A strange new life. [Naruto]

[okashihime]

Oh no, some people with a grudge in my HR department are being too petty about my performance reviews. Time to escalate it to the President of the United States of America.

Click to shrink...

I laughed. xD

 

[Syphi]

I laughed. xD

Click to shrink...

Hey now, she is apparently friendly with that leader's wife who LIVES in the hidden village at least part time.

 

[```]

"Saving an allied shinobi is now a crime?" I asked.

Homura answered me. "We would commend you, if that was what you had done."

I rolled my eyes. "What did I do then?"

Koharu took a different set of papers, placed on the table. It passed around until it reached me. It was a series of reports. Sai's reports about me. The paper didn't look new, like it had been handled a lot of times already, even if that didn't mean anything.

The report was a list of concerns. Sai was concerned about my motives for joining the mission, and my constant attempts to "be friendly" and make him lower his guard. He also reported about my reaction when we found the lab, and my insistence on destroying the evidence. His last report was that he was afraid I was suspecting him for some reason.

Click to shrink...

Did we enter an alternate timeline somewhere? Why is the suspect rhetoric of a literal traitor who literally backstabbed literal konoha shinobi on a literally official mission being credulously treated like nothing is unusual in this picture? Are they trying to get themselves arrested by telling everyone they are in cahoots? Is that the intention here?

 

[okashihime]

Did we enter an alternate timeline somewhere? Why is the suspect rhetoric of a literal traitor who literally backstabbed literal konoha shinobi on a literally official mission being credulously treated like nothing is unusual in this picture? Are they trying to get themselves arrested by telling everyone they are in cahoots? Is that the intention here?

Click to shrink...

Other readers asked very similar questions.


Official report is that Sai is MIA, presumed captured by the enemy.
Hinata was the one who said he betrayed the squad. Since the enemy separated the group, Yamato wasn't there when the betrayal happened. Until Hinata returned, everyone thought Sai had also been captured by the enemy.
What the council is playing at is that this was all a plot orchestrated by Hinata, and Sai is the victim, instead the betrayer.
Shisui believes Hinata, so does Kakashi, Yamato, Hayase and others, but in this case is a you said versus he said situation, since there's no real evidence aside from Hinata's report and Sai was "never found".

 

[okashihime]

"We'll visit again later," Sakura said, looking at the green clad boy punching the wooden dummy. He might not have even heard them. His bushy brows furrowed, each punch precise, though the crutches under his arms made the entire scene a little absurd.

Karin took Sakura's hand and led the kunoichi away. Sakura didn't resist.

There was no distracting Rock Lee when he got like that, and unless they wanted to join in his ever more strange training methods, they had no chance to grab his attention and karin didn't want more strange training.

Dealing with Hinata's bizarre, and somehow effective, training methods were already more than enough.

Karin's mind drifted to the coin stuck in her midriff. She thought about the past months.

Techniques that once looked impossible were now second nature.

Karin knew she'd been little more than a medic slave in the Grass, but it wasn't until she fully settled in Konoha that she really understood what she'd been lacking. Her training didn't even include the basics every genin in Konoha knew.

Now Karin could wall-walk, water-walk and she'd even started learning a real medic jutsu, instead of letting people bite into her flesh to absorb life energy.

She owed a freaking lot to Hinata.

She liked paying it back in pranks. No matter how much Hinata complained, and brooded, her chakra didn't lie. Hinata loved that. It made her happy.

The trouble with sensing people's feelings through their chakra was that she couldn't not feel them. It was hard to ignore Hinata's loneliness.

Hinata had the most beautiful and expressive chakra Karin had ever felt. It was like she could read the girl's mind. An effect of all that control training? Maybe, but because of that, Karin was aware of how Hinata really felt. All the time.

The crushing loneliness, resignation and sadness.

It only changed a small bit when she was talking about her crush.

Karin was still a bit in love with Hinata. No, that was a lie. She was a lot in love with Hinata, or with Hinata's chakra. It was pure as crystal, emotive beyond belief with just a hint of something other, as strange as that was. But Karin couldn't shoulder all that loneliness by herself, nor did she want to get between Hinata and Ino.

And Karin was greedy.

Living with Hinata, the jokes, the pranks, sleeping together. That was more than enough. Pushing Hinata towards happiness, even if just a little. Karin didn't mind if she never kissed Hinata. Just being close, that was enough.

Because right now, Karin wanted to kiss someone else.

Yes, Karin wanted it, no shame in admitting: Sakura, even Rock Lee. Her face flushed at those thoughts. A grin spread on her lips.

They wandered hand in hand, with no real destination.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked after a while.

Sakura had shied away from Karin's forwardness at first, but Karin persevered. Now, walking hand in hand was normal, but Karin wanted more.

"I have an idea," Karin said.

With that, she led Sakura along Konoha's streets toward one shop she found not too long ago. A small place that sold a lot of different sweets.

They walked in, Sakura observing everything. Small booths with round tables and comfy chairs, a lot of teenagers, mostly in pairs, eating, drinking and chatting.

Karin led Sakura deeper into the store, toward the back booths, away from giggling teenagers couples. They sat side by side, shoulders touching, and soon after, the waitress was at their table.

"What can we get for you today? We've got the best sweets in Konoha!" the girl chirped.

Sakura looked between the waitress and Karin, eyes narrowing.

"Cake and tea," Karin said.

The waitress bowed and left.

"The best in Konoha?" Sakura raised a brow, watching the waitress go.

Karin shrugged. "It's not," she said, "but I like the vibe."

They talked about this and that, but mostly enjoyed their hang out.

Sakura had a lot of free time with Shikamaru as their squad leader. A fact that Karin abused as much as she could.

As long as Hinata didn't learn about it, of course. There would be hell to pay if Hinata learned Karin was ditching training to meet Sakura.

The cake arrived. Sweet, fluffy, but too sweet. It just didn't taste like Hinata's baked perfections.

Sakura nibbled, made a face, and didn't touch the cake again. She kept sipping from juice and looking about, then at Karin.

"Why are we here, Karin?" she asked finally.

Karin looked around. The giggling pairs, the obvious couples flirting and more.

"Do you have anyone you like?" Karin asked.

She knew it already, of course. There was no way she wouldn't know going by Sakura's chakra whenever she met Rock Lee, or they talked about 'Emosuke'. There was even a bit when the two of them were together.

Sakura's chakra did that thing Karin loved. It tried to flatten at the same time it felt someone else took over. It felt like two different Sakuras: one prim and proper; other wild and free.

Sakura looked away, a soft pink blooming on her cheeks. "Maybe," she murmured.

"Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked.

Sakura looked toward one window, ate another bit of the too-sweet cake.

"For a long time, I thought so," she said finally.

"Now Rock Lee?" Karin teased.

The small dusting turned into a full-blown blush. Sakura just shoulder checked Karin. Karin laughed. Sakura was adorable.

"Have you ever kissed someone before?" Sakura asked.

Karin blinked, not expecting the question. She shook her head. "No. You?"

Sakura made a face. "Almost, once."

"What happened?" Karin asked.

Sakura's face didn't look good.

"Naruto happened."

"He interrupted?"

Sakura's face turned into a grimace. "Worse, he was disguised as Sasuke and I almost kissed him, thinking it was Sasuke."

Karin laughed. That was so Naruto.

"Don't laugh," Sakura grumbled.

Karin laughed harder, but her breath almost hitched when Sakura's chakra did a flip. Like the wild one had taken over.

"Do you wanna try?" Sakura asked.

Karin just flopped like a fish.

"Call it practice," Sakura continued, cheeks burning. "For when you get a boyfriend."

Like a machine, Karin nodded.

"Close your eyes," Sakura said.

Karin obeyed.

---

That night, Karin didn't sleep, and neither did Hinata. The giggles kept spilling out, long into the dark.

 

[okashihime]

I'm not sure how to start a proper scientific report. It doesn't feel right to use all the jargon and codes, and phrases I learned at the Academy for this. This isn't, after all, a ninja project.

[No, this is a personal project. I'm trying to live up to my promise to unsour Kumoko. You shouldn't start a report with the wrong preamble, Original-chan. Also, hi me! I love you! Hugs from Beta(reader)-chan!]

I'm getting distracted, better focus on writing the report.


Entry: 001

Location: Apartment.

Observer: Hinata

[Should this be entry one, really? It isn't the first time we summoned Kumoko. We summoned her a few times already. -xoxo. B-chan]


Today's experiments weren't any different from expected. I summoned Kumoko, and as usual, she was pissed. Following our game plan, I tried to bribe her with food. She wasn't partial to my offerings. Giving food without also giving her something to do doesn't seem to work. Next time, I'll try Plan B.



Entry: 001-B [B-chan's Note: Totally should've been Entry 002. -xoxo]

Location: Training field three.

Observer: Hinata, Ino.

[It isn't really the second entry, you know, Original-chan. You summoned Kumoko, like, four other times after entry one, sheesh. -xoxo B-chan]


Plan B worked better. This time, instead of offering her food, there was a bit of misdirection. It happened in training field three. Karin and Tenten had already left, and Ino stayed to help. [Gosh, I love Ino, why haven't we kissed her yet? Humm? Hummm? Waiting for Yamanaka Mother's permission? -xoxo]

At first she didn't want to "test" the food for poison, but gave up when I taunted her. I mean, she's just a kid, really. All that it took was asking, "Aren't badgers resistant to poison?"


Entry: 005

Location: Konoha's markets.

Observer: Hinata, Ino.

[Yes, it is I, Beta-chan. I cut out some of the boring early entries, sue me, Original-chan. -xoxo]


Today's plan worked well. Me and Ino went shopping, and Ino is now pretty invested in my experiments too. We told Kumoko her job was to stay alert for any spies, but that she should pretend to be a pet.

She didn't like that, really, but it was also easy to solve. All we needed to do was ask if she couldn't do it. We spent the whole day carrying her around the market, trying foods, visiting stalls and just having fun.

I think Kumoko enjoyed it too. At the end, before receiving her "honey" gift, she didn't even seem to mind me petting her for a few seconds. Then she realized what I was doing and got all prissy. It was kinda funny, really.


Entry: 011

Location: Honey shop.

Observer: Hinata, Honey Ojii-san.

[Boring, more cutting, yes. -xoxo B-chan. P.S: Can we please kiss Ino already?]


Today I took Kumoko to the Ojii-san honey shop. Shop Ojii-san thankfully isn't a part of the merchants mad at me because I can't sell seals anymore, which is fortunate. Finding another honey supplier would be a pain.

Unfortunately, Ino can't help today. She got into a fight with her mother, for some reason, and had to take care of the shop. [We know the reason was us. Why are you being silly, OG-chan? -xoxo]

Anyway, I think I broke Kumoko. [She glitched. It was glorious. Hihi. -xoxo]

She froze the moment we stepped in. I told Ojii-san she was a pet, and Kumoko didn't even complain this time. I think she had the time of her life, really. Ojii-san brought small bowls with every type of honey he had and we let Kumoko eat and decide which one she liked best.

This I learned: Kumoko really loves honey. She ate until she passed out.

The expensive honey wasn't the one she liked most. Which was good. I can save a few coins now. Money isn't as easy to come by anymore. [Yeah, why didn't we explode the codgers already? Right, right, can't just explode all our problems away. -xoxo]


Entry: 015

Location: Apartment.

Observer: Hinata

[Yea, I removed a few other boring entries too. -xoxo]


I think things progressed well enough. Kumoko doesn't seem that angry with me anymore and even lets me pet her from time to time, not always. Whenever she realizes I'm treating her like a pet, she gets real prissy, but it doesn't last long, really. She's super distractible, even if oddly focused on some other things. Give her a mission and the she-devil tunnel vision hard on that. Which is kinda cute, really. Like a kid trying too hard to be a ninja.

Tomorrow I'll summon Kumoko and discuss with her about the bees and the Aburames.

Right, I think that's it for these observational logs. I'll give them to a clone to organize and write it better later. Maybe I'll even submit them to the Intelligence department. Would that even work?

[Yes, and unfortunately, that's my last entry too. It was kinda fun cutting and organizing things. Altho, I wish I had an Ino clone here so we could… hehe -xoxo]
[That's it for Volume 1 of the Great Kumoko Experiment Logs. Tune in next time for Kumoko vs. the Aburames! -xoxo, B-chan]

 

[okashihime]

I was happy with my progress in unsouring Kumoko. Whenever I summoned her, it was about seventy percent frustrated tail lashing now. A wonderful improvement in my humble opinion.

But today it wasn't about stuffing her with so much honey that she went into a food coma. No, today it was time to see if the badgers would accommodate the Aburames in their search for the biggest insect of them all.

Early in the day, we completed our village assigned mission, it hadn't been hard. Somehow, babysitting Tora had become a C-rank. I think it was just an excuse so Lady Shijimi could collect the sweets. Our team had that mission almost every week.

But again, not important.

We guarded Tora; I gave out pastries; kind Daimyo wife left satisfied.

Karin fled somewhere as soon as the mission was over. I think she was afraid I'd give her more training. Or maybe she went to meet with her bae. Karin had been a giggling mess for a few days now.

Ino wasn't here either. She left as soon as the mission was done. I understood it very well. Trouble with her mom, and I didn't want to make things worse.

Tenten never joined in these things, unfortunately. I don't think she wanted to be friends. Which was totally fine. I wasn't bitter about it. Not one bit. I just didn't understand why. Was it because I almost killed Neji? That seemed excessive.

Enough procrastinating.

In the quiet of my apartment, I bit my thumb, placed my hand on the ground and performed the summoning.

Kumoko showed up in a puff of smoke. She looked around, smelled the air, then turned to me.

"Snake-girl," she greeted.

"Hello, Kumoko," I greeted back.

"What is it you want today?" she asked, looking around and searching. Well, I guess she'd expected me to try something. I shrugged. No need to be coy about stuff.

I pulled out a seal, and out popped some of my new confections: small, crusty cakes. I think they're called galettes? I wasn't sure. Honey flavored, of course.

"Here, try these and tell me what you think," I said.

Kumoko grunted, but didn't argue. She bit into it, chewing slowly. Her tail lashed again, absentmindedly this time. Interesting.

"So?" I asked.

"Too dry," she said after a while.

"But did you like the flavor?"

She grunted.

"Here, there's some crust," I said and gave her a quick scritch disguised as cleaning her fur. Kumoko glared suspiciously, but I hadn't taken long with my petting and she had no way of saying that I did what I did.

"But that wasn't the reason I called you today," I said after a while.

"What is it, then?"

"There's a shinobi family that wants to meet your clan," I said.

"What for?"

I shrugged. "They don't want the badgers, really, but the bees. The easiest way seems to come to an agreement with your clan."

Kumoko lashed her tail. I couldn't tell what that was supposed to mean.

"Can you meet them?" I asked.

Her tail lashed again. She growled, pacing in front of me.

I waited, but she didn't answer.

"Kumoko?"

