Chapter 5: Calming Down the Storm
After my bath, I decided to wear my casual clothes, after all, I will have the next two weeks off as it is, so no need to dress in work clothes.
I decided on a simple baggy dirty white, almost gray shirt, with a long neckline in a long V-shape showing my neck and a small portion of my upper chest. Covered by a brown leather jacket with pockets and a small chest pocket, with some metal spikes on my shoulders made of Chakra-inducing Iron. Perfect for when I do clan Jutsu, but mainly to look cool.
On my legs, I have long-legged military-style pants in the same brown color as my jacket with two pockets on the back and two more on the side, with two slightly lower just above the knee pouches that can be closed off with straps, perfect to keep a food pill or some kunai or something else.
On my feet are a pair of toe-less black boots combined with shin guards.
Finishing off my look is my Hitai-ate as a belt, wrapped in black cloth to keep it in place, with the plate with the leaf symbol as the buckle.
I quickly grabbed an emergency scroll labeled 'Pacification Snacks', which is filled with my mother's favorite snack, to hopefully pacify her wrath and calm any tirade she might have.
After that, I quickly filled my two leg pouches that are part of my pants, even if I'm on non-duty, knowing the horrors to come, you can never be too sure.
Besides, it is also clear that someone is targeting me, and who knows when they will go for a direct approach.
I filled one with kunai, and the other with kunai stuck to ninja wire with some explosive tags. It's a tight fit, but worth it if needed, even if explosive seals are forbidden inside the village proper, also good to signal that there is trouble.
Afterwards, I left my big three-story home and locked the door, hearing the sizzling of the security system activating
I walked away deeper into the clan compound, towards the center, a place I have not been to in a long while. I watched many chubby-looking men and women around.
I even saw a small race of Akimichi Genin in "Partial Expansion Jutsu: Human Boulder" technique, doing a small race, rolling across the road. With a small pile of rice balls as the grand prize.
These people are all my fellow Akimichi. All with smiles on their faces, sitting on their front porches, drinking or eating something, watching this daily event happen.
The further I moved past all the homes of two-story buildings and multiple courtyards, which are all warehouses, granaries, smokehouses for meat, and many other food-related things or tools. Besides, the Courtyards are where families live. The closer I got to a small courtyard right to the side of the massive courtyard of the clan leader's family.
This small courtyard had light-green colored, thick, high walls at least twice my own height, and twice as thick as myself as well, with small viewing ports to let through sunlight and wind, which were in a blue color.
This clearly shows people how important those living inside value what is done there.
All around the wall in evenly spaced areas was the Akimichi clan crest, a large circle with a stripe straight through the middle, with on either side a sideways triangle pointing the tip inwards to the center line. All in a light-red color, it shows the clan insignia without clashing with the wall and being in your face like the Hyuga and Uchiha tended to have.
The Gate and entrance had a waist-height wooden fence between two thick gray colored pillars, both pillars also with the clan insignia, and a small wooden plaque stating the name of those living there.
The wooden plaque stated that this courtyard belonged to Kyo Akimichi, my dear mother.
It was clear my name is not on it because I no longer live here after all, with my giant frame, a height and size would be no way for me to stay here.
This small courtyard had many plants inside the walls, and all around were waist-high plants of different types of tea. Green tea is the majority, with small patches filled with Black tea or Herbal teas, or other types of tea.
While I looked around, I also saw a few new ones I did not recognize, might be new imports, or mixed breeds, who knows, with some Yamanaka help, who are all about plants.
My dear mother is rather known for her green teas, they are always calming and help you digest the food you have eaten, and as many women are to be believed, it is also good for the skin… As a man, I have no idea about that. Even though it would explain why many have no age lines on their faces for so long, then again, Chakra does slow aging down to a certain point… but I'm no medic, so no need to quote me on that.
But I do love my mother's teas, homegrown and brewed, they just have this effect that makes you forget the world and just calm down and relax, it has also ended many arguments between people.
At that moment of my thinking this, I saw a short, stocky, built woman, with short-cropped brown hair, an oval face, with two clear brown eyes, and multiple stress lines on her face.
Wearing a blue garden coverall held in place by two belts over the shoulder and a central pocket on her chest.
She had a basket next to her with some garden tools and a pair of well-worn green gloves.
Sitting on a table with three Genin and a giant of a man in green spandex, with caterpillar hairy eyebrows and a black haired bowlcut, with arms and legs in bandages.
