Hey guys, Today I'll be uploading three chapters: one to make up for yesterday's missed upload, another for today, and a third for reaching 100 Power Stones before the reset. Thank you so much for your support, and please keep giving Power Stones so I can continue uploading chapters! If we reach 200 Power Stones, I'll upload another chapter instantly!
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The waves of the desert never stopped—and even less for someone like Pakura. The years of her life spent serving to help her village and giving her all had shaped her into a very strong kunoichi.
It was obvious: genin at 5 years old, promoted to chūnin at 8, and jōnin at 12. It was quite surprising for most people, but for powerful shinobi, it wasn't the same.
At 13 years old, Pakura had come to a conclusion: talent and bloodlines was almost everything. No matter how strong your foundations were or how many years you trained, you wouldn't reach jōnin without talent—and even less beyond that if you don't have something unique.
Two years ago, she had met by chance two kids younger than her. She didn't think much of them at first and challenged them to a battle to kick them out of the training ground. She even came close to killing both if her Scorch Release orbs had hit them.
But before her eyes and expectations, both boys managed to last 4 minutes and came out alive—barely—from their confrontation. It opened her eyes to the reality that, between her talent and being a kunoichi, she had forgotten the main reason she chose to be a shinobi.
Her path was simple: be a proud ninja of Suna and help her village however she could. That's why she took any mission that was needed. She never questioned it—she just did it. The village was the most important thing to her.
And seeing how two kids opened her eyes again to what she had lost through all the missions, curiosity led her to observe them on her days off—more Daigo, who was the easiest because she didn't have to try as hard as if she followed Sasori, who lived with Chiyo and would discover her.
Though she thought it would be easy, since shortly after starting to observe Daigo, he seemed to notice and invited her to train with him. He even shared theories about his techniques.
This made the solitary Pakura—who preferred missions and being alone—start spending more time training with Daigo.
That's when Daigo let her know what he had in mind: creating a bloodline from nothing—something shinobi would call a dream, but for Pakura, it could be possible.
So she helped him. She taught him scrolls about Scorch Release and even explained how she mixed both wind and fire natures to used her bloodline.
Though nothing came out in two years, neither gave up. She knew Daigo was stubborn and wouldn't surrender—especially knowing he wanted to be the Fourth Kazekage.
That also surprised her and left her thinking that maybe she wanted to be Kazekage too—though she later dismissed the idea. It wasn't her style. She preferred being in the field on missions, and maybe later training the younger generation and helping Suna even more.
If Daigo became Kazekage, she would support him in whatever he needed. Currently, she was returning from an A-rank mission.
Though the mission was A-rank, it wasn't difficult—just escorting some nobles from Suna to the Land of Hot Springs, so they had to pass through the Land of Fire, avoiding most contact with Konoha ninjas.
Finishing, Pakura returned with two chūnin under her command. Everything went perfectly on the way back, so Pakura took the time to think about her life until an explosion ahead was heard, along with a curtain of smoke appearing.
At the explosion ahead, both chūnin looked at Pakura, silently asking what to do. Pakura said nothing—just nodded—and the three started moving toward the area, this time with full attention on what was happening.
Getting closer, they heard clashes of metal along with fire and lightning jutsu, giving them an idea of what was going on.
The three approached from the trees close enough to see the Konoha ninjas' vests along with Kumogakure ninjas in a fierce confrontation.
Not wanting to draw attention, Pakura decided to just observe. She wanted to know what caused this. The battle didn't last much longer, where the Konoha ninjas barely won—not without losing one of their own to the final attack from the last Kumo ninja.
Seeing everything was over, she was about to leave—but seeing the Konoha ninja approach the body of a Kumo ninja and pull out a scroll caught her attention. She couldn't let this pass.
She knew it would be dangerous, and if things went wrong, it could start major tension between Suna and Konoha. But who would know if it happened fast enough to blame it all on Kumo?
Pakura, along with the two chūnin, used shunshin to appear near the trio of surviving Konoha ninjas, quickly finishing the job.
A kunai to the throat—the two chūnin ended two Konoha ninjas—and for Pakura, a simple wind-infused kunai finished the one with the scroll, which fell to the ground upon impact—but Pakura caught it before it hit.
Seeing she had it and checking the Konoha ninja's pockets, she grabbed everything she could as quickly as possible, giving the signal to her team and getting out of there at the fastest speed they could. With this information, they should get to Suna as quickly as possible and give it to the Kazekage.