"I can't," she squeaky growled. Tail lashing frantically again.

"Is it because you're too young?" I asked.

Kumoko went still. She turned to me, fangs bared. "I'm older than you," she spat.

I raised both hands, trying to appease her.

"I'm thirteen, Kumoko," I whispered.

"I'm over three decades old," she growled again. Her tail snapped side to side in tight, erratic swings. Then, with a sharp glare aimed somewhere past me, toward nothing, or maybe someone not here, she muttered, "So why do you still treat me like a cub?"

The last part wasn't aimed at me. I could tell. Her eyes had gone distant, like she was seeing someone else entirely.

I opened my mouth, closed it shut. Mind racing. I hadn't connected the dots before. I knew Kumoko was Tsuchigaru's kid, but I hadn't thought her mother was the badger who died because of the summoner's betrayal.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I asked.

Kumoko stared at me for a long while, her fur still bristling. Then she sagged. Her tail went limp, and she flopped onto the ground, silent, then shaking. Was she crying?

I pulled her onto my lap, resting my hand gently over her head. She didn't resist. Didn't complain.

"There isn't much to tell," she said, voice flat. She didn't sound like she was crying. "When Mom died, I wasn't born yet."

Oh.

---

Later that day, I sent Kumoko back to check with her dad about meeting the Aburames. Like she'd predicted, she wasn't allowed to represent the badgers, but neither was her dad interested in dealing with other shinobi. Kumoko gave me instructions about another badger to summon for the meeting. Her name was Mitsuna. The name made little sense to me. If I wasn't reading it wrong, it was something like a secret vegetable? Weird.

I sent notice to the Aburames, and they agreed to a meeting for the next day.

After that, I popped by the tower, hugged the prettiest secretary of them all, and dropped by the Hokage's office.

Shisui seemed happy to see me, if only to distract him from the mountain of paperwork. Poor dude.

I reported my dealing with the Aburames and the badgers, then after a sloppy salute, and a "ganbatte!" kit, left the man to his work.

That got me thinking. I could have just as well dropped that information with the intelligence department. There was no need to bug the Hokage at all. Was I a snob shinobi by flaunting my easy access to Shisui?

Well, who cared?

That night, I prepared a few pastries, honey, and other things for the next day.

Shisui had been kind enough to cancel our team missions, which left me with morning and noon free. Which I spent training with Ino. Karin had fled as soon as I told them no mission for the day, while Tenten stayed to train by herself. She was improving fast with her seals.

When the afternoon arrived, I summoned Kumoko.

In a puff of smoke, she appeared, looking around. Her gaze met mine, then a smiling Ino.

"What's it, snake-girl?" she asked, tail lashing. That tail lash looked almost anxious.

I extended my hand to her. Kumoko looked at it for a long while until she got closer. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulder. "You're my bodyguard, remember? Not meeting other shinobi without protection."

There was a moment of silence, then tittering.

I exchanged glances with Ino, who hadn't stopped smiling too.

"Any last-minute preparations?"

No one said anything, and we set out.

With Kumoko grabbing my shoulder, I didn't have to worry about her not keeping pace, so we took the highways, jumping from roof to roof until we landed in front of the compound.

The first time I'd been here, I was so preoccupied by a second marriage proposal that I had paid no attention to anything around, but now I had time.

It was in the shaded outskirts of Konoha, shrouded by thick canopies. The air was quiet, aside from the occasional hum of insects. The trees around were dense and tall, some twisted into unnatural shapes, trunks hollowed out. Even from here, I could see insects slipping in and out of knotholes.

The compound itself was a series of low buildings crafted from dark wood and reinforced with paper screens. It blended well with the trees around; the architecture favoring function over flair.

Shino waited for us at the door. Same high collar jacket, same dark glasses, same dark bushy hair.

We landed in front of him.

"Shino," I said as a way of greeting.

"Hinata," he said back, then turned to Ino. "Yamanaka."

Ino planted her hands on her hips. "Really?" she asked.

Shino just looked on, saying nothing.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Ino is fine," she said.

Shino nodded. "Ino."

I pointed to the badger on my shoulder. "This is Kumoko."

Shino gave a polite bow to the she-devil. "Welcome, Kumoko."

Kumoko sniffed the air. "You smell strange," she said.

Shino nodded. "Pheromones," that was all he said.

There was a beat of silence, then Shino turned. "Please, come inside. My father is waiting."

Inside, paths laid with flat stone and moss, curving around meticulously kept gardens, led toward the deeper buildings. Lanterns flanked the path, and I remembered being here last time for dinner: the dim amber glow making the place look surreal.

My perception had improved since last time, and it wasn't hard to sense small blips of chakra flying around. Blips I couldn't see. I held back a shudder. I was glad I wasn't part of the clan. Dealing with insects wasn't for me.

We followed Shino until the path opened into a wide, silent courtyard garden. Flat stones formed a central platform ringed by shallow water, where lily pads floated and dragonflies lazed. At the far end stood a low-roofed meeting pavilion, open on all sides, its floor lined with clean tatami mats and simple cushions arranged in a perfect circle. Shibi was already there waiting for us.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading.


Last part of this interlude on monday, and on wed we start with ARC 9.

 

[okashihime]

"Please, come in and take a seat," Shibi said, waving us over.

Shino led us inside, and we took seats on the cushions. Ino sat by my side, while Shino and his dad were opposite us. Kumoko stayed on my shoulder.

I took a few seals and popped out pastries. There was tea and other refreshments already prepared, but I wouldn't let the opportunity pass to spread some pastries love around.

"Thank you for welcoming us," I said. "You already know Yamanaka Ino," I added, shoulder-bumping her.

"Yamanaka-san," Shibi greeted.

Ino gave a polite bow, all proper and no sass.

"This is Kumoko," I said, giving the badger a quick scritch behind the ear. Not long enough for her to accuse me of petting her, just enough to blur the line between a gesture and a point. "She's the daughter of the clan's patriarch."

"Welcome, Kumoko." Shibi said and bowed.

He served the tea, even setting a cup for Kumoko. He nodded at her. "Has Hinata explained the details?"

Kumoko's tail lashed frustrated, and I stepped in.

"Ah, I apologize, Shibi-san. Kumoko is my bodyguard," I said, and pretended I didn't see Kumoko preening and Ino holding back a snicker. "With your permission, I'd like to summon another badger so you can negotiate with them directly."

Shino and Shibi exchanged looks, then the clan head nodded.

I brought my thumb to my lips, bit down, but Kumoko stopped me before I summoned the badger.

"Stop, snake-girl."

I froze, then looked at her.

"Not here. Outside," she said, tail lashing. Then, uncertainly, she added. "And... away from the pretty flowers?"

Uh, I didn't like where that was going.

Shibi seemed to catch on faster than me. He got up. "Follow me, please."

The clan head led us away from the pleasant gardens and flowers, around a few trees for an open area without buildings.

"Is this enough?" he asked Kumoko.

The she-devil looked around, then nodded.

Butterflies waged war in my gut. I had never summoned a big badger before. The biggest being one of the guards, the horse sized ones, and just so they could collect stuff and go back to their nest.

In all of this, Ino seemed more entertained than worried. Which I couldn't blame her for. She only knew Kumoko, and despite her being a grumpy badger, she was small and cute; her grumpiness coming off, at least to me, endearing more than anything else.

I took one last deep breath. There was no need to worry. Everything was going to be fine. I bit my finger again, the accelerated regeneration had already clogged the old bite injury, preventing blood from leaking out. Then, I slapped my hand on the ground, keeping in mind everything Kumoko had said about Mitsuna. Chakra gushed out of me. A freaking lot more than it took to summon Kumoko. The summoning felt different, like something trying to wrench the technique from my grasp.

Smoke exploded outward, covering everything. Even before it cleared, I felt the chakra. It was massive. It wasn't the same larger-than-life feeling of facing Tsuchigaru, or even glancing in the nest's darkness and seeing the giant form in the shadows.

Behind me, Ino let out a strangled gasp. I heard more feet shuffling.

I looked up, then up and up and up again.

She was… enormous. Bigger than my apartment. What the heck?

Glinting beady eyes stared at me unblinkingly. There was a rumble, which I noticed too late. It was a chuckle.

"Summoner," her voice was surprisingly gentle, given all her size, then her eyes shifted to Kumoko. "Baby 'Moko, why haven't you visited me again?"

There was a moment of pause. Kumoko froze on my shoulder. Then more sounds in the distance. It sounded like some alarm of some sort.

"Koromi," Kumoko said, ears flat against her head, tail lashing in some manner I had never seen before.

A gigantic claw approached, offering one wicked nail. Kumoko sighed, then climbed on it. Then the giant badger… baby talked to Kumoko for the entire part of five minutes, uncaring for all the surrounding pandemonium, with more and more ninja showing up. I saw more of the Aburame clan; I saw a few of the Uchiha's police, even a few ANBU skulking about in the shadows.

I gave Shibi a chagrined look. He just chuckled.

---

It took a lot of explaining. It wasn't an attack. No, Koromi wasn't an enemy. Yes, Shisui knew about the meeting. YES, I had told Shisui the day before, goddammit!

All the while, Koromi was more interested in fussing over Kumoko more than anything, but I wasn't fooled. I had, in the recent months, learned from Karin how to distinguish changes in a person's chakra. Not enough to know their actual emotions, but I could make good guesses. And Koromi was anything but relaxed.

Some half hour later, the kerfuffle died down. After the bunch of ninjas had left, Koromi passed Kumoko back to me. The she-devil just flopped on my arms. It was like she was trying to hide her face. Somehow, it reminded me of kids being ashamed when their parents were overly affectionate in front of the entire school. But it couldn't be that, could it?

"Shino," Shibi said, turning to his son. "Why don't you give a tour of the compound to our guest while I talk with Koromi?"

"But—" Shino said, then sighed.

"If you don't mind," I interrupted, "We," I said gesturing to me, Ino and Kumoko, "could wait in the gardens. It wasn't far, and Shino might have questions of his own about the bees." I said, giving Shino a push toward staying in the negotiations.

"If you don't mind," Shibi said.

I looked at Ino, who shook her head.

We left the big uns' to their negotiations and backtracked our way toward the gardens.

"And she asks why I avoid her," Kumoko grumbled once we were far enough.

Ino giggled. I laughed.

---

Koromi wasn't who we were supposed to summon. The badger — badgeress? Was that even a word? — had always been the type to treat Kumoko like a cub, which yeah, I could see it now. I mean, I'd love to have someone babying me like that, but I'd also be super embarrassed, really.

We set out a fabric near one patch of flowers, one that Ino didn't know. That became part of our picnic, really. Like every good picnic, there were pastries, juice, and I even took out my koto for some ambient music.

I played a bit of traditional songs taught in the academy, but soon after got away from that, playing renditions of music from the before. A calmer version of Party in the ANBU Way, Ninja Face, and even re-hashed that version of Bowie's Rebel Rebel.

That drew Ino away from the flowers, and she sat by my side, swaying to the rhythm or even singing along with the two ones she already knew from the academy days.

I was building my courage for some more daring renditions. I wanted to sing and play for Ino, one by Queen Kate Perry, another by a singer I didn't know the name of, but I've heard the music lots and lots. They were love songs.

I plucked the first string, and voices broke me from the moment.

Kids, a couple of them.

With everything happening, I had forgotten where we were. Music and sweets drew children like honey drew bees, except, in this case, the bees were already part of the children. I had to hold in a shudder, because after seeing them, I couldn't unsee the hives living inside their body.

There were three of them. Two boys and a girl. They looked too young to be at academy age.

A quick glance at Ino showed she had also forgotten where we were. She was the one who spoke. "Do you want to join us? We have sweets."

Tentatively, one boy did, and once he had sat down and eaten one pastry, the other two followed. I had to look away again, pretend I wasn't seeing stuff, because it wasn't only the kids eating.

Seeing the kikaichu seeping from under their clothes and devouring the sugary treats was going to give me nightmares. Worse yet, when the kids got comfortable, Ino pulled the girl on her lap. Of course, the others wanted it too. I hesitated for just a moment, and the boy's face turned into a sad frown. I slapped myself mentally. I was being a judgmental biatch, letting my dislike for bugs influence how I treated the children.

I pulled one on my lap, then deposited Kumoko on the third one's lap, so he wouldn't feel left out. Didn't even need to tell Kumoko to play along. She was surprisingly gentle with the kids.

Playing the koto with a kid on my lap wasn't easy, but I made do, abusing the threads to pinch and press strings whenever needed, instead of doubling over the instrument.

"Let's teach them that one, Hinata-chan!" Ino said, clapping. The girl on her lap clapped along.

"Which one?" I asked, confused.

Ino gave me a mischievous grin. "Explode it Off!" she declared, "but you have to dance too!"

The kids cheered. Even Kumoko looked interested.

Oh god, why?

---

Hours later, wanting to die from embarrassment, but feeling surprisingly happy, we left the Aburames. They didn't reach a full agreement with the badgers yet, but wouldn't also need my intervention again. Koromi had shared a way for them to get into contact with the badgers. Kumoko left with the big un', and now it was only me and Ino walking toward her house.

Feeling lighter than I had been for a long while, I considered if I should do this more often.

It felt good to just relax and have a pastime with Ino. It wasn't a date, but I was still happy. Ino seemed to think so too, because she'd been smiling the entire afternoon. I didn't even mind having to remember the dance moves from when I was a kid, or that even more Aburames had showed up to watch and eat pastries.

We stopped in front of her house. She looked at the door, then at me.

"Do you want to stay over?" she asked.

I wanted to, I really freaking did, but I shook my head.

Ino's shoulders slumped. I walked closer and gave her a hug. Thinking about all my clones' obsession with Ino, for a moment I debated if I should, but the chakra observing us from the residence's windows put away that idea. How did she always know when we were here?

I kissed Ino's cheeks. Maybe it lasted a bit too long there, because her face was a pretty shade of pink when I let go.

"Training tomorrow?" she asked.

"I'll meet you here in the morning," I said.

Ino nodded, gave me another hug, then a peck on the cheeks too. After that, she turned around and fled inside the house.

I left too, now feeling sad, despite everything.

 

[okashihime]

From atop the tree, I looked at the band of miscreants down in the clearing. The roughshod tents, the burnt campfire. It hadn't been hard to find. Following the trail led me straight to the camp.

Even if the trail failed, I needed only to follow my nose. The camp reeked; piss and shit and old sweat.

I pressed a finger over my neck, activating the communicator. "This is Black. I have eyes on the target."

There was a brief static. "This is Red. Roger that, moving," Red-chan answered.

Static filled the line, then came White's voice. "Are we really doing this again?"

Another burst of clickety noises and Yellow's voice filled the channel. "And why does the color of our hair name us?"

"Your hair, maybe," White said over the line. "My hair isn't white."

"This is Black," I said again, a bit of exasperation creeping in my voice. "Can we leave the infosec discussion for later and follow protocol? There's a damsel to rescue."

