"I sent Naruko to the store for some spices," Kushina answered, setting the kettle on the stove.
"I see. How have you been, overall? I've been pretty busy lately - I can't even remember the last time I stopped by my own apartment," Akira replied calmly, glancing around the house for anything new.
"I get it. Besides running your business, you're also taking medical-nin courses... and Mikoto told me that Fujiko-san started training you too." Saying this, Kushina led Akira into the living room.
"Yeah... she's been working me hard. Old lady Fujiko knows her stuff. Now, every few seconds, I'm checking my footing, and if I hear anything behind me, I shift to the side. It's hard to control."
"Hehe, that's how it goes. But with time, you'll learn to sense and tell apart real threats. We've all been through it." Kushina also noticed that Akira's walk had changed a bit. He shifted his center of gravity more carefully now, keeping his weight on the balls of his feet, barely touching his heels to the floor. "How are the courses going?"
"It's mostly theory so far - nothing too difficult." Waving it off, Akira stopped by the couch, spun on his heel, and sat down gracefully, crossing one leg over the other. Not letting her imagination run wild, Kushina looked up and sat on the opposite couch. That's when she noticed dark marks on two fingers of Akira's left hand.
Akira caught her gaze, raised his palm, and turned it toward her.
"That's... a release seal, lightning... Did you put a seal on yourself that shocks people?" Kushina asked, raising an eyebrow.
But what are those lines around his fingers? Curious, she got up and moved closer to Akira to examine the chains. Taking his warm hand in hers, she studied the kanji more closely, but still couldn't figure out why Akira had drawn chakra chains around two fingers.
"I used some of what I learned about transformers to boost the seal's power. From my tests, it can easily drop any chunin, maybe even a jonin, unless they're a lightning specialist."
"I see... In principle, anyone who can convert chakra to lightning can send a shock with a touch, but it takes more focus, and the effect is about C-rank at best. Can you show me how it works?" Kushina asked, intrigued.
Akira agreed, asking if she had a small piece of meat or a sausage in the kitchen.
"Oh, I have a chicken neck I set aside for soup." Nodding, Kushina went to the kitchen and brought back a piece of chicken on a plate, still half-frozen.
Without delay, Akira channeled chakra into the seal and touched the chicken.
With a small flash, steam immediately poured from the neck, followed by smoke a second later.
Pulling his finger away, Akira turned the plate so Kushina could see the blackened patches of meat.
He turned such a simple seal into a deadly weapon. And all it took was some basic knowledge of electricity and a beginner's fuin book... amazing. Kushina, genuinely impressed by the breakthrough, couldn't help but ask how long it took him to come up with and implement the idea. His answer floored her:
"I fiddled with it for two days - maybe eight hours total," Akira said, as if it were nothing special.
He's got real talent! Kushina thought again, convinced.
"Do you have any ideas for making the seal even stronger? And... could I ask a favor? Can you put it on my skin, but in a way that it doesn't activate every time I channel chakra into my hand?" He showed with his thumb how easily the ink smudged on skin.
"Stronger? Hmm... I'm not sure." Looking thoughtful, Kushina sat down next to him and unsealed a sheet of paper from her wrist. She didn't need ink or a brush - she could burn the kanji into the paper with chakra alone. "Well, you could add a few kanji to speed up chakra flow, but that would increase chakra consumption... Oh, right! You could make a two-layer seal. Yours would be standard and activate by default, and the one I add would need a trigger word. Hm, we need an activation word."
"Like 'katsu' for explosive tags?" Akira asked, listening closely.
"Exactly." Kushina nodded, then turned to him. "What keyword do you want to use?"
"Hm, it should be short... Let's go with 'bam'." Next to the seal on the paper - which matched the one on Akira's hand - Kushina drew a parallel circuit with the right kanji. Then she took the same unlucky chicken neck and placed it on the paper, right over the release seal. To channel chakra into the fuin, she didn't need a gathering kanji - she just put her finger at the start of the seal and sent chakra with the word, "Bam."
