The Uchiha Incident: Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Pleasant Surprises

Joining the throng spilling out of the stadium, Taku hummed a catchy tune as she trailed behind her face. "Killer B's rhyme's really not my style, but I do love his beats," She admitted as her head bobbed along with the tune in her head, "And he absolutely knows how to whip a crowd to a frenzy."

Glancing back to the stadium, she smiled as she found the young man surrounded by his fans clamoring for his autograph. He wasn't half bad, all things considered. Maybe he just needs some time before he gets into his grove. As she turned back to her friends, she let out a yawn.

"So tired," She mumbled before she noticed the last dying light up in the clear night sky. "Huh, it's already late," She noted with a whisper before a soft smile graced her lips as Ami's excited chatter filled the air, "At least we enjoyed it."

"That was amazing!" Cheered the bubbly blonde as she led the way, walking backwards as she did so, heedless of the crowd ahead, "They were like boom, pow, kachaw, wrrrryyyyyy!"
Some would say that this foolhardy given the precarious drops which most ledges led to, but that was just how Ami was. It was honestly impressive how the girl weaved through the thick foot traffic with ease all while animatedly describing the match.

Shaking her head, she admitted, "It really was." It was non lethal yes, and more of a hard sparring match rather than actual fight, but the calibre of the fighters involved still boggled her mind. "And now I have a copy of the match etched into my mind," She hummed happily as turned towards the red head.

"Thanks Kiara." If not for her gift, she wouldn't have seen half the fight with all the Jutsu they were throwing around. Reaching up, she took her goggles off and inspected them briefly. They were quite hefty with thick lenses and she'd love to have them and she'd love to use them more, but it was time for her to return them.

As she handed them over however, Kiara would stop her. "Why are you returning them?" She asked with a frown, "Don't you like them?"

"Yeah," She admitted, "But aren't these yours?" They do look expensive and she wasn't sure she could save enough money from her stipend to buy a set of these without having to resort to eating water soup for several weeks.

Kiara, however, would only laugh as she replied, "There you're silly. That's why they're made to your size."

"Wait, is that why they fit me so well?" Ami piped up as she held up her own goggles, "Oh man, these are probably the most expensive things I own."

"Who said I'm gifting those goggles to you," Kiara deadpanned as she grabbed Taku to a tight hug. "My precious Taku gets hers for free. You on the other hand need to pay me if you want to keep them~"

"Oh you stingy bitch," Ami hissed as the two quickly got into a shouting match.

Taking a step back to let them sort things out, Taku found her mind wandering back to the fight etched into her mind. Not only could she review it over and over again, picking apart and seeing how they made their decision, she also got all those juicy jutsu. "Man, no wonder Orochimaru wanted our eyes. Even I would kill for these," She thought to herself, rearing to test it all out, before squishing her desires.

"No, bad Taku," she scolded herself as she grabbed her forearm, "You need rest like the good doctor said." As much as it pained her, she did need a good rest given how sore she still was. Speaking of injuries, she turned to Kiara and asked, "Hey Kiara, is your grandpa ok?"

The man had the Raikage bleeding, but he took a beating in turn and one from a Raikage still well in his prime. Those punches would definitely hurt given how she felt it from ringside. It wouldn't surprise her if the man had some broken ribs. Kiara, however, didn't seem all that concerned as she waved it off.

"He's fine," the redhead huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, "He had had worse and for what? It's probably over something silly like tariffs or something." Pouting, she muttered, "It still sucks he lost though."

As Taku gave her a comforting pat, Ami replied, "You're grandpa was amazing and he almost did beat the raikage so no need to be a debby downer!" Grinning, she added, "But nobody beats the Raikage! Nobody!"

"At least she's trying," Taku thought with a wry smile while she grabbed hold of an irate Kiara who looked just about ready to wallop the oblivious girl.

"Even if somebody does beat him, he'll beat them eventually!" The girl shouted, unknowing how close she was to danger as her eyes gleamed with admiration. Pointing towards the Kage's mountain, she declared, "One day, I'll be just as strong as the Raikage! Believe it!"

"Did she just," Taku choked out a laugh, making Ami pout. Raising her arms appeasingly, she assured the girl, "No, it's just… cute how eager you are to train." From having a rosy cheek to turning as pale as a ghost, Ami sure made some funny faces. Was she sick?

Kiara merely rolled her eyes as snapped back, "It's just a bit of training. You know you need to catch up right?" Eyening the girl, she commented, "And looking at things. It'll be a long way off before I could even consider you being able to hold a candle to a jounin, much less a Kage."

Such words were harsh, but if they were meant to discourage, then they did a terrible job just as she saw the fire in Ami's eyes roaring back to life. "One day, you'll see! I'll make you swallow your words even if I have to kick your teeth in."

Smirking, Kiara replied, "Well, you aren't going to get stronger if you don't catch up in our training session soon~" Flicking the stunned girl on the nose, she reminded her, "But just because you need to catch up doesn't mean you have to push yourself too hard like some dumbass, you hear me?"