"Ok, ok Hinata-chan, don't need to get grumpy," Yellow said.

"Right, moving in," White said.

"This is Red," Red said. "I'm in position, over."

I wasn't going to lie. Red was my favorite goon to work with. She never complained and always obeyed protocol, even if those protocols were strange. I cast my chakra perception about. No signature.

"This is Black," I said again over comms, a grin spreading on my face imagining yellow rolling her eyes, exasperated. "Red, can you sweep the area? Over."

"This is Red," dutiful Red said. "Sweep got nothing. Over."

Clickety noises came over the comms again. "You shouldn't enable her, Karin-chan," Yellow complained.

I ignored the breach of protocol. We were ready. "This is Black. Operation is a go. Move, move, move."

Our team had surrounded the bandit's camp. Karin had confirmed that there was no shinobi nearby, which meant we were dealing with normal people. From my position at the tree, four clones popped out. They dashed toward the camp, stealthy as can be.

Around, I felt the other's chakra moving.

Yellow, I mean, Ino's chakra moved and bubbled and roiled. The familiar movements that always precluded her family's techniques. One of my clones, already ready for that, had moved to her and held her body after she slumped over. The bandit she controlled turned around and slugged the other guard in the face, before her puppet walked inside the tent where the payload was.

Karin stood behind a tree, ready to intercept anyone trying to flee.

Meanwhile, three of my other clones and Tenten dashed inside, taking down enemies before they even knew what happened.

It was over before it even started. Some of the bandits tried to fight back, but we were faster, stronger, and better trained.

Not a minute later, I dashed inside the camp, tying the unconscious bandits.

Ino's puppet walked from inside the tent, carrying the unconscious young child in her arms. She gave him to me. I picked the boy, turned, moved away from the bandits' camp and toward our campsite.

One of my clones was ready. From the corner of my eye, I saw her punching the bandit in the face and knocking him out as soon as Ino released the jutsu.

Overall, it wasn't hard. This wasn't the first C-Rank mission we were completing. Those were mostly the norm now. Our days of D-ranks were long past. I didn't want to see any walls in need of painting for a lifetime.

With the child in my arms, a small boy of five according to the info we received, I reached the camp and placed him gently on the ground. His breaths were shallow, and the boy looked too pale. My hand hovered over his chest. Then a soft green light spread from there.

I hadn't fully mastered the Mystic Palm yet, but in this situation, it was better than nothing.

It took a while, but his breathing evened, and color returned to his face. When I finished the emergency treatment, the other three members of my team were already near me.

"How is he, Hinata-chan?" Ino asked, looking over my shoulder.

"He's fine. Probably will need a real doctor, but I don't think he's in any danger."

Karin knelt close to me, looking at the boy, then at her arm. "Should I?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, better not."

It might sound selfish, but I didn't want Karin abusing her ability for no reason. The boy didn't seem to be at any risk. Nothing that a good warm bed, and some hugs and a bath wouldn't solve it. But if someone attacked us, Karin was our last resort. Selfish as it was.

Tenten leaned against the staff she often used in these kinds of missions. "What do we do about the bandits?"

I considered that. The mission was to rescue the boy. Nothing there said anything about what to do with the bandits. For a fleeting moment, some dark thoughts percolated inside my head, but I pushed them away.

"Leave them tied up, we'll inform the village head, he can decide what to do."

In this world, that was almost the same as condemning those poor sods to a death sentence.

"Do we really?" Ino asked, her voice sounded reluctant.

I picked the boy up. "Let's pack and leave." That got me reluctant nods.

---

Hidden amidst the trees, Four clones watched the group leave. From those, they were confident only Karin knew they were still here. The redhead glances in their direction telling as much. It was okay, they were sure Original-chan would explain things later.

Four clones looked at each other. Each picked up a kunai. They turned around and walked toward the bandit camp, steps heavy and with purpose.

They worked together to gather all the bandits near the burnt campfire.

With one last look, they got to work. It was hard, thankless work, but it had to be done.

Clone one stepped closer, slapped one bandit awake.

Before he could move, she slapped him again, then pressed the Kunai to his neck. The man's eyes bugged out, and he stilled.

Clone one glowered her best glower. "Now, it's time we have a chat."

The words sounded enraged, even if the clone could feel the others behind. One wanted to snicker, the others wanted to, well, just be weird, like all clones were.

Of course they weren't going to kill these poor sods, nor leave them behind, tied up and waiting to be killed when the village came to collect them. Original-chan was even sympathetic to their cause. This war business wasn't good for anyone. From the information provided by the Konoha's Intelligence Department, these people just wanted to work in peace.

The landlord must have been a horrible man to push them this far.

So, it was time to scare the shit out of them and make sure they settled somewhere else. Even if it still left a sour taste in the clone's mouth.

---

I walked inside the walled manor carrying the boy and deposited him in the arms of a crying mother. She took him, hugging and kissing and blubbering.

We didn't have time to appreciate the scene. Sour-looking servants ushered us into talking with the client.

The man was a tall beanpole, with receding hair and a perpetual frown.

"Is it done?" He asked as soon as we entered.

"Hello," I said with a slight bow. "Yes, we rescued your son."

The man waved, impatient. "Yes, yes, I can hear it. What about the bandits?"

I shrugged. "We left them tied up, and told the village head about the location."

The man pointed a finger at me. "You were supposed to get rid of them."

I tilted my head. "That wasn't my mission," I said.

"That's what I paid you for."

I took the mission scroll from my pouch, re-read the details. "Hostage rescue," I said, showing him the thing. "I don't see assassination here anywhere."

"Those good-for-nothing will come back," the man said, pulling a few of his already receding hairs.

It was pretty, awesome Ino who spoke next. Bless that cute girl. "Then how about you treat your workers better? They wouldn't have to resort to violence if you let them work in peace, instead of trying to squeeze them dry."

The man scoffed.

I looked at my team, who all looked miffed, then I turned to the client.

"The mission is complete," I said, voice flat. "I'd recommend you start thinking of better ways of treating people if you don't want something like this happening again."

I didn't give the man time to answer. I turned around and left. No post-mission-pastries to this one. He didn't deserve it. On my way out, I gave the pastries to the still crying mom. She would need those.

This was a bad situation all around. I knew these "bandits" were just desperate people trying to survive, but what could I do? Kill the client? That would only make things worse.

At least with this, maybe the man would do better, and maybe those poor sods in the forest would settle somewhere else.

"I don't like this," Tenten said, after we left the residence.

I nodded. Me neither. But if everything went according to plan, at least my clones would leave a few days' worth of food for the "bandits" after scaring them to death; a terrible solution, but a solution anyway.

"Let's go back home," I said with one hand at my hips. Legs spread apart. The other hand pointed straight toward where I imagined Konoha was.

"Let's," Karin said, joining me in my pose.

Ino also stopped by my side. "To Konoha," she declared.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Really? Do you have to do this every mission?"

That sourpuss didn't join in. Shame, she didn't know what she was missing out on.

---

 

[okashihime]

When: The day after the council meeting.





"We're changing the teams," Shikaku said as soon as I entered his office.

I straightened up, saluted. I was a bit giddy about meeting the Jonin commander. All other times I saw the man, it was always with someone else. This was our first real meeting alone.

He was cool. A cooler Shikamaru. "Sir?" I couldn't resist.

He glanced from his papers to me, then back at his reports. "Due to the current political situation, the Akimichi clan requested we remove Choji from your squad."

I took the news with all the grace of a drowning swan.

The situation with the clans wasn't as clear cut as the two council codgers first wanted me to believe. I learned the stance from the Inuzuka and Akimichi clans weren't against me, directly.

Their position was something like: if a shinobi is suspected of being a spy, a clone, or anything else that might endanger the village, they should be detained and questioned. It was reasonable. Even I had to admit that. But they weren't specifically targeting me. From what I was told, the council proposed things on broader strokes, which they then happened to aim my way.

Ino had confided that her father wasn't happy with how things played out, how the council made it seem like one group was against another.

In this situation, it made sense they'd want Choji in a different squad. Better not get even more involved with all that mess.

As usual, I was ready to forgive, but not forget. I didn't hold it against most of those clans, aside from the Hyuga. I understood that this was all political machinations to twist the truth.

"And who's replacing him?" I asked.

"Uzumaki—" My mood soared. A grin crept on my face. Naruto on my team? Heck yes! I would bully the shit out of the brat! "Karin," he finished.

The grin turned into a full-blown smile. I might have danced a bit if Shikaku's stare was anything to go by.

"She's a Konoha shinobi, then?" I said after the stare turned a bit too awkward. I still wanted to bounce off my feet, maybe hug the stern man. Those were fantastic news; the best ones in a good while.

He released his papers, leaned back on his chair. "Yes," he said. It felt like there was a but coming, but he said nothing else.

That also meant the team needed a new name! Not that it had a name to begin with. With Karin joining the gang, maybe the Power Puff Girls? No, that was too silly. Power Shinobi? That didn't ring right.

A light bulb lit in my head. Shinobi Sentai: Kunoichi Four? That wouldn't work, even if it was a step in the right direction.

Another idea popped. It was perfect: Ninpo Sentai: Fuin☆Rangers.

I would be black, Karin red, Ino yellow, and Tenten, well, white, because of her shirt? Shame she didn't have white hair. When Sakura joined, her color would be pink, of course.

Then I just needed to shove fuinjutsu knowledge in their heads, which was a no-brainer. I already wanted to teach them anyway.

"What about Choji?"

The jonin commander studied me for a few moments before speaking. "He's joining Izumi's team."

I tilted my head. If Choji joined them, did it mean Naruto was about to leave with Jiraiya?

"Five-man cell?"

Shikaku shook his head. "No, Uzumaki Naruto is being reallocated as well."

I nodded. That made sense. Still, I couldn't understand the decisions behind the teams this time, but it was okay.

It was the day after the council meeting. Most of the accusations were effectively gone. Unless they wanted to go against the Daimyo, no more spy accusations toward me. It didn't mean I was off the hook entirely.

Some of the claims raised by the councilmen caused a bit of a problem. To sum up, I was broke and couldn't sell my storage seals anymore. There was a hefty fine for leaking the village's secret techniques, which they took from my savings regarding all the missions I did. I even had to dip into my other savings and fork out money.

Which was fine. It was just money. I could make more later. It was more of a petty revenge than anything genuinely debilitating.

"Anything else, sir?"

Shikaku studied me for a few unnerving moments. "Your team will start receiving C-Rank missions."

I nodded. Heck yes! Please, I was broke and needed monies. And D-Ranks were so dull.

"Nothing that takes you too far, and nothing close to Iwa or Kumo."

That made perfect sense. It was strange why they didn't want me to join the war if it was happening. I was relieved. The longer I could delay joining in the bloodshed, the better. I wanted to enjoy living my best ninja life just for a while longer. It wouldn't last much, one way or another.

"Thank you, sir," I said, saluting again. Left soon after.

In the weeks that followed, a lot happened.

Karin started to train with us, which gave me the perfect hook to teach Ino and Tenten fuinjutsu. Tenten wasn't a beginner. With her, we mainly talked theory. Learning and helping her learn more abstract concepts.

From my own lacking understanding, Tenten was still stuck in the copy phase of fuinjutsu, not having found her language yet. I tried my best to explain things, but sometimes I had the impression she thought I was messing with her, instead of trying to help. She never called me on it, which was fine.

I was broke, and most of my mission credits were used to learn the mystic palm, but even then, I had a few points to spare. I learned Water Bullet jutsu. Hayase was my teacher for that. We might have spent a few hours geeking over code instead of learning the jutsu, but it was worth it.

When Yamato was around, and with a few minutes to spare, I bugged him to teach me stuff. Mostly, we talked about Mokuton. From him, I also learned a jutsu I think he created. It was a simple ball of light made of chakra. Useful for someone who couldn't see in the dark.

Outside the village, the long forgotten stalker returned. Whenever we had to spend the night out, that same sensation of someone watching was always there. By this point, I don't think it was Orochimaru anymore, but the damn sword. It bugged me enough that I was considering trying to find the damn thing.

About a month after the council meeting, Naruto left with Jiraiya. I was super conflicted about it. Really. There was a bit of resentment toward the frog sannin, even after everything, which was petty on my part.

We were at the gates, and things were a mess of crying and goodbyes. It was surreal, thinking I might not see the brat again.

I pinched his cheeks. "Take care, okay?"

Naruto hugged me again. "You too," he said. "Don't get captured again."

I rolled my eyes. "Brat."

It was a shame my teleport jutsu wasn't ready yet. I wanted to give Naruto one of the kunais so I could visit whenever, but Fate-kun wasn't that nice of a guy. I was so close, but not yet. Unfortunately.

While Naruto said his goodbyes to the others, I meandered near Jiraiya.

"Hinata-chan," the old perv greeted me with a smile.

I stopped by his side, watching the brat make a mess.

After a few moments of silence, I spoke. It was a horrible idea, but well. "If you ever visit Amegakure," I started ruminating on what to say. "The rain has eyes, and they're not six, but just one."

The frog sannin stared at me for a long while, then nodded. It was a grave, serious thing. I hoped he didn't forget it. Naruto liked Jiraiya. I didn't want to see Naruto sad.

Even with all the changes to the timeline, some things seemed set in stone. I hoped Naruto would be okay. I was going to miss him.

I missed mom, too. She never visited again.

 

[Syphi]

So isolation to try and break their ninja for exposing their Post run danzo assistance and clan humiliation go?

 

[Zgearcecil]

Blep

 

[okashihime]

I held the customized kunai: seal-inscribed, Yondaime-inspired. In theory, it should work. In practice, it didn't. A tired sigh escaped me. I flopped back on the chair, groaning loud enough that Karin, on the bed, stirred.

This wasn't working. I canceled the chakra light bulb, shambled to the bed, flopped on top of Karin. Proceeded to grab, grasp, and squish the redhead, my stress relief ball, of sorts. Karin mumbled something half-coherent, then grabbed me in return.

I was almost asleep when she pulled my hair.

Months of suffering this same fate taught me a few tricks. Gently, I turned her around until her back was to me. Then I spooned her. That way, she only had access to my arms. She still grabbed and pulled and sometimes even scratched, but like this, it wasn't so bad.

Why hadn't I gotten a second bed yet?

Sleep eluded me even if my eyes drooped. No matter what changes I made to the jutsu, I couldn't copy the same effect the mokuton clones provided. I worked and reworked the whole thing. It should work. It just didn't, and I had no idea why.

I was at wits' end and considering the unthinkable: to ask for help.

It took me long enough to admit I was a prideful person. I wanted to do things my way, on my own. I kept having to reinvent the wheel. It grated a lot even now, almost four months later, that it was Jiraiya who helped me with the seal in my throat.

Worse yet, I was almost sure the seals had a censoring effect.

The clue that cinched it was simple: Shizune and Jiraiya could understand parts of the diagram that I couldn't.

