Hot steam curled up from the giant iron pot in the middle of the tavern, carrying with it the rich smell of broth, fresh noodles, roasted meat, and fried spices. The warmth inside the little shop pushed away the damp chill that had soaked into their clothes from the endless rain outside.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were not standing in an alley with empty stomachs and tired bodies.
They were sitting at a real table.
With real food.
And a completely unreal sponsor.
"Slurp—ahh!"
Yahiko lowered a bowl so large it had nearly hidden his entire face and let out a satisfied breath that sounded almost holy. He leaned back, patted his stomach without shame, and grinned like a man who had just been pulled back from the edge of death.
"I'm alive again!" he declared. "I really came back to life!"
He turned toward Tsukiko with shining eyes.
"Junior sister, no—benefactor! Savior! You are a gift from heaven!"
Nagato was much quieter, but the stack of empty bowls in front of him spoke for itself. He had eaten with more restraint than Yahiko, but somehow he had still managed to polish off nearly the same amount of food.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave Tsukiko a grateful, almost shy look through his long red hair.
"Thank you for the meal," he said sincerely. "We won't forget this."
Across from them, Uchiha Tsukiko rested her chin in one hand and watched them with open amusement. With the other hand, she picked up a piece of glossy braised pork and carefully placed it into Konan's bowl.
"Come on, Sister Konan," Tsukiko said sweetly. "Try this. It's the best dish here."
Her eyes sparkled.
"It's soft, rich, and perfect for restoring beauty and energy. Food like this should never be wasted on boys who inhale it without tasting it."
Yahiko paused halfway to reaching for another bun.
"Hey!"
Tsukiko ignored him completely.
Konan looked down at the piece of meat in her bowl, then up at Tsukiko's bright face. For a moment, she seemed unsure what to do with this sudden care. She was used to caution, hunger, and responsibility.
She was not used to being pampered.
Still, after a slight hesitation, she picked it up and ate it.
Tsukiko leaned forward instantly.
"Well?"
Konan chewed slowly, then gave the smallest nod.
"It's good."
The answer was simple, but a faint blush had already appeared on her cheeks.
Tsukiko immediately slapped the table with delight.
"Boss! Ten more plates of braised pork!"
She raised a hand grandly.
"Only the meat! No need to dilute perfection with vegetables!"
The tavern owner stared, half stunned and half delighted, then hurried away to prepare the order.
Yahiko and Nagato exchanged a look.
Neither of them had ever met anyone quite like this.
From the moment Tsukiko appeared, she had acted like a strange mixture of noble lady, wandering shinobi, dangerous schemer, and overexcited fan. She threw around money without care, spoke boldly, and behaved as if she had known them for years instead of hours.
At last, Yahiko could not hold back his question anymore.
"Tsukiko," he said, placing both hands on the table, "I'm very grateful for the food, but what exactly is this big business you mentioned earlier?"
He straightened a little, seriousness returning to his face.
"Our Akatsuki may be poor, but we don't do anything that harms innocent people."
Tsukiko's expression changed immediately.
The soft, silly smile vanished, replaced by the look of a sharp merchant ready to close a deal.
She set down her chopsticks and pulled a prepared scroll from inside her robes.
Then she slapped it onto the table.
The sound made all three of them sit straighter.
"Good," she said. "I like ideals. Ideals are useful."
She tapped the scroll.
"The Akatsuki want peace, right? You want to protect people. You want this country to stop crying. That's admirable."
Yahiko nodded firmly.
"That's right."
"But," Tsukiko continued, lifting one finger, "admiration alone does not build peace."
She pointed first at Yahiko, then at Nagato, then at Konan.
"You have courage. You have talent. You have conviction. What you do not have is money, structure, equipment, political awareness, survival planning, and a proper growth model."
The three of them blinked.
Tsukiko leaned back and folded her arms.
"In simple words, your dream is beautiful, but your organization is broke."
Nagato quietly lowered his eyes.
Yahiko scratched his cheek.
Konan said nothing, but her silence was agreement enough.
Tsukiko nodded like a teacher pleased that her students had reached the obvious answer.
"Exactly. Peace needs strength. Strength needs resources. Resources need support."
She placed a hand dramatically on her chest.
"So I have decided something important."
Her eyes gleamed.
"I, Uchiha Tsukiko, will become Akatsuki's first Angel Investor."
Yahiko nearly choked on air.
"Angel… what?"
"Investor," Tsukiko repeated proudly. "I will provide funding, tools, advice, and support."
She began counting on her fingers.
