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.

 

[okashihime]

In the end, there wasn't much to learn: Tenten had rejoined her original team, now that Rock Lee was fit for duty again. In all the war chaos, Neji had been promoted to chunin and often led the team on missions when Gai wasn't around. Sakura still paired up with Kiba and Shino. The Aburame shinobi had been promoted to chunin as well during field missions in the lands of Grass.

Both teams had rotated back to Konoha for debriefing and resupplying.

Ino had linked with her old team, but now that she was forcefully on break, I wasn't sure what was going to happen with the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

The most drastic of changes was Karin. The Intelligence Department finally got wind of her Mind's Eye of the Kagura technique. She'd been stuck in the village, often completing D-rank missions when time allowed, between training with the eggheads of the IT dep.

Information about the jonins proved to be harder to get. Kakashi-sensei: Classified. Yamato: Classified. Which made sense. It was one thing learning about weak genin and newly promoted chunin; another was trying to track down the top shinobi of the village.

I gave Aoba a bow, then left.

That was enough for now. There were still a lot of things to catch up on, but none of them were urgent. The badgers could wait one, two, or three more days. The GGC wouldn't run out of gossip if I delayed my visit.

And the Hyuga.

Well.

Back at the apartment, I ate a light lunch, took a shower, changed into comfy civvies, packed all the stuff we'd need for a picnic, and went out to meet Ino.

Unlike the previous day, the Yamanaka Matriarch was there when I arrived.

She stood ramrod straight. Her mouth was a firm, disapproving line. By her side, Ino wore a pretty sundress: yellow with hints of purple. Her posture marred the pretty sight. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her face was in a scowl.

I bowed. "Good afternoon."

The matriarch left Ino's side and approached. Clearly, she wasn't happy with me, and I knew the reason. She stopped in front of me; her face softening for a moment. Then, the woman surprised me by pulling me into a tight hug.

She pulled out, still holding my shoulders.

"I don't approve of this," she said, looking me in the eye.

From behind, Ino growled. "Mom!"

"But that's Ino's mistake to make."

"It's not a mistake!" Ino shouted.

"But if you hurt my daughter…" She left the threat unsaid.

I nodded. It hurt knowing we didn't have her support, but I guess it was better than nothing. At least we didn't need to avoid her anymore.

"I won't. I promise."

Her hands on my shoulders softened, her face matching. There was an almost smile on her severe facade. She kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're back with us."

Ugh, damn these sneaky ninjas that kept toying with my feelings. Was she angry or not?

"Thanks," I sniffled.

"And don't forget what I said before," the matriarch said after releasing my shoulders.

"I won't hurt her. I promise."

Ino's mom shook her head. "Not about that, even if I'll hold you to it."

I tilted my head, more confused than ever.

"Come talk to me before opening your bakery. I'll help you with the paperwork."

Oh, damn, she knew about it already? I mean, I guess it made sense. I didn't keep it a secret, and Inoichi worked with the people supposed to ferret secrets out. It made sense he'd know about it and tell his wife.

I nodded. "I will."

After all that, the woman turned to Ino. "I expect you to be back by ten."

"Mom!" Ino complained.

"Not a minute later."

There was a staring contest, and Ino was the first to look away. The matriarch gave me one last nod before disappearing inside the shop.

Ino walked to my side and hugged me. "I'm sorry about her."

With my arms wrapped around the blonde, I answered. "I don't mind. At least we don't need to avoid her anymore."

"Small mercies," Ino agreed.

I offered my hand, and the blonde took it.

After we took a few steps, Ino asked. "Where are we going?"

I gave her my best grin. "You'll see."

We didn't take the rooftops this time. Just walked hand-in-hand through the streets of Konoha, talking about anything but ninja life.

Faster than I thought possible, we arrived at our destination.

Ino let out an adorable gasp.

The field of flowers hadn't changed since the last time we'd been here. I pulled on her hand until we arrived beneath the tree, casting lonely shadows over the meadow. With Ino still looking around, I unsealed the fabric and spread it on the ground.

I had just placed the basket with cupcakes on the fabric when Ino interrupted my work.

"Is this…"

"Yep," I said, nodding. "This is where you tricked me into not picking a single flower."

Ino looked away, ears turning a lovely shade of red.

