Celestial Path Chapter 24

Yoruichi was obviously done with my bullshit and just grumbled as I put out the forest fire I created. But after Kaori was healed of her minor concussion, she told us she would meet us here tommorrow early for training before we would be leaving for a low C-rank mission.

"Sooo whatcha girls going to do now?" I asked Kiyomi and Kaori, with Kaori leaning up against a tree, obviously still a bit out of it.

"I think that I need to take Kaori home and make sure she eats a good meal before tomorrow. Besides that, I have some chakra studies I want to catch up on I suppose." Kiyomi said thoughtfully.

And you know what. That was fair enough, so I nodded and said. "Alright, you two be careful going home. And Kaori you know to go to the hospital if your head continues to hurt."

I then pulled back up my hood to obscure my too enticing appearance before I headed into Konoha as I needed to pick up some groceries.

But it seems that my appearance wasn't so easily hidden, as the people close to me would pause and stare at my cloaked form as I quickly made my way past them.

After getting some groceries and only once getting stopped sorta due to someone tripping at the sight of me. I decided to get some ramen just for the hell of it after I sealed up the food so I wasn't in a rush.

'I wonder if I can get Kakashi to teach me how to eat with my face covered up.' I mused to myself as I pushed open the flaps to enter Icharaku Ramen.

"Hello Akari, what can I get for you?" Teuchi spoke with an easy smile.

And I ordered a bowl of miso ramen after he did the usual blinking of suprise though I was a bit surprised he didn't get too weird. Either way I got my ramen and with my hood up, so I wasn't bugged by people sitting down the line from me.

"Teuchi! I need three bowls of pork ramen with extra pork ASAP!" Naruko's voice rang out with an amused chuckle following up that I also recongized.

I blinked and turned to the side with my eye's falling upon Naruko and her mother Kushina who both froze as they met my gaze.

"Akari... What the heck happened with you?" Naruko asked as she flushed deeply and I could see her whisker marks getting deeper.

I just shook my head before saying helplessly. "Blame the gods that seem to make me their plaything."

Kushina just stared at me for a long minute before she asked with a dull expression. "How close are you with my daughter?"

And Naruko whirled on her mom and hissed. "Mom! Don't ask that, we are just friends!" Then as Naruko looked away I could barely hear her mutter. "For now at least."

'Uh oh... The biggest kitsune's container is laying a claim on me.' I thought helplessly before I dove back down into my ramen.

"Soooo... No idea how that happened Akari?" Naruko tried to weasel out, to which I just shook my head.

Then I froze as Kushina said with some exasperation. "Great, now I need to worry about the honey pots coming after you. Actually falling in love with you and trying to defect to the village."

Naruko actually paused at that and looked at her mother with a clear alarm before she demanded. "Wait! We are going to Suna for the Chunin exams, what if the Kazekage wants to set him up with Temari or something!?" 

I looked at Kushina, whose face twitched before she shook her head and said calmly. "No way that is going to happen Naruko. He has the Mokuton and our Goddesses Inari and Amaterasu are clearly watching him." 

Naruko all but sagged in clear relief at that news, which made me roll my eyes as I drawled out. "Yeah... Thanks for not studding me out in a marriage to a Hidden Village we are nominally allies with." 

To which Kushina corrected me. "We are not 'nominally' allies. We ARE very good allies as the Uzumaki, Leaf, and Kazekage work together to make powerful seal-based projects with their puppets forming the core of the projects." 

My lips twitched as I imagined some mega-sized puppet mecha. Although ninja's in this world were more focused on actual stealth. Especially with how Samurai, with their extreme physical abilities, had a massive advantage against the ninjas.

Ninjas still had plenty of wide-area jutsu that could cause a good bit of damage.

"So, how is your new team, Akari." Kushina asked casually as she began sipping from her ramen.

Naruko perked up at the question before shrugging as she said in some surprise. "You already threw him on another team?"

"Yup, my Jonin is Yoruchi Shihouin; she is kinda intense. But as a teacher, she has the ability to help me shore up my biggest weakness in my speed." 