"Money for food, travel, shelter, medical needs, recruitment, emergency expenses. Intelligence support when needed. Tactical planning when required. And if I feel generous, maybe some custom research items too."
Nagato's eyes widened.
"Research items?"
Tsukiko smiled mysteriously.
"The kind of things that make strong shinobi much stronger."
Yahiko leaned forward.
"And in return?"
He was suspicious again now, as he should have been.
Nobody gave this much away for nothing.
Tsukiko gave him an approving look.
"Good. Always ask that question."
Then she turned her head.
Her gaze landed directly on Konan.
For one second, two seconds, three…
Konan stiffened.
Something in Tsukiko's expression made her instantly wary.
Tsukiko raised one finger.
"My condition is very small."
Yahiko did not believe that at all.
Konan narrowed her eyes.
"What condition?"
Tsukiko clasped her hands together with perfect innocence.
"I want to serve as Akatsuki's Special Advisor."
That part was reasonable enough.
Then she continued.
"And for operational safety, I must stay close to Konan at all times."
Yahiko stared.
Nagato froze.
Konan blinked once, slowly.
Tsukiko kept smiling.
"Same room if possible," she added. "For protection, coordination, and emotional support."
The table fell silent.
Yahiko and Nagato turned to look at Konan.
Konan turned to look at Tsukiko.
Tsukiko looked completely shameless.
At last, Yahiko coughed.
"That… sounds less like advising and more like…"
He stopped before finishing the sentence.
Nagato, who was usually quiet, actually decided to help.
"It sounds suspicious."
Tsukiko waved a hand.
"Details. What matters is results."
Konan's face had turned slightly red, though whether from embarrassment or irritation was hard to tell.
"You can't just decide that on your own," she said.
"Why not?" Tsukiko asked. "I'm investing responsibly."
"That's not what responsible means," Konan said.
Tsukiko sighed like someone burdened by the ignorance of the world.
"In any case, talk is cheap. Let me prove my value first."
She bit her thumb, formed hand seals, and slammed her palm lightly against the table.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A small puff of white smoke appeared, and from it emerged a slender white snake. Yahiko nearly jumped back, but the snake only opened its mouth and dropped a small object onto the wood before disappearing again.
At the center of the table lay a ring.
It was elegant and finely made, set with a gemstone that shone faintly with chakra.
Even before touching it, the three Rain shinobi could sense something unusual from it.
Tsukiko lifted it carefully and held it between two fingers.
"This," she said, "is a chakra amplification ring."
Nagato's eyes sharpened at once.
Konan stared at it.
Yahiko leaned closer.
"It stores, stabilizes, and improves chakra flow. Not endlessly, not magically, but enough to make a real battlefield difference."
Tsukiko turned toward Konan.
"For someone with your paper techniques, this kind of support should significantly raise output, control, and attack scale."
Konan looked stunned.
"You're giving this to me?"
"Of course," Tsukiko said, as if the answer were obvious. "An investor invests in promising assets."
Yahiko muttered under his breath, "You really shouldn't call people assets."
Tsukiko ignored him.
She moved around the table and stopped beside Konan.
"Give me your hand."
Konan hesitated.
Tsukiko waited.
After a few seconds, Konan slowly extended her hand.
Tsukiko held it with surprising gentleness.
Konan's fingers were cool from the rain, light and slender, but strong enough to make lethal weapons from paper.
Tsukiko tried very hard to remain dignified.
She failed internally, but externally she kept a serious face as she slipped the ring onto Konan's finger.
It fit perfectly.
The gemstone lit up at once, glowing with a cool blue light.
Tsukiko's expression brightened with triumph.
"See? Fate approves."
Konan tried to pull her hand back, but Tsukiko held it just a second longer than necessary before finally letting go.
"Don't make things weird," Konan said quietly.
"I'm being completely professional," Tsukiko replied.
Yahiko turned toward the window.
Nagato also looked away.
Both had the same thought.
This new sponsor was absolutely strange.
Still, they could not deny what lay before them. Food. Money. A powerful tool. Actual support. Everything Akatsuki lacked had just appeared in the form of one very dangerous-looking Konoha girl.
Tsukiko clapped her hands once.
"Good. Deal discussion complete. Now we move to practical testing."
Yahiko looked back.
"Testing?"
Tsukiko nodded.
"I heard there's a bandit group nearby harassing civilians and robbing travelers."
Her smile sharpened.
"Perfect target. We'll test teamwork, field response, and the ring's effectiveness."
Yahiko stood up immediately.
"If they've been hurting people, then we should stop them."
Nagato also rose.
Konan stood more slowly, glancing once at the ring still glowing faintly on her finger.
