A strange new life. [Naruto]

[okashihime]

I showered and slipped into the same white kimono I'd worn to the Uchiha dinner. I was going out with friends. I wanted to look nice, feel pretty.

Karin didn't take long to return. The redhead's grin was even sillier than mine. I shook my head. There was no need to ask if Sakura-chan accepted. Karin was braver than me. Inner Sakura was terrifying.

While she got ready, I inspected my supplies. Made sure the mango-flavored pastries were there. It wouldn't do to lure Secretary-chan away from the tower and not deliver on my promise.

Karin slipped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She left a few minutes later dressed in a beautiful black kimono — I didn't know where she got it from.

"You look pretty," I said.

Karin smiled. "You too."

She helped me apply makeup, and I helped her in turn. Then, ready, we left the apartment.

We walked toward Ino's house, with Karin still wide-eyed at anything and everything. I agreed with her. Even after living here for years, it still amazed me every time. I loved the village even if it didn't love me back.

Ino was waiting for us outside the shop. By some unspoken agreement, she was also dressed in a kimono. To no one's surprise, purple.

She was beautiful. I said as much.

Ino looked at me, my silly grin, rolled her eyes. Then, her gaze settled on the redhead.

"Karin?" she asked.

Karin nodded. Smiled. I caught the mischievous look and didn't have time to stop the disaster.

"So, you're the mistress?"

I face-palmed.

Ino blinked. "Mistress?"

Karin sauntered closer, gave Ino a once-over. "Hinata and I live together," Karin said with an innocent smile. "And sleep in the same bed." She looked at me, then at Ino, tilted her head. "Doesn't that make you the mistress?"

I turned around; power walked away.

Damn it, Karin. Why? Oh god, why? I hadn't taken more than two steps when I heard and felt Ino's yell.

"Hinata-chan!"

---

Ino stormed off, my flimsy explanations falling on deaf ears.

"Ino-chan, wait," I called out. She ignored me, kept walking.

Behind, Karin snickered. I shot her a baleful glare. She snickered harder. "Go chase her like a good puppy," Karin teased.

I wanted to argue, but instead, I ran a few steps until I was by Ino's side. I wasn't sure what to say or why she got this mad.

"Ino-chan," I started again, stopped.

Ino glanced my way, stuck her tongue at me. She was grinning. She interlocked her arm with mine and pulled me along toward Sakura's house.

Was she mad or not? I was so confused.

We collected Sakura, who was wearing a pink kimono.

I looked at Karin, her red ears hidden beneath the red hair, and thought about payback. Ino was still by my side, a strange look on her face, observing Sakura and Karin talking. I gave up on escalation. I'd let Karin win this one.

Karin offered her arm to Sakura. "Shall we go?"

Sakura looked at me, Ino, our locked arms. She took Karin's.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"I don't know," Karin said.

I looked at Ino. She just grinned. "It's a surprise."

Then we were off again, this time toward the tower. We made a strange sight: four girls, all around the same age, dressed in colorful kimonos, walking around the village. We attracted a fair amount of attention, but it wasn't the bad kind.

We crossed the residential area until we got closer to the Academy and the tower. Secretary-chan was already there, wearing a pretty green kimono, hair braided and over one shoulder.

She smiled warmly at our approach. I let go of Ino's arm, ran toward the prettiest Secretary of them all. Grabbed her in a tight hug. She hugged me back.

"Are those your friends, Hinata-chan?"

I nodded. Released Secretary-chan. "The redhead is Uzumaki Karin, and her date is Haruno Sakura." I couldn't resist adding a bit of teasing. Karin's face turned the exact shade of her hair. Sakura gaped, then quickly looked away, her cheeks pink.

I looked at Ino, "This is Yamanaka Ino." Secretary-chan nodded. "Guys, this is my friend—"

"Nice to meet you all," Secretary-chan said. She turned to me. "Where are we going, Hinata-chan?"

I grinned. "Surprise."

We set off again. It was like four kids accompanied by their bigger sister. Weird, but exciting all the same.

---

I led the group back toward the commercial district and into the out-of-the-way alley. Sakura looked around like she was starting to have doubts, while Karin was still too overwhelmed by walking arm-in-arm with Sakura.

We reach the inconspicuous-looking door. Under their curious stares, I knocked.

A few moments later, the door opened. It was a different kunoichi this time. She looked at me, then our group. She blinked a few times, surprised.

"A private room for five, please."

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then nodded. "Please, come in."

We followed her inside. We crossed the bar. There were even more jonins here than the last time. Our entrance caused an even greater reaction, but no one stopped us. We had crossed half the place toward the backroom when I recognized two chakra signatures. I stopped on my tracks.

The waitress kept going a bit longer before she realized I wasn't following.

"Is there a problem?"

I shook my head, leaned closer to Ino. "I've seen someone I need to talk with. Can you lead the girls inside?"

Ino looked around, trying to find who I was talking about, but then gave up and nodded, releasing my arm.

"I'll follow in a minute," I said and walked off.

I heard a question behind me, Karin's voice, I think, and then Ino's explanation. A bit later, I felt their chakra moving again. I crossed the open bar toward one of the booths. I knocked at the wall to gather the attention of the two inside.

The curtain was thrown open, and I stared into Yamato's big, expressive eyes.

He opened his mouth. I pushed in and hugged him. Inside, I heard Kakashi's chuckles.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I said, sniffling. I had seen him before, but at the time, he was wearing his ANBU mask. I couldn't behave like I knew him.

Yamato placed a hand on top of my head. "Thank you, Hinata-san."

I let go of him, waved at Kakashi-sensei.

"Mah, what's my cute chunin doing here? And dressed all pretty."

