Akira asks Kazuki again, "Why did you save me?"
Kazuki sheathed his sword and replied, "Because I don't see people from other villages as natural enemies, and besides, I know you're not a bad guy."
Akira scoffed. He looked at Kazuki and then said, "Do you know how many people I have killed?"
Kazuki's expression remained calm. Kazuki replies, "I have killed many people as well."
Kazuki didn't want to talk about that anymore, so he changed the subject and asked him, "So, what are you gonna do now?"
Akira sighed and replied, "Going alone will be dangerous right now. I will send a message to Kumo using a messenger hawk."
Kazuki nodded. he says, "Good decision, but what will you do if they intercept the hawk and stop your message from reaching?"
Akira then replies with a smirk, "The Raikage isn't stupid. If he doesn't get my report, he will get suspicious and send some shinobi either way."
"Alright, take care then," Kazuki said.
They parted ways after a while.
While Kazuki and Yuki were walking in the village streets, they noticed a dumpling shop.
They decide to take a break and eat. They ordered a lot of dumplings and sat on a wooden bench.
Yuki smiled brightly as she ate. "These dumplings are so good!" she said.
Kazuki replied, "Yeah, they are."
Yuki said, "I had heard they are a speciality of Iwagakure, but I didn't know they would be so good."
Kazuki smiled a little and nodded, but for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off Yuki's smiling face.
After eating, they walked towards the Iwagakure hospital to visit Ryuma.
When they entered his room, they saw that Ryuma was frustrated because he had to stay in bed. He had bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and arms.
Ryuma looked at them and said, "I'm perfectly fine now! I don't need to stay in this stupid bed anymore. I should be outside doing my kenjutsu practice."
Yuki sighed and said, "Ryuma, you have broken ribs and burn marks, you can't just get up and train."
"I told you, I'm alright!" Ryuma argued.
Suddenly, the door slides open and the female doctor comes in. She had a smile on her face, but her face was dark. Her smile looked somewhat threatning.
"Oh?" the doctor said in a sweet but very scary voice. "Did I hear my patient saying he wants to leave his bed?"
Ryuma froze. He immediately laid flat on the bed and pulled the blanket all the way up to his chin.
"N-No ma'am, I didn't say anything like that," Ryuma said nervously.
Kazuki and Yuki tried hard not to laugh out loud.
Kazuki thought, 'What did she do to him that he's so terrified of her..'
After a few days, in Kumo they receive the letter from Akira.
The Fourth Raikage, A, was sitting in his office reading the message. He was furious.
"What is the meaning of this?!" A shouted.
He smashed his fist on his desk and it broke into pieces. He asks an elder standing in front of him, "Which guards did you assign to Akira?"
The elder stepped back and said the names in a little fearful voice.
A is furious because he has never heard of these shinobis. He glared at the elder and asked, "Why didn't you send elite shinobi with him?"
The elder starts sweating and said, "A-all the other elders together decided this, Lord Raikage."
A knew that wasn't the real reason. They just didn't care about Akira because of his appearance and traits.
A said with an intimidating voice, "I will assign shinobies to send to Iwa myself and call a meeting. I want to meet all the Elders, tell them it's very urgent."
"R-right away." The elder replied and ran away.
Scene shifts to Kazuki and his group.
After Ryuma was healed enough to travel, Team Akari left Iwagakure. Ryuma has healed enough to travel, but he's still advised not to fight.
The three genin and Akari went straight to the Hokage building to report their mission.
In the Hokage office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was sitting at his desk. He looked at the three genin with a proud smile.
Hiruzen said, "You have all made the Leaf Village proud by reaching the finals. I heard that Akira kid was really strong, newer generations of the other villages seem quite promising as well."
He then looked at Kazuki and said, "Congratulations on being the runner up, Kazuki Uchiha."
Kazuki bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen said, "As a reward for your excellent performance in the exams, I have something for you."
He also gives him 100k Ryo and the other two 50k Ryo as a reward. He placed the heavy pouches of money on the desk.
Ryuma and Yuki's eyes widened. That was a lot of money for a genin. Kazuki took his pouch and felt the heavy weight of the coins inside.
Kazuki thought, '100,000 ryo? I didn't think he would be so generous to give us this much even though we lost.'
Akari smiled and said, "You guys earned it. Take some time off to rest and spend your money wisely."
They thanked the Hokage and left the office.
Kazuki walked through the streets of Konoha, holding his pouch of money. He started heading back to the Uchiha compound. As he walked, he thought about his old, small apartment with its cracked walls and cheap furniture.
Kazuki thought, 'It would be a good idea to save some more money and buy a new house, I can't live in that shitty apartment forever.'
[We're so back]
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