Tsukiko smiled at her.
"Trust me. You'll like what it can do."
---
Rain still fell by the time the four of them reached the abandoned mining site outside the village.
The place was half ruin, half hideout. Broken carts lay scattered near the entrance, and crude watch posts had been set up along the rocks.
As soon as they came close enough, a few guards spotted them.
"Well, well," one of the men sneered, stepping forward with a curved blade in hand. "Looks like the rain delivered us a gift."
His eyes moved over the group and settled in a way that instantly made Yahiko's expression harden.
"Especially those two girls," the man said with a laugh. "Bring them in. The boss will be pleased."
Before he could say another word, Yahiko was already moving.
His kunai flashed in the rain.
Nagato followed from behind, using wind release to force the others off balance.
The skirmish erupted without warning.
Konan started to step in too, but Tsukiko touched her shoulder.
"Wait."
Konan looked at her.
"Let them handle the first wave," Tsukiko said calmly. "A leader doesn't spend her best card on the first move."
Konan hesitated, then stayed where she was.
Deep inside the mine, a roar suddenly echoed outward.
Heavy footsteps followed.
Then a huge man emerged carrying a massive iron-spiked club across one shoulder.
He was broader than the others by far, with enough brute force in his frame to turn a straight fight ugly.
"So," he growled, "who's making trouble on my ground?"
He swung the club once, and the air itself seemed to tremble.
Yahiko rushed him first and was forced back after the second clash.
Nagato tried to pin him down with ninjutsu, but the man barreled through broken rock and debris like a beast.
Yahiko gritted his teeth.
"He's too strong!"
Tsukiko smiled.
"Perfect."
She turned to Konan.
"Now."
Konan took a slow breath and raised her hand.
The ring on her finger flared.
A rush of chakra surged through her network so suddenly that her eyes widened. It was not infinite, but it was smooth, clean, and powerful—more than enough to elevate her techniques beyond their usual limits.
Her gaze sharpened.
"Dance of the Shikigami."
In an instant, white sheets of paper burst into the air around her.
They spread outward, folded, sharpened, and multiplied.
The battlefield changed.
What had been a fight became a storm.
Thousands of paper blades swept across the rain-filled air, circling, diving, cutting from impossible angles. The bandits shouted in panic. The giant at their center roared and swung his club wildly, but the paper slipped past his defense again and again.
Yahiko and Nagato stopped retreating and stared.
They had seen Konan fight before.
They had never seen this.
Tsukiko's grin widened.
"That's it."
Konan stepped forward, more confident now.
Her chakra moved cleanly through the ring, feeding into her technique without strain.
The paper gathered.
Compressed.
Condensed.
A giant spear of layered paper formed above the battlefield.
The bandit leader finally looked afraid.
Konan lowered her hand.
The spear came down.
BOOM.
The ground exploded with a deafening impact.
Mud, stone, and shattered debris flew in all directions. When the smoke and rain settled, the giant had been thrown deep into a crater, unconscious and half buried.
The surviving bandits broke instantly.
Weapons dropped.
Men ran.
No one looked back.
Silence followed.
Then Yahiko slowly turned toward Konan.
His face was full of shock and excitement.
"That was amazing!"
Nagato looked at the crater, then at the ring, then at Konan.
For the first time in a while, there was something close to wonder in his expression.
Konan herself stood still, staring at her own hand.
"Was that… really me?"
Tsukiko walked straight up to her and beamed.
"Of course it was."
Then all dignity vanished and she threw both arms around Konan's waist.
"You were incredible! Elegant! Terrifying! Beautiful! Truly perfect!"
Konan stiffened, but this time she did not push her away.
A tiny smile touched the corner of her mouth before fading again.
Yahiko saw it.
Nagato saw it too.
And both of them understood something at the same time.
This strange girl from Konoha had not just brought food or money.
She had brought possibility.
Yahiko looked across the ruined battlefield, rain tapping softly against his face.
"With support like this…" he said quietly, "maybe Akatsuki really can grow."
Nagato nodded, his hidden eyes reflecting a fragile kind of hope.
"Maybe peace doesn't have to stay a dream."
Tsukiko looked at the three of them and smiled.
That was exactly what she wanted.
Not just to save them.
Not just to change fate.
But to make sure the future had enough strength to resist those who would twist it.
Far away, Danzo and Hanzo were still making plans.
They believed these children would be easy to break.
They were wrong.
Because now Akatsuki had gained something unexpected.
An investor. A strategist. And a very troublesome guardian.
And Uchiha Tsukiko was only getting started.
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