A strange new life. [Naruto]

[Petrox]

I would that the damyo himself would sponsor the bakery with how her wife love it. Of course, she would need to check her health to not end like a whale.

 

[okashihime]

I wasn't sure what happened with Secretary-chan. She cried a while longer before composing herself; her eyes red, her nose puffy. She took off her glasses, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. I didn't have a handkerchief to offer, so I did the next best thing. I unsealed a piece of clothing and handed it over.

She took the shirt, stared at it, and for a second, I thought she might fall apart again. Instead, she hugged it to her chest, not to wipe her face, just to hold it.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

I pulled her into another hug. "What happened?"

Secretary-chan just shook her head. She got up, kissed my forehead, then moved to leave the tower without giving me an explanation.

That was super out of character. She never left the tower, not like this. And she didn't tell me why.

I wouldn't let things stand like that. She was my friend, my first real friend in this world, and she was hurting. I followed her out.

Secretary-chan didn't leave immediately, though. She turned. Her face was drawn and tired. She looked a decade older. Her hand caressed my cheek, and she smiled.

"I need some time alone to think," she said, voice still watery. "Can you inform the Hokage for me? They need to find someone to man the desk while I'm not here."

A lot of things went through my mind. What could have caused this reaction from her? I realized that for everything I knew about Secretary-chan, I knew little about her personal life. Not about her family, or friends, or even lovers. She'd just always been Secretary-chan to me.

Instead of pressing her to tell me what was going on, I decided on a different approach. I had already been considering poaching her from the Hokage tower, anyway.

"I'm thinking about opening a bakery."

Secretary-chan blinked owlishly at me.

"I was going to ask you later… if you'd work with me."

The eyes behind the glasses turned misty, and for a moment, I thought she was about to cry. She just smiled, cupping my face with both hands now.

"I'd love to," she said.

Those words cut me like a knife. Secretary-chan didn't sound happy or excited about the idea. No, her words were like that was a dream she desperately wanted, but that would never come true. She leaned in, kissed my forehead again, and then dashed away.

I followed her with my chakra perception, watched her presence flicker, then vanish. I wanted to cry, and I didn't know why.

Not knowing what to do, I entered the tower and climbed its stairs. At the intelligence department floor, I told them the reception desk was unattended.

"There's no one at the reception desk," I said to a busy-looking, heavy-glass-wearing woman.

She blinked at me for a few seconds, opened her mouth, maybe to ask questions, but I slipped out and kept climbing. Arriving at the Hokage's door, I knocked, knowing he might not receive me: Shisui wasn't alone in the room.

Surprisingly, his voice came out from inside.

"Come in."

The door creaked open, and I walked in. The other person in the room was the slug princess. She sat on the chair in front of the Hokage's desk, almost lounging.

Tsunade gave me a nod.

"Good afternoon, Hinata-san. What brings you here?"

I waved at both, then walked to the desk, popped out the last few pastries that had survived the visit to the Yamanaka household. Shisui seemed to expect that. He took out a few mugs and served tea for us.

Tsunade being here was strange, but it didn't change what I needed to do.

"I want to open a bakery."

Both legendary shinobi blinked my way.

"But I'm poor."

Shisui bit into his cupcake, considering.

"And you want financial aid?"

I shook my head, produced some of my old seals, the unencrypted storage, and the weaker explosion ones.

"I want the village to buy these from me." I declared, chin raised high.

---

Negotiations spanned about an hour. Shisui was more than interested in buying the seals from me, but more than that, he was also interested in purchasing the technique itself. I had never considered it before, but copying things from other seals like I've been doing all this time wasn't something everyone could do.

And that explained why no one had copied my explosions or storage either.

If honesty were mandatory, I'd probably have given the technique away for free if Shisui had just asked. It was a pleasant surprise when the Hokage offered me monies for it, instead of just demanding I hand things over.

There was a bit of back and forth, with Tsunade interjecting here and there.

My overall impression was that my first offer had been too low, because Shisui and Tsunade kept finding reasons to give me more money, somehow.

The end arrangement was simple: a fixed sum of money for manuals on how to use the new explosions and the new storage seals, the deeds of one property near the residential district. The house in question was destroyed during the Suna attack, and with the owner dead, there had been no urgency in rebuilding. Now it was mine to do as I pleased.