It made sense, right? If you were a paranoid psycho, hell bent on living forever, already dabbling in human experimentation, would such things as mind control and free will even bother you? It was that or admit I was that bad at fuinjutsu, admit that, seven years later, I still couldn't do anything regarding the ones inside my body.

I chose to blame the snake. Yeah, it was his fault.

Ugh, I was supposed to be better than this. I squished my stress relief harder. More incoherent mumbling ensued.

---

Two weeks before my four-month deadline, I sat in the Hokage's office across from Shisui instead of taking another mission from the hall.

"I have a mission for you," he said as soon as I placed my behind on the chair. He slid a mission parchment across the desk. He didn't even give me time for pastries, which wasn't acceptable.

Out popped a simplified version of my good impression kit, already with the hot tea.

Shisui smiled.

While he served tea and ate muffins, I took the parchment and read the mission details. I tilted my head. "C-Rank for a pet rescue mission?"

Between bites, Shisui nodded.

"What's the catch?"

"We heard rumors about Tsunade in the Land of Rivers."

I looked at the mission details again. Find a ferret in the land of rivers, and deliver it to its owner near Takumi town.

"She's there, then?"

Shisui shook his head. Sipped more of his tea. "Not sure. That is her last known whereabouts. The intel is a few days older."

I mulled over things. Shisui had been level with me, but the delay in getting the info rankled a bit. "Why the delay?" I ended up asking.

"There have been complications," he said.

I looked on, my stare drilling into him until he sighed. "The team that learned that was on a mission in Wind. They were attacked."

I blinked. "Suna turned on us again?"

"No," the Hokage said. "A third party is attacking Wind from the sea. The team got caught in the attack."

"Iwa or Kumo?"

Shisui looked toward the window and the view overlooking the village. It was peaceful, happy. It didn't even seem like there was a war going on at all.

"Neither. The attackers don't resemble any known shinobi group." He looked at me, big expressive eyes that still scared the shit out of me. "They don't resemble shinobi at all."

That was strange. "An enemy from across the sea?"

"That's the conclusion the Intelligence Department reached."

"Is that why the mission is C-Rank?"

Shisui shook his head. "It's expected the mission will take a while, since you'll have to find a pet in the countryside. It also places you closer to Rain. You shouldn't face any danger, and the mission shouldn't be a C-Rank, but."

He left the rest unsaid.

That was fair. Longer mission away from home without support.

"Thank you," I said, bowing. It was strange that I was still seated, but that was fine.

The Hokage nodded, finished eating his muffin, then got back to his reports. I looked on for a bit, at the mountain of paperwork and all the politicking and bureaucracy. I don't think Naruto had any idea of the mess he wanted to inherit.

The minutes passed by, until Shisui stopped, looking up from his papers.

I hadn't left.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

I mulled over things. I wasn't ready to ask for help regarding the Kuro jutsu, not yet anyway. I'd give another deadline. If by the time I came back from the mission I still had made no progress, then I'd bite the bullet.

No, the matter was something else entirely.

Under Shisui's interested eyes, I got up, walked to the walls, plastered a privacy seal. Then another barrier seal was added to prevent the pesky ANBU outside from entering the office. I kinda trusted Shisui, I didn't trust any of the ANBU besides Kakashi and Yamato. The person outside was neither of the two.

Shisui's eyes followed me unblinking. I couldn't guess what went through his head. It was only when I sat down again that he blinked, seemed to relax.

Weird.

"The cursed seal," I started again without a preamble. "I don't think Orochimaru is dead."

Shisui straightened. "What do you mean?"

I tilted my head. This had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Somehow, this new mission left me feeling spooked for some reason. I think it was the number of bad flags Shisui raised. No matter the case, there were a few things I wanted to put in motion, just to make sure.

"Anko's cursed seal, did you ever remove it?" I asked instead.

The Hokage just shook his head. The look on his face told he wanted to ask me things, lots of them.

"It can't be removed because Orochimaru used a part of his soul to create the cursed seal." I let Shisui digest the information. He opened his mouth, but I spoke again. "Orochimaru can't die while there's cursed seals around."

Shisui closed his mouth. In a very uncharacteristic gesture, his hands rose to his face.

"Sasuke?" he asked.

I shook my head; I didn't know. "I don't know. But keep an eye on him for me?"

"Do you know how to remove it?" Shisui asked.

I tilted my head. Thought hard about things I barely remembered. I knew that somehow Sasuke used a jutsu to remove the seal. Which one was it? I didn't remember, but at least knowing why the seal couldn't be removed gave them a better starting point on getting rid of the thing, right?

"I know there's a jutsu, evil something, I think, but I don't remember for sure," I admitted.

Shisui sighed. "Thank you, Hinata."

I nodded. I could feel the ANBU outside trying to break through my barrier. Heh, not yet.

Shisui looked at me; I looked at him. I didn't get up.

"Is there more?" He sounded way more tired than I ever heard him before.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Danzo was behind this whole war business. It reeks something fierce." I had no real evidence he was behind it, but pointing Shisui at Danzo was never bad. I also hadn't forgotten Danzo had a lot of hatred toward the Uchiha clan in general. I wasn't about to let them be blindsided because I wanted to keep secrets. I could at least point them in the right direction.

The Hokage nodded.

The room shook. Even Shisui was now looking toward the door. The barrier strained, but it wasn't about to break yet. I don't think the people outside were trying their best; maybe they feared hurting Shisui.

"Akatsuki isn't just a band of criminals. They want to gather all the tailed beasts." The barrier shook, cracked. I was out of time. I got up, walked toward the door. Stopped before opening it. "There is one member, Hidan. He's immortal." I didn't look back. What was in my mind was that I didn't want to see Ino crying because Asuma died. "If he drinks someone's blood, any injury done to him is also done to the person whose blood he drank."

Before the barrier shattered, I cancelled it, pulled the door open. Outside, a full squad of ANBU glared at me.

Shisui did something, maybe, because they let me pass without stopping me.

Telling Shisui some of my secrets could backfire, a lot. I had plans that wouldn't be effective if things changed too much. I hoped it hadn't been a mistake.

My steps were heavy when I left the tower toward training field three.

 

[Petrox]

When in doubt, always blame Danzo.

 

[okashihime]

When in doubt, always blame Danzo.

Click to shrink...

Always.

 

[okashihime]

"Fuin☆Rangers, assemble!" I called out as soon as I entered training field three. To my horror, dutiful Red looked away and didn't stop her training. Yellow just rolled her eyes and punched the dummy harder. White pretended she didn't hear me.

My shoulders slumped. I got no respect. Damn it.

"We have a mission, guys," I said, voice barely more than a whisper.

That got them interested and moving. "A mission?" "What is it, Hinata-chan?" "More bandits?"

I soldiered on. This was nothing. I took a pose, arms at my rips, legs spread apart. I could even see the wind rustling a cape I didn't have. "We have a pet to rescue."

Angry muttering and curses were my answer. Tenten even turned around, going back to her training.

"Really, guys?" I shook my head. "C-rank, Land of Rivers." Tenten stopped, looked at me. "It's also a cover-up mission," I dangled the bait.

Ino walked closer, slapped my arm. "Stop teasing."

I gave her a toothy grin. Things with Ino were complicated. I was still maybe avoiding her parents. Ino was still very touchy and clingy, but we hadn't kissed or talked feelings. Mostly, we just trained, and when time allowed, hung out, went on maybe dates.

It still was the best thing ever.

"Find a pet, then find a legendary kunoichi," I said.

"Which pet?" Karin asked.

"Kunoichi?" Tenten, now close as well, poked me on the shoulder.

I looked at White, who wore a pink qipao shirt. "The Slug Princess, Tsunade."

Tenten's eyes widened. I turned to the others. "Pack things, this mission might take a while. Meet me at the gates in two hours." I got nods. "Fuin☆Rangers, move out!" I called. Posing again.

No one paid me any heed.

The pain.

---

In the months that followed the whole council debacle, things settled somewhat. I trained and hung out with the girls, visited friends when I could, ate dinner at the strange bar Kakashi had introduced me to.

Some of the merchants weren't happy with me, but there was nothing I could do other than apologize. I had promised them better deals on selling my seals, only to be forbidden from delivering. Some merchants, mostly those who knew me when I started the academy, just shrugged, maybe ribbed me a bit, but went on as usual.

It was the bigger stores that complained louder. To those, I always told them to complain to the council.

Tenten still gave me the cold shoulder, unless it was time to eat. At those times, she took my offerings and then gave me the cold shoulder.

Karin took to being a Konoha shinobi like a fish in the water. She looked at ease now, had friends of her own. I think she snogged Sakura once, if the amount of giggling I had to endure one night was anything to go by. It was surreal. I kinda envied her, just a bit.

I ate more dinners at Uchiha's. Thankfully, no one ever pressed me for an answer regarding the marriage proposal. Sasuke was still brooding, maybe more now that Naruto wasn't around to keep him company. He was often away from the village with his team, and in the brief times we met, conversation was always awkward.

More on my part than his. Did he really have a crush on me? It made no sense why he would have, or even agree with this marriage thing.

Among the people learning mystic palm, it was no surprise that Sakura had the easiest time out of our bunch. She'd mastered the jutsu already and was basically Shizune's apprentice by this point. There had been no official announcement, but she'd started taking private lessons. So, yeah, apprentice.

I fulfilled my obligation with the badgers, helping them get human supplies, and aside from summoning Kumoko a few times, had no real interaction with them. Kumoko had mellowed out once she realized I wasn't asking her to do anything and was just dumping honey on her maw. It was cute how grumpy she was.

My promise of trying to unsour her didn't go as expected, even if it went better than I could have hoped for. I wanted to try again, but I think we needed time, mostly. I'd learned a few things that put her whole situation into perspective.

Aside from Mom never visiting, and the Hyuga behaving like I didn't exist, it was almost like life was normal again; the shinobi normal. I trained, baked sweets, completed missions, people mostly ignored me.

I finished packing things, strapped the big scroll roll to my back. Most of my supplies went into the big roll, now that I could teleport and not leave things behind. There was no reason not to take stuff when I left.

Other preparations included smaller scrolls with explosives and other ready-to-use seals, such as the ones I had gifted Karin and Ino with. Those I strapped to my belt and thigh, for ready access in battle.

It shouldn't be a surprise that, under the guise of 'training,' I bugged Tenten to practice with me using her personal weapon hurricane style. I think she knew what I was about, but she never called me on it. Maybe it was because I taught her a lot of things? I didn't skimp on the things I knew for my team. Or perhaps because I roped her into learning an A-grade jutsu for free.

On the other side of the room, Karin was also packing stuff. After a few months, she could also use the common storage seals. She had taken to, like me, to store everything and bring it everywhere. I had taught her my encrypted version, extracting a promise she wouldn't teach that to anyone.

I looked around the apartment for anything else I needed to pack, but there was nothing, really. I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, my eyes falling again on the couch where Mom sat when she visited. There was this ugly feeling in my gut that something horrible had happened because of what she'd done. There were no rumors, gossip, or anything to give it credibility, aside from a lack of Mom.

I had days where that feeling was worse than usual, like whatever happened had been my fault. On one of those bad days, I considered storming the Hyuga compound and demanding to see her. I even had plans ready: surround the whole compound with a barrier. Make everyone an unwilling participant in the negotiations, or saying like the truth it was, hostages to my demands.

With one last look at the room, I stepped outside and dashed toward the gates. Not even an hour had passed, but I wasn't Kakashi, and didn't want to arrive late and leave the team hanging.

Gotta lead by example, right?

I didn't want to admit it, but this, in a way, marked the start of the end of my peaceful life as a shinobi. One way or another, I'd have no more excuses to delay my plans to go after Akatsuki.

There was no way in hell I would let things follow Fate-kun designs.

 

[okashihime]

"Thank you, Obaa-chan," I said with a small bow, offering my simplified 'thank you' kit to the old woman. I still felt queasy regarding the past night events, but I hoped it didn't show on my face.

"It's nothing, dear, I hope you find the little critter," Obaa-chan said, taking my offerings.

They weren't the full 'thank you' kit, just a much-reduced version. A lack of funds had forced me to restructure most of my kits. Without the extra income from the seals, without my mission savings, and having to fulfill orders that had already been paid, I was forced to compromise.

But money considerations aside, at least now we had a clue where to find the ferret. The next steps were easy. Set a trap, capture and deliver.

---

The previous day:


It had taken us about a day's worth of travel, ninja speed, to reach the Land of Rivers. Following Yamato's hobbies, I created a house with mokuton for us to rest at the end of the day. I even included the seals to hide the place from prying eyes. That didn't mean no one would keep watch. We sorted our team into two-hour shifts, with Tenten taking the first watch, me, Karin, and lastly Ino.

Like Yamato's, the house was a two-story building with individual rooms for each team member. We were in the living room, just finished dinner, discussing plans for the next day.

"We'll ask around the surrounding farms for any sight of the pet." I looked over the mission description again. "If someone saw it, they should remember it."

I passed the info details around. It was peculiar, to say the least: tan fur and red eyes, nose, feet, and lower back black, and a coat of dark fur around its face and behind the years, framing a diamond-shaped tan spot at the forehead. No way it was natural, given the drawing of the ferret, but again, it was a pet. That much could explain the strange markings.

When the paper returned to me, I spoke again. "Once we have the ferret, we'll look for the owner," I consulted the paper, "Kahiko, complete the C-Rank mission and start the next one."

I got grave nods from Karin and Ino, who knew what the stakes were, and curious glances from Tenten.

"Find Tsunade. Convince her to return to the village. If that's impossible, try to get her help with a few special cases."

"Which cases?" Tenten asked, her eyes intense.

"Me, Rock Lee," I admitted.

"Oh," she said, then her eyes narrowed. "Rock Lee I understand, but what would you need her help with?"

I mulled over things. It wasn't a secret anymore, given that probably the entire village leadership already knew. There was no way the information hadn't leaked. But Tenten, despite not being as antagonistic as she'd been on the first day, always kept herself at arm's length. I glanced at Ino and Karin, who were just observing things. I shrugged. Took a few coins and placed them on the table.

"Here's your squad leader's order," I said. "Keep those stuck to your body with chakra throughout the day."

"No!" "Urgh." "I hate control exercises."

I ignored the complaints, got up, dusted my clothes. "Tenten, wake me after your watch ends."

With instructions given, I climbed the stairs and headed toward my room. I looked at the bare wooden walls and the bed. Thought about training, but I was already tired from burning most of my chakra to create the house. I went to bed and flopped on top of it.

I had barely closed my eyes when the door opened and two people entered. I glanced at them. Karin looked smug, for some reason, Ino looked angry.

"Do you need anything?" I asked, voice muffled by the mattress.

Karin nodded. "Sleep," she said, then walked to the bed and flopped by my side.

Ino was hot on her heels, jumping on my other side. The bed creaked and groaned.