Naruko and Kushina shared a look with Naruko asking in confusion. "Yoruichi... I don't know a jonin by that name."

To which Kushina rather bluntly said. "She doesn't serve in the typical Jonin Corps."

Which was a very clear and blunt way of her telling us. 'She is part of Anbu, and does dirty shit for Konoha. Don't ask questions.'

Then I froze as Kushina continued with a dry tone. "On the other hand... Akari, you were rather busy with Jiraiya as well. The Fire Lord and his daughters plan to watch the finals in Suna as well, for some reason."

I laughed awkwardly before I said helplessly. "Yeah I blame Jiraiya for that... Anywho! I think its the perfect time for me to head on back home, haha!"

With my ramen done, I did have the perfect excuse to beat a retreat as I headed home as soon as possible, as my new appearance was entirely too damned much trouble, honestly!

-

Waking up the next day, I awoke without Eleanor, surprisingly, so I spent the rest of the morning training myself with my various abilities and teasing at opening the fourth Inner Gate.

But I still wasn't ready for it just yet. 

I was able to constantly keep the first three gates open with my body, have adapted to it with its infinite life force and extreme regeneration. But going further then my body could allow would mean I couldn't train my body to accept the Gate being constantly opened.

So, beyond just training in the Gates, I spent some time with Queelag, who helped me with my fire jutsu and advised me on how to better control lava and such.

'Hmm, thankfully, Lava release is a rather common bloodline limit with all the villages having some form of it basically.' I mused to myself as some people called the Sarutobi's Burning Ashe jutsu a sort of lava release as well.

"Hmm should probably get going to see my team for our first day." I muttered as I decided to head out early so I could loop around the village's most occupied areas so I could get to the training grounds easier.

Once I got to the training grounds, I saw Kaori and Kiyomi both already leaning on a tree with Kiyome giving me a small smile at my arrival. "You feeling better, Kaori?" I asked the younger sister who go the concussion yesterday.

The Uchiha scowled a bit but nodded before she said in annoyance. "Yeah, I am fine now. I just wish I didn't need to get knocked out during the first training exercise!"

To be fair, for a Genin who graduated early, it was a bit much for Yoruchi to knock her out when she had already taken her 'hostage' at the end of the sparring match.

"Hmm if she does something stupid like that again. I will find out where she lives... And clog her pipes with tree roots or something!" I said with an evil chuckle that made the two Uchiha's face twitch at how petty I was.

"The bloodline that helped build the strongest Ninja Village in the world... Being used to clog and ruin someone's sewer system. Hashirama would be rolling over in his grave." Kiyome said with a sigh.

On the other hand, Kaori snorted and said flatly. "I woudn't be worried about Lord Hashirama's opinion so much... He had a msssive drinking and gambling problem remember!"

'Tsunade is still wandering the land of fire as a notorious gambler and alcholic as well though she isn't 'old' due to her actually becoming a sage as well in this timeline.' I mused to myself before with a crackle of lightning our teacher used her elemental shunshin to arrive.

"And a good morning to you brats!" Yoruchi irrevelantly said in greeting that made my eyebrow twitch before my countenance firmed as her teasing grin faded and she spoke more firmly.

"I have a general idea already of your combat capabilities. Especially Akari, and Kiyome's as they have a track record. But now, we will be taking an escort mission for the next few days to get your mission history padded."

I raised an eyebrow at that before asking curiously. "Oh you already took the mission? Can we get to see the mission scroll?" 

To which Yoruchi nodded and then she pulled it out of her hip bag before tossing it towards us.

Kaori went to grab the scroll out of the air but I stopped her and used the back of a kunai I tossed to knock it away from us with Yoruichi laughing heartily at the sight. "Good! That wasn't actually the mission scroll haha!"

And then with a series of harsh cracks the scoll I knocked aside was covered in bright lightning that would have shocked the shit out of anywho caught the damned thing.

Then Yoruichi put the supposed mission scroll on a nearby tree stump with a smile across her face as she said. "Now... Who is going to check the scroll for traps?"