Yamato walked inside the booth. I followed and sat by Kakashi's side.

"It's girls night out," I said.

Both looked at me uncomprehendingly.

It was Yamato who spoke. "And you brought your friends here?" There was a hint of disbelief in his voice.

I nodded. "Yep."

Kakashi chuckled, then laughed. Yamato just shook his head.

I looked at both, tilted my head. "Why? What is this place?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it, Hinata-san."

I opened my mouth, sighed. It wasn't worth it. I looked at Yamato, who still looked chagrined.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For?" Yamato looked confused.

"Sai," I started, shrugged. "The clues were all there. I just didn't put things together."

Kakashi and Yamato exchanged looks.

"What do you mean," Kakashi asked.

"It was how he behaved. I felt him sending his constructs at night, but I didn't even think to find it suspicious." I hung my head. "I should have, at the very least, told Yamato about it. Sai was acting strange, and I ignored it."

"The failure wasn't yours, Hinata-san," Yamato said. "You couldn't have known."

But that was the problem. I could, couldn't I? I knew Sai was a ROOT agent in the original story. This one was on me.

"How's Hayase?" I asked instead. "I didn't have time to visit him yet."

Yamato smiled. "He's sad that all the laboratory data was stolen."

"What?"

"You'd think the injury would be his biggest concern, but no, what really upset him was losing access to Orochimaru's code."

I chuckled. Then I laughed. Wiped the tears with the back of my hand.

"I'm glad you are okay, Hinata-san."

"Mah, she's my student. You think some two-bit villain could take her down?"

My ears burned at Kakashi's offhand self-compliment. He was so cool. But it wasn't the time to fangirl. I still had one more question to ask.

"What happened to the hideout at Waves?"

The easy banter between both jonins died faster than the will to train after gorging on pastries. They shared a glance.

I fidgeted.

"It took some time until we could arrange a team to check out the place," Yamato said, voice careful. "When they got there, the place was recently abandoned. There were signs of struggle."

I hung my head, defeated. "Did they…?" I couldn't finish the question.

Kakashi-sensei was the one who answered. "They found no labs or tubes."

I glanced up, nodded. If there was any clone there, it was alive and probably taken. Now I wanted to cry.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Monday.

 

[okashihime]

After a few more minutes of small talk, I left Kakashi-sensei and Yamato. I liked both and enjoyed talking with them, but my questions were already answered, and I wasn't here to catch up. It was girls' night out. They were boys and not allowed.

I crossed paths with other jonin, nodded. Some nodded back, most just ignored me. I followed the girl's chakra until I was in front of a sliding door. I heard giggling and laughing from inside. Well, I was in the right place.

I slid the door open and entered. The giggling didn't stop. If anything else, they saw me and giggled harder.

Karin and Sakura sat together on one side. Ino and Secretary-chan on the other. That left me to sit at the head of the table, between Secretary-chan and Sakura or Ino and Karin. Call me biased. I sat near Ino.

One of the waitresses stood near the table, also smiling for some reason.

"What's so funny?" I asked after sitting down.

Ino and Karin exchanged looks, started giggling again.

"Nothing," both said at the same time.

Sus, very sus.

"Hinata-chan," Sakura said. "We haven't ordered anything yet; what should we get?"

I looked at the kunoichi, at the girls. Shrugged.

"I don't know either. It's my third time here," I admitted.

That prompted the kunoichi to explain how things worked. Each took their turn ordering nibble food and drinks. The kunoichi took our order, bowed, looked at me one last time, giggled and then left.

Still very sus.

Secretary-chan leaned over. "How have you been, Hinata-chan?"

I looked at Ino, who was still giggling. "It's been hectic," I said after a while. "Met my," I made quotation marks, "ex-family yesterday. It was a mess."

That quieted the smiles. I felt terrible for bringing down the mood.

"But I think," I said, trying to salvage the situation, "that I made up with mom!"

That helped things somehow. I went on with redacted details about the meeting with the Hyuga. The almost disastrous fight with Hiashi turned into a spat, Shisui's intervention was him overseeing things. Ino gave me weird looks but didn't contradict me.

"I'm happy that you did," Secretary-chan said. Her eyes were a bit misty. "You always looked so lonely."

I shrugged. It was fine. It wasn't that bad.

Sakura's mind was on something else. "Hinata-chan, what are these bracelets you are all wearing?" She looked between me, Ino, and Karin.

I puffed my non-existent chest. Displayed my arm and the necklace. "The Ultimate Variable Weight Distribution System For The Discerning Shinobi!"

Sakura tilted her head. Her eyes changed from confused to calculating. Nice, Sakura-chan didn't let me down! I knew she would understand.

"The what?" Secretary-chan asked instead.

I deflated. "Weight seals to help with training." This was such a cruel world.

"Where do you get them from?" Sakura asked, still eyeing the seals disguised as bracelets.

I shrugged. "I made them."

Could see the gears turning in her head. Would she ask for a set as well? Should I peddle the idea to Shisui? And thinking about the Hokage reminded me I had to inform them about their fate.

"Early today when I was talking with the new Hokage," I started, the girls attention on me again, "I asked permission to learn a new jutsu."

I got tilted heads, blinking eyes, squinting eyes.

"A medic jutsu: Mystic palm technique."

"A medic jutsu?" "You can learn?" "What did he say?"

I ignored the questions, looked at red, pink and yellow-chan. "I volunteered you guys to learn it too." I stuck my tongue at them.

That stirred up things, but food was served soon after. All appetizers, from spring rolls to chicken and scallion skewers. It distracted them, for the most part. We nibbled, shared stories, mostly regarding our time in the academy and the troubles we got up to.