Immediately, both Akira and Kushina had to close their eyes for a second from the bright flash, then started coughing from the huge cloud of dark smoke rising from the charred neck.
"Khem-khem, I think this seal is a little too dangerous," Akira said, still coughing.
"For the target, yeah. As long as you're careful, you'll be fine. Besides, since it's lightning made from your chakra, it won't have the same destructive effect on you. But to be really safe, I'd recommend learning to change your chakra nature to lightning."
I wouldn't mind having a seal like that myself... With my damaged chakra system, I can't use anything above C-rank. But this seal could easily count as A-rank for damage. For S, it just needs more range and area.
****
"Ow, ow, that hurts. Sheeeeeesh." The weird male noises coming from the living room caught Naruko off guard as she came home.
"Don't move, or I'll have to start over," her mother's voice called back.
What are Akira and Mom doing? Setting her grocery bag on the floor, Naruko tiptoed to the living room, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Peeking around the corner, she saw the top of her mother's head bobbing up from behind the couch. On one side, a pair of male legs stuck out, and on the other, an arm.
"I can't help it, I wasn't prepared for this," Akira grunted, legs shaking.
At that moment, Naruko remembered a certain book she'd bought soon after learning the shadow clone jutsu. Her cheeks turned red, and her mind filled with not-so-innocent images.
No way... Slipping away, Naruko circled through the hallway to peek into the living room from the other side. Her thoughts were a mess, and her heart ached a little, but her legs moved on their own. Throwing the door open, she saw her mother sitting on Akira's chest. His face was twisted in pain, not pleasure, and Kushina, smiling, kept saying, "Almost done, almost done," as she pinned Akira's wrist to the couch and drew a fuin on his hand. Her knees held his shoulders down.
"There, all done." She finished with a satisfied smile, still sitting on Akira.
"What are you doing?" Naruko asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Huh? Oh, I didn't even hear you come in." Looking a little flustered, Kushina quickly got off Akira, smoothing the wrinkles in her house dress.
"I would've taken a painkiller if I'd known the fuin would be burned into my skin," Akira said, sitting up and glancing at Naruko with a smile.
"Honestly, the pain's not that bad - it's just that fingertips are more sensitive. Want me to put a sealing fuin on your wrist?" Kushina grinned.
"Um, sure, but not today." Naruko didn't need an explanation to figure out what was going on. Thanks to her mom, fuinjutsu wasn't a mystery to her.
"What did you get, Akira-san?" Naruko, knowing Akira was only sixteen, decided she could drop the formal "you" and just use "san."
"Death Finger," he replied with a smile.
"Death Finger?" Both girls looked at Akira in surprise. Naruko, because she'd never heard of such a fuin, and Kushina, because the name itself was unexpected.
"Yeah, or Shocking Finger, or Shocking Touch. I haven't settled on a name yet." He watched with satisfaction as the seals on his fingers faded in and out.
"How does it work? Whoa! Just a touch? That's AWESOME! Can it really kill someone? Mooooom." The barrage of questions ended with Naruko giving Kushina her best puppy-dog eyes.
"No. Not until you're a chunin. Don't even think about me putting that fuin on you," Kushina said flatly.
Heh, knowing the canon, I can say she'll never get that fuin. War hero, one of the strongest shinobi in history, Hokage - and still a genin in the end, I thought, watching Naruko's pleading.
Finally, Naruko zipped through all five stages of acceptance and started happily asking me about my plans for the day. Her suggestion to go to Ichiraku was quickly shot down in favor of studying for the annual finals.
"Oh, right! Akira-san, you came to help me, didn't you?" she asked hopefully.
Well... not really, but yeah. I nodded. After tea, we were going to head to Naruko's room, but she jumped up and asked me to wait a bit.
"Hehe, she probably needs to clean up again," Kushina said, shaking her head as she poured another cup of tea for herself and me.