And I just raised an eyebrow before holding up a couple fingers which made a poofing noise as I summoned a shadow clone with Yoruichi snorting and complaining. "Jeez! You aren't any fun Akari. It's like running missions with another Anbu or a more normal Kakashi." 

However... Scrolls and other things that could seal shit was somethihng I was hyper afraid of due to my immortality. If someone actually got sealed in a scroll they would just die of exposure in the void of the scrolls sealing matrix.

But me? Yeah I would be kept in a loop of dying, suffering, and rebirth for god knows how fucking long.

I had the shadow clone go and check the scroll and once it opened it up and scanned it. I felt my shadow clone pop with the memory of it reading the scrolling filling my mind with an unfamilair memory.

Still I knew that the scroll wasn't trapped so I said. "Clear, lets check the scroll." 

We went over to the scroll and I slight frowned at the high C rank mission logo when Yoruichi said she was only going to get a lower ranked one.

"Any particular reason we got an almost B ranked mission?" Kiyome asked rather bluntly as she knew this was out of our wheelhouse.

But Yoruichi then pointed to me and said bluntly. "Between me and Akari here, we can deal with anything short of a Daiyoukai that comes our way." 

Which was the issue of the mission.

[Escort the cursed child to the Temple of Amaterasu. C+]

Yeah... Looking into more details on the mission this was clearly a fucking B rank mission as this was a lower ranked nobles child and heir that had been cursed by a strong youkai that was trying to turn said child into a high ranked youkai.

Not only was such a mission more than C ranked to say the least... "Did you even speak with the Hokage about me going to Amaterasu's temple. What if they just literally don't let me leave?" I demanded as I pointed to the fucking spinning sun halo above my head with my kitsune ears also visibly twitching as well.

Yoruichi paused before chuckling and saying with a helpless smile. "That's the thing Akari... Lady Yae Miko is the one who sponsored the mission and paid for the cursed noble child to be escorted to the temple."

I sagged in place as I could feel it from all the shenangins that Jiraiya got me pulled into in the month plus I spent training with him.

All the bullshit was going to happen.

Kaori then cleared her throat and asked while clearly trying to shift the topic knowing we coudn't do anything about the mission we had been assigned. "So what is our team number anyway? We are an offical Genin team right?"

To which Yoruichi gave us a look of pity before she said softly as though telling us we were dying of cancer. "I am sorry brats... I argued, begged, and pleaded. But they woudn't listen. You are officially the new Team Seven of this cycle!"

And thus I knew I was doomed to missions that would be going off the fucking rails.

"Now, seeing as you got the mission details for tommorrow. How about we get some training in! Akari you get to play the defenseless noble heir, and the other two have to protect you." Yoruchi said while cracking her neck to the side.

My lips twitched at how Yoruchi was clearly trying to get me off the field of so I coudn't just nuke the area with too much fire or mokuton tree's that she woudn't be able to truly deal with.

Still though, my teammates in Kiyome and Kaori also needed the training so I just played hid my kitsune traits with an illusion along with pulling down the hood of my hoodie before I spoke 'helplessly.' 

"Oh no! There is a Kumo ninja who is going to steal me away to there breeding farms!"

There was a pause before Yoruchi's face twitched and she said quietly. "Yo... That's kinda racist Akari. No need to go that far."

"Yeah... Just because Yoruchi has dark skin, doesn't mean she is from Kumo." Kiyome said quietly and I sagged in place at being with the fucking racist card for some reason.

When the only place that 'black' people came from here in the world of Naruto was only from Kumo!

And just to add insult to injury the Celestial Grimoire reached up and grabbed an almost 'medium' quality perk and as it's details hit my mind... I realized it was game over. I had 'won' with the previous bonuses as I finally got what I needed!

[To us everything should come easy- With this perk you have become an absolute prodigy, able to learn anything terrifyingly quickly. With this you could go from a complete novice magic practitioner to an equal of a magic knight captain in weeks at that is only if you practise an hour minimum everyday and if you practise hourly everyday the time could shorten to a few days.]

Well this was going to speed up my ability to throw hands with the gods that seemed to be influencing my rolls.