"Don't you have your bedroom?" I asked, hoping for a peaceful night's sleep. I didn't mind a sleepover with Ino; she was a great hugger and very nice to snuggle with. But sleeping on the same bed with Karin was dangerous at the best of days.

"What? Don't we sleep together every night?" Karin said.

Her eyes weren't on me, but past my shoulder and toward the blonde girl lying on the other side of the bed. I felt a shiver down my back. The hair on my neck stood. I could even hear the mashing of teeth from behind me.

"Huh," I muttered. Turned around, my back to Karin. Then I hugged a glaring Ino. Placed my head against her shoulder, closed my eyes. I felt her arms wrapping around me, in a very possessive way. I stopped paying attention to the outside world. Red and Yellow could solve that one without me.

---

Cold hands shaking my shoulder woke me up after what felt like just a second after I closed my eyes. There were hands, legs, and hair entangled everywhere. I blinked, looking at the looming girl over me. Her face was a mix of emotions I couldn't place.

"It's your turn," Tenten said, then turned around and fled the room, but not before casting one wild glance at the pile of limbs on the bed.

Leaving the bed proved difficult, but with a bit of wiggling here, pushing hands there, I managed to escape it, even if I didn't really want to leave.

Yawning, I walked outside the house to make my rounds. However, it didn't take long for the stalker to show up again. Maybe I was too tired, or finally too fed up with this situation.

Instead of ignoring it like I'd done far too many times, I created a shadow clone to keep watch, then stepped out of the house's privacy barrier and deeper into the patch of trees I used to hide the wood construction.

I walked a few minutes from the house, casting my chakra out and sensing nothing. Then I plopped my behind on a broken tree trunk and waited.

Minutes idled away without anything happening. The sensation of being watched was still there, but there was nothing other than the normal sounds of the night, wind rustling, and insects. It was close to the end of my shift when I threw caution to the wind.

"Come out," I called softly.

At first, nothing happened, but then the sensation of being watched disappeared. I heard rustling just before me. The snake slithered toward me from between the low grass, almost invisible in the moon's dim light above.

I was ready to bolt if the thing came any closer, but it didn't. The snake raised its head, yellow eyes staring before it morphed into the sword form again.

What the hell was I going to do now? Coming outside to confront the stalker had been something I wasn't sure would work. Driving it away once, and fleeing from it when it first showed up, only served to create something that'd been stalking me for months across half the Land of Fire and beyond.

I only had peace when I reverse summoned myself and Karin toward the badger's land. Maybe the sword couldn't or wouldn't follow? That was an idea, alright. Take the sword and give it to the badgers. They hated anything snake-related, which might be a step toward getting in a better relationship with them. I was still reluctant, however.

If the sword wasn't Orochimaru in disguise - Orochimaru had better things to do than fake his death to stalk me for months - it was, in the end, just a tool. And a tool was as evil as the hand that wielded it.

I got up and walked toward the sword. Stopped just shy of reaching it, then went over the situation in my head again. Before picking up the thing, I placed weight seals around it. If this was a trap, well, better be prepared.

With things ready, and without any other excuse for delay, I bent down and grabbed the dark blade's hilt.

The sword was heavy and cool in my hands. I lifted it up, held it in front of me. Waited for the bad thing that I was certain would happen. When nothing did, I couldn't resist the call to action. Giddy silliness filled me, and I mimicked what I thought were cool sword attacks.

Mid one of these wild swings, the sword in my hand morphed back into snake form. Before I could react, the thing bit my hand.

"Shit!" I shouted, trying to fling it off me.

The sword now turned serpent, faster than I thought possible, coiled around my arm, climbing toward my face.

"Shit, shit, shit," I cried out again. I activated the barrier at the same time it lunged toward my face.

No, not my face. My mouth.

To my utter horror, the thing invaded my mouth and slid down my throat, unimpeded by the added weight. It lodged itself somewhere inside me, and I could feel it now. Could feel it since it had bitten me, I realized. It was there, inside my body, just waiting to be called out and used.

I turned to the side and retched, spilled my guts out. I knew I could pull the sword out, but the idea of that thing slithering out of my mouth was enough to kill the thought.

Maybe a quarter of an hour later, my throat sore and blood seeping from my lips from the amount of retching, an even more horrible thought struck me.

Had I just french'ed fucking Orochimaru by proxy?

 

[Sakahu_sas]

Had I just french'ed fucking Orochimaru by proxy?

Click to shrink...

Of all the ways a chapter could have ended this was the least probable way I saw coming

 

[ZeroK and Angel]

Hinata: A tool is a tool.
*Thirty seconds later*
Hinata: Oh god it touched me, ew ew ew ew!

 

[okashihime]

Given the night's events, there was no way I'd go back to sleep. I didn't wake Karin or Ino for their turn. I spent the rest of the night in silent contemplation, and maybe self-hatred.

What made me confront the sword was the constant feeling of being watched. I should have known better and left it alone. But what was done was done; no crying over spilled milk. The nausea that hit me every time I remembered the events was hard to keep a hold of. It was, I realized, the reason I never used mokuton nature transformation, as well as why I didn't push too hard regarding some jutsu or the eye.

Plugging eyes into your eye sockets, changing your body into wood or, god forbid, snakes. Building elemental forces and blowing them out from your mouth, storing seal frogs and snakes inside your body.

It was the one aspect I didn't like about this world. How… invasive some of those techniques were. Even thinking about it made me squirmish and nauseated.

Out of sight, out of mind. That was my new motto.

To help with that, I went and prepared breakfast. Get the team ready and well fed for the mission ahead. Locating a pet in the wilderness wasn't the most glamorous of missions, but it was a mission nonetheless. I wasn't going to tarnish my record by failing it.

Of course, in the morning, Karin knew that something had happened. I had taken both their watch turns, after all. Fortunately, she didn't press me, not after seeing my face. Small mercies.

---

With the info we got from the kind Obaa-chan, we narrowed down the area the ferret was hiding. Karin seemed distracted throughout the day, often looking in the distance.

"What is it, Karin-chan?" I asked after walking closer.

She looked at me, blinked, like she hadn't realized I was there. She opened her mouth, closed it, then grinned. "Who do you like sleeping with more?"

I didn't need to look behind me to see Ino glaring at us. I rolled my eyes.

"Be serious," I deflected. I didn't have time for Karin's games.

She shrugged and looked in the distance again; it was the same direction we were already moving towards. "There's something up ahead I never sensed before." She waved her hands, trying to grasp concepts. "It's chakra, but not, at the same time."

I looked in the same direction she was looking. "Is it dangerous?"

Karin shook her head, then shrugged. "I don't know, it's just distracting."

I bumped shoulders with her. "Want me to pilot you around while you examine things?" I asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

It had been a while since I'd done this, but if this new chakra was enough to distract Karin, maybe giving her time to check out the disturbance would help.

She blinked, then nodded. I bumped shoulders with her again. I sprouted my threads and applied my still unnamed hackjob puppeteer jutsu. After that, I moved closer and bumped shoulders with Ino. She'd been sending dangerous glances my way, and just looked away when I got closer.

After a few more minutes of walking, we arrived at the place indicated. I set up the lure and traps to capture the ferret, then we hid among the trees and waited.

It didn't take long until I felt the strange chakra Karin had spoken about. Like she said, it was chakra, but wasn't at the same time. It took even less time to realize it was coming from the ferret that bounded in the clearing, sniffing its way toward the traps we had set.

After that, things didn't take long. The pet got lured, captured, and bagged. Yes, bagged. Nerugui, the name the ferret answered to, was more than happy to snuggle inside Karin's bag after eating most of the lure and getting 'captured'.

With the ferret this close, missing the strange energy signature from the critter was impossible. Was this a ninja animal of sorts? The mission info had nothing regarding that. The only details about the pet were that the ferret was shy around new people. That looked somewhat true. Among our group, Nerugui avoided Ino and Tenten, stayed as far as he could from me, and often nestled on Karin's shoulder or bag.

"What now?" Tenten asked after we packed things up.

"Takumi village," I said, taking out the area map. The village wasn't far from where we were, but it would still be a few hours of travel. "After delivering Nerugui, we gather information about Tsunade's whereabouts from the locals."

That got me nods from all around.

I looked at Karin, still distracted by the ferret. "The mission details might be wrong, and there's a chance we'll face danger, be alert."

Then I explained to Ino and Tenten about the strange chakra signature and what I thought about it, that maybe Nerugui was a ninja animal, even if it didn't behave like it. With preparations made, we trekked across plains, crossed rivers, and more rivers. To no one's surprise, there were a lot of rivers to cross. Made sense, given the place's name.

I knew things wouldn't be easy when I saw the smoke in the distance. Not only that. Karin's attention kept getting pulled from the ferret toward the village's direction.

My hand went up, closed fist; one of our prepared signals. The team stopped, looked around, and then looked at me.

"Karin?" I asked after the redhead kept walking.

Karin stopped, looked my way. "Huh?" She blinked a few times, looking at the ferret in her arms, then in the distance again. "There's one more," she said, "bigger," she added.

I nodded, my hands flashed, and out popped a clone. I gave Recon-chan a nod and weapons. My clone rolled her eyes and took the things, but instead of going about and doing her duty, she walked to Ino and hugged the blonde. Like a cat, she nuzzled the nascent mind ninja.

Ino's hands wrapped around my clone, but her eyes were on me. Her face was a bit flushed. "Hinata-chan?"

Recon-chan pulled back, kissed Ino's cheek, too close to the corner of her lips, then the other side. She hugged again a startled Ino, whispered something in her ear.

After that, my clone released Ino, stuck her tongue at Karin, saluted Tenten, made a rude gesture at me, then darted off.

I ignored it; my ears weren't burning. "Let's wait," I said, leading the team off the road we were following.

Tenten's calculating stare, Karin's leering grin, and Ino's still flustered face weren't anything I had to worry about. Nope. Not at all. Out of sight, out of mind.

I wasn't jelly of my clone. Not one bit.

---

Recon-chan sped ahead, already regretting not having hugged Ino longer. The blonde's flustered face had been funny to see. Why hadn't Original-chan snogged that pretty blonde yet? Oh, right. She wanted Ino to make the first move. Silly, but understandable. Still silly.

But it wasn't the time or place. She kept away from the road, slowing her speed once she crested an overlook.

As Original-chan feared, the smoke billowing in the distance was from burnt buildings and houses. With confirmation that things weren't good, the clone thought about what to do. She could disperse, relay the information, and let Hinata decide what to do next, or she could explore, learn more.

She jumped down, sped toward the city. It was time to see what the hell was happening here.

 

[okashihime]

I ignored the burning stares directed my way and found a nice, pretty patch of grass near the river, with the trees around us providing cover from anyone travelling through the road. The eyes hadn't left me as I put the fabric over the grass. They hadn't faltered when I summoned food. They still bore into me when I placed the pastries over the fabric covering the lovely grass.

It was a picnic, really; no idea why they were looking at me.

No, I mean, I knew why they were looking.

Karin was easy. The barely contained giggles told me she just wanted to watch the world burn, that devil. Ino was more complicated. I had been avoiding summoning clones near her unless it was a battle or something like that. My clones knew to take things seriously when the situation demanded, and I hadn't had to deal with any odd clone behaviour that Ino could see for a while now. Was this a clone rebellion or something?

Tenten, well, for her, I had no idea. Maybe she just found it strange, somehow. I knew she had weird ideas about me ever since I beat the crap out of Neji.

"Hinata-chan, what do you mean?" Ino asked. Her voice had a dangerous edge to it.

I took a cupcake and stuffed it into my mouth.

Karin giggled.

What the heck was taking Recon-chan so long? And what the heck did she whisper to Ino?

---

Recon-chan slowed down once she was close to the town. With her meager chakra sense, she couldn't feel anyone in the area, but that wasn't reason to lower her guard. She jumped from the branch and dashed forward until her back was to the town's wall.

She stopped and listened.

Birds calling, wood burning. No bark of dogs, or sound of people, or civilization.

Instead of jumping over the wall, Recon-chan used doton to cross under and into town. She didn't leave the earth immediately, popping out just enough to look around and ensure there was no enemy. There were signs of battle.

She saw a few splashes of blood. Torn clothing, doors broken, walls toppled; cracked earth, craters, explosion marks, and more, but no people, and no corpses. The way I approached from, put me close to a cemetery. Even the graves were dug out.

What the hell happened here?

---

"And?" Ino sat in front of me, her face too close.

"Yes, and?" Karin asked from a bit far away.

I glared at Karin.

Ino rounded away from me, also glaring. "Stay out of this, Karin."

Karin paled, nodded. Tenten just snorted.

I thought I was safe, but nope, Ino wasn't letting go.

"Explain?" It was less of a request and more of a command.

"Err, well, you see," I said, looking everywhere but at Ino. "My clones tend to be a bit on the rebellious side."

I'd have words with my clone. She was delaying things on purpose; I just knew it.

---

Recon-chan sneaked around a destroyed house, toward what she thought was the town center, from where the strange chakra signature was coming from. Now this close, she felt something else. Other signatures that weren't chakra, exactly, but she couldn't say what else it was.

After rounding one last destroyed building, she stopped.

Ahead was a group of people. Five of them, big and bulky, wearing what looked like full metal plate armor, but the proportions were wrong. Their arms were too big, the torso too large. Each had a spiked morning star that looked wicked dangerous.

One of the big grunts heaved the weapon and struck a building that hadn't had a wall collapse yet. The impact reverberated, and the wall toppled.

The other person, who had the same strange signature as the ferret, was a woman also wearing metal armor, but unlike her companions, she didn't have a helmet, exposing sandy blond hair and fair skin. Her armor also looked more like a decorative piece, with spikes on the shoulder and a skirt-like part, colored in light green, unlike the menacing, heavy armors of the others.

The armor-wearing woman walked to the wreckage of the house, then inside. The grunts stayed outside, a sort of guarding perimeter formation.

These people didn't look like shinobi at all. It reminded Recon-chan of eastern medieval fantasy types from the before. Were those the ones attacking Suna that Shisui had mentioned, and if so, why were they here?

The border with the Land of Fire wasn't that far. Just a few hours away by ninja speed. There was a chance these guys would attack Fire as well.

Recon-chan observed for a few more minutes. There were noises, sounds of things breaking, swearing, a lot of swearing.

The woman left the house and then walked toward another, still intact house. The armored goons followed, like trained dogs. One of the big armor guys hit a wall, it toppled, and the woman walked inside.

That seemed to be the pattern here. The woman was looking for something, it seemed, and not bothering to be gentle about it. It was more than enough information. Recon-chan waited until the woman left the house, and when the band of thugs turned in the direction of yet another intact house, the clone decided she'd seen enough.

She considered her options one last time. As much as she wanted to know what was happening here, that wasn't her mission. No one in sight needed saving. Recon-chan didn't want to think about the implications of that, but as things were, she didn't have any reason to intervene, even if her mission was a bust. How would they deliver the damn ferret now?

