Welcome Home

Chapter 3

3

Her day went horribly and Akira had no plans of going home with her head stewing. It was never a good idea for her to lash out her anger on Yuudai or to the poor furniture in her house.

After that incident with the stupid kid, Akira was sure her desk would be overflowing with complain letters from parents. That would be if she were lucky. If not, well, she could be unemployed first thing in the morning.

Or right now, depending on the Hokage's mood.

Not that being unemployed really bothered Akira. In fact, that was what she had been asking, begging for, the moment she was placed on that god forsaken place called Ninja Academy.

Her yearly submission of request for transfer and resignation letters would be enough evidence of her utter disgust for the teaching job.

It's not that she dislikes the profession, because she was also once a student at the Academy and had great respect for all her teachers. It's just that she feels that her skills and abilities are misdirected, misplaced and under-utilized.

'I mean, give me a break. I'm qualified for a jounin level and yet here I am, teaching maggots how to hold a kunai. Sure, there are exceptions when some bright-ass kid wanders into my class, but still. I should be out killing someone and -'

Her thoughts were disturbed when Yuudai gently bit her arm. She looked down at the white and gray wolf at her side, now shrunk to his regular size, which is up to her elbow. It's intelligent gray eyes looked up at her.

"Oopss, sorry." Akira said to the wolf. "I forgot, we don't take this road."

Following Yuudai, Akira trudged down to a side street, away from the main road. After a few minutes, they reached the back roads of Konoha, deserted and almost forgotten by many. Except for Akira and her wolf, of course.

Although the main road would've been the easiest way for her to get home, the back roads and side streets are what Akira prefers to use. It's not exactly a welcoming thought to walk down the road and know that the village hates you, right? Besides, walking around the village with a larger-than-normal wolf at your side is enough for anyone to cringe and hide.

'Well, the feeling's mutual', Akira thought grudgingly. 'I don't want to see their dislike and pity anyway. I don't need it.'

Mentally scoffing at the mutual dislike between her and her village, Akira frowned and looked at Yuudai.

"We're okay, just you and me, right Yuudai?" she asked the wolf, ruffling up his fur a bit. Yuudai looked up at her and gave a low growl to which Akira laughed.

"Yeah sure, you and the pack, me and grandma," she said, chuckling. "Though I don't think granny shares my sentiment. She loves the village too much." 'Too much for something that's not worth it,' Akira thought bitterly.

Yuudai barked and pranced a few steps away from her. Akira glared at the wolf and made a face. "Oh hell no. I do not love this village," she stated defiantly. "I'm not stupid to lay my life on the line for something that hates my guts!"

To an outsider watching them, Akira surely looked like a mental case. There she was, a red-haired, green-eyed girl, walking along the deserted back road of Konoha talking to an impossibly large white and gray wolf.

What could be stranger than that?

Probably the fact that Akira and her wolf, Yuudai, shares a bond thicker than blood that people don't understand.

And that Akira is a jinchuriki of something more sinister than that spiteful Nine-tails.

Well, that explains the "cordial" relationship between Akira and the village she calls home.