But then, it was time for the main event.

"It's time," I declared, standing. I walked to the door, waved one of the kunoichi in. We exchanged a few words. She nodded, removed the food and drinks, cleaned the table.

Once she had left, I took the seals I had prepared.

Expectant eyes followed my every move.

I displayed the mini storage seal. "This one is part of my special series." That got me interested looks. "Each means something to me."

Out popped a cupcake. It had yellow frosting decorated with cat-whiskers. "Sunshine and Orange," I said after I placed it down.

"Naruto?" Karin asked, looking at the cupcake.

I took the second one. Red frosting in the shape of flames. "Will and Fire."

Sakura blinked. "Is that…?"

Secretary-chan let out a muffled, choked sob. "Lord Third."

I gazed over my audience. With a flourish, I popped the third in my special series.

Mango-flavored frosting, resembling a girl wearing glasses. I smiled. Offered it to Secretary-chan. "Mango and Happiness."

Secretary-chan's hand flew to her mouth. The eyes behind the glass were now full of tears.

What? Why?

She shot up, grabbed me into a tight hug. I put my ninja reflexes to use and make sure the cupcake survived the assault. "Hinata-chan," the taller girl sobbed.

That reaction hadn't been what I expected.

It took a while for Secretary-chan to calm down. When she did; she took the cupcake and looked like she was gazing at the most precious thing in the world.

"Can I?" She asked after a beat.

"Go ahead," I said. I took more seals, placed them on the table.

The gathered covenant watched in intense curiosity Secretary-chan take a nibble. A second passed.

She let out the lewdest and loudest of food moans. I turned to the walls, slapped my hands there, and summoned my privacy seals. I should have done that before giving her the cupcake. Maybe I should rename this one Mango and Lewdness?

Sakura and Ino, already used to my seals, attacked the storage with surprising enthusiasm, popping out the spread I had prepared. It was a mix of the usual fare, with the addition of mango-flavored things: pudding, cupcakes, candies. I hadn't skimped for this gathering. Even the juice was mango-flavored.

I was glad that after that first hiccup, I added the privacy seals. I wouldn't want people thinking something untoward was happening inside the room.

---

It was already late at night. The streets were deserted. We had shared stories, shared embarrassing stories. I teased Sakura and Ino about their crush on Emosuke. They told even more embarrassing stories about my quirks in the academy. Even Secretary-chan added to the teasing. I felt betrayed, in a good way.

Before we left, I gifted the kunoichi waitress a few of my packs: the good impression kit. I liked this place; no need to leave a bad impression on the staff.

Outside, we shared hugs and goodbyes. Secretary-chan was the first to leave.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan," she hugged me again. Kissed my forehead. I got on the tip of my toes and kissed her cheeks. I didn't miss Karin's snickering.

"Let's meet more like this instead of only in the tower," I said.

She nodded, hugged the rest of the gaggle, much to their chagrin, kissed their forehead.

"I enjoyed meeting you all," she said, waved, and then she was off.

Karin left second, escorting Sakura to her house. I shook my head. Good luck, Karin.

I walked Ino to her home. It wasn't far, really, just a few minutes.

We stopped in front of her house. I was ready to leave, but she pulled me toward the door.

"Ino-chan?" I asked, confused.

She looked at me, rolled her eyes, but I noticed her cheeks were pink.

"It's the mistress' turn tonight," she said, sticking her tongue at me.

Oh. "Oh," I said dumbly. My face burned.

She slapped my arm. "Don't overthink it," she added hastily, "It's just a sleepover."

I nodded fast. I liked that. I didn't mind that. I wanted that.

The door opened. Yamanaka Mother looked at us. Her mouth was a severe line, eyes narrowed.

"And where," the woman said, "have you been at this hour of the night?"

I looked at Ino, then her mother. Yamanaka Mother looked two times more intimidating than she already was. Ino looked everywhere but her mom.

"You didn't tell her?"

Ino shook her head.

I turned to the angry matriarch. Popped my Good Impression Kit, hastily renamed Apology Kit v1.

"I invited her and other friends for a girls' night out," I told her the truth.

The woman looked at my offering. Took it. She stepped out of the door. "Inside," she ordered.

Ino's shoulders sagged. She moved in.

I wasn't sure what to do. Was I still invited to the sleepover? I looked away. Best I leave.

"What are you waiting for?" Yamanaka Mother asked.

I looked back at her. She pointed to the still-open, waiting door. "Get in."

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Wednesday.

 

[okashihime]

That night, ears burning, I went to bed with Ino. It was like a walk of shame, with every step under the scrutiny of the Yamanaka Matriarch.

Despite the late hour, we didn't go to sleep immediately.

And no, we didn't make out either.

I don't even know if Ino saw us in a relationship or what. She'd been clingy, but she had started no attempt at intimacy other than being touchy. I wasn't going to push her. I was more than happy to let Best Girl Ino find peace with her choices and take the lead.

We talked, hushed words and whispers and plans.

"I talked with Kiyo-Obacchan," Ino said after we finished giggling over the night's events. "You should visit them."

"You think they can help?" I was still convinced that the den of gossiping grandmas was more than just, well, gossiping grandmas. It had been years, and I had found no evidence of it yet, but that didn't diminish my certainty.

Her hand followed the contours of my ear. I closed my eyes. Gooseflesh rippled down that side of my body.

"She wouldn't say, but I think so." Her other hand threaded my hair.

I held back the urge to squirm. Ino was so mean. "I'll talk with the merchants that buy my seals. Maybe they can make their voices known or something."

"That's a good idea," Ino said.