"You still owe me for that."

Her face snapped toward me. "What?"

"And I plan to collect," I said, and before she could react, I tackled her.

We both fell, rolling on top of the flowers. Ino shrieked. Shrieked even more when I started tickling her. I didn't keep the upper hand, however.

Ino had gotten stronger, a lot stronger than before. She grabbed me, flipped me around so I was against the ground, and she was on top. She attacked my sides with merciless fingers.

I held my expression still, through sheer force of will. "It won't work on me."

Ino stopped for a moment, face turning into a devious grin. Instead of tickling my sides, her fingers found the places behind my head, near my shoulders, and neck.

I lost all control, squirming under her touch.

"Won't work, huh?"

The words barely registered. I couldn't keep this up. Instead, I bucked, forcing Ino out of me, then turned around so I was on top. She must have predicted it, because using my momentum, she flipped me again so I was below once more.

"That's cheating!" I said, face flushed.

"I haven't even started yet," Ino grinned back. She lowered her face until it was level with mine and bit my ear.

Things got chaotic after that. I may or may not have tried to wrestle free. We may or may not have made out while rolling through the flowers. Whatever bruises I got in the name of kissing and floral warfare, totally worth it.

---

Some time later — maybe a little, maybe a lot — we made our way back to the picnic. Ino had devoured half the cupcakes and now lay draped on me in a koala hug, head resting on my shoulder.

For a moment, I thought she'd fallen asleep. I almost did, too, lulled by the rhythm of her breath and the soft pull of contentment.

"What do you think the future will be like, Hinata-chan?"

That question pulled me back six years. Same field. Same girl. She'd asked it then, too. Back then, I'd lied. This time, I couldn't, even if the answer had changed.

"Anything we want," I said, looking at the sky. "As long as you're with me."

Ino giggled, pushed up, and kissed me.

"Keep saying stuff like that, and I won't ever let you go."

 

[okashihime]

"Tsunade!" With hands on my shoulders, Ino shook me like I was a tree sapling. "You're choosing her, right?"

The idea was tempting, really, but I still needed to decide what to focus on.

"I want to, but hear me out?"

More sapling shaking ensued. "You've got to pick her, Hinata-chan. It's the slug princess we are talking about!"

It was late afternoon, the sun almost dipping beyond the mountain. The few clouds we could see had taken on an orange hue that announced evening wasn't far away.

"Training with her would be nice," I started, "if I wanted to learn more about healing and taijutsu."

"And you don't?"

"I do! But I need other things more."

Ino made a face, but didn't contradict me.

"I've been trying too many things at once, and because of that, you got hurt. If only I had trained more and been more decisive." I found places to look at, a lot of them. Everywhere but Ino.

"Nonsense," Ino scoffed. "We're ninjas. We get hurt, we stand up and keep fighting."

I understood Ino's feelings, but it still felt like I had let her get hurt because I wasn't taking things seriously enough. With a lot of time to reflect on the battle, I could have killed Haido without ever letting Ino be even closer to danger.

"Still, I need to think about where to focus my training. Tsunade would be great for getting better at taijutsu, better yet if she teaches me how to punch mountains." I made a few punching motions, while Ino giggled at my antics. "Yamato could teach me a lot more about mokuton. And since I don't deplete all my chakra anymore, it might be the best bet."

Ino nodded.

"Then there's Shisui. Gosh, imagine that? Teleporting all around all the time? Zoom, zoom, zoom!" I couldn't contain my excitement and might have pretended I was teleporting with cool poses while zooming about.

Ino burst out laughing. My ears burned.

"But there's another possibility too," I said, my smile turning devious.

"What is it?" Ino asked between bouts of laughter.

My evil grin intensified. I pulled out a kunai. Ino's eyes bugged out. It was a distraction, though. While Ino was preoccupied with the not-exploding kunai, I popped out threads and threads, then put them to work tickling Ino.

Focusing on threads (and explosions) would be a more challenging path to follow, since, as far as I knew, there was no puppet master in Konoha, nor any explosion master. Still, the idea appealed to me: an army of teleporting, exploding puppets.

That also didn't take into consideration the black chakra receivers. I had done no real testing with them yet, but would I be able to puppeteer a body the same way Pain had done in the original story?