While waiting for Naruko to tidy up, we chatted. I shared that in the Uchiha district, construction was speeding up on a spa, a library, and a women's clothing store - all thanks to Mezumi's help.
If my sister had the same education I did, I'm sure she'd be able to pull off all my business ideas even faster and more profitably, I thought, after seeing Mezumi's management skills firsthand.
Ten minutes later, Naruko, blushing, invited me to her room.
A boy is coming into my room for the first time. This is so exciting, dattebayo. *A boy is coming into my room for the first time. This is so exciting, dattebayo*, she thought, clenching her fists and trembling a little as she led me inside.
****
"Have you ever even opened these books?" I asked with a sigh, running my finger over the covers of what looked like brand-new textbooks. "Kinematics," "Mathematics," "History," "Geography," "Chakra Theory," "Sign Language," "Information Encryption Methods" - Naruko clearly had gaps here. To my surprise, she actually knew biology, geometry, survival theory, and combat tactics pretty well.
Though with the last two, it's hard for me to judge. My only survival teacher was Bear Grylls on 'Man vs. Wild,' and as for tactics... I doubt the ninja academy cares about chess strategies, and my knowledge from 'The Art of War' isn't enough for a world where shinobi are the main fighting force.
"Yes, really!" Naruko nodded, not blushing at all.
"More than once or twice?" I pressed, and saw her shake her head with a huge grin.
Yeah... this isn't something you can learn in a couple of days, but... After thinking for a bit, I decided it wasn't hopeless. Even in a day, you can prep enough to pass, and besides...
"Whoa! Akira-san, how did you make clones with just one seal?" Naruko asked, eyes wide as she looked at my five clones.
"High chakra control and lots of practice," I answered simply, then told her to make five clones too.
Each pair of Akira and Naruko clones grabbed a book and found a spot in the room - some on the bed, some on the floor, wherever there was space. We, the originals, like true tyrants, took the best spot - the desk.
After an hour, the first problems started. Naruko was struggling with kinematics, which wasn't surprising - we'd reached problems that needed deeper math.
"All right, dispel the math clone. Take five minutes to think over what you learned, then go back to kinematics with a clone."
"Where are you going?" Naruko asked.
"I'm going to have some tea, maybe get some air. You focus on the books - your exam's coming up." Leaving my five clones, I stepped out of her room and immediately ran into Kushina with a tray.
"Oh, I was just about to bring you something to snack on," Kushina said with a smile. The tray had two cups of tea and a plate of sweets.
"Thanks," I said, taking a cup. "I'll drink mine in the kitchen." I stepped aside to let Kushina in. She nodded and went into the room, coming out soon after with an empty tray. In silence, we walked to the kitchen, where I sat at the table, watching her prep vegetables for dinner.
Hmm, it's only four in the afternoon. Then again, I'm used to eating at seven or eight - everyone has their own schedule.
"So, how would you rate her knowledge?" Kushina asked, not looking up from the cutting board.
"She's a bit all over the place. Knows some things, not others. A top grade is out of the question," I said, sipping my tea.
"Hah, I thought so... I try to keep an eye on her studies, but it feels like everything goes in one ear and out the other," she sighed.
"It happens. At her age, books are the last thing on her mind. But she's doing well in practice, right?"
"Oh, definitely! In taijutsu, ninjutsu, and bukijutsu, she's one of the best in her class. Genjutsu... well, she's an Uzumaki, so she's as untalented there as I am."
"Survival's what matters. Knowledge and wisdom... those come with time." Actually, I've known people in their thirties who made me question if we were even the same species. Some folks don't know how to live, and some don't know but are convinced they're doing it right. Getting married at eighteen, having kids, taking out a mortgage, a loan for travel and a car - isn't that just foolish? Sure, some say that's just how life turned out, but brains are for thinking ahead, then acting.
That excuse doesn't work in a world with condoms, birth control, and, if all else fails, abortion. Me, I'm not having kids until I'm sure I can take down the world's strongest with my pinky. Money's not a worry - the last bricks of my business empire's foundation are almost in place. Once my roots are deep in Tanzaku, I can start expanding into the western Fire Country, and maybe even reach the richest prefectures.
