As Tomoka laid on her bed she couldn't help but smile. The warmth of the soft bodies to her sides as well as their soft melodic soft breath lulling her back to dreamland. The two had spent a whole year without her and for what it counts she felt the same.

 

It's been an entire day since she woke up already. The trio had been lost in the throes of passion making up for lost time. Now she relaxed as she reviewed the changes that had occurred throughout the last year. Unfortunately her rather extensive spy network took a large hit when she went down alongside her phantoms.   

 

Fortunately her kids managed to react quickly enough to salvage the situation. They reacted quickly enough to deploy many T-100 series disguised as her phantom selves to take over. Of course this wasn’t perfect as the T-100 could act exactly like her phantoms had. Afterall, the machines didn’t have every bit of information needed to do so. 

 

Because of this and other factors some positions couldn’t be salvaged. Not only that but her non-human phantoms needed to be replaced for mechanical constructs. Overall, it was a shit show that drastically weakened Tomoka’s iron grip over the world. Not like it mattered much anyway. Her kids had over the years recuperated much of the hold she had back then.  

 

One piece of information that made her raise her eyebrow was that of Jiraya taking over the role of Hokage permanently. Not only that but Tsunade had gone back to Konoha and became the head of the medical department as well as the Hokage’s confidant. This made it clear that her involvement was finally having proper ramifications on the story line. 

 

“Looks like fate is having trouble fixing this one.” Tomoka smiled as her main self pinged her with some interesting commentary. Fate in this world is a goddess very much like Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and the others. From that nugget of info Tomoka could already guess how the mangekyou works and why Nozomi’s is so different from the norm.   

 

Putting thoughts about gods and the sharingan on the back burner for now her thoughts went elsewhere instead. Shipuden shouldn’t be starting until two more years. That of course is if she didn’t go ahead and made the plot implode even more than she already had. 

 

There were a few options she could go with. One is to accelerate the plot and get that shit show over with. The other one is to straight up destroy the plot by using her true self to break it. Finally, and her favorite option, she could just sit  by the wayside and mess with things as they came for shits and giggles. 

 

Fortunately her meddling and planning had gone mostly without a hitch and the plot should be somewhat intact… maybe. Itachi had alongside Kizame attacked Jiraiya and Naruko like in cannon and he met with his gender bent sister. 

 

“I am glad I made preparations though.” Tomoka felt proud of herself thinking about it. Fake Naruko and Fake Satsuki had been possessed by a phantom that kept both in line without their knowledge. Thankfully she hadn’t been arrogant enough to believe nothing could go wrong. That is why both also have a biochip in their brains that connect to Ygg’s mainframe. 

 

It was because of this backup that she got to see Itachi’s reaction in 4k and it went something like this: 

 

~Flash back no jutsu~  

 

Kagami felt utterly exhausted. Seven days being tortured by Itachi inside a genjutsu is nothing to scoff at. Her advantage was now wasted as the moment of surprise the Uchiha had felt wasn’t enough to earn her a decisive blow. All she managed was to land a shallow cut on Itachi’s cheek. Now, she could barely think, not to mention fight, she couldn’t even move properly.

 

“I know about you bunch, you call yourselves Akatsuki.” Kagami understood that she was in a bad position. She needed to buy time for reinforcements to come, either that or…

 

“Kisame, we will take Kakashi with us. Get rid of the others.” She cringed a little hearing the name. She had gotten so used to her new name that hearing her old one gave her an uncomfortable sense of detachment.

 

As Kisame dashed forward, what Kagami had been waiting for finally appeared. To tell the truth, Kagami had never felt so happy to see Gai in all his green tracksuit glory. She still had an ace under her sleeve but she was utterly against using it. She didn’t even know why she kept it with herself even now. 

 

She could feel it, her strength leaving her at a rather astonishing pace, no, that wasn’t it. She wasn’t losing strength, she had none left to begin with, the only thing keeping her wake being her iron will. It was now or never, she could tell she would pass out in a few seconds losing the window to do something. 

