do anything to them.

Tsk, tsk.

Hearing the tsking sound beside his ear, Asuka bent down to pick up the broom from the floor. As he swept up the cat hair, he said,

"You're back."

Pakura nodded. Catching sight of the yellow cat hair on the floor from the corner of her eye, she took the Orange Cat lying on Asuka's shoulder into both hands. As she kneaded it, she asked,

"When do you plan to leave Sunagakure?"

Ignoring the Orange Cat's pleading eyes, Asuka said,

"In the next couple of days."

Then, looking at Pakura's haggard face, he teased,

"Are you planning to escort me back to Konoha?"

Pakura curled her lips, hugged the Orange Cat, sat on the sofa, and said casually,

"Don't even think about an escort. I have another mission next.

I only have one day off. I want to lie around at home for the whole day."

"A mission? Where are you planning to go next?"

Asuka looked at Pakura with pity.

The people of Sunagakure really did keep working the same person to the bone.

He had only just returned from a two-month mission, rested for one day, and now he had to go on another mission.

Pakura looked up at the ceiling and warned him.

"Don't pry into classified information! We're only temporary allies right now; we're not close enough to share mission details."

"Aren't we friends?"

At the word "friends," Pakura froze for a moment. Then she looked Asuka up and down a few times and sneered.

"Friends have secrets too. Don't pry into them so casually."

After saying that, she saw him fall unusually silent and thought she might have spoken too harshly.

After organizing her wording in her mind, she spoke again.

"Because our positions are different, sometimes the things I say could very well bring severe losses—or even disaster—to my village."

"That's true."

Asuka nodded, then reached out to rub the Orange Cat's head and asked,

"Pakura, what plans do you have for the future?"

"None."

Pakura shrugged and curled up on the sofa, saying wearily,

"Nothing more than carrying out missions and teaching disciples. Maybe one day in the future, I'll die on the battlefield.

What about you?"

As for me... Uchiha Asuka likewise leaned against the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as he began recalling the past.

Whether when he was young or now,

his plans for the future seemed to have always been simply to survive.

Then find a girlfriend, get married, and have children.

He glanced at Pakura, whose face was full of drowsiness as she yawned, and his expression suddenly turned strange.

Should I practice now??

Then confess once when I leave Sunagakure??

After struggling with himself for a while, he looked at Pakura, whose eyes were gradually closing, moved his lips, and silently said,

"Pakura, I like you."

Pakura had originally been forcing herself to stay awake, intending to chat with Asuka for a while longer.

But through the narrow slit left by her eyes, she watched as his lips went from tightly shut to slightly parted, then moved up and down a few times to say something so unbelievable. Her drowsiness instantly vanished without a trace.

Did he really think other people couldn't read lips?

"..."

The strange silence lasted several seconds. Just as Asuka was about to practice again, Pakura slowly raised her head and fixed her gaze on him. Her willow brows shot up as she said coldly,

"Is this how you treat your friends?"

???

Looking at Pakura, who had suddenly become fully awake, he sniffed and put on an innocent expression.

This girl... hadn't been asleep? "Well..."

Asuka's mouth twitched. Then he raised a finger and said with a serious expression,

"Actually, you're my only female friend."

"We..."

Pakura's raised hand stiffened. Looking into Asuka's ink-black eyes, so clear that they reflected her own image, the words "we can't even be friends anymore" rose to her lips before she finally swallowed them.

It seemed like he was telling the truth.

No, even if he was telling the truth, what did that have to do with me?

We aren't even from the same village.

After blanking out for a moment, she stuffed the Orange Cat in Asuka's arms, subtly turned her gaze away, and said indifferently,

"For the last two days, go stay at an inn yourself."

"Well—"

Before he could say anything else, Pakura opened the door and directly threw Asuka out.

Bang! Hearing the door slam shut behind him, Asuka lowered his head to look at the Orange Cat in his arms and muttered,

"Tell me, does this count as a failure?"

"It definitely counts as a failure. You and that woman have no chance, seriously."

The Orange Cat licked its ruffled fur and said speechlessly,

"Also, I hate that woman. She actually stroked my fur the wrong way."

Creak!

As soon as it finished speaking, the door opened again. Pakura came to Asuka's side expressionlessly, grabbed the Orange Cat by the scruff of its neck, turned around, and went back inside.

Bang! After shutting the door from the inside, Pakura leaned her back against it and narrowed her eyes at the Orange Cat that had been badmouthing her. The chill in her voice made all the fur on its body stand on end.

"Actually, I know how to stroke fur the right way."

"Well..."

The Orange Cat hesitated. Seeing Pakura stare at it expressionlessly, it carefully said,

"Although it isn't the first time someone has stroked my fur the wrong way, none of them felt as good as you."

Hearing those words overflowing with the desire to survive, Pakura gave a noncommittal nod.

Gulp!

Sensing that it might be in danger, the Orange Cat swallowed hard. Then, after silently counting the time in its heart, its whiskers began twitching involuntarily.

So much time had passed. If Uchiha Asuka were going to save it, he would have done so already.

Thinking this, it squeezed its head past Pakura's arm to look at the tightly shut door and shouted at the top of its lungs,

"Damned Uchiha! Your whole clan is made of bastards! I must have lost my mind back then to let you trick me away with a few cans of food!"

At that moment.

Standing outside the door, Asuka picked at his ear and looked at the swiftly moving white clouds in the sky, thinking to himself,

Did I just feel Pakura's breathing get a little faster?

The next morning.

Asuka tidied himself up, then arrived at Pakura's home carrying a bag of steamed buns.

He planned to take back his Summoning Beast and then subtly tell Pakura about the matter that would affect her future.

Unfortunately, too much time had passed since his transmigration, and he had forgotten exactly when Sunagakure had sold Pakura out.

How could he reveal this without driving a wedge between them? Knock! Knock! Knock! After knocking for a long time, Asuka received no response from inside.

Just as he took out a key and was about to unlock the door and enter, a cat's head suddenly poked out from the Second Floor and shouted down at him,

"Bastard, can you stop disturbing people while they sleep? Pakura left last night."

Looking up at the sleepy-eyed Orange Cat, Asuka stroked his chin and asked in surprise,

"Fei Fei, you haven't lost any arms or legs, have you?"

Hearing that, it thought about how Pakura had tormented it all night, and a look of grief and indignation instantly appeared on its face.

It looked down at Asuka standing on the ground, then jumped directly from the Second Floor. Its paws wildly swiped at his face, and its tone was filled with grim resolve.

"Damned Uchiha, let's die together!"

P.S.: Two chapters combined into one.