The silence was only interrupted by breathing until Ino spoke again.

"Did you meet with Tora's owner?"

"Madam Shijimi?" I shuddered. Was it memories of the lady or Ino's hands? "Not yet," I admitted.

"What about the Aburame's clan visit?"

I leaned my head against her shoulder. "That's still a few days away."

We didn't talk more after that. I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her closer. The contact and proximity felt good. Calming, peaceful.

I drifted to sleep thinking about flowers. They smelled nice.

Things after that day moved fast. I avoided visiting the flower shop too much. The mood was strange. I think Ino's mom was mad at me for putting Ino at risk but also not willing to get on my case about that.

I visited the GGC. Paid a copious amount in pastries and submitted my head to vengeful tousling hands. Chiyo-baa was in the "known" about current events. War with Kumogakure was all but inevitable now. They were accusing Konoha of attacking one of their outposts.

Mika-bachan also added to the rumor mill. "You didn't hear this from me," she started, "but I heard the Hyuga clan head got in a huge fight with his wife." She turned to me, eyes squinting. "You know something about that?"

I shook my head. Maybe a bit too fast. Had to dodge a lot of hands after that. Was Mom okay? I hoped so. When was she going to visit?

By the end of the spy meeting session, Kiyo-Obacchan updated me on the situation.

"We know some people. We'll spread the word," was all she said about my issues with the council codgers.

---

The problem of trying to be social was dealing with people. I spent deep hours in the night baking. In the morning, I rushed to the mission hall, met with Madam Shijimi. Somehow, Tora had fled again. She was annoyed that it wasn't my team completing the mission, but calmed down after I gave her one of my post-mission pastry packages.

We moved to a private room where I delivered the traded goods, got my payment, endured the hug that I was sure caused Tora to flee.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan," she said after releasing me. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't returned."

I bobbed my head. "I apologize for causing you worry, Shijimi-sama," I said and bowed.

"None of that, dear," her heavy hand pressed me to the ground. She pocketed the many seals I had prepared. I even included a few of the mango-flavored ones. They passed muster, after all.

She turned, ready to leave.

I took a deep breath. "Shijimi-sama," I don't know why it was so hard to ask for her help. "Could I ask for a favor?"

The woman stopped, sat down again, patted the seat by her side. I obeyed, and let her fuss over me.

"What is it, Hinata-chan? Tell me, and I'll help."

"You see, I'm in a spot of trouble."

I gave her the abridged version of events. I had been kidnapped when younger, and held prisoner for a few years. Because of that, some in the village believed I was a sleeper agent, with most of the discrimination coming from the two councilmen.

The woman hugged me. By the end of my tale, she was in tears.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, I'll tell hubby about it." I offered her a handkerchief. She blew her nose. "You'll hear from me soon."

I gave her another hug. "Thank you, Shijimi-sama."

In the mornings, when possible, I kept training with Ino. She had said nothing, but guessing by how she often avoided talking about home, she hadn't made up with her mom yet. Guilty prickled my insides at the thought I was the cause.

In the rare moments we weren't training, we played.

Still sprawled on the ground, taking deep breaths from the last spar, Ino spoke up. "Hinata-chan, let's play tag next."

I sat by her side, also trying to relax. "Tag?" Did she mean what I think she did?

"Yeah," Ino said.

Euphoria overrode training tiredness. I got up to my feet, pulled Ino up as well. She groaned. Gave me a betrayed look.

Gently, I pushed her away. "I'll give you a count of five head start."

Ino blinked, looking at me like she did not know what was going on.

I pulled a tag, just a normal exploding one.

Ino's eyes bulged out. "That's not–"

"Three, two," I counted out loud.

"Shit." Ino pivoted and fled.

I finished the counting in my head and threw the first exploding kunai.

---

A few minutes later, once I had tagged Ino more than a few times, we ended the game.

Ino's clothes were not in the best shape. Dust and grass and sweat clung to her skin and clothes. Her hair was a mess. She was still the most beautiful girl.

"Never again!" Ino yelled. She turned her back to me and stormed off.

Did I misunderstand something?

---

Karin had demanded I stop using clones to teach her. I obliged. Left the entire theory there, and we'd often discuss it later in the day. I learned Karin had been in contact with the Hokage more than once. By the looks of it, they were negotiating with Grass to take her in as a genin officially.

"That's so nice, Karin!" I said, hugged her.

Karin's smile was full of happiness. "Thank you, Hinata-chan."

Faster than I expected, it was time for the Aburame dinner. This time, I went alone. Ino wanted to tag along too, but I was still skeptical regarding the last time. I made much of the same preparations. Got Kumoko to hide a beacon at the badger's land for me. Gifted her another batch of honey since she couldn't take payment. Dressed in civilian clothes and not the pretty kimono.

I had a few weapons with me, but not to the same extent I did when visiting the Hyuga compound.

The dinner was a normal dinner. I ate with Shino and his family, and we made small talk.

In the end, what they wanted was information about the bees. I should have guessed that. I sounded them for support regarding the whole "you are a spy" situation, but Shibi didn't seem willing to take sides.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san," he said after taking a sip of his tea. "If I promise my support, we'd be getting in the middle of the trouble between you, the Hyuga, the Council, and the Uchiha clan."

That soured my mood, but I also understood his position. The idea of trying to force them to support me in exchange for information about the bees crossed my mind, but I gave up on that. I didn't want to create any more resentment.

"I'll have to check with the badgers," I said after a while. "They are not the most hospitable with strangers."

Aburame Shibi nodded. "I understand. Any information you can provide will help. We'll compensate you for that."

We parted ways soon after. Thankfully, it was just a normal dinner, a possible business arrangement, and not another marriage proposal.