 

“No other option huh.” Mumbling under her breath as Gai talked with Kurenai and Asuma Kagamai moved her hand to one of her vest’s pockets. She hated how shaky her hand felt but there was little she could do about it. 

 

“Kagami, what is that?” Noticing what she had taken out of her pocket Kurenai asked with both curiosity and a healthy dose of worry. Afterall, the liquid contained in the little glass bottle looked bad. 

 

Not wasting the little energy she had left, Kagami opted for drinking the liquid instead of answering. The reddish black thick liquid clung to her throat as it flowed down. It tasted like blood and ash. It was something Yamato had given to her, something Tomoka had given to him before the attack. 

 

~flash back pause~ 

 

“Huh, so she actually used it.” Tomoka smiled as she saw the scene that had been recorded by a summoned spider using a tiny camera and telescopic microphone. That liquid was an enhancement drug combined with a genetic augmentation. It was a nifty combat drug she had given to Yamato since she liked the guy. She also left a bottle for Kagami since she liked her as well. 

 

“This ought to be interesting.” With a wicked smile Tomoka hit the play button on the video. 

 

~flash back continue~

 

Kagami felt as if her blood had turned into lava. It wasn’t painful, instead she felt like she was bursting at the seams with raw undiluted power. Her muscles felt stronger, her bones harder, her skin tougher. Hell, even her thoughts flowed faster. Standing up Kagami flexed her fingers feeling the power she now held. 

 

‘Alright, Yamato said that Tomoka said this will last an hour at most, after which I will be completely paralyzed from exhaustion.’ With that thought in mind Kagami began a mental countdown to keep tabs on how much time she had before the crash that was to follow. 

 

“Kagami? Are you alright?” This time it was Asuma asking the question. Kagami who looked like she would pass out any moment now looked like she could fight off the intruders alone. Her change wasn’t just internal as her muscles also inflated. 

 

Kagami had always boasted of a lithe physique with compact muscles that couldn’t be seen through her usual clothes. Now however, it looked like her clothes were having trouble containing her musculature without ripping apart. She didn’t look bad or bloated, instead exuding an aura of power. 

 

“Yeah, I am fine. Gai, you take on Kisame. I will fight Itachi, Kurenai, Asuma, you two are on support duty.” Receiving a nod, Kagami dashed forward. She could tell Itachi wanted to retreat. That is also why she took whatever that drug was. If she had passed out her allies would have probably let them go. 

 

Kagami kept her mind on the fight, keeping her eyes away from Itachi’s own. She didn’t want to fall prey to that genjutsu again. With swift and fluid movements she threw out shuriken and kunai knowing well they wouldn’t hit. Shurkin and kunai almost never hit in high level fights. They are used instead for distraction and delay tactics. 

 

As expected Itachi easily redirected the barrage with a few of his own. Weaving hand signs at ridiculous speeds Itachi shot a great fireball towards Kagami, or so he would like the woman to believe. His goal was to hit the water below creating a steam cloud so he could escape. 

 

With her sharingan active Kagami was able to easily tell the trajectory of the fireball. Her mind felt faster, everything about her felt faster, stronger. Hell, even her sharingan didn’t feel as chakra hungry as before. Something told her that she could take it, to ignore the danger of the steam and dash right through. 

 

Kagami trusted her instincts and so she did just that. The steam felt scalding against her skin. She was sure she would suffer at least second degree burns from it. She wondered if she had blundered, that is until she came out of the steam. The burning pain on her skin disappeared as if it hadn’t been there. 

 

Itachi was surprised and a bit frightened by the sight. Kagami came out of the steam cloud with what looked like heavy burns only for them to banish in seconds as her burned skin peeled off to reveal healthy unscared skin below. It somewhat reminded him of how Orochimaru’s jutsu worked. 

 

Taking advantage of Itachi’s surprise Kagame threw a new volley weapon before weaving hand signs. Again Itachi deflected the volley with a few weapons of his own. Unlike last time he didn’t have time to create a jutsu as a water dragon came crashing down on his position. 