She turned, ducking out of sight again. It was time to leave.

Then things turned strange. The walls melted, the sky turned black, and colors inverted. Bizarre sounds, like screeching and yelling, reached her ears. Recon-chan stopped. Blinked. She recognized the tells. Genjutsu.

Wasn't she supposed to be immune? No, she noticed her chakra moving to remove the technique. It just wasn't working like it always had. It was like it was trying to chew something that it had never chewed before and it just didn't know how to.

Kakashi's early lessons came to mind, how to break from an illusion. She made the seal, moved the chakra. "Kai!" she said, and nothing happened.

"What do we have here?" The woman's voice was one of those annoying voices that made you angry just by hearing it.

Recon-chan tried again. "Kai!"

There was a chuckle. Then something heavy, spiky and painful put an end to things.

---

"What do you mean rebellious?" Ino asked, still up on my face.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Karin mimicked. Her voice was full of mirth.

Ino cast a warning glare behind her, but turned back to me.

I didn't want to deal with this right now. Really. I knew the clones were a bit of a problem. Most of them expressed the facets of myself I often suppressed. They had less inhibition and often didn't care about the consequences, doing things I'd wanted to do, but never would have the courage to.

Thankfully, I was saved. By a clone no less. Recon-chan's death.

Memories flooded my head, her last impressions, the pain of her death, and the question she whispered into Ino's ears.

I bolted up, looking in the town's direction.

"My clone just got killed," I said, staving off any questions.

Was it bad that I was happy my clone bit the bullet?

 

[okashihime]

I told the team all the information I could: the town, the enemies, the genjutsu, the disturbed graves.

"How are we going to deal with the genjutsu shinobi?" Tenten asked when it became clear the team wanted to investigate.

That was a problem I didn't have an answer to.

"Kai release didn't work when my clone tried."

Ino looked at me, confused. "But aren't you..?" She didn't finish the question.

The chakra absorption also didn't work, but I wasn't going to tell them about that. I shrugged. There wasn't much I could say without spilling secrets I didn't want to.

"They're not using chakra, I'm not even sure if it was a genjutsu in the first place."

I took out the big scroll strapped to my back. I placed it on the ground, unfurled it partway, and slapped my palm against the seal. Out popped explosives. I distributed some around.

The only way I knew how to was to hit first and hard: always kill the mage first. "We hit her hard and fast."

After our first training session, I insisted — much to everyone's dismay — that we start training with explosives too. I might have used that excuse one too many times to throw explosives around, too. It wasn't easy to convince them, and I had to make concessions. No targeting them directly with explosives, copious amounts of cupcakes, private fuinjutsu lessons. But oh well, it was a small price to pay to spread the explosion love, and have private 'training' sessions with Best Girl Ino!

Ino took a handful of the kunais, placed them on her belt pouch, strapped a few to her thighs. For Tenten, I had prepared a scroll with some sealed weapons. One that she could use in her budding weapon hurricane style.

Karin, despite everything, wasn't a good fighter. To her, I gave a few kunais with barrier seals she could deploy to bail us out if needed.

Once everyone was ready, I held my hand and pushed my chakra. Three wooden kunais appeared in my hand, already inscribed. My chakra reserves tanked, but that was fine. I had explosions to cover me if I needed to.

"Yell if you need help," I said, placing the kunai in their hands.

"What is this?" Tenten asked, looking at the wooden weapon.

"Insurance," I said, not really in the mood to explain. It wasn't the best policy to keep Tenten in the dark about the jutsu, but people reacted strangely when I told them about it. "Don't lose the kunai."

Tenten asked, instead. "What's the plan?"

"We hit the woman in the armor fast and hard. Take her out of the battle before she can put us in a genjutsu, then we disable the others."

I got nods.

"Once we've done that, we can get information from them: where are the town's people, what are they looking for, what their plans are." I scanned the faces looking at me. This moment felt important, or maybe I wanted to make a cool speech.

"Ino, Tenten, you two stay together. Don't take risks." I turned to Karin. "Karin, you're with me."

We moved soon after that. Our pace was fast, but not rushed. With Karin on our side, learning where the enemy was wasn't difficult. I still didn't know how the woman had found my clone, but that was something we could deal with.

Karin and I climbed the walls, sneaked inside the partially destroyed town and toward its center, where the enemy was. Tenten and Ino moved around, ready to intercept in case any reinforcements arrived or the woman tried to flee or to provide distraction.

The plan was, in the end, straightforward.

I took position, still hidden from view, and waited.

A few minutes later, I heard the explosion. From where we were, I cast my chakra senses about, waiting for the woman's reaction. It was almost like I thought it would be. The woman ran out of the house, barking orders to the big armored thugs. About half of the armored guys left, I was guessing, to investigate the explosion.

I waited until they moved out of range before taking action.

With one last look at Karin, I flickered up to the roof of a house nearby.

The Enemy woman was wearing metal armor, but her head was still unprotected. And even so, there was a reason why most shinobi didn't wear metal armor. They were bulky and heavy, and even a well-prepared genin was strong enough to dent metal.

I disabled all my seals and pumped my body full of chakra. Before anyone could react, I flickered behind the woman and punched.

My fist hit her head, and something gave in. The momentum threw the woman away and into the wall. Blood splashed from where her head hit. The shape of her head looked wrong. The woman didn't move.

Shit, I didn't want to kill her. I thought she'd be stronger.

Then the armored thugs were on me, swinging the spiked maces. They were lumbering brutes, fast for their size. I dodged and weaved. Got peppered by shrapnel when one of the attacks hit the ground by my side.

Big and strong. Do not get hit.

In the distance, I heard more sounds of fighting, then explosions. Karin didn't join the fight.

I punted one of the big thugs away, the kick strong enough to dent the metal. Another, I kicked his head so hard that the helmet dented and distorted. They fell, and for a moment, I thought the battle was over, then the thugs got up again, like nothing had happened.

Throughout it all, they made no grunts, growls, or cries. Creepy as hell.

As the battle progressed, I had to hit them harder and harder. But no matter what I did, they didn't stay down. I kept an eye on things near my beacons, ready to intervene if needed. I wasn't proud of the spy function the beacons had, but it helped in this situation.

Tenten and Ino were also having problems on the other side of town. They were agile, well-trained, more than a match for the armored thugs, but no matter what they did, the enemies wouldn't stay down. Our MO for this mission was to disable and capture. I failed horribly when I one-shot the woman, but the more the battle lasted, the more I thought escalation would be needed.

That, or we would have to be the ones to retreat.

Still, I had options. I grabbed a set of kunai from my pouch, dodged another swing, and threw them in a perimeter around the enemies. They didn't even seem to realize I was setting a trap. Both rushed me, and when they were inside the perimeter, I flickered out and activated the weight seal trap. I had cranked the weight for this one.

The effect was immediate. Both fell, unable to move. I couldn't keep the effect for long, unless I wanted them dead.

But we could decide that later, now I had to—

The world blurred, the sky turned dark, the colors inverted, and that same annoying voice growled in the darkness.

"What the hell, didn't we kill you early?"

The woman was still alive. Crud!

 

[Petrox]

Time to detach limbs and see if they regenerate those

 

[okashihime]

The plan we made, as simple as it was, revolved around stopping the genjutsu shinobi before she could target any of us. It was the reason why I hit hard and for a moment, thought I had killed her. Last I saw her, her head was caved in.

Which shouldn't have been a surprise, given that the thugs wouldn't stay down, no matter how hard I hit them.

The world lurched, up became down, then sides. My balance was shot, and I hit something. The ground? I wasn't sure. My ears rang, and nausea assaulted me.

"I'm sure we killed you."

Now I was in a pinch.

My chakra rose, trying to chew through the invading energy. It was faster than when my clone got trapped, but not fast enough to free me before things turned sour. My options here were limited.

"Ugh, you hit me hard. Were you trying to kill me?"

I could teleport away from her, possibly out of her range, to break the illusion. But I didn't know if that would work. Worse yet, it would leave Karin alone with the enemy. Throwing explosions around also wasn't a good idea, mainly for the same reason.

"Hehehe, I'm immortal."

Time was running out, and I had to do something. I tried to pay attention to my chakra sensing, but somehow, the genjutsu interfered with that too. That strange energy I felt from the woman and the ferret now permeated everything, making it impossible to distinguish one thing from another.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'll just kill you again."

Out of time.

Instead of using my Kuro Raikou Jutsu, I did something else. Out of me exploded as many threads as I could create. Like an insect's feelers, I spread them all around me, trying to find the woman. At the same time, I wrote a message to Karin.

The threads helped. The dissonance between feeling like the world was tilted sideways and realizing I was flopping on the ground like a fish out of water made my stomach churn harder, but it worked, somewhat.

The woman was approaching, but not on foot. She was coming through the air, in a dive toward my position on the ground.

I scrambled up, stomach flipping, my senses screamed I was upside down, even if my threads said otherwise. I flickered to the side with Shunshin no Jutsu just in time; the flying woman slammed into the ground where I'd been.

My hand went inside the supply pouches, and I grabbed some explosive kunai. I flickered away again and threw the weapons.

I couldn't say precisely what happened next. Explosions thundered. Something howled. Then, more blasts lit up the air.

Not long after, the world returned to normal. Karin was nearby, face serious, holding more exploding tags. The woman flew high above us. Now that I could see her, she was a bat-like monster. There were burnt marks all over her, the fur burnt and skin scarred, but regenerating.

Was she tied to Orochimaru somehow? The only way I remembered people could assume monstrous forms was with a cursed seal or Jugo. There were no defining black lines that most of the cursed seals had, and the chakra felt different somehow.

"This isn't over," she cried, but instead of attacking again, she flew away.

I looked around the battle area. The armored guys were still trapped inside the weight trap, trying to escape. The woman was abandoning her allies. Why?

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

I turned toward Karin, about to give her a thumbs up, when more information finally filtered in. Tenten and Ino were having trouble putting down their enemies. Ino was in a spot of trouble. Pretty blonde mind ninja was never a combat specialist. My plan put her in danger. I couldn't let it be.

With one hand, I created a Rasengan; with the other, I made a confrontation seal. My target was the kunai Ino had strapped to her belt. With one last push of chakra, I was away.

The world blurred, making my nausea worse, but I was between Ino and the armored thug holding the heavy spiked mace. The Rasengan hit the metal with a screech. I pumped chakra, the ball enlarged, then I released the jutsu.

The enemy flew off, Rasengan carving a path in the dirt where the jutsu overlapped with the soil. Before the destruction path had finished, I made another confrontation seal and teleported again, this time between Tenten and her enemy.

I don't think Tenten needed my help, but I wanted to end this immediately. There was something fishy going on here, and if overwhelming force was the answer, well, I could deal with a few more deaths on my conscience.

Another Rasengan was out of the picture; not enough chakra. But I didn't need to. I kicked the enemy away, not unlike what I had done to Neji, flickered toward it, and stabbed with my best explosive. With the explosion loaded and slotted, I punted it away from me and Tenten.

The thug hit the ground. The kunai exploded.

Gooey pinkish stuff flew everywhere. Not blood, not flesh, not anything I could make sense of.

Tenten looked at me, at the exploded enemy, at the mess that was the one I hit with the Rasengan. She cleared goop from her cheeks. "What the hell was that?"

I gave her a thumbs up, turned around, ran toward Ino, who was just getting her bearings.

"Are you alright, Ino-chan?" I asked, looking her over. Her hands, back, arms, and face. She looked ruffled, her hair a mess, but she was not injured. A few scratches here and there that I immediately treated with Mystic Palm.

Or tried to.

Ino battered my hand away. "Stop fussing, I'm fine."

I gave her one more once-over.

Tenten power walked closer. "What are these things?" She pointed at what had been an enemy just a few minutes ago, but now was a collection of scattered puddles. "How did you get here so quickly? Where is Karin?"

Damn, Karin. I forgot about her.

I made another confrontation seal, targeting Karin's beacon.

Karin sat by a broken wall, cradling Nerugui and watching the still-trapped enemies, now melting into gooey puddles of something I couldn't identify. Thankfully, the redhead was fine.

"The woman is gone," Karin said, looking in the direction the bat-like woman had flown. "What was that, Hinata-chan?"

I looked around. In the end, we hadn't learned anything about the town and why it was attacked. "Not sure," I admitted. "Let's meet Ino and Tenten," I said, offering Karin my hand.

The redhead took it, and I helped her get up, then we moved toward where Ino and Tenten were.

---

AN:

Thank you for reading.
Kunoichi 201 commission by Kimi is ready! Check it out.

https://i.ibb.co/kgcVW8PR/Vgen-okashishime.png

It is the same artist that created the chibi for Ino and Hinata.
Right now, I'm checking with them a different commission request. My idea is this: More chibis, but this time Ino, Hinata, Karin, Tenten and Sakura, making silly super sentai poses.
Because, well, Fuin☆Rangers!


On another not so good note, the other artist I was talking with, for a new cover took the details for the commission, we agreed on a deadline, but they haven't contacted me at all during the time, or even answered my emails. I'm forced to consider that one invalid, unfortunately.
I've been talking with another artist recently and trying to agree on a different project for a new cover.

 

[okashihime]

"What now?" Tenten asked while looking over the devastation.

I had seen this through my clone's memories, but being here in the middle of things and with time to think was a different story.

The enemies we fought dissolved, armor included, into gooey puddles resembling liquefied cupcake dough. The comparison left me feeling revolted, but it was that or, well, better leave the alternative unsaid.

Still, it gave us clues.

They weren't human, at least not the big, armored ones. Something akin to golems or homunculi. As for the woman, she could assume a beast shape transformation. A werebat? This felt like the wrong story. Like I'd stepped out of shinobi politics and into a fantasy quest. Medieval-like armor, partial transformation, golems. No more ninja adventure, but fantasy shenanigans? Surreal.

Four pairs of eyes bore into me, waiting for a decision. Even the ferret, still cradled in Karin's arms, was staring.

I looked around the ruined town. We got no lead on Tsunade, no pet owner, and many unanswered questions. Trying to find out what was happening in the Land of Rivers wasn't our goal for this mission, but learning about a possible new threat to Fire was a good reason to derail plans for a little while.

There was also a chance, low as it may be, that Tsunade was wherever the whole town had been taken to. The enemies we fought were nowhere strong enough to put a Legendary Sannin in danger, but I didn't know about Tsunade's state of mind.

I nodded, mostly to shut up the voice in my head asking if this was stupid.

"We follow. Find what happened to the town's inhabitants, gather any information we can, and report back at Konoha's borders."

Karin and Ino nodded. Started preparing. Surprisingly, Tenten gave me a small, barely there smile. Was this the start of a budding ninja friendship?

Anyway, it was decided. I spread my legs apart, one hand on my waist, the other pointing toward the direction the woman had fled. I struck the most dramatic pose I could muster, eyes on the horizon like I was in an end-credits scene. "Fuin☆Rangers, move out!"

