Chapter 83 – Pakura: "If Yujiro won't abandon me, then I—Pakura—shall call him husband!"
Subtitle: Mei Terumi: "Count me in too!"
Later that same night—
Under the quiet glow of the moon, beside a lonely stretch of riverbank, Pakura of the Sand slowly regained consciousness.
The gentle sound of water rushing past filled her ears as her mind clawed its way back from darkness.
Half-dazed, she sensed immediately—
She had been rescued.
…No.
Not rescued.
Captured was probably the more accurate word.
"That Uchiha… he fought like a monster.
So, he either saved me… or took me as a prisoner.
And that Mist ninja—did he take her out?"
Even groggy, her mind instinctively began assembling the truth.
Once clarity returned, the facts arranged themselves all too easily.
And the truth was cruel.
She had been betrayed by the Hidden Sand.
Despite everything she had done for the village—
charging first, retreating last, bleeding for missions, earning accolades—
despite all that, her own people had discarded her as if she were nothing.
As soon as she realized it, her heart cracked open.
The pain came in a wave so fierce she almost collapsed again.
A pain deeper than Obito's and more suffocating than poison.
"Why?
What did I do wrong?
Why… was I treated like trash?"
Her breath shook. Her thoughts spiraled.
And then—
"Since you're awake, you can stop pretending. Get up."
Uchiha Yujiro's voice cut cleanly through her despair.
Pakura froze, then pushed herself up, her expression tangled with confusion, humiliation, and a faint, involuntary gratitude.
Yujiro looked at her quietly, as if expecting thanks—
thanks she couldn't bring herself to say aloud.
He, of course, had no such hesitation.
"Honestly," Yujiro said with a grin,
"you're the most promising one of the whole bunch."
Pakura: "???"
She didn't get the reference. Again.
After a moment, she managed to ask:
"Why… did you save me?"
Yujiro folded his arms.
"If I told you it was love at first sight, would you believe it?"
Her flat stare answered clearly: no.
"Alright, alright," he sighed.
"You're an elite-level kunoichi. Letting someone like you die would be a waste.
If the Sand doesn't want you—
I'll take you.
How about it, Pakura?"
He extended a hand toward her.
"You've already realized it, haven't you?
The Sand abandoned you.
They sold you off to the Mist like livestock."
His voice softened, but the words stayed sharp:
"Villages are driven by profit.
Your life, your loyalty—none of that matters to them.
If the Sand wanted peace, your death or survival wouldn't change a thing.
If they wanted war, even your corpse wouldn't stop them.
This is logic even children understand.
The Sand's elders understand it too—
and still, they threw you away."
"—ENOUGH!"
Pakura snapped, cutting him off with a trembling gasp.
"I'm done with the Sand.
From this moment on, that village has nothing to do with me!"
She swallowed hard before continuing:
"As for your offer…
You want me to join Konoha?
To join the Uchiha?"
Yujiro smiled.
"Wrong."
"You don't have to join Konoha."
"You don't have to join the Uchiha."
"You only need to—
join me."
"—Cough! Cough-cough-cough!!"
Tsunade, who had been quietly listening, suddenly erupted into a coughing fit so violent one might assume she had pneumonia.
Her entire body stiffened at Yujiro's tone—his voice was so low and smooth it practically radiated seduction.
Pakura blinked once.
Then her gaze flicked from Tsunade… to Yujiro… to their proximity…
And she arrived at a lightning-fast, perfectly logical conclusion:
"These two are definitely sleeping together."
---
Pakura didn't bother prying into whatever relationship Tsunade and Yujiro had.
Even if they were involved, what did that have to do with her now?
She had no energy for gossip.
"Join you?"
Yujiro nodded lightly.
"Mm-hmm. I've been building something in Amegakure—a little organization. We're short on hands.
If you want, you can settle down there."
While speaking, he casually pulled a folded Akatsuki cloak out of a sealing scroll.
"Of course, if you refuse, that's fine too.
You can leave now.
I just hope the next time we meet, we aren't enemies."
Pakura squinted, suspicious.
"You… would really let me go?"
It was hard to believe a man this dangerous could also be this generous.
Yujiro shrugged.
"Well, sure. Though it is a pity.
Usually after a hero saves the beauty, the beauty says something like 'your great kindness can only be repaid… with my body.'"
Tsunade immediately launched into another coughing fit—so fierce it sounded like she was dying of pneumonia.
Pakura glanced at Tsunade, then back at Yujiro.
And then… she laughed. A small, resigned laugh.
If not for this man, she would've died in a foggy swamp, betrayed by her own village, alone and forgotten.
What a pathetic life that would've been.
Since things were already so terrible… maybe gambling once more wouldn't make it worse.
So—
"Then…"
With a wry, half-playful bow, she said softly,
"This humble girl has little skill.
Please take care of me."
Tsunade coughed again—harder.
---
And just like that, Pakura joined Uchiha Yujiro, becoming a member of the Akatsuki.
Nagato would probably feel relieved.
With one success, Yujiro would surely rope in more elite shinobi.
One day the Akatsuki would be large, powerful, glorious again—
Reborn under Yujiro's hands.
Would the Akatsuki listen to Nagato… or Yujiro?
Did it matter?
Not really.
Yujiro was already the de facto Second Leader of Akatsuki.
Even Yahiko in heaven would surely think:
"Leaving the organization in Yujiro's hands is still better than leaving it to Nagato the emotionally unstable demolition expert."
Probably.
Maybe.
---
Yujiro squeezed Pakura's delicate hand in greeting, shook it once, then turned toward the other woman lying nearby—still pretending to be unconscious.
"Alright. Next we deal with you, Mei Terumi."
Mei swallowed audibly.
"Still going to pretend?"
She opened her eyes and immediately began fake crying.
Yujiro sighed.
"Crying still counts toward your decision time."
Mei froze.
Then—still curled up—she straightened her back, lifted her chin with fierce determination, and demanded:
"K-kill me."
Two seconds passed.
"I will never betray Kirigakure!"
Yujiro pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Or—and hear me out—why don't you try begging?
Maybe I soften up and let you go."
Mei's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really?!"
So naïve.
So not the mature, seductive Mizukage of a decade later.
Yujiro smiled sweetly.
"Of course not.
Is this your first day out of the village?"
He raised two fingers.
"You have exactly two choices."
"One—surrender, swear loyalty to me, and become a dog of the Akatsuki."
"Two—I use my Sharingan to hypnotize you, brainwash you, and you still become a dog of the Akatsuki."
"Alright. Choose."
Mei: "…"
Pakura: "~"
Tsunade: "Tch."
Under Pakura's highly interested, totally schadenfreude stare, Mei inhaled sharply.
"…Then I have only one choice left.
I swear loyalty to you."
Without hesitation, she tore her Mist Village forehead protector in half.
"From this moment forward, I belong to you."
Yujiro burst out laughing.
A smooth, delighted, utterly Uchiha laugh.
"As expected—
Kirigakure really is interesting."