Along with the plot of land, the village would subsidize my cost in building a new house or storefront, if that was what I wanted, as well as help with the basic stuff like plumbing, electricity, and all that stuff I never even considered.

I declined on the construction part. "No construction. I'll mokuton it."

Shisui nodded. "We'll send workers to arrange the decoration, furniture, and other things the shop might need. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, thank you!" I beamed at the man, almost got up, and gave him a hug!

Any extra storage or explosion tag I made, I could offload them onto the village, and they'd pay me a fixed value for each batch. The money was not an inconsiderate sum, but I'd have to work my ass off to make lots of money out of that.

After the business talk, it came time to make an official report regarding the events in the Land of Rivers.

With Tsunade here, I didn't mince words. I told both about things we faced and why I had destroyed the gelel vein.

"I couldn't see any other possibility," I shrugged. "Haido and his women weren't trained shinobi, and that stone made them that powerful. If we took it, it would be an all-out war when the other villages found out."

Tsunade nodded. "Unless we conquer the world first."

I blinked, surprised, head snapping toward her. Shisui just face-palmed. Tsunade laughed.

Shisui had been curious about what I did to Ino and Tsunade, and I was honest with him.

"I don't remember."

"And the eye?"

I mulled it over. I had looked at the eye in the mirror. It wasn't easy to see, but the black eye wasn't entirely black. From what I remembered, a normal Rinnegan had a black dot at the center, which I always took to represent the outer path, and six circles representing the other six paths.

Buried in the black was a dot and a single ring, which made sense to me. I was, after all, the outer path, and had access to only one other path: Preta.

But should I tell them? How would I even explain it? Better yet, should I?

I decided I would trust both. I didn't really know Tsunade, but she'd been almost like a role model in the entire series to me: Power grandma and badass kunoichi with a tragic story.

Decision made, I got up, walked to the walls, and slapped privacy seals on. Tsunade looked curious, but I think Shisui was already used to me and didn't even bat an eye.

"Promise me this will never leave this room, not a word, or a note, or even a thought."

Shisui didn't hesitate. "You have my word."

Tsunade looked at both of us. It took her a while, but then she said, "I promise."

"I'm certain… that my eyes belonged to an Uchiha."

 

[Petrox]

Geez, add some Kaguya DNA and you will have the closest KAGUYA DNA origin.

 

[Kraise]

Is Secretary-chan root? Because she is giving some major traitor guilt vibes.

 

[okashihime]

Only after I blurted that out that I consider it might not be the smartest of choices to say that in front of the Hokage, a Uchiha Hokage.

Shisui's big, expressive eyes bore into my soul.

Tsunade didn't seem to give a shit. "The hell you mean?"

I scratched my cheek. "I think Orochimaru implanted Uchiha's eyes when he took mine away."

Shisui pointed to my black eye. "Is that a mutated Sharingan?"

I shook my head. Better explain things, at least the basics of it.

"Byakugan, Sharingan, Rinnegan. Those are the three greatest dojutsu." I got nods from both. "Many think Rinnegan is nothing more than a legend, but it exists." I pointed at my black eye.

"Is that…?"

I shook my head again. "It's not a full Rinnegan, no. But what most don't know is that Rinnegan kekkei genkai doesn't show up naturally. Under very specific circumstances, a sharingan may evolve into a rinnegan."

In the palm of my hand, the black chakra receiver material flowed out into the form of a black kunai. It was still strange being able to do this, but not knowing how the process actually worked.

Once the kunai was finished, I placed it on the table and slid it toward the Hokage.

He took it, eyes turning red, inspecting the material.

Tsunade didn't seem distracted by my antics, though. "And what are these specific circumstances?"

"I'm not comfortable sharing," I said.

"And how do you know that?"

I grinned at the old-teenager across from me, pointed at my black eye. Finally, I had an excellent excuse to tell a few secrets without having to risk an exorcism.

Teen-Tsunade scowled, crossed her arms. She was cute as heck, shame I already had Ino, though.

Shisui waved the black kunai around, drawing attention to himself. "And what is this?"

"I don't know the material's name. I call it black receivers, which do what the name implies. It acts like a transmitter for my chakra across long distances."