I got rolled eyes from everyone, even the damn pet. The heck!

---

We couldn't follow the flying woman, but we didn't need to. Even baby ninjas could follow the trail those giants left. No need for ninken or fancy tracking jutsu.

The trail led deeper into the Land of Rivers. Footsteps, armored and normal, to what I was guessing were the missing townspeople. The procession of steps we were following ended up on another trail. This one was impossible to miss. It was like a horde of rampaging giant elephants on steroids that cleaved a path through everything: rocks, trees, and rivers.

At those new marks, the normal footsteps disappeared. Judging by the destruction, it was an overland transport, on 'roids. Not something you usually saw in the Elemental Lands. An inkling of a memory stirred in my head, something regarding Naruto movies, but it soon fled me.

With a trail this easy to follow, we sped up, more concerned about what we might find than staying hidden.

Karin noticed our target way before it ever came into view. But soon after, we heard and felt it; the sound of grinding metal, the trembling earth. When I saw the thing, it became clear why it wasn't trying to stay hidden.

It couldn't.

What we were following was a towering, moving metal fortress. Tall as a skyscraper, with treadmills big enough to crush even the tallest tree in its path. At the top were metal spikes that reminded me of lightning rods. There was some sort of balcony near the top, but most of the structure was pure metal, with no windows.

"What is that?" Karin asked, eyes wide.

No one had an answer for her.

Ino looked at me, eyes intense. I could even read the question. Was this something I knew from my memories?

And now, finally seeing the thing, I did remember something. I wasn't proud to admit that, for all my Naruto obsession, I had been a snobbish enjoyer. I skipped the fillers; those were trash. The TV show was a barely passable version when compared to the comics.

But there was this one movie that many people in the forums liked. The Gelel something or another. I hadn't watched it, but I remember the splash art and the discussion the movie caused in the forums. It introduced and then ignored a whole new continent with advanced mechanical contraptions.

The fillers were canon here? Shit.

And try as I might, I couldn't remember anything about this; only a vague feeling of flaming people in forums and stirring trouble for those who liked the Gelel arc. To me, movies were just high-budget fillers: loud, flashy, and irrelevant. Nothing that ever had any repercussion in the main story, and could be safely ignored.

New characters were introduced and thrown away. Two-bit villains that inevitably got killed in the end, leaving the status quo untouched.

Ino was still waiting for a response. I shook my head.

"What do we do?"

It was afternoon, a few hours away from evening. Would they keep travelling through the night?

"We follow at a distance. It might stop at night."

That was what we did. From far enough away, we followed the mobile fortress through the rest of the afternoon until night fell. Given its direction, the path would take it toward Wind. At least, that was good news, for now.

---

It was already dark, and the team sat huddled together trying to decide on our strategy.

"We wait here, and I'll send—" I started my usual clone-based recon plan, but Tenten cut me off.

"No."

I blinked a few times, surprised. Ino and Karin were looking at Tenten, but they weren't surprised. What was happening?

"What?" I asked when nothing else was said.

"Stop patronizing us." Tenten's voice didn't sound angry, just serious. "You're low on chakra and we're ninja."

I nodded. I don't think I was holding them back by relying on clones at every opportunity; it was the bread and butter of shinobi strategies, but her opinion was fair.

"What do you suggest?"

"The enemy doesn't seem familiar with shinobis," Tenten started.

I had noticed that as well. The werebat woman didn't seem to understand the concept of clones, a basic staple of ninja techniques.

"We divide in duos. Set a time limit, sneak in, and try to gather as much information as we can."

I thought about arguing, but didn't know why I was trying to do everything by myself.

The other two nodded. Well, I guess I couldn't blame them. I should stop hogging the fun ninja stuff all for myself and let them have their ninja fix too. Still, precautions were needed. I pointed at the wooden kunai they were still carrying.

"Keep that one on you at all times."

The team nodded. I got up, posed. "Fuin☆Rangers, prepare for the mission!"

And was promptly ignored. Damn, so sad.

 

[okashihime]

As much as I'd hoped otherwise, the mobile fortress wasn't unguarded. Metal-clad goons patrolled the area in tireless rotation, usually in groups of threes, sometimes fours.

I pressed against the communicator on my throat. "This is Black," I said into the static. "We are in position."

My response was Tenten's exasperated voice. "Karin and I are still moving. Give us a few more moments."

This time, I wasn't paired with Red. I liked Karin and enjoyed her company, even if her pranks were sometimes annoying, usually because they were often embarrassing, but she wasn't Ino. Heck yeah! I got to do sneaky sneaky infiltration stuff with Best Girl Ino.

I looked at my partner in crime. And no, I wasn't smiling like a loony. Nope, I was a serious and composed kunoichi; no dancing or vibrating here.

Beautiful Yellow just rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Normally, I'd pair with Karin. It wasn't a surprise; Karin was the weakest in pure combat, even if she brought the most utility to the team. But for this infiltration, her ability to sense things through chakra would overlap with my chakra sensing, splitting the two was the only feasible solution.

Clickety static interrupted my thoughts. "We're here."

"This is Black," I said, and didn't contain my grin. I could even imagine Tenten's exasperation. "We start in five. Silent comms unless there is an emergency. Over."

"Roger that." It was Karin's voice this time.

We'd gone through basic planning. Karin and Tenten would sneak from below, while Ino and I would climb the walls and sneak in through the balcony.

So, we crouched and waited.

Once the allotted time had passed, I glanced at Ino. She gave me a firm nod.

When the next gap in the patrol happened, we dashed in, boosting our speed while still keeping silent. The darkness helped. We had only the moon's faint light to help guide our path, but it was enough. We made it to the walls, crouched, and listened for any alarm. None came.

The mobile fortress rested on massive caterpillar tracks, like tanks from the before, only bigger. Now, up close, I had no idea how people were powering this monstrosity of a machine. Above the tracks, everything was pure metal, rigged with columns, pipes, and more. I couldn't see any obvious entrance along the outer walls, but that wasn't our goal.

I coated my feet in chakra and sneaked up the metal wall, Ino following closely.

Darkness helped keep us out of sight until we arrived at the balcony I had seen from afar. It was a small flat area with barely enough space for a couple of people. A double metal door, closed from what I could see, gave access to the fortress interior.

I cast my chakra senses about. No one or anything on the other side. I pulled into the balcony, and sneaked up to the sides of the door.

Without prompting, Ino approached the door, and started fiddling with the lock.

Breaking into mundane locks was trivial for shinobi. We learned that as a game in the second year of the academy curriculum. The question was if this was a—

Before the thought finished, Ino pulled the metal door open. She turned to me, shrugged. Mouthed her response. I read the words on her lips. Might have stared at her lips just a bit longer than needed. "Wasn't locked."

Huh, weird. Whoever owned this fortress wasn't expecting people to attack from this angle. I gave her a thumbs up. She finished pulling the door open and we sneaked inside.

The main room was large and empty. The decoration inside was opulent and ornate. The floor wasn't metal, but some sort of stone. Across the area, a low dais and an opulent chair overlooked everything.

There were two other doors in the room. One was near the chair-slash-throne, another opposite it. The one near the chair was a single door, partially hidden by curtains, but still opulent and heavily decorated. Maybe living quarters or something? The door opposite the dais was a double-decorated door, which only intensified the petty villain vibes this whole room gave.

I shared glances with Ino and pointed at the two doors.

She pointed to the small one near the throne.

I nodded. I had a hunch the small door would lead to private quarters or something similar. Why? Well, simple, really. The double door was facing the gaudy throne. There was no way the villain would position his throne looking at his bedroom. And what better place than the head honcho's bedroom if we wanted to find info?

The same routine from before repeated. I approached first, and after ensuring there was no one on the other side, Ino took place by the door and started operating the lock. This one wasn't unlocked. It took Ino a few moments to pry it open.

The other side was a mix of a living room and connected living quarters. It was full of fancy, expensive-looking furniture and decorations. Not the room of someone concerned with practicality. Ino was already exploring the living room. I took my cue to sneak inside the connected quarters and see what I could find.

The bedroom was opulent. There was a wardrobe full of robes, all colorful and ornate. It somehow made me think of priest robes, if priests wore colorful robes.

I saw no weapons, or any indication that any was kept here. There was a small cupboard, a desk, and a connected bathroom. Another door, inside the bedroom, led to what looked like a private study or office. This one looked a lot more like a typical office.

Walls lined with shelves filled with books and parchments. The huge wooden desk was full of books and scrolls, none of which looked well cared for. The more I looked, the more things didn't make sense.

It was like someone had saved the books and papers from a hurricane.

No, not a hurricane: Giant armored golems with a penchant for destroying buildings.

Was all of this taken from places like the village? What were these people looking for?

I approached the table, looking over the scattered things there. What stood out most to me was a map. Old, too old. None of the markers made sense, but I recognized the shape. It was a map of the elemental lands. Just not one I was familiar with.

None of the big countries were marked. There were roads that I was sure didn't exist. While the map was ancient, there were new markings on it, maybe made by the room's owner. I looked around the room, at the other books and papers: stories, myths, folklore.

It was clear now, more than ever, these people were looking for something old. Perhaps even before the elemental lands, and they used the brute force approach. Attacking and ransacking villages for myths, stories, and anything that might help them find what they were looking for. It still didn't explain what they were doing with the villagers taken prisoner.

While I looked around, Ino entered the room. We shared a brief look before we started looking again.

I took the map, stored it.

Ino had approached the table, searching the drawers.

I left her to her search and started looking around for anything else that looked important. We worked in tense silence for a few minutes, until a blaring alarm disturbed us. I looked around, but no one was here, and I couldn't feel any chakra nearby. Below us, yes, but not here at the top.

The communicator burst to life with static. "We found the townspeople, but got found out in turn." Tenten's voice was strained, sounding like she was running.

"Retreat, meet at the agreed point," I ordered immediately.

"Hinata-chan…" Karin spoke. She didn't finish, but her tone of voice was concerning.

"Retreat," I ordered again.

Ino was by my side. She was carrying an old leather-bound tome. I felt then more of those strange chakra bundles coming up. We're out of time.

"Whatever you found, " I said, leading Ino toward the balcony, "We'll deal with it together. For now, retreat."

 

[okashihime]

I felt two more of those strange chakra signatures below us, climbing to the fortress's top level. Was it the werebat woman from earlier, and someone with her? My brief contact with her wasn't enough to memorize how her chakra felt. We were not ready to fight two other shapechangers and an army of golems.

I took the book from Ino's hand while we ran toward the balcony. It was a hefty tome, ancient. I sealed it away and handed the seal to Ino. I wasn't sure why she picked this one up among all the others, but we could find out once we had escaped.

We left the base through the still-open balcony door. Chakra coating our feet, we ran toward the side opposite the balcony. If the flying woman took off from there, she wouldn't immediately see us.

Below, the fortress swarmed like someone had kicked an anthill. Metal-clad patrols converged while more golems poured out. The strange chakra signatures I had felt crept closer toward the top floor. Now outside, I felt two more of those signatures, still inside the fortress, but near the base.

We would need a distraction. My preferred method was explosions.

My hands flashed with seals. Out popped two clones. I threw one of my prepared explosion packages.

Distraction-chan One and Two took the weapons and saluted, but instead of doing their job, both marched to Ino and sandwiched the startled blonde with a hug. Ino's hands wrapped around my clones, but her confused eyes were on me.

"Not the time," I growled, glaring at my clones.

The second just shrugged, stuck her tongue at me. With one last nuzzle and a kiss on best girl Ino's cheek, that was almost a kiss to her lips, both clones flickered away from the fortress, leaving a blushing Ino behind.

This whole thing hadn't taken more than a minute, but it was enough for the chakra signatures to arrive at the top floor.

I walked to Ino's side and signed a message. Enemy, nearby.

For a few tense minutes, we waited. Based on what I could sense, the chakra signature had gone toward the room we searched, not the balcony. A few moments later, the first explosion rang out, then another and another.

Both clones had attacked the army of golems near the base entrance. Even from a distance, the heat from the explosions reached me. The reactions were immediate. The two on the top level ran toward the balcony, but they stopped there. The other two near the base of the fortress ran toward the outside, then one took to the air, flying.

In all the confusion my clones were causing, I felt Tenten's and Karin's chakra slipping away.

I turned to Ino, signed a message. Retreat.

Ino cast one last glance around, then nodded. We ran toward the floor and waited for another explosion, slipping away from the fortress. We darted through trees and over rocks, moving fast and low. The rendezvous spot was a few minutes away, going by ninja speed, but I wasn't worried.

It didn't take long until we arrived at the place. It was a small clearing, already set up with privacy seals to cover our retreat if needed. Karin and Tenten were already there, waiting for us.

The first thing I did was check them out. I landed near Karin, looking her up and down.

"I'm not hurt," Karin said, swatting my hands away. I noticed she was hugging the ferret like it was a lifeline.

I turned to White. "Tenten?"

"I'm fine, we didn't get in a fight."

Ino approached. "What happened?"

Tenten took a deep breath. "Sneaking in was easy," she started. "The inside was a mix of machinery and a madman's workshop." She looked at Karin. "We followed the pipes on the walls." She didn't say anything other than that.

Karin started. "We found a room with people trapped inside glass. The machines…" she shuddered. "The machine was extracting their life force."

That at least explained what they were doing with the people they took and how that monster mobile fortress was being powered. Damn, from medieval fantasy straight into the matrix. What the hell was happening?

One of my clones decided that it was a good moment to die. Memories and impressions flooded my mind. I parsed through what my clone had seen. Distraction-chan, the second, after her explosives ran out, was accosted by yet another armored woman. Blonde, very outspoken, and dressed in similar metal armor to the flying one, just purple instead.

The battle was a blur. My clone was faster, but like the golems, the woman wouldn't stay down. Worse yet, she transformed into a big, hulking thing capable of blasting stuff from afar with lightning.

Not long after, the other clone also died.

The first clone fought against the werebat woman. It was a mess. Somehow, my clone managed to bypass part of the genjutsu by using threads like I had done before. It was nice to know it worked somehow, but she wasn't in a good shape to fight two at the same time, and got blasted by lightning once the hulking woman joined the fray after defeating my clone. I told the team what I had learned.

By my side, I saw Ino clench her fist. "We have to help them."

Her eyes were firm, resolute. It wasn't just her. Tenten and Karin also didn't seem willing to leave the civvies behind.

Four pairs of eyes stared at me. I understood Ino's feelings. Heck, I felt a bit of that too. But there were so many things to consider.

Instead of answering Ino, I turned to Karin and Tenten, grilling them for details.

"The process is slow," Karin said once we arrived at the trapped people again, "but it is killing them."

This was a mess all around. Talks with Hayase regarding the political situation came to mind. The Land of Rivers was allied with Wind, not Fire. It was technically not our jurisdiction to help. Interfering with stuff here could cause a lot of political backlash, especially for me.

