The Genjutsu Devil of Konoha

Seijuro didn't know how to feel. He wasn't used to someone that wasn't Yui caring so much about his well-being.

He was going to be in deep shit with the Uchiha, especially since someone like her fell nicely within the political marriage range.

Hm. Though, if he did think about it, she did fall within the description for his type. It wasn't like she had his heart beating faster or anything.

More like, he now saw how much she seemed to care for him. The reason his illusions weren't working on her before was simple—she knew him so well that even if something was off, even something as small as his earthy perfume, she could tell.

Yes, his perfume had an earthy scent to it. It helped hide his scent, since it masked it and smelled, well... earthy. And since they were in the Land of Fire, that kind of scent was everywhere.

And now, he was the crush of an Uchiha girl. Hm, maybe after some years that crush would die down a bit.

Childhood crushes do tend to fade away quickly enough. He would see if by the time he was 15, she still loved him the same. If she did—well, that's his future girlfriend.

He lightly squeezed her cheek. Well, maybe that would be it.

Heh, he didn't mind really. Fuck the Uchiha clan and their stick of not marrying outside the clan. In order to bypass this, he either needed to make sure the Uchiha clan owed him a favor...

Or 2, become strong enough so that he wasn't someone they could mess around with. Hm.

He did give her a light peck on the cheek.

She seemed happy about it. He was 9—a light peck was about as much as he could do. Anymore would be creepy... or something no 9-year-old should know, child soldier or not.

Anyway, after that day, he kept in close contact with her. Walking her back home after school, the usual stuff really.

Well, it was about time for him to graduate the damn academy. As much as he liked lazing around, it was about time he graduated. For Christ's sake, he was like peak Chunin level.

He needed some actual combat experience, and needed to experience his first kill. For that to be possible, he needed to be able to go out on missions. Hm, he didn't like the idea of being on a team, but well... if it worked.

It worked.

He didn't mind much, he just preferred operating alone.

On a side note, he had been training her—pushing her to her limit every single day, and handing her soldier pills when she was running low on chakra. He was getting her strength up to snuff. Her one tomoe Sharingan helped her copy the jutsu he showed her quite easily. One of the jutsu she copied was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

With that, while her clones could focus on learning chakra control and being taught Taijutsu by one of his clones, he himself would oversee her training.

And since there were only like 3 weeks left, with the shadow clones, she had made 4 clones and they trained for 3 weeks. 3x4=12, so their small little training session basically gave them—more her—12 weeks worth of training. Or if we were to simplify it:

3 months worth of training. And apparently, maybe he shouldn't have trained her so hard. Not only did she now possess a 2 tomoe Sharingan in both eyes...

She was now undoubtedly, like, peak Genin–low Chunin... with Sharingan off. With it on, she was like Chunin tier—like mid-tier Chunin. Sharingan truly was a busted Dojutsu.

Hm. The Uchiha clan knew she had awakened the Sharingan.

It was kinda embarrassing to try and explain that no, she didn't awaken it because she was feeling intense hate or a sense of inferiority. She told a half-truth. She said she awakened it because she felt like she would be unable to protect her loved ones without it. To be able to stand proud and strong.

She just didn't add the fact that she wanted to be with a certain Kurama. The boy had practically become her world at this point. It wasn't that he tried for that. Something about him drew her in—and frankly, he didn't push her away.

She had the drive to keep getting stronger. That was all that mattered. Plus, she had the potential. The potential to reach Jonin tier in the future. He had full hope in her and her ability to make it to Jonin rank.

After all, she was Mikoto Uchiha... no, she was simply Mikoto.

Well, his training did help. Now her control over her Fire Style was more refined than ever. She was ready to graduate early alongside him. He didn't really have a choice in the matter, after all.

She liked him. He may not see it as much, and think that she simply had a childish crush... only time could tell if this was a childhood crush, or if he was currently speaking with his future wife.