"What else?" Tsunade asked.

I extended my hand to Shisui. After a few moments of consideration, he placed the kunai on it. I pushed my hand up and grabbed his. The hokage could have dodged, I'm sure, but he let me do it.

Concentrating, I pulled the tiniest bit of chakra from his hand. Then I let go.

Shisui's eyes had turned red again, but he wasn't looking at me; he was staring at his hand.

After a while, he spoke. "Chakra absorption."

I shrugged. "That's what's keeping genjutsu from working on me," I said, since there was no point in denying it anymore. "Ever since I woke up in that lab, any chakra that tries to enter my body gets absorbed. I always thought it was something that Orochimaru did." I gave them a lopsided smile. "In a way, it was, even if not what he had planned."

Conversation died down after that, aside from one last topic from Tsunade.

"You need training and focus," she said, pointing a finger at me. "You're trying to learn a hundred things at once, and mastering none."

"What Tsunade means to say," Shisui interjected, "is that you could benefit from a teacher."

Giddy bubbliness crawled from the tip of my toes, into my stomach, and toward my chest. I kept my face placid, made sure I wasn't vibrating in my seat. By Tsunade's strange looks and Shisui's veiled smile, I might have failed.

"And…?"

Shisui nodded. "There are three shinobi who would be a match for your skill set and are willing to take you as an apprentice."

The suspense was killing me. "Those are…?"

"You need to decide where to focus your training." The Hokage pointed at Tsunade. "Tsunade can help with taijutsu, medical jutsu, control, and fuinjutsu."

Ohmygawd! Freaking Tsunade as my teacher?

"Or you can train with me," Shisui said. "We would focus on ninjutsu and perfecting your style using shushin and your kuro raikou jutsu."

Gah, lessons from Shisui, they're playing with my heart.

"Or you could perfect your mokuton, water, and earth jutsu with Yamato, now that it isn't as taxing for you anymore."

Dayum. Yamato wasn't as legendary a shinobi as the other two, but he was still massively powerful and uniquely suitable to help me with mokuton.

I was tempted. I really wanted to train with all three.

"Can't I—" I started, but Tsunade interrupted me.

"It would be best for you to focus on a single aspect for now. There's nothing that prevents you from learning more later, but you need to stand on your own with everything you're carrying around."

Huh, I guess the princess knew I knew stuff, too.

"You don't have to decide now," Shisui said. "Take your time to consider. Talk with your friends if that helps you."

I left the tower soon after, mind buzzing with possibilities. It was only when I was out and already engaged on the highway that I remembered I wanted to ask other things, too.

One of the things I wanted to know was about Secretary-chan. Her breakdown worried me, but would it be an invasion of privacy to ask the privacy-invading shinobi for intel on my friend? I wanted to help her, but I didn't even know where she lived. If it wasn't in the tower, I did not know where to find her. At all.

The other was about Mom. Counting the time I was in a coma, it had been more than a year since I last saw her. Mom said she would visit again and hadn't, in an entire year. I knew it because I asked Ino, and no Hyuga approached me while I was konked out.

That left only one conclusion: something bad had happened.

Still, maybe this was for the better. Not something bad happening to Mom, but forgetting to ask Shisui. It was time I stopped being so passive and dependent on others.

I almost died; I wanted to live a good, carefree ninja life without bothering anyone, but that wasn't going to stop me from finding out what happened to Mom.

And so, I decided that I was going to invade the Hyuga compound and find out what happened to Mom. But that would need planning and time to prepare. I wasn't about to be reckless because I was worried. I could also ask Ino for advice. We were partners now, girlfriends even!

A bubbly giggle escaped me.

Yes, that would do. I was going on a date with her tomorrow. I could talk about it there if we had time to talk.

That line of thought left my ears burning and cheeks rosy. Damn, I was hopeless, wasn't I? Still, I needed to talk with the Yamanaka Matriarch. It was good that Inoichi gave us his approval, but I didn't want Ino picking a fight with her mother if that could be avoided. Another thing to discuss with Ino on tomorrow's date. If we had time!

My steps took me toward the commercial district, where I used the last of my currently available money to buy ingredients. Prices had skyrocketed in the past year. It costs about twice as much to buy the ingredients. Dang it, this damn war.