Distracted by thinking strange thoughts, I didn't see Ino lunging at me until she tackled me into the field of flowers again.

I pushed the thoughts of training away. I had time to decide. One or two more days wouldn't change much in the end.

---

Before evening fell, we walked hand in hand toward the commercial district.

People stared.

It might have been because Ino didn't hide that we were dating or the PDAs, or maybe it was our clothes and hair: Ino still had a few grass leaves poking out of her mane. If she noticed, she didn't seem to care.

I was past caring either.

It felt strange being so happy when most of the common people were tense and alert. The realities of war hadn't sunk in for me yet. I knew things were bad, but I was so happy and protected from that mess that it felt like a story happening to someplace else.

After a picnic date, we decided to visit the ramen stall at my request. I missed the sunshine brat, and Ino didn't seem to mind the idea of slurping noodles. Before we arrived at the stall, I heard something that made me stop.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, straining my hearing.

"Hmm?"

I closed my eyes, ignoring the sounds of city people. Amid the mess of walking, talking, and haggling, I found what caught my attention: someone crying, a child.

Leading Ino toward the sound, I said, "Come, not far."

Across a busy street and through an alley, we arrived at a small park. I hadn't ever come here before, even if the place looked familiar. I'd seen this park many times while crossing the highways, but had no reason to stop here.

Now, there was a boy – he looked about five – sitting alone on one bench and bawling his eyes out.

Ino didn't need prompting. She pushed ahead and stopped by the boy.

"Hey there," she whispered. "Are you hurt?"

The boy, dressed in a pretty blue kimono with a few red details, stopped crying long enough to look at both of us. "Mister Tama is missing," he said before the crying started again.

With gentle words and gestures, Ino coaxed the details from the boy: His pet cat, a fat tabby called Mister Tama, had gone missing this afternoon. The kid, Naoya, had sneaked away from home with his cat to play at the park, but the cat had gone missing, and now Naoya couldn't return home without his pet.

"We'll look for Mister Tama," Ino had hugged Naoya and said, while patting his hair. She looked at me, and I knew what she wanted.

"Four?"

Ino nodded, released Naoya after whispering something to him. "Four."

Together, we performed the hand seals. In a puff of smoke, clones appeared around us.

Naoya gaped, his crying almost forgotten.

I looked at the clones. They looked back at me, then at Ino's clones. Ino's clones had a mischievous, hungry look on their faces. Original Ino's face had turned beet red.

"Oh," was all that I had time to say.

Ino covered Naoya's eyes and the clones, instead of going out in search of the damn cat, decided that making out was more important. After covering Naoya's eyes, Ino had to cover his ears as well. She didn't, however, dismiss the clones. Neither did I.

---

It took a while to wrangle the clones into compliance. I had to make promises and concessions. Somehow, Ino's clones were even more gung-ho about the whole making-out part, but we made it work.

For helping us search for the cat, we wouldn't unsummon them until it was time to sleep. After that, the traitors left in pairs. I was still skeptical about the whole thing. Would they really go looking for a cat?

There wasn't much to do except wait. To keep Naoya from crying, I took out my koto and played a few songs. That cheered the kid. He even started laughing at a few songs. Maybe one hour later, when the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the sky was almost entirely dark, a pair returned, holding a tubby tabby.

My clone didn't even have the time to ask if that was the cat when Naoya shouted. "Mister Tama!"

Well, they did it. Color me surprised.

The clones didn't stay long. They delivered the cat, then fled the scene. Like they were in a hurry to be somewhere else. Ino's face was still flushed.

"Thank you!" Naoya said, hugging the chubby cat.

"You're welcome," I said back, smiling, glad the kid was too young to notice my burning ears. I looked around. I offered my hand to the kid. "Come, we'll take you home."

Naoya took my hand and started pulling. Ino grabbed my free hand, and like that, we walked.

Naoya knew where to go, because he led us through a few streets and alleys, and it didn't take long until I knew where he lived. The blue kimono with red details should have clued me in.

Not long after, we were in front of the Uchiha compound.

Worse yet, Mikoto and another woman were at the gates, waiting for us.

"Naoya!" the other woman said. She didn't look worried, but still opened her arms to hug the boy. Her son, maybe?

Mikoto just smiled at the scene, then at us. She didn't seem to mind that Ino and I were walking hand in hand.