The day after the dinner, I was summoned to the tower, official business. I dressed in my new shinobi gear, put on the flak jacket, and left for the tower.

There, me, Shikamaru, and other Chunin I didn't know met the Hokage. The chunin was older than us, a lot older. He seemed closer to Yamato's age. He had brown hair, dark eyes. His hair was combed down, covering his right eye. His forehead protector was like a bandanna, along with the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, which went to his chin similar to Yamato's.

Wait, wasn't he the chunin who tried to trick people during the exam? He and that other guy with the spiky hair.

We stood at attention in front of the Hokage.

"Thank you for coming," Shisui said. "We're assigning you a team of genin while our jonins are busy with priority missions."

Me and the older chunin nodded. Shikamaru tsked.

"Shikamaru," Shisui said, looking at the lazy Nara. "You'll take over Kurenai's team."

I caught the muttered "Troublesome" but held in the urge to giggle.

"Izumo," Shisui said to the other chunin, "Your team is Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

That was a strange team composition. Sasuke and Neji on the same team? Then you add Naruto. Hell, that was scary.

"Hinata," it was my turn now. "Your team is Tenten, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji."

"Understood," I saluted.

The Hokage handed us a slip of paper. "We informed your team to gather and they are waiting for you at the specified location."

I looked at my paper, training field three. Was that on purpose?

"That's all," Shisui said and returned to his mountain of paperwork.

I saluted again, then saluted my fellow chunin, left to meet my team. It was so strange, thinking I'd be leading a team. But I had plans. I'm sure the grin on my face matched my excitement. Grandiose plans. But first, I needed a pair of bells.

 

[okashihime]

Finally, she was getting missions again. Things had been strange ever since the attack. Sometimes in a week, Tenten completed one or two D-rank missions, others she had nothing to do.

Rock Lee's injuries still prevented him from working. Neji was dealing with clan issues, and Gai sensei hadn't been available for weeks, out on some dangerous mission or another. Tenten heard rumors and whispered words.

The situation with Kumogakure and Iwagakure was worse than ever. Skirmishes at the borders, entire teams missing. Was this why all the missions were inside the village now?

She made her way to training field three, still unsure why the meeting place was there.

She wasn't the first to arrive, but thankfully, the jonin team leader hadn't arrived yet. She glanced between Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji. The chubby boy sat on the grass, eating chips. Ino was at the wooden dummy, training. Her movements were sluggish. Something Tenten recognized from her many days of seeing Rock Lee doing the same.

"Weight training?" she asked after approaching.

Ino stopped mid-punch. Sweat covered her face. She smiled. "Tenten!"

"Hello, Ino-chan," Tenten waved, then dodged the sweaty hug.

Choji snorted.

"Hello too, Choji-kun."

"Hi, Tenten," Choji said before stuffing his mouth with more chips.

Choji still hadn't fully recovered from his last mission. His cheeks were not as chubby as they had been.

"You guys know who is the jonin leading the team?" Tenten asked.

Ino shook her head. Choji shrugged.

There was nothing but to wait. If their new team leader was anything like the legendary Kakashi, the wait could be hours.

Ino returned to her training. Tenten looked on, full of curiosity, but didn't ask for the reasons. It was strange the blonde girl was training so seriously, when the impression Tenten had was that Ino had always been more worried about her looks than being a shinobi, but it wasn't Tenten's business.

She opened the roll of scrolls in front of her, organizing the many weapons in her collection. She'd probably use them today. It was a tradition for the team leader to test their team.

Minutes dragged on until someone showed up.

Tenten looked from her collection to the girl walking into the training field. She wore different clothes this time and had the flak jacket on, but Tenten's hair stood on end. She shuddered. The memory of that day in the forest, the bestial howling, the murderous trees, the dismembered bodies. It all came unbidden, strong, vivid. She remembered the other things, how this same girl almost killed Neji. She would have done it hadn't the jonins stopped her.

"What are you doing here?" Tenten hissed. Before she even registered, she was standing, hands over weapons.

Ino stopped her training. Turned. Smiled. It was a full-blown smile, big and radiant. How could Ino smile like that?

"Hinata-chan!"

Even hearing the name sent shivers into Tenten's body.

Choji just ate more chips. He was stuffing his mouth now like an obsession.

"Hi, guys," Hinata said. Waved. Her voice was raspy. Wasn't she mute?

Ino hugged Hinata, the latter not minding the sweat and grit and training mess.

"What are you doing here?" Tenten asked again. She pulled her hands away from the weapons. Best not give the wrong impression or escalate things. She wasn't sure she could take the girl in a fight. Not if Hinata could defeat Neji that easily.

Hinata scratched her cheeks. "I'm your new team leader."

"Yes!" Ino cheered, hugged Hinata again.

Choji's eyes were wide. More food disappeared down his gullet.

Tenten opened her mouth. This couldn't be happening. "Bullshit," she called out.

Hinata walked closer, handed over a slip of paper. Tenten snapped it from her hands, read it. They were the hokage's orders to meet her team at training field three.

"Shit," she cursed.

This was going to suck so badly. Tenten could feel it in her bones. Then came the words that made no sense at all. "I'm sorry," she heard.

Tenten looked around. Hinata had released Ino and bowed.

"I know things were strange in the forest and the preliminaries. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Tenten noticed she didn't apologize for what she'd done. Tenten gritted her teeth, then sighed. Best to let it go. It wasn't worth it. Even if she still felt angry at this girl for almost killing Neji. Was she angry because Neji was her friend and crush?

"Forget it," Tenten said, looking away.

Hinata straightened up. Gave a shy smile.