A lot more poor now, but with ingredients for an entire night of baking, I returned to the apartment.

I landed in front of the door, and before I could open it, it banged open. A flustered Karin stood there, looking at me with wide eyes. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes rumpled and slightly wrinkled.

I didn't need to look inside to know what was going on. There were two other chakra signatures in the apartment. Ones that even though I hadn't memorized how they felt, but it was easy to deduce who they were.

I grinned. "Need a few minutes?"

Karin nodded, her face going even redder.

I handed her my shopping bags. "Put these in the kitchen for me?"

Still silent, she took them.

"I'll be back in an hour," I said, turning away. Before I left, I threw one more line over my shoulder. "No strange fluids on the bed, please. It's also mine."

Karin squealed in horror. "Hinata-chan!"

Grinning, I left her to her amorous adventures and made a beeline for the market district again. It was cheeky, sure, but I had gifts to buy for Best Girl Ino.

 

[Petrox]

Ps: Add living quarters to the bakery.
The Shisui path is the Hirashin path too.
The mokuton path would help into taking care of Bee and Nii.
The medical path is a multiplier in itself in a war.
But I think Minato 2.0 is the best way to go now.

 

[okashihime]

The hour of meandering gave me enough time to clear my head and think about things.

I knew well enough what Shisui was doing; he wasn't even being subtle about it. Ever since he became the Hokage, he'd been moving pieces around to make me more comfortable, or maybe happy? I dunno, but the result was the same. Despite everything that happened, I couldn't see myself dumping Konoha.

The place wasn't perfect, but all my friends, few as they were, lived here and loved this place.

My meandering took me to the tallest roof in Konoha. I sat there, village watching.

I loved Konoha too. It was amazing. Even now, eight years later, the mix of traditional Japanese architecture and the strangeness from the shinobi world took my breath away.

The offer of being taught by the legends still made me super giddy, even if that was just another emotional manipulation to tie me closer to Konoha. I didn't really mind. I had no intention of leaving. This was home, after all. I wasn't sure from whom I wanted to learn with; all options were great, and it teased my fangirl side more than just a bit.

Punching down mountains, zoom-zooming around, and stabbing people in the back, or even creating entire forests with Mokuton. It was the dream!

Still, there were other things I had to do sooner rather than later, not just training-related. This forced vacation was also a good time to stop and think about what I wanted to do for the future. My previous plans didn't seem that urgent anymore, not now that I didn't have a time limit hanging over my head because of the seals.

My plan had been to track down Nagato and destroy the Rinnegan before Madara could ever be revived. Without a natural Rinnegan, all other plans would fall by the wayside. The goddess would stay locked, no world-spanning genjutusu, no ten-tails, or that was what I had hoped.

But now, I didn't need to do it all by myself, since I had time.

It was another thing I had to consider. I could wait until the brat was back, then enlist Jiraya's help to track down Pain. With prior information, I was sure we could take down Nagato without suffering any losses.

But before that, there were other things I had to look into. More urgent things.

Sasuke's disappearance could only be Orochimaru-related. Had the snake possessed the Uchiha heir? From what I understood, the village knew now how to remove the cursed seal, but hadn't done it to Anko yet, for fear of alerting the snake.

Mom's disappearance reeked of foul play.

Danzo needed some hunting and exterminating.

And last, I had to find and kill Kabuto. That fucker needed to die before he could do even more harm.

The hour passed faster than I expected. I had gotten no gift for Ino, and now it was already too late, with most shops closed. That was okay, too. I had time now — a giggle escaped me — I had time now! And Ino was my girlfriend!

With one last look around, I jumped away from the roof. With some cleaning and setting up, this could be a nice place for a date. It had a good view of the village and an amazing place to watch the sunset.

Not long after, I landed in front of the apartment again. Karin was at the entrance, waiting for me. Her face burned redder than her hair.

I walked closer, grabbed her into a hug. Karin squeaked, but I wouldn't let her off the hook.

"Is the bed clean?" I whispered in her ear.

"Hinata-chan!" Karin gasped. "It— that wasn't— we didn't—"

I left a sputtering Karin at the door and traipsed inside, as if I were looking for some strange fluids.

"Hinata!" Karin growled from the entrance, then she dashed inside and tackled me.