 

Knowing that the fight was far from over Kagami began weaving hand signs again only to stop as she had to quickly dodge a volley of fire balls that came from below the water. A quick glance to where her dragon had landed she saw a few scattered pieces of broken wood. 

 

Out of where she had been standing came a soaked Itachi as he threw his own volley of weapons towards Kagami. She was just about to dodge again when her instincts told her to do otherwise. Instead of dodging all of them Kagami opted for only doing so for those eminently lethal while letting the rest land. Instead, taking the saved time to weave a new jutsu. 

 

Once again Itachi was taken by surprise seeing Kagami’s disregard for her well being. It only lasted until he saw the weapons piercing her body being pushed out by something from within. Unfortunately, her observations had to be cut short as he had to dodge a rather large fireball. 

 

Although it hurt, Kagami could tell it didn’t hurt as much as it should. Not only that but the pain was quickly subsiding as she felt her flesh knitting back together. Whatever that drug had been, it was truly and utterly ridiculous. 

 

The fight continued with neither side making any progress. Kagami managed to land a few gracing blows by taking blows herself relying on her now ridiculous regeneration. She could already tell that Itachi was growing tired, both literally and figuratively. She on the other hand felt like she could keep going for hours. That however, was a fake notion as she knew she only had forty five minutes remaining. 

 

After a quick paced clash Kagami saw a window of opportunity. Itachi at some point had begun using a tanto to fight. The opportunity came in the form of a rather bold attack. A shadow clone had just been dispelled and Itachi was slightly out of balance. Having waited for this opportunity Kagami rushed forward, chidori in hand. 

 

It wasn’t a clash, not really as both fighters hit each other. Itachi managed to dodge the attack, making it miss its mark, his heart. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fully dodge as it landed on his right arm taking a good chunk of flesh and bone with it. 

 

Kagami for her part had it much worse. Itachi’s tanto had pierced right through her gut. Her instincts told her she wouldn’t die from this, but it would put her out of the fight either way. It didn’t help that Itachi made the wound worse by janking the sword as he jumped back. 

 

At this point Kagami knew that he would escape and there was nothing she could do. The drug was already working its magic knitting her entrails back together. It wouldn’t be enough to continue fighting though. Taking a moment to look at the other battle Kagami felt frustrated. Both Asuma and Kurenai were lightly injured. Gai looked fine but so did Kisame. No, Gai was at a disadvantage. 

 

Kagami could see the greenish aura around Gai meaning he had opened at least six gates. His time was limited, just like her own. Kagami couldn’t help but sigh as she saw Itachi running away after giving Kisame a signal. One she could tell was for retreat as Kisame ran away as well. 

 

“Kagami! Are you alright?” The first to notice her current state was Kurenai as Asuma was busy helping Gai stand. 

 

“I’ll live.” That was all she could say as she didn’t feel alright at all. Having your guts sliced isn’t comfortable and much less feeling them knitting back together. 

 

“We need to take you two to the hospital asap.” Yeah, she could tell that Kurenai didn’t believe her in the slightest. It was at that moment that the ANBU finally showed up. Kagami felt like shouting her lungs out at them. The four of them had fought for so long and it took them this long to finally appear? 

 

“Report.” One of the ANBU began talking with Asuma as he quickly gave a report as well as the direction the two had escaped in. With that done Kagami and Gai were taken to Konoha’s main hospital where the medic-nin were losing their shit seeing Kagami’s wound and how it healed by itself.  

 

Half an hour later and Kagami laid in bed with the hole in her gut mostly healed. That wasn’t the problem though, far from it actually. No, the problem was how tired she felt, that and the pain wrecking her whole body. She hadn’t felt this exhausted and sore ever since she took Gai up for a twenty four hour training session. With that thought in mind Kagami did the only thing she could really do right now. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.  

 

What Kagami didn’t know was that Tomoka had left a little gift inside this gift. The serum she took had a special property. It would enhance the user based on how hurt they were during its effects. This had a top ceiling of course, and Kagami had come rather close to it. By the time she fully heals up she will be able to reach a similar level of power to what she had while using the serum with a bit of training. 

 

~flash back end~