"Follow," she said and moved toward the open area of the training field.

Once there, she took two small bells from her pocket. "Let's do a team exercise today," she said, jingling the bells. "You'll have to work together to take them from me." She took out two seals that were too small to be one of the standard storage seals. From one, she popped an absurd amount of sweets.

It made no sense how such a small seal could store so many things. What were those? Tenten's mind spiraled with ideas.

"Whoever gets the bell wins the prize." She pointed at the two bells, the pastries, and the still unused seal. "But to make it more interesting," Hinata said, some sweets displayed disappeared. "The longer you take to get the bells, the less you will have at the end."

Ino gasped. "No!" She was the first to react. She rushed in, ready to pick the bell.

Then Hinata was behind Ino, holding a kunai to her neck. Ino first turned pale, then pink. Tenten hadn't seen Hinata move.

"But there's only two bells," Choji complained.

"One of you won't get sweets, then," Hinata said like it explained everything.

She released Ino, who stepped back. "Well, start, then?" Hinata said.

The three genin looked at each other, then bolted away, leaving Hinata to defend her prize and bells. They'd need a strategy. Tenten wasn't that interested in the sweets, even if they were famous. Who hadn't heard about the mute girl and her pastries? Tenten even heard rumors that her "post-mission pastries" were the reason some clients requested her team. She didn't believe it.

Tenten had, years ago, eaten one of those sweets when she was still at the academy. She had wandered off and joined, by mistake, a younger year class. That was when she saw Hinata for the first time: small, dark blue hair shaved and burnt on one side, strange black eyes. The younger girl had run up to Tenten, propped a board, and wrote on it. "Have a sweet!"

Unsure of what was happening, Tenten had taken one. Hinata hadn't waited for a response. She ran inside the room and started giving sweets to the other kids, who were almost forming a line, waiting for their turn.

It had tasted good. Tenten wouldn't lie. Even with all the recent distaste for Hinata, she remembered how good the "cupcake" was. It was a shame now she wasn't interested in those anymore. Tenten would take the damn bell and prove she could best Hinata. Then, she would demand satisfaction for what she'd done to Neji.

If she got some sweets at the end, that would be just a bonus.

 

[okashihime]

"It won't work," Ino said, looking at the hastily drawn plan on the ground.

"Why?" Tenten asked.

She looked over the drawing again. It made sense to her. Choji and Tenten would distract Hinata. Choji, with his family jutsu, Tenten, with her weapons. That would give Ino time to focus on her family technique and take control of Hinata's body.

"It doesn't work on her," Ino said.

"What, how?"

Ino just shrugged. "None of my family techniques work on Hinata-chan."

Tenten scribbled furiously on the ground again with the stick, redrawing battle plans. "Since that's the case, Choji, you overwhelm her, you're stronger. The bigger, the better. Ino and I will give you support with ranged attacks."

"It won't work," Ino said again, not for the second or third time.

Tenten scowled. "Why?"

Ino raised her arm, showed a pretty bracelet decorated with black and white stones. Tenten caught the beginnings of inscribed fuinjutsu. They were small, compact, and mind-bogglingly complex.

"Hinata made those for me," Ino said. Tenten noticed the fond smile on the blonde's face. "It's weight seals."

"And?" Tenten asked, patience a little frayed.

"Hinata's been using those since she was seven, I think? What Rock Lee showed in the preliminaries doesn't compare to what she uses. There's no way Choji can match her in brute strength."

"That's utter bullshit," Tenten grumbled but scribbled more, arrows pointing in different directions. She explained what she wanted to do. Two distract, while one ambushes.

"It won't work," Ino said again.

Tenten growled. She was getting fed up with those words. Ino giggled.

The blonde didn't wait for the question.

"I can't tell you why. It's something Hinata told me, and I think it's a secret, but believe me, it won't work."

"How the hell do we get those bells, then?" Tenten's grip tightened on the stick until it snapped.

"Offer her some chips?" Choji suggested. Ino giggled again.

Tenten wanted to strangle both. She sighed, took one of her storage seals, and unsealed a gamut of weapons.

"If no strategy works, we have to brute force it, then."

She took a black wood staff, tested the weight and length. She glared at Ino. "Now you're going to tell me she's a taijutsu prodigy as well?"

Ino shook her head. "Her taijutsu is poor, but she makes up for it by being stronger and faster."

"We attack at the same time. We can overwhelm her," Tenten said. Her voice was more confident than she felt.

"But who gets the sweets?" Choji asked as if that was the critical part of the whole thing.

Tenten shrugged. "If we manage to get the bells, you can take mine."

"Thanks, Tenten!" Chubby Choji said, got up, popped a few more chips in his mouth.

"It's fine, Choji," Tenten said and smiled. She stored most of the weapons again, strapped the scrolls to her body. "It shouldn't matter if we can take the bells or not," she said after thinking for a while, "but I'd prefer if we took it."

Tenten looked at the two younger genin.

"Hinata is the same age as you, younger than me. We can't let her walk all over us."

It was still a mystery how Tenten had never even heard of Hinata other than her sweets, being mute, or that Neji hated her for some reason.

"One last thing," Ino said, pulling the hair out of her face.

"What is it?" Choji asked.

"If Hinata ever takes an exploding kunai, drop everything and run. Trust me, please."

Tenten shared glances with Choji. He nodded, like what Ino had said made sense.

"Why?" Tenten asked.

Ino shook her head. "It's classified. Asuma sensei told us because it was information regarding a mission, I can't say it." She tilted her head. "But if you ask her to show you the exploding tags, she'll probably be happy to let you see them."

Tenten turned, walked toward where Hinata was. This made no sense at all.