'Seems my mother got Might Guy's 'Team 9' to help out with gardening, must be Chōza's doing to keep an eye on her while I was comatose… guess he's worried about his cousin… It's been a while since I last saw them.' I thought, watching the ever energetic duo of Guy and Lee calmly sitting and drinking tea, making me do a double take, and just standing there in the gate opening.
Lee, a mini version of Might Guy, many speculated that he's the illegitimate son of his; some fanfics even added some truth to it, even though it is clear that Lee still had his parents.
At least at this time in the story… Not too sure about later since it was never mentioned otherwise, or is it from the fanfictions? I will have to check on this just to make sure he's not an orphan; it would be embarrassing if I said something that would not be true.
Then again, the Lee clan is small in Konoha if I remember correctly. However, beyond the novel version of Naruto, it was not mentioned in the anime or manga. Most fanfics also never mention it, as if the writers even knew about it at all, and that is a big maybe.
But he is a complete mini version, wearing that same green spandex suit, with his hitai-ate as his belt, hands and arms wrapped past the elbows in bandages, just like the feet and ankles up way past his knees, finally with a pair of orange leg warmers on his legs with blue open-toed boots to finish the look.
After that, I switched my eyes to look at the second member of Guy's Genin team. Who looked to be the well-known one, all about 'Faith' Neji Hyuga.
He wears a beige coloured shirt, with a hint of the color of a dull-blue shirt underneath. Brown short pants with blue shinobi open-toed sandals. His right arm and leg are wrapped in bandages. With long dark brown, almost black hair tied in a long ponytail down his back, with just above the tip, being tied just inches from the end.
On his head is the Hitai-ate with a smaller one underneath, with two small straps framing the sides of his face, covering the marks around his eyes when he uses his clan's Byakugan.
He's a Hyuga through and through, branch family or not, with white pupilless eyes and just as stuck up as the rest of them, just worse, always talking about faith and how it is your faith to lose to him or whatever.
Seeing him minding his manners is logical due to his harsh training in his clan.
And when I switched my eyes to the final member, a young girl called TenTen, kinda curious what her last name is. Many names are used in fanfictions, but Higarashi is used in the Anime.
She has her dark brown hair, almost black, done in twin buns, likely held in place with senbon instead of a pin, knowing her style and love of weapons. Held in place by a blue band and Hitai-ate, with two small bangs framing her face, with, if I see right, brown eyes with specs of gray.
She wears a pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons, wearing dark green pants, and blue open-toed sandals.
It is rather obvious that it is her; she is the only one I know in the village who wears that type of dress, in that color, among the younger generation.
After my short observation, I walked further inwards towards them with my jolly smile on my face.
This observation showed me I'm in a mixture of Anime, Novel, and Manga. Might even be some fanfictions mixed in, and I hope to the heavens it is not, because that would mean other reincarnated people or transmigrated people.
And I would otherwise have no idea why I have all of this in my head.
But if there are others… That would mean anything in my head about canon can be thrown away; it is also why, in the few months I'm here, I focused on getting stronger and better. Besides that, former Bunta wanted to become a Jonin, and I can't blame him.
I mean, in the anime, Tenten alone would have just brown hair and eyes, and Neji would just have long dark brown hair and slightly lavender colored eyes, and both here are different.
For the rest, their clothes are the same as in the Anime. I should really try and figure out everything that is the same. Or not the same with each category.
It seems that my next two weeks of relaxing will keep me rather occupied.
"Hello, mother, I'm back!" I said in a happy tone of voice, watching my mother suddenly stop talking about tea with Tenten and turn my way.
I saw her eyes widen while I walked towards them. Saw her put her cup of tea down with a twitching eye.
"BUNTA!!!" My screaming mother was heard launching herself at me with such speed that it made me remember she was a retired Shinobi, in fact, a High Chunin. I could see Tenten behind her barely catch the tea set that almost flew off the table and watch Lee hold the table itself in place as Tenten soon put the tea set back on it, while I saw Neji catch all the cups and cup holders that come with them on his outstretched arms, soon also putting them back in place.
At the same time, I felt my mother's short arms hug me, and I felt myself being lifted up, feeling slight pain from the bone-crushing hug she was giving me with her short arms stuck to my side.
I could feel the pressure on my liver, though, and I almost started foaming at my mouth from the pain alone; that is how tight my dear mother was hugging me.
Luckily for me, she released me quickly enough, allowing me to breathe normally again.
"Pfew, good to see you still doing well, mother." I said after taking a short breath, smiling down at her, who stood there looking angry with a tilted head, looking upwards at me.
When I saw her face turn red, I knew better than to say anything else and just sat on my knees, ready for the tirade that was to come.