"Hinata-chan, Ino-chan," she said, still smiling. "Thank you for helping find Mister Tama."

I scratched my cheek. "You're welcome."

"Please come in; we were about to have dinner," she invited.

I looked at Ino, who just nodded. Feeling more awkward than ever, I stepped inside the compound to have dinner with the Uchihas.

 

[Pandaemonium04]

Hmmm, i like it. She already has a set of skills she's developed all on her own, despite the village actively sabotaging her for so long. And with it, she's turned out to be phenomenal so why pursue an already traded path set out by a teacher? Sure, she will received specialised training but it takes away her own flexibility and unpredictable nature that she's curated all on her own.
Making her own path, using everything she's learned especially with an unlocked chakra sounds amazing.
Idk if it's possible but I hope the author decides to bend the chakra rods to a new technique as well. Sure, going into the puppeteer route with explosive clones sounds interesting but that's just pain part two.
Maybe make weapons out of the rods, they absorb chakra so find a way to make projectiles. Or add them to fuinjutsu and make chakra sealing barriers.
Since they can also act as communicators, why not make a radio kinda tech, she can lead teams of chuunins with silent long range communications. I think radios already exist in Shippuden but idk why they weren't used as much. Im thinking carrying the equipment hindered the mobile nature of shinobi so having chakra rods that can be created, used and then destroyed in the field would be super useful in a war. They absorb chakra, they could be made into an all new detection system. There's plenty of shinobi that can bypass fuinjutsu since it's a known thing but the chakra nodes could be set up as a defensive detection system where anything with chakra that enters a perimeter is detected. Would be especially useful in the war, to protect important areas. Although I guess it would have to be very secret and only known to the top brass so that enemies don't become aware it exists.
Can she take a dead body and use it to perform jutsu like Pain or is her eye limited? If so, taking an enemy corpse and sending it as a puppet for infiltration would be useful but I guess it depends on how noticable the corpse is.if the corpse can carry one of her hiraishin kunai then she could sneak into a lotta places.
If nothing else, maybe leave one of her H.Kunai in an important intel box as bait, when the enemy picks it up and takes em back to their base she can teleport. Only problem would be if they already know about it, on the other hand does her Hiraishin HAVE to be a kunai? Can she teleport as long as it's wooden with the right fuin? Can she make an unassuming box, wooden spoon etc? Or a wooden box with lots intel inside?

 

[okashihime]

I think radios already exist in Shippuden but idk why they weren't used as much.

Click to shrink...

Radios are used in the first part of the story as well. Before the land of waves, when they are in that mission to capture the Daimyo wife cat, they use radios.
I'm not exactly sure why thy are not more widespread, but my interpretation is that on high secrecy missions, the danger of having communication intercepted is too much, which is why radios are not used. During the war, for example, they used the Yamanaka mind justu to form a communication array instead of using tech.

Can she take a dead body and use it to perform jutsu like Pain or is her eye limited?

Click to shrink...

MC hasn't tested it yet, but yes, she is able to control a corpse with the rods.

Only problem would be if they already know about it, on the other hand does her Hiraishin HAVE to be a kunai? Can she teleport as long as it's wooden with the right fuin? Can she make an unassuming box, wooden spoon etc? Or a wooden box with lots intel inside?

Click to shrink...

It doesn't have to be a kunai, no. She makes it a kunai because fangirling over the Fourth Hokage.


Also, thank you for the ideas and suggestions. Some of them already align with things I was thinking about, while others give me a lot of new interesting ideas to work with.

 

[Petrox]

There was a fic of Tanya reincarnating as Naruto's sister. In the war she would tag the fleeing ninjas and they wouldn't know which one was active. The active ones would explode or be a mark of Hirashin for Tanya to teleport at the base and destroy it. It made the enemy kill their own marked comrades or them deserting and lowering morale by a lot.

 

[okashihime]

There was a fic of Tanya reincarnating as Naruto's sister. In the war she would tag the fleeing ninjas and they wouldn't know which one was active. The active ones would explode or be a mark of Hirashin for Tanya to teleport at the base and destroy it. It made the enemy kill their own marked comrades or them deserting and lowering morale by a lot.

Click to shrink...

That's so evil and something ninjas would totally do.