Ino and Choji followed. When they got there, Hinata was getting up.

"You ready?" She asked, yawning.

Tenten ground her teeth. Hinata was doing that to rile them up. There was no other reason. Maybe because she was frustrated, she blurted the first thing on her mind.

"Let me see your explosives."

Hinata blinked, tilted her head. Smiled. Wide, happy, and maybe just a bit unhinged. "Sure, here," she unfastened a scroll roll from her thigh. Tenten saw more of that strange storage fuin. Out popped a lot of kunais. All of them with the tag already rolled around it.

"Shit!" Ino cursed, then bolted away.

"Ino, wait!" Choji ran after Ino.

That left Tenten facing a grinning Hinata. Somehow, Tenten had the impression she just made a horrible mistake.

"Catch," Hinata said, then threw the kunai Tenten's way.

---

It had been worse than a horrible mistake. Hinata was mad, deranged, and dangerous. Why the hell no one told her about the damned explosives? They were, like, three times stronger than the normal ones, and Hinata was throwing them out like they were candy.

Worse was that, even pebbles, the madwoman turned into explosives. How, though? They were just rocks. Rocks weren't supposed to explode. That shouldn't be possible!

Whatever had been the plan had turned into a mad run for her life, with Hinata hot on her heels throwing the damn explosives. When the madwoman wasn't chasing her, she barely had time to catch her breath before even more explosions came flying her way from afar. It was like Hinata knew where Tenten was all the time, even when she was nowhere near.

Tenten couldn't get close, nor did she have the opportunity to join with Choji and Ino again. Every time they tried, Hinata rained down more explosives.

By noon, the nightmare was over. They met back near the training dummy. Hinata was waiting for them like the madness from the previous hours hadn't been anything. She had a pebble in her hand, which she threw up and caught.

Tenten had lots of small scraps from the shrapnel, and dirt in her hair. Her breaths came in ragged gasps. Ino was glaring her way like this had been her fault.

Tenten was too tired to be angry with Hinata. She gasped the question out. "How are you doing this?"

"What?" Hinata asked. She sounded confused.

"Pebbles don't explode."

"Oh, that's easy, watch." She showed the pebble in the palm of her hand and then placed a finger on it. Tenten saw the black lines from a fuinjutsu, then Hinata threw the pebble away. It exploded on impact.

"Bullshit," Tenten said, resting her head against the cold grass. Utter bullshit.

"It's a jutsu called Shikoku Fuin, I can teach you later."

Tenten bolted up. Looked at Hinata with narrowed eyes. "What?"

Hinata shrugged, scratched her cheek. "You're my team. That makes me responsible for teaching you guys stuff, right?" She didn't sound confident.

She walked closer. From somewhere, she took a fabric and placed it in front of them. Out of her seals appeared a lot of sweets, water, tea, and juice.

"Dig in," Hinata said, picking up a cup and serving water to Ino.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan!" Ino said, smiling, like the hours of hell weren't even a thing anymore. She took a cupcake and snarfed it down.

Choji didn't wait, either. He sat by the fabric, took one of the jars, and just chugged it down.

"But we didn't get the bell," Tenten said.

Hinata just rolled her eyes. "You believed that?"

Too angry to argue, Tenten took one of the sweets. She had no idea what it was, but if she couldn't defeat Hinata, she could at least put a dent in the food. Payback.

She bit off the thing. It tasted like liquid happiness.

A squeal of food pleasure escaped her. So unfair. She ate more.

"We'll meet in the mornings for training," Hinata said, "and complete missions in the afternoon. Meet me here tomorrow at seven."

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Wednesday.

This "ARC" ends at 8.18. Once I finish it, I'll take a two weeks break to plan the next part of the story (finished writing arc 9 yesterday).

Ending of ARC 9 took a lot out of me. I wasn't easy to write and I need to rest my wrist a bit, and think on how to move the story forward. Some of the ideas I had for arc 10 and 11 don't feel right to write them.

 

[okashihime]

That same day, after having fun— training with my new team, I returned home to find out we had visitors.

Three chakra bundles inside the apartment. One was Karin's already familiar one, with its swirling, sometimes spiking movements. The other two, I didn't know. By the size alone, I was guessing a jonin and maybe a child. The second one was small enough to make me think of kids back in the academy days.

Not knowing who was inside, I braced myself for trouble. I had used most of my early years of explosives in the tag game with the team, so I palmed one of my new ones. The good ones.

As usual, Karin noticed me. She opened the door before I could knock. That went a long way to calming down the paranoia. Karin wouldn't act like everything was normal if she were in danger or something. I hid the exploding kunai in one of the jacket pockets. Plastered a smile on my face.

Karin hugged me. The hugging disguised her words.

"You have visitors, no danger."

Oh, right, damn cheat chakra sensing ability. I nodded, wrote an answer with my threads. "Thank you, Karin."

I walked in, and Karin followed just a few steps behind.

The two people in my living room weren't who I had expected, even if they were who I was hoping for.

Mom sat looking toward the door, her face downcast, like she was sad. Hanabi, curled up in Mom's lap, looked ready to bite something.

"Oh," I said. Stopped in my tracks.

Karin walked around me, then, with one last glance, disappeared inside the bedroom without saying anything.

"Hello, Hinata," Mom said. Hanabi just glared.

I stood there staring, without knowing what to do.

Mom got up, sat Hanabi on the couch. A few words were exchanged. It sounded something like. "Give your sister a chance, and behave." Then she moved closer, stopped in front of me. Our eyes met.

"May I hug you?" She asked.

My throat felt full and painful. I nodded. Blinked the haziness out of my eyes.