"You Stupid Big OAF!" I heard her say through broken sobs, taking me in another bone-braking hug.
'Not the tirade I expected, but I guess it will come when she has calmed down, damn, did she get stronger or something? These hugs hurt like a punch from Guy?' I thought winching the longer the hug took, feeling my face turn red slightly, barely able to breathe
Yeah, I trained stupidly with Guy before, even though he held back, in the last few months, wanting to improve my hand-to-hand, or as it's called here, Taijutsu. It helped me out big time and allowed me to sync with the body of Bunta completely.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was? When I heard you suddenly collapsed and would not wake up, not even with your favorite foods under your nose! Or when someone was about to take the last chip out of a bag of chips!" I heard her go
"You are just like that idiot father of yours! Always worrying me! Only to leave and die like the stupid fool he was, knowing rather well I was expecting you! I'm not losing you anytime soon, you hear me! Not before I hold my grandkids. YOU HEAR ME!" she talked and talked
'There is the tirade I expected, just smile it off.' I thought, smiling, watching my mother release me again and walk around left and right, and poking me in the chest with the last part
"I understand, mother. I went too far in the last Jonin Exam and collapsed from Chakra exhaustion. I heard I passed due to being able to hit Mitarashi-san, who showed up out of the blue, chasing me around due to her being bored." I said with my smile in place, watching my mother deflate
"Oh… the usual then. Sigh, what am I to do with you, one of these days you will collapse and never wake up again… what… what am I to do then all alone?" I heard her say, Calming down only to start crying a moment later due to worrying again.
"I know a few fine young ladies, they are Kunoichi, so it will be a perfect fit for the family!" I heard her begin, suddenly all chipper
'Oh no! From Bunt's mind, I know this happened rather often. What to do now? Think, think, think! How did the former Bunta deal with it again!' I desperately tried to think of the last talk like this in my head.
"How about…" just before she got off on a roll, I quickly remembered and interrupted her.
"Well, I got two weeks off now to recover properly. How about some tea? I got tons of 'Your Favorite' cakes here, some of the others as well." I said, walking to the table and unsealing two large plates of cakes, one filled with Blueberry jam-filled cakes and another with all kinds of cakes
"Feel free to pick from the second plate, you guys. This first plate is my apology to you, dear mother." I said, pointing at the first plate
I knew my mother well. I always kept a few scrolls stocked up just in case, and today, well, one of them is used, for the greater good of my ears, sides, and time.
"Blueberry-jam cakes?" I saw my mother next to me salivate, grab one, and eat it in one big bite
"Mmmm!" I heard her enjoy it while I started making some tea
"Sorry about this, I just woke up from a two-week-long nap." I told them
"Hahaha! Understandably, Chakra exhaustion can do that to the best of us, and knowing Mitarashi-san… Well, if she gets bored, most will end exhausted, by running away from her snakes, Ha…Ha…ha" I heard Guy laugh boisterously, covering his mouth with a hand near the end after stuffing two cakes in, preventing him from laughing as loudly
"Wow! These look so good! OH! Soooo cute!" I heard Tenten squeal. Grabbing a cake in the form of a cat's head, with chocolate whiskers and eyes included
"No rush, you guys, feel free to eat as much as you want from this plate, there is enough." I said, grabbing one in the form of a toad's head, throwing it fully in my mouth, and started chewing, while continuing to make tea
"Well, it was rather Youthful to see you, Bunta-san, but my team and I have to go hand in the mission while the kiosk is still open." I heard Guy says, bowing slightly
This seemed to snap my mother out of her daze, grab a small cloth, and dab her mouth clean
"I understand, thank you, 'Team 9', as usual for the help. Here is a small bag and box to put the last few cakes in to bring home." she said, doing just that and handing them to Tenten to seal and bring along
"It was our pleasure, Kiyo-san. It was a simple mission and nice to calm down from the training we had done earlier today." a smiling Guy stated, ending with his smile and thumbs up stance, everyone knows
"Thank you for the tea and snacks, ma'em." Lee said politely with a straight bow like a wooden plank
"Thank you for the great advice on how to make good tea." Tenten said soon after, with a small bow as well
All while Neji just bowed and started walking away, soon followed by the rest of his team.
Just when they were outside of the courtyard's gate, we could hear Guy yell about the last one to the Hokage Towers Mission hall will have to run around the village on their hands for a hundred times, and failing to do two hundred single-handed runs around the village.
Both my mother and I heard this and had sweat drops appear on the back of our heads, laughing soon after at how Guy never seems to change.