My laughter followed Karin's ever angrier remarks.

---

Later that night, we lay in bed, with me spooning Karin, to give her less access to my hair and arms.

While I was in a coma, Karin had replaced the bed with a bigger one.

That cheeky girl.

Still, I wouldn't begrudge her finding happiness with whomever she wanted. Even though the situation was still strange. I had never considered a polyamorous relationship, but the three were making it work, somehow.

There was a lot to catch up on. I wanted news about Naruto, to check out with Tenten, and to meet with all the friends from the academy. It was just a pipe dream. Most of them weren't in the village, helping with the missions away. Damn this war.

"We need to talk."

Karin froze, body tensing.

Huh, well, that always sounds bad, yeah.

"Sorry, not like that," I said, and felt her relax. "I'm going to build a bakery, and a new house above it."

"Oh."

I hugged her closer. Karin didn't resist.

"Do you want to move in with me?" I asked, and before she could answer, I added. "Or you could keep the apartment."

Karin turned around until she was looking at me. She'd grown as well, losing a bit of that child look and now looking more like how she'd look when an adult. Her eyes were misty.

"I'd love to," she said.

For a moment, I thought she was going to kiss me again, given how she looked at my lips and her chakra bubbled, but she just put her arms around me and her head on my shoulder.

What was I going to do about this? I was pretty sure now. Karin wanted me in her harem. That was super dangerous. I mean, on any other occasion, I wouldn't mind snogging her, or Sakura, even if I wanted nothing to do with Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast. I liked Rock Lee; he was my third favorite, but not dating material.

But I wouldn't let her off the hook.

"I'll place soundproofing jutsu in your room, then you can go wild with your partners."

Karin gasped, growled, and then bit me.

The heck!

---

In the morning, I disentangled from Karin and got to prepare. The date with Ino later today was going to be a picnic, and for that, I had to bake things. With my deal for the seals, I finally had enough money to buy good ingredients, despite the inflation. Before the day really started, I prepared breakfast for the still-sleeping Karin, as well as lunch and afternoon snacks.

She woke up while I was in the middle of baking.

"There's food on the table for you," I called out from inside the kitchen.

I heard her yawning. "I missed this."

"The seals are your lunch and afternoon snack."

"Hinata-chan! I love you!"

I snorted. "My food, you mean."

"Same thing," Karin answered.

Karin ate, left soon after. She still had work to do.

I spent my morning remaking most of my supplies and kits. Good impression, apology, thank you's, and all the others I most often use.

Near noon, after I was done with that round of baking, I went back to the tower. Secretary-chan wasn't there. Instead, it was the same Uchiha prick who kept shooting me glares. I gave him the finger and didn't wait for his spluttering before I ran up and toward the IT people.

There, I met Hayase. The newly promoted jonin had made a full recovery thanks to Tsunade.

"Thank you, Hinata!" he said, clapping me on the back. "If you hadn't convinced the sannin to return, I don't think I'd ever go on field missions again."

I nodded sagely; staying cooped up inside the village was horrible.

"I can't stand the blockheads not cataloging intel correctly," Hayase added.

Err, well, if that's how he saw things.

Hayase gave me the rundown on recent political events.

It was a war, but still not an all-out war. Most of the combat was centered on the minor lands around Konoha, with Iwa and Kumo trying to invade and control key strategic points. One of the worst points of contention was an iron mine in the land of Hot Waters. Most of the recent skirmishes happened there.

While I was still in the IT department, I met with Inoichi and Shikaku. Both were busy, and it was lucky to find them walking near Hayase's desk. I bowed goodbye to the intelligence jonin, then hopped toward the two.

"Good afternoon, Inoichi, Commander."

Both stopped. Inoichi smiled, gave me a nod. Shikaku just nodded.

"Will I get in trouble for asking about my friend's whereabouts?"

Shikaku shook his head. "As long as you don't spread the information." I grinned, but before I said anything, he continued. "Talk with Yamashiro Aoba."

Both gave me nods and went on their way.

Well, at least now I had permission. No one could accuse me of spying, right?

With a pep in my step, I went looking for this Aoba. The name was familiar, even if I didn't really remember the shinobi.

---

AN: Thank you for reading.