And that wasn't the only issue. If we could, somehow, defeat a whole army of golems and seemingly immortal shapechangers, what would we do with the civvies? Could we just pop the glass and take the people inside away? Then what? Leave everyone here to fend for themselves?

No matter how I thought about it, we weren't equipped to solve this problem ourselves.

I could see a potential solution, however.

Sunagakure was, nominally, our allies. Gaara had become Naruto's friend somehow. I blamed Fate-kun and the talk-no-jutsu bullshit. But still, they were our allies. We weren't that far from Wind's border. We couldn't do it alone, but maybe we could enlist Suna's help?

I turned back to the still waiting team. Then another thought occurred to me.

"Karin," I said, turning to the redhead. "Did you sense someone there with very high levels of chakra?"

"Just four of the strange chakras."

That answered it somehow. Tsunade wasn't here. Not that I thought these people could capture the slug princess.

Karin looked toward the fortress, then to me. "One of them is coming this way."

I nodded. "Clear any signs we were here, I'll explain the plan while we move."

---

AN:
Heya Guys, sorry about missing the release on Monday. Things are very hectic for me at the moment. Work dropped on me a surprise work trip and I'm returning home on Saturday, which means, no chapter on Friday too. I apologize for that.

 

[okashihime]

"We don't have the numbers to take on the whole fortress," I said between branch-hopping. Karin was on one side, Ino on the other. Tenten was a few feet ahead of the pack.

"With time to prepare, we could do it." I twirled an exploding kunai between my fingers. "But that would risk the people we want to save."

I hadn't ever considered going against an army, but it should be doable, if we didn't care for collateral damage.

"But the main issue," I said, hopping to the next branch, "is that we're unprepared to help the civilians after we rescue them."

I didn't elaborate, but I knew they'd understand. We didn't have enough supplies to feed and care for a town's worth of people. We didn't even know if popping them out of the matrix was safe.

Ino's eyes narrowed. "You're thinking Suna?"

"Suna?" Tenten asked from her spot at the front.

"River is allied with Wind," I said, then jumped again. "We find a patrol, pass the intel up the chain. With luck, it'll reach Gaara."

Gaara hadn't become Kazekage yet, but he was all that but in name, if the intel I got back at home was correct. With no other S-class shinobi in their village, leadership defaulted to the jinchuriki and son of the previous kage.

I was putting my hopes in half-remembered details from the original story. It was strange. My memories of the start of the series were clearer than what happened after the timeskip. Maybe it made more of an impact? I shook my head; now wasn't the time to think about such things. In the original story, Gaara becomes a decent guy after being affected by Naruto's talk-no-jutsu. I was hoping the same would still apply here.

Hopefully, passing up the information would be enough to get them to help us. If not with fighting the fortress, at least caring for the civilians afterward, and preventing a diplomatic mess in the middle of a war.

It wasn't the best plan. I could admit that, but it might be the best alternative.

Interfering with other villages could spark a diplomatic war, which could give the council codgers ammunition to bother me with. The two had left me alone since the hearing. I didn't want to give them more reasons to start badgering me again. This way, we had a plausible reason to be involved. Maybe even earn a few brownie points with Suna.

I turned to Karin. "Enemy?"

Karin shook her head. "Outside my range."

That was good. An enemy approaching where we had been hiding spooked me a bit, but maybe it was a coincidence. I held the urge to slap myself for raising a flag and tempting Fate-kun.

We kept moving at ninja speed until I spotted a good place to make camp. I signaled the team to shift course. Below us, the river had carved a narrow path through the rocks, and near the top, a small alcove, deep enough to conceal us, offered a clear view of the surrounding terrain without exposing us.

"No house today?" Tenten asked, looking at the alcove.

I shook my head. "Not enough chakra. I don't want to drain my reserves in case we need to fight."

I took part of our sealed supplies from my pouches: sleep bags, food, and water.

Once that was done, I turned to Karin. "Can you take the first watch?" Karin's sensing range should be enough to make sure no one was sneaking on us. "I'll take second—"

"Let's do a double watch." Ino interrupted me. "I'll pair with you again."

"That's better," I said, nodding. No point taking unnecessary risks.

There wasn't much to say after that. We ate a cold dinner, then settled to rest.

Sleep didn't come easily. There was a lot on my mind. The implications that fillers were real in this world worried me greatly. Would Road to Ninja happen as well? The idea of meeting meek Ino left me feeling very conflicted.

I might have dreamed that night about adorable, shy, purple-dressed girls. Don't judge me.

---

"Hinata-chan, wake up."

It had been the best part of a dream already slipping from my mind when Karin shook me awake. I resented her meddling for long, painful breaths, then remembered where we were the previous night.

Sleep fled quickly after that. I jumped from my sleeping bag. "Enemies?"

Karin shook her head. I noticed she was still clutching the ferret in her arms. She yawned, then pushed me away from the bag. "Nothing happened, it's your turn." She shoved a blanket at me, then slid into my sleeping bag.

Nearby, I heard Tenten's waking up Ino.

I looked at Karin, now rolled like a burrito, then at the blanket in my hands. A humid, chilly night breeze blew near me. I shivered.

Without saying anything else, I draped the fabric over me, walked towards where Karin and Tenten had taken the first watch. Ino joined me not long after.

Her hair was messy, sleep lines still creasing her pretty face. She had a blanket too, but she draped it over me instead of wearing it, then snuggled in by my side, resting her head on my shoulder. Her hand found mine.

I put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

No one spoke for a long while. Ino's breath was slow and rhythmic. At some point, I thought she'd fallen asleep again, but a quick look at her face told me otherwise. Her eyes were open and focused on the terrain around us.

The first part of the watch wasn't that quiet. From behind us came Nerugui's soft cries. I shook my head and wished the pet luck. Karin was a terrible sleeping companion. Somehow, I imagined her meeting Madam Shijimi and swapping pet-care tips.

A giggle almost escaped me.

The quiet night watch gave me too much time to think. I knew why my clones were always harassing Ino at every opportunity. I didn't want to admit it, but I wanted to snog her so badly. I still didn't understand why I hadn't. I was pretty sure that Ino was, if not willing, then at least interested.

But deep down, I knew the truth: I was afraid.

Yep. Big damn coward.

A whole lineup of justifications was ready to parade out and give me an easy out: It's not the right time, I might not even be alive in a year, why push for a relationship that could leave Ino hurting?

Or my personal favorite: What's the point when there are still so many horrors lurking in the future?

They all sounded so reasonable, but they weren't the real reason.

The truth was, I was terrified she might reject me. And right now? I don't think I could survive that. Maybe if I were in a better headspace.

Ino interrupted my internal spiral by lifting her head from my shoulder. Without a word, she turned me until I was facing her.

The faint moonlight barely illuminated her face, but her pretty blue eyes stared into mine.

God, she was so pretty.

We held each other's gaze for a long, silent moment. I had no idea what was going through her head.

Ino's breath quickened. Her eyes flicked to my lips.

Agonizingly slow, she leaned in.

 

[okashihime]

Ino scanned the dark horizon, watching for anything that might look like an army marching toward them.
Being on a team with Hinata wasn't what Ino had expected. She would never admit it, but she enjoyed Hinata's idiosyncrasies. They were funny, funnier still to tease her or pretend she didn't care for them.

Fuin Rangers? Where did Hinata come up with stuff like that?

Ino didn't regret emotionally blackmailing her dad to move things along. She'd never tell Hinata, of course. A girl needed her secrets. And her father had it coming after interrogating Hinata like he did. Helping convince the Hokage to put them on the same team was the least he could do.

The real problem was her mom.

That relationship had always been testy, all the lectures about what a proper kunoichi should be like, and what Ino's life should be.

It didn't help that her mother had seen the kiss outside the house. In hindsight, Ino probably should've picked a less visible place, but what was done was done. It had led to a series of lectures about proper ladylike behavior, clan responsibilities, and finding a good husband. Never mind that her mom hinted at trying to tie Hinata to their clan, probably for political reasons. It made no sense, at all.

Ino hated that crap. She wasn't drawn to Hinata because of her bloodline, weird wood powers, insane sealing techniques, or even her version of the Fourth Hokage's jutsu.

It wasn't about any of that.

That one kiss in front of her house was as far as she'd let herself go. Not because she didn't want more, but… well, some of the crap her mom said did make sense. Ino had never thought about dating another girl before. She didn't even know anyone who had.

Ino scanned the horizon again.

But she didn't care anymore.

She'd been chewing on this for months. Agonizing over clan duty and over her feelings for Hinata. But it was obvious Hinata liked her at least a little. That silly grin every time they met wasn't subtle. Neither was how comfortable they were around each other. Not to mention the clones. They hadn't a single subtle bone in their bodies. At all.

In the end, Ino knew what she wanted.

Maybe once upon a time, she'd dreamed of a handsome husband. Perhaps someday she still would. But right now? Maybe she should follow Hinata's clone's examples, and what they kept telling her without saying a word.

She pushed away from where her head rested on Hinata's shoulder. The night air was cold, damp wind creeping under the blanket. She placed her hands on Hinata's shoulders and turned her until their eyes met.

She'd made her choice the night Hinata trusted her with her biggest, scariest secret.

Ino's eyes dropped to Hinata's lips. Her breath sped up.

Her first kiss had been a bloody mess. Her second hadn't lasted nearly long enough; Ino's own fault.

Right now, she wanted… She pressed their lips together for just a moment before pulling away.

Ino's face was burning, but it was nothing compared to Hinata's. Her pale skin flushed red, startled deer eyes. The clone's words came unbidden to Ino's mind. 'She's waiting.'

"I'm sorry for making you wait so long."

Ino didn't wait for an answer. Her arm slipped behind Hinata's head, fingers threading through her hair, the other curling around her waist.

It was irresponsible to distract Hinata like this during their night watch. It wasn't something she should do. Screw it. Future Ino could deal with the fallout.

She pulled Hinata in for a deeper kiss. It still wasn't enough.

A breathy moan escaped, hers or Hinata's, who cared. Hinata's hands had stopped trembling somewhere along the way and were now holding on like she never wanted to let go.

Ino didn't know how long it lasted. It might've gone on forever if it wasn't for Karin.

Karin's whispering voice cut through the night. "I'll keep watch."

Ino didn't even pull away; she just turned her eyes to the side.

Karin stood there in the dark, wrapped in a blanket, Nerugui clutched to her chest, wearing a wicked little grin.

"I don't think you two are in any condition to keep watch," she said, nodding toward the empty bedroll. "Why don't you go rest a little?"

She let go of Hinata, who was looking at anything but Karin. Ino stuck her tongue at the redhead, pulling Hinata toward the now-empty bedroll. She didn't even care that Tenten's bedroll was turned away from them, and the girl was suspiciously quiet. Ino couldn't even hear her breathing.

It didn't matter. Maybe with a bit more hurry than needed, she pushed Hinata inside the bedroll, then settled by her side. She didn't even mind Karin's giggling. Ino had more important things to attend to.

---

Waking up to find Hinata nestled against her arms was, like all other too few times it happened, something that always brought a smile to Ino's face. She didn't even mind that her eyes burned, dry and gritty from too little sleep.

They… hadn't slept much after returning to the bedroll, hadn't even talked much, mostly hugged, giggled, and kissed. Ino's ears burned, remembering how… daring she had been the night before. Not that she regretted it.

Noise around dragged Ino's eyes from Hinata's peaceful sleeping face.

Nearby, Karin was tending breakfast while Tenten looked like she hadn't slept well. She kept glancing everywhere but at Ino, so intently that she missed her footing and nearly stumbled. A sharp glare followed, which Ino caught. Their eyes met. Tenten's face flushed deeper, she looked away again.

Ino briefly wondered if she should feel bad for ruining Tenten's sleep.

Hinata moved, face nuzzling against Ino's. She mumbled something Ino couldn't understand.

Worth it.

Did she regret kissing Hinata? Heck no! She couldn't wait to do it again. Ino was sure her own silly grin was on her face. The timing however, could have been better. What she had done was stupid. Not about kissing Hinata, that was one of the best things she'd done, but interrupting their watch like that? Keeping others from sleeping when they needed rest?

Stupid.

She'd need to thank Karin later and apologize to Karin and Tenten. Somehow.

But not now. She hugged Hinata again, only to find herself staring into Hinata's dark eyes.

"Was it a dream?" Hinata's voice was barely more than a whisper.

Ino didn't answer. She leaned in and kissed Hinata again.

---

Ino made sure everything was packed and organized. They had eaten a quick breakfast and were ready to move toward Wind.

Tenten's face still burned red. Karin had a perpetual grin.

But it wasn't worse than Hinata. Hinata's face had been beet red the entire morning, and she hadn't met anyone's eyes. In the small moments she did, the silly smile was always there, like she couldn't believe the previous night's.

"Are we ready?" Ino asked. If she didn't take charge, they might not do anything today. Hinata was usually prompt in her leading duties, but well, Ino guessed she had somehow broken the girl. And despite everything that happened in the night, Ino still wanted to save as many people as possible.

"Ready," Karin said, tying the pouch around her waist, then yawned.

"Ready," Tenten said without looking at her.

Ino walked toward Hinata. She cupped her still blushing face, and after a quick peck, which left the girl even redder, and now with an even bigger silly grin that Ino had started to love, she asked. "Ready?"

Hinata nodded. Then took off running, not even doing her Fuin Rangers call out. Ino giggled. She had really broken Hinata.

Once they were running, jumping, and dashing, there wasn't much time to be embarrassed, even if it gave Ino time to consider the previous night. She wasn't anticipating explaining this to her mom, even if she was sure her father might just raise an eyebrow, ask if that was what she wanted, then congratulate her.

But that was trouble for the future. Ino had already lost too much time to hesitation.

They travelled until it was time for lunch. Ino might have sneaked away with Hinata to kiss her again. Worth the impish grin from Karin and the stares from Tenten.

They ran for a few more minutes when Hinata's voice sounded from ahead.

"I see smoke."

They stopped and turned to Karin.

"Two of those strange chakras, another one that feels like a normal chakra, but—"

Ino still found it surprising how far Karin could sense chakra. Hinata's sensing ability didn't even compare. Ino didn't even tell the team she'd started to learn her family secret techniques that allowed her to do the same, but she was nowhere near Hinata's range, not to mention Karin's.

"But?" Tenten asked.

"It's someone with a lot of chakra." She looked at Hinata for some reason. "Not as much as Naruto, though."

 

[Edifier]

Had I just french'ed fucking Orochimaru by proxy?

Click to shrink...

You know. I would totally believe that Orochimaru's soul is in the sword. And now the sword is his body. A body that can't decay and collapse like a human body would.
And a human body would fail because his whole Chakra system is inside Shinigamis stomach.
Tho he has parts of his soul all over the elemental nations, he's stuck being a soul for however long stealing the stuff back from the Shinigami takes - assuming the people trying to revive him figure that part out.

Then again those goopy bodies might make for viable hosts, or something stranger - assuming they don't need chakra systems.