The capital and the biggest port, which my sister controls, are definitely on that list. With endless cash flow, I can start the kind of research that really interests me. Of course, the Hokage will want to stick his nose in, but he won't be around forever.
"Yeah... sometimes I regret that my daughter's destined to be a shinobi," Kushina said sadly, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Don't worry. As long as she has you, she'll be fine. By the way, what are you making?" I changed the subject, setting down my cup and stepping over to Kushina at the stove.
"Potato stew," she replied, turning her head. "You'll have dinner with us, right?"
"Oh, I rarely get to eat that - of course." Wanting to see the process, I stepped closer, standing beside Kushina. Seeing my interest, she started describing her favorite recipe, but I wasn't really listening. My eyes were glued to her chest, swaying gently as she stirred the pan.
"Mmm, I see." I had no idea what I was agreeing to, but it seemed to satisfy Kushina, who kept talking about something I wasn't paying attention to.
Tearing my gaze away from her chest, I focused on her shapely backside, outlined by her dress. Not as slim as Mikoto's, but still juicy and attractive in its own way.
Kushina shot me a quick glance, definitely noticing where my eyes were, but she didn't say anything and kept fussing with the vegetables.
An attractive woman, cooking dinner at the stove. The only thing missing from this perfect picture is Kushina wearing nothing but an apron.
Yeah... lately, I get turned on way too easily. Is it the morning training, where I sometimes feel like I might die? Maybe my instincts are in overdrive. Or maybe it's just being around two beautiful women at home. Who knows. But right now, my body is making it very clear what it wants. The only question is... ah, why am I even hesitating? She's a great woman, I'm a decent guy. Obviously, she likes me, and a woman in her thirties isn't going to bother with all the dating phases. Dates, courtship, romance, holding hands - that's for young girls. Sure, those steps matter, but for some people... heh, like me, they can be skipped.
Stepping up behind Kushina, I wrapped one arm around her waist and laid my other hand over hers as she stirred the pan.
Don't let Naruko leave her room, I sent a mental order to my clones.
Feeling Kushina tense up, a wide smile slowly spread across my face - one she couldn't see.
"Akira..." Her voice was quiet, warning and warm at the same time. She didn't pull away.
"If you want me to stop - say stop," I murmured, lowering the flame and reaching past her to click the stove to low. "I'll behave. Mostly."
Her breath hitched when my lips brushed the spot just below her ear. The wooden spoon paused, then resumed its slow circle.
"We shouldn't... Naruko is home," she whispered.
"She's studying. And my clones are very persuasive."
Kushina let out a tiny laugh, half exasperation, half something else. She set the spoon aside and, with deliberate calm, put a lid on the pan.
"Two minutes," she said, turning in my arms. "No more."
"Deal."
I didn't waste the countdown. Our first kiss was careful - a test, a touch - then deepened when her hands slid up my chest and curled behind my neck. She tasted like tea and something sweet Makinasa would approve of.
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to soft lips, the faint scent of stew, and the warmth pressed against me.
Then common sense elbowed its way back in. Kushina breathed out, forehead resting against mine.
"Enough," she said, though her fingers lingered on my jaw. "If we start... I won't stop. Not today."
"Then we don't start," I agreed, drawing back an inch. "Not today."
Her eyes softened - fond and a little frustrated. She reached past me, flicked the flame high again, and picked up the spoon.
"Set the table, will you?" she asked, voice steady. "Plates are in the second cabinet."
"Yes, ma'am."
As I pulled dishes from the cupboard, I felt her glance on me, then slide away. The smile in it was impossible to miss.
*Get a grip, Kushina. Dinner first. Talk later*, she told herself, shoulders squaring as she stirred.
I exhaled, tension settling into something easier. Fine. Dinner first.
And if I was lucky - talk later.
***