[Akari's POV]
The day started wrong.
Kushina was in "mother hen" mode again, hovering around me while I picked at breakfast. I thought it was just her usual antics—until she casually slid open the curtains and let sunlight pour into the room.
The instant rays touched me, I felt the burn. Not visible flames, but a crawling, sizzling sensation under my skin. My resistance timer started ticking down fast.
I hissed, grabbing my sleeve to cover up. "Close it!"
Kushina blinked, then gasped when she saw how pale I went. She slammed the curtains shut so fast the rod nearly fell off.
"Akari?!" Her voice was sharp with panic. "What was that? Are you sick?!"
Minato, already halfway through a scroll, set it down and turned to me, calm but concerned. "Is this something you've been hiding?"
My throat tightened. I hadn't planned to tell them like this. But if I kept wasting resistance minutes on pointless exposure… I wouldn't last.
So I swallowed, forcing my voice steady.
"It's… a condition. A bloodline thing. When my body awakened… I gained high vitality, regeneration, even the start of Wood Release. But—" I lifted my sleeve, showing faint red marks where the sunlight had touched. "The cost is… sensitivity to the sun."
Kushina's eyes softened, even as worry deepened. "So every time you're out in the sun, you… you burn?"
"Not instantly," I lied smoothly, weaving my curse into something human. "It's more like… I can endure it for a while. The stronger I get, the longer I can withstand it. But if I'm careless… it eats me alive."
The silence stretched.
Then, to my shock, Minato nodded thoughtfully. "That explains your vitality. Some bloodlines evolve by trading one weakness for another. We'll make adjustments."
Kushina grabbed my hands, squeezing them tight. "Idiot! You should've told us sooner! From now on, no unnecessary sunlight, got it? We'll train at night, or under shade. You're family. We protect family."
Her words hit harder than any blade. My chest tightened until I almost couldn't breathe.
Family.
They weren't suspicious. They didn't push. They just… accepted me.
For the first time in a long time, I felt something dangerous.
Hope.
[Shisui's POV]
Meanwhile, across the village, I couldn't stop thinking about her.
Akari.
Something was off, and I knew it. The way she moved. The way her chakra felt wrong, slippery, like water that wasn't really water. And last night—her body had healed too fast.
But what stuck with me most was her eyes. That flicker of guilt.
I leaned against the railing of a training ground, arms crossed, Sharingan spinning faintly as I remembered.
"She's not normal," I muttered under my breath.
My teammate Itachi raised an eyebrow at me, calm as ever. "You mean Minato-sama's guest? The one Kushina treats like a sister?"
"Yeah. That one."
Itachi studied me for a long moment, then said softly, "Be careful, Shisui. Doubt clouds judgment. If you're wrong, you'll hurt people you care about."
I knew he was right. But that only made my resolve harder.
Because if I was right… then Akari wasn't just a girl with secrets.
She was a threat.
And I had to uncover the truth before anyone else got burned.
[Akari's POV]
That night, Kushina dragged me outside again, insisting we spar in the moonlight instead of the sun. She was relentless, bright, laughing as she swung her chains around.
"See? Who needs the sun, anyway?" she teased, grinning.
I dodged, barely keeping up, and couldn't help but laugh too.
For a moment, under the stars, it was easy to believe I could belong here.
But in the shadows beyond the training ground, I felt it—eyes watching.
Shisui.
Always watching.
And one day, he'd see too much.