And luckily for Pakura's team, they arrived safely—though tired—to Suna, able to personally deliver the scroll to the Kazekage and explain what happened, along with the success of the A-rank mission.
Successful on both fronts, Pakura earned a few days off that she wouldn't waste—but first, before anything, she needed a good rest and a good bath. That's why she paid so much for her apartment to have all the privilege.
That's how Pakura enjoyed her first day off in her apartment, resting.
The second day was different—she went to restock her tools and get a check-up with the medics to verify her body was healthy. But by midday, she had finished all her tasks for the day, and without meaning to, her feet moved on their own toward the training grounds.
Looking ahead, she noticed Daigo in a meditation pose, sitting on a rock while everything around him seemed in peaceful harmony.
Approaching without making noise, she just watched him from her spot and waited—without counting the time, since she had nothing to do. She observed him for so long that the bright day with the sun at its peak lowered, and night began to fall—until finally Daigo opened his pink eyes.
Finding the sight of Pakura watching him with no expression.
"Huh? Pakura-san, how long have you been here?" Daigo asked, looking curiously at Pakura, who—before the words came out she was deep in her mind
"I just got here," Pakura responded, now focusing her gaze on Daigo's dark circles.
"You just got here? Well, I just finished my meditation. Do you need something?" Daigo asked.
"How's your project going? Anything new?" Pakura asked, changing the subject.
"Nothing yet. I had to put it on hold for a while. I've been on missions for months without stopping, and now we got a break again," Daigo responded, stretching his sleepy muscles.
"I see. That's why I hadn't seen you in a while. Seems we were both busy," Pakura said, looking at the moon.
"That's right. But you've grown, Pakura. Changed your diet or something?" Daigo said, looking at Pakura from head to toe.
"I didn't know you were a pervert, Daigo. Are the hormones getting to you?" Pakura asked, looking at him.
At this, Daigo could only shake his head, and an awkward smile appeared on his face.
"That's not what I meant. I was talking about height. I'm currently 150 cm, and you're almost catching up to me," Daigo said, looking at her.
At this, Pakura could only look away to avoid Daigo noticing the blush on her cheeks.
"I'm in my growth years, and I still have more to go. The difference is that you're very tall for your age," Pakura said, now back to normal.
"Well, you're right about that. Though, how old are you, Pakura? I've never asked," Daigo asked.
"Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to ask a woman's age?" Pakura said to Daigo.
"Huh? But you're not a woman yet—you're a girl—so it doesn't count," Daigo responded.
"That has nothing to do with it, and I'm not a girl," Pakura said, raising her voice—it seemed that was a topic Pakura didn't like talking about.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Pakura-chan. How about we go eat something? I've been meditating all day, and my stomach is telling me I need food," Daigo said, turning around and starting to walk toward the city.
Pakura didn't take long and did the same—both walking toward Daigo's favorite shop that sold spicy seasoned meat skewers, which had become both their favorite.
Daigo and Pakura enjoyed meat skewers until full, both sighing from eating so much.
"This is the best place in the world. What do you think, Pakura-chan?"
"Don't call me -chan—just Pakura. And it's not bad," Pakura responded, finishing her last bite.
"Huh? But Pakura-chan sounds good. Well, I'm heading out—I'm sleepy. See you, Pakura," Daigo said, standing from his chair with a smile on his face.
But before taking a step to leave, Pakura's quick hand grabbed his ear, pulling him back into the shop.
"Daigo, aren't you forgetting something?" Pakura's voice said, this time sounding drier than before, making Daigo swallow saliva.
"Huh? What's wrong, Pakura-chan? I didn't forget anything. HEY, look at that over there!" Daigo said with sweat drops falling from his head as he pointed to the other side of the shop, making Pakura look—though she found nothing. Turning her gaze back to Daigo,
though instead of Daigo, he had a meat skewer in his hand, making Pakura only curse to herself as she saw the waiter approach and hand her the bill for all the food they ate.
"I swear I'll burn you alive next time, Daigo," was Pakura's last thought as she paid.
On the other side of Suna,
Daigo walked happily through Suna's streets on his way home until he felt a chill throughout his body.
"Huh? A ghost touched me—that has to be it. There's no one in this world who hates me enough to curse me," he said while whistling happily on his way home.
End of chapter