Akari Uchiha

Ch. 86 Some Things Never Change

"So, we are hiding again?"

Akari glanced up with puppy eyes at the old lady who owned her favorite dumplings shop. "I'm just having these wonderful dumplings of yours! I'm literally your most loyal customer, Emiyo-san! How could you accuse me of something like that?"

"Because you are sitting on the floor behind the shop counter instead of on the chair like a normal customer?"

Akari chose to ignore that comment as she shoved another dumpling inside her mouth.

Haru had volunteered to drop Minko at the hospital since it was on the way to his house. Also, she didn't want to face Akio. At all.

"Can I clean your shop tonight?" she asked, changing the topic. 

"Don't you get paid enough, now that you're a chunin?"

Akari shrugged as she leaned her head against the counter wall, before holding up a dumping. "You can pay me in another plate of dumplings."

"A plate of dumplings is barely worth ten coins. You used to clean my shop for forty."

"I actually always demanded more, you bargained it down to that," Akari muttered under her breath. 

"Brat, I don't need favors from you," the old woman folded her arms and glared at her. "I can clean my own shop."

"Some things can't be measured with money, Emiyo-san. A plate of your dumplings is worth way more than fifty coins," Akari grinned, before eating another one with her chopsticks.

She knew that the old lady wouldn't hire anyone to clean her shop. That's how she occasionally used to earn money back when she was an academy student or when she became genin. She would come and clean up her shop every once in a while, whenever she needed more coins than she received from her D or C ranks. 

Now, she was paid well enough. Specially after that A rank she completed. She really didn't need more coins. 

But old lady Emiyo was too old to clean the shop by herself.

"I don't need you to run my shop," Emiyo-san grumbled.

"I'm really just doing it for free dumplings," Akari eye-smiled, before suddenly widening her eyes. "I almost forgot! Dinner will be late today, Emiyo-san, I'm sorry! I'll meet you at Azumi-san's house though!"

"You're cooking us food again?"

"Yeah," Akari started, rubbing the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I actually got back more than a week ago but I didn't get the time with all the-"

WHACK

"OW! What was that for!?" Akari choked out a dumpling before rubbing her head, whining, as Emiyo drew back her spatula.

"Serves you right, you little problem child," the old lady huffed. "Stop working yourself so thin. We can take care of ourselves," the elder woman snapped.

"Jeez, okay, why are you so stubborn, I just like cooking!" Akari protested, rubbing her head. 

It was only part-lie. She didn't like cooking all that much. She just loved the old folks' reaction to her food. And then it became a weekend tradition. 

"Also what do you mean little? I'm about to turn twelve, you know?"

"And I'm about to turn sixty-two. What about it?"

Akari shut her mouth, before grumbling under her breath. "Some flex you've got."

"Is that new lady you brought the last few times before your recent mission coming too?"