Fū just laughed it off, as carefree as ever, patting her chest proudly. "Of course. Chōmei's got a great personality. We're friends."
Seeing that bright, sunny smile, Akira found his own mood lifting a little.
In the end, there really weren't many people in the world who could get along with a tailed beast like that. Later on, Naruto would manage it too, but before him, only Killer B and the girl standing in front of him had pulled it off.
"All right, focus on your exam. We'll meet again if fate feels like it."
Akira waved, then turned and led the Konoha group away.
Watching his back disappear into the distance, Fū sighed. "He's really nice. He figured out I'm a jinchūriki and didn't freak out at all. And he didn't look at me like I was some kind of monster."
Gaara, standing nearby, gave her a flat response. "Of course he didn't. He's the kind of person who can beat down tailed beasts. Why would he be scared of you?"
…
After that little incident, Sunagakure had no choice but to grit its teeth and finish the third stage of the Chunin Exams, even if the village had already lost plenty of face.
The matter involving Fugi was quietly buried. How Suna chose to clean house internally was their business.
Akira ended up staying in Sunagakure for more than another month, taking it easy.
That said, he wasn't exactly idle. During that time, he grew a lot closer to Gaara and his siblings.
Temari in particular had relaxed around him. After seeing more of how he was off the battlefield, she no longer treated him like some walking disaster and even joked with him now and then.
Eventually the mission came to an end, and Akira led the Konoha group back home.
Konoha. Hokage's office.
Sunlight poured through the tall windows and spilled across the desk as Tsunade looked over a list in front of the assembled shinobi.
Akira, Asuma, Gai, Kurenai, and all nine of the younger examinees were present.
Tsunade set the papers down, a satisfied smile touching her lips.
"I've heard all about what happened in Sunagakure. Whether it was responding to the crisis or maintaining the alliance, all of you performed exceptionally well."
"Now then, I'll announce the names of those being promoted to Chunin effective immediately."
A ripple of tightly restrained excitement swept through the room.
"Rock Lee."
The first name out of her mouth was Lee's.
The thick-browed hot-blooded boy trembled with excitement. If not for the setting, he probably would have started doing handstands around the village on the spot.
"Tenten."
Tenten's face lit up just as brightly.
Tsunade went down the list one by one, and in the end everyone realized something surprising.
Everyone had been promoted except Neji.
Lee couldn't help himself. He shot his hand into the air and blurted out, "Tsunade-hime, that doesn't make sense! Neji was one of the best performers out there! If it weren't for him, we'd all have been wiped out!"
"Yeah, there's no way Neji failed!" the others chimed in, speaking up for him at once.
Though Neji felt a flicker of disappointment himself, he kept his expression composed. Sasuke hadn't been promoted the last time either. These decisions could be unpredictable.
Tsunade looked at the children arguing on his behalf, and the smile at the corner of her mouth deepened.
She crooked a finger.
"Hyuga Neji. Akira. Step forward."
The two obeyed.
Tsunade let the smile fade and straightened, her tone turning formal.
"In light of the outstanding skill you both demonstrated during this mission, as well as your pivotal role in resolving the crisis in Sunagakure…"
"I have decided to promote both Hyuga Neji and Akira by exception, effective immediately, to the rank of Jonin."
"What?!"
Even Gai froze, his jaw dropping so hard it nearly hit the floor.
"Tsunade-hime, Akira becoming a Jonin, I support with both hands and both feet. But Neji… isn't this a little too fast?"
"He's an excellent student, no question, but skipping both Chunin and Special Jonin feels like pushing him too hard."
Gai meant it sincerely. Being a Jonin meant taking on S-rank missions. That meant real death, not theory.
Even Neji himself looked stunned, momentarily unable to process the promotion.
That was when Akira smiled and spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight.
"Gai-sensei, honestly, this isn't too much at all."
"A Jonin isn't judged by combat ability alone. What matters just as much is battlefield judgment and leadership."
"In this crisis, Neji showed strategic awareness and command ability far beyond Chunin level. He led his team through a hopeless situation and turned it around. That alone says enough."
"You've trained him longer than anyone. You should know better than the rest of us what kind of potential he has."
Gai paused.
As he replayed Neji's performance in his head, the answer became obvious. Calm, sharp, powerful. Neji really did have the makings of a natural leader.
He finally let out a breath and thumped Neji on the shoulder, tears sparkling in his eyes.
"Akira's right! This is youth! Neji, you've done well!"
Watching Neji step into that new rank, the fire in Lee's eyes only burned brighter.
"So Neji's already a Jonin…! Then I'll have to work ten times harder, a hundred times harder, to catch up!"
"And Akira…" Lee stole a glance at the unfathomable figure nearby. "One day, I'm definitely going to challenge you."
The others looked on in envy at the two who had risen so far ahead, silently vowing to work harder themselves.
Konoha's new generation had finally begun to shine.
In private, even Asuma and Kurenai had their own suspicions, quietly wondering whether Tsunade had only promoted Neji alongside Akira to make Akira's rise feel less abrupt.
After all, anyone with eyes could see that Akira, as Tsunade's personal guard, had already surpassed everyone else in his age group by a ridiculous margin. His promotion to Jonin had really been inevitable for a long time.
The only thing people could have objected to was his age. He was still absurdly young.
And unlike Kakashi's era, this wasn't wartime. Promotion standards were naturally stricter in peacetime.
If the leadership wanted to silence criticism, they needed a solid excuse, and this mission had handed them the perfect one.
Standing partly in the shadows, Sakura stared blankly after Akira's retreating figure, a strange feeling settling in her chest. It felt as though the distance between them had been stretched farther and farther apart by something invisible.
The gap in strength between them now felt like a canyon split across the earth itself, so vast that even looking up at it took effort.
Still, Sakura had at least gotten what she wanted. She had become Tsunade's student, and that was no small thing.
Tsunade had never really gotten much satisfaction out of teaching when it came to Akira. He learned too quickly, too completely, leaving her very little room to enjoy the role of mentor. With Sakura, though, she had finally found that feeling again.
Fortunately, Sakura had the talent to justify it. She truly was gifted. Otherwise, with Tsunade's standards, she never would have been accepted in the first place.
But that was also exactly why Sakura understood better than anyone else what kind of monster Akira really was.
They had never seriously sparred, but every time Tsunade put Sakura through training, the imagined opponent she used as the standard was always Akira.
Even when Akira never set foot on the training grounds, his name seemed to ride on every gust of wind across the empty field.
***************************
Read advanced chapters ahead of everyone else on my P@treon.
P@treon/GodDragcell