Seeing Ami all but ready to jump Kiara, Taku stepped in, "Ok, that's enough blood feud oaths for now cause I'm getting hungry!" Stomach rumbling, she blushed, "I… haven't really had a meal since you dragged me to the Stadium."

"Well, why don't you come to my place then!" Ami replied, her fight with Kiara now forgotten as she bounced on the ball of her feet. "Oh man, we're finally all going to eat together. My treat!"

"No, you're too poor for that," Kiara fired back, making Ami bowl over in mock pain, "It'll be my treat!"

Shaking her head, Taku suggested, "Why don't we just split the bill and pay our share?" Kiara looked just about ready to argue when Taku cut her off, "And no Kiara, you've already done enough for us today." No need to mooch off her friends if she could help it.

Grumbling, Kiara relented, "Fine, but can I at least cover the desert?" Taku wanted to argue, but decided against it. She'd at least give her this so they wouldn't be stuck arguing on who gets to pay. As they headed for Ami's Family's Shop, the red head asked, "So, how was your first Thunderdome?"

"It was electrifying," She replied, shivering at the lingering adrenaline still in her veins, "I never saw something like it before." Be it in her new life or the old one, this was as unique of an experience as it could get. "But I just have one question for you guys."

"And that is?" Kiara replied as Ami leaned closer.

Taking a deep breath, she screamed at that, "Are you guys fucking insane!?"

"Bwah!?" The two jolted, but she didn't let them speak up as she raved on.

"Ok, I'll admit that was very entertaining, but what the hell!?" It was certainly unique alright, but in all the strange ways possible. Eye twitching, she glared at them as she asked, "So you guys just punch each other if you have a disagreement with how things are run?" Who the hell even came up with this kind of system? A bunch of teens?!

As Taku pinched the bridge, Kiara fired back, "How else are we going to run things?!" This got Taku staring. How was this normal!? It seems that she didn't need to speak up as the clan girl picked up her look as she sported her own look of confusion.

"Wait, don't tell me you guys don't get to throttle each other because they said something stupid?," Ami piped up, "Because I swear I'd go insane if I knew I couldn't."
Taku opens her mouth before she closes it. "You know… maybe something in Konoha would be better if we could just punch problems in the face," She mused, giving such scenarios some thoughts. Danzo, Itachi, Orochimaru… heck, she'd punch Sasuke just to stop him from doing anything stupid in the future.

"At least the First Hokage would get to punch the stupid out of his boyfriend." She shrugged.

"Wait, what?" Ami blinked as Kiara frowned.

"Madara was gay?" Kiara whispered, earning her a look from Taku. "What? I have to learn the history of other villages if I want to understand how they act," She shrugged, "I could possibly one day be part of the council as the heir of my father."

Nodding, Taku replied, "I'm not really sure Madara's gay, but he might be. Why else would he throw that tantrum?" Things really started making sense once she framed things as some form of lovers quarrel. Maybe there was some sense to this madness.

Thankfully, Kiara would pull her back to reality with a quick chop on the head. "Bad Taku."

Rubbing her head, she pouted. "It was just a joke…"

-x-x-x-

One mountain later and the group would soon find themselves in front of the restaurant. "Huh, no wonder I haven't seen this shop before," Kiara mused as she tilted her head at the brightly lit store front, "It's all the way in the back of the alley."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," Ami grumbled, "But I promise you that all one hundred and one dishes we serve in the restaurant are delicious!"

Taking a deep breath, Taku drooled, "I could already smell the meat." Just standing here had his stomach grumbling as the savory scent of meat and spices filled the air, something that had pulled a few brave customers to the sound of laughter inside. Turning, she asked, "Well, what are you guys waiting for? I'm starving!"

Grabbing her two idiots along, she pulled them in only to freeze up as she stared at the occupied table where a portly woman was currently entertaining her patrons. There, just several feet away was the Raikage being tended to by a familiar nurse as well as a white haired woman along with the Takanashi Patriarch and a whole gaggle of redheads all seated in one table.

"Papa!" Kiara beamed as she broke away from the group before launching herself at the Takanashi patriarch, "Grandpa!"

This seemed to have caught the old man by surprise as he caught the red headed missile in his arms. "Kiara! There you are! Gyoza was just looking for you," The man laughed as he ruffled the girl's hair, before turning to Taku and Ami. "Oho? What do we have here,"
Kiara was about to reply when the nurse suddenly piped up excitedly, "Hey I know you, you're that Meat Bun Coupon Girl!"

Taku felt her world crumble away as the Raikage laughed, "Bwahahaha!" As Ami, Kiara and the rest of her family joined in, she felt her face burn. She wanted nothing more than for the earth to swallow her there and then. At least this couldn't get any worse, right?

A/N:

Errrr, I got really distracted and ended up making this rather than Empress. I'm really sorry about that. I'll try to catch up as quickly as I could. The first paragraph of Empress is already down so getting the ball rolling shouldn't be too hard