Mom hugged me; warm, caring arms wrapped around me, making me feel safe, protected. I clung to her clothes like a small kid.

"I'm sorry, my baby," she whispered.

That broke the last dregs of my restraint.

---

It was strange that I was happy I had cried like a toddler. I knew I wasn't in a good headspace right now. I've been overly emotional the past few days and getting every day more obsessed with certain things. But I felt good, light, in a way. Like I had cried most of my worries away and that things would finally start looking good.

I doubted that, but that was how I felt.

We sat on the couch, making small talk. I wanted to sit near Mom, but Hanabi's glare and possessive hug told me pushing my luck wasn't the best idea right now.

I tried to start a conversation, but my sister didn't seem interested or happy to be here.

"Hello, Hanabi," I said.

Hanabi just turned her face and refused to look at me. That was fine. At least she wasn't sending killing intent my way. That was progress, right?

Karin had also left the bedroom, joined us. Between us, I had placed a few pastries and hot tea. Mom was nibbling one of my cupcakes, her eyes scanning every inch of my apartment like she was trying to decipher something I couldn't see.

The awkward silence lasted a moment longer before I asked one of the questions that was bugging me after visiting the GGC.

"You didn't get into much trouble with Hiashi, did you?"

I wasn't proud to admit that, but I had sneaked a few glances at her arms, neck, face, and hands, looking for signs of injury. I'd put Hiashi on my black cover book if he had hurt Mom. I just got her back. I'd probably blow the world if someone took her from me again.

Mom smiled. "He's an old grumpy man, but he's not a bad man."

"Mom!" Hanabi said, eyes wide.

"It's true, Hanabi." She patted my little sister's hair. "He could worry less about the clan's prestige and more about his family."

Mom took one of the cupcakes, placed it on Hanabi's hand. "You should eat," she said, tousling Hanabi's hair. "It's delicious."

Heat sneaked on my face. It was so good hearing Mom say that.

After a while, she turned to me. "But no, Hinata, I'm not in trouble."

I had the distinct impression there was an unspoken yet there. What was Mom planning?

"It might take him some time to come around to it, but I'm sure he'll see reason." Mom added after a while.

I understood her unspoken message. Hiashi still believed I wasn't his daughter but someone taking her place. There was probably more trouble on the horizon, but for now, I had breathing room.

Mom looked around the apartment again. "I hope you don't mind, Hinata, but I asked someone to keep the apartment clean once I learned you were away." Her voice had a hint of melancholy to it.

I shook my head. "Thank you," I was still unsure how to behave around her. After that first moment, it was awkward. Should I call her Mom? Hinami?

"How was Hinata when she was little?" Karin asked when the silence stretched a bit too long again.

Mom blinked, looked at Karin, then she smiled, hands still patting Hanabi's hair.

"Ever since she was little, she was soft-spoken and polite, always so kind," Mom said, looking my way. There was again that note of melancholy in her voice.

"Hinata soft-spoken?" Karin asked, as if not believing the words.

I scowled. "I grew up, okay?"

That got chuckles out of the two and huffs from Hanabi. Then Mom started recounting stories from when I was littler. I paid attention to those. Most of what she said, I had forgotten myself.

---

I don't know why people liked telling embarrassing stories about me. First, it was Mom telling things I barely remembered, then Karin recounting an abridged and redacted version of our escape together, meeting the badgers, and returning to Konoha.

Hanabi had, at some point, stopped glaring at me. She still hugged Mom like she was afraid Mom would disappear, but no more glares. My sister also hadn't spared the cupcakes. After eating the one mom gave her and pretending for a few minutes she didn't want it, she dug in like a chubby kid forgot inside a candy shop.

"Give me a moment," I said, got up, and ran toward the bedroom.

I wasn't sure if this was the best moment, but I guess giving gifts was a better way to win people over, right? I collected Hanabi's prepared gift, returned to the living room. Debated one last time if I should do it before I shrugged. If she didn't want it, I could gift it to Sakura. She looked interested enough in my weight seals.

"I have a gift for you, Hanabi," I said, holding up the small package to her.

Her face went from enjoying the sweets to guarded in an instant. She looked at me, at Mom, and lastly at Karin before settling on me again. "What is it?" She didn't take it from my hands.

I displayed my bracelets, then pointed to the ones Karin was also wearing. "Something to help you train."

Hanabi looked at the package, then at Mom, who gave her an encouraging nod.

My sister released Mom, approached, took it. She unwrapped the package, looking at the set of bracelets. "What are they for?"

"Weight seals." I approached, pointed to the seals. "May I?"

Hanabi looked conflicted before she gave a hesitant nod.

I helped her put it on, and while I did, I explained how they worked.

"If you touch here," I said, showing the bigger stone and the seal inscribed there, "and send your chakra in, you can change how much they weigh." After fastening everything, I activated the seals for her. Given how young Hanabi was, I didn't want to hurt her. I settled the weights for two kilograms on each piece.

Hanabi raised her hands, paced around a bit. "It is strange," she said finally, then returned to Mom's side and hugged Mom again.

Mom smiled, patted Hanabi's head. "What do you say when someone gives you a gift?"

Hanabi scowled but turned to me and bowed. "Thank you." Then she hugged Mom once more.

"We must go," Mom said after that but then turned to Karin. "Can you keep Hanabi company outside for a moment? I'd like a private word with my daughter."

Karin looked at me, and I nodded. I didn't like the sound of that, but I don't think Mom would hurt me. Hanabi was none too happy, but a stern look from Mom made her reconsider complaining.

Once we were alone, Mom approached again, then cupped my face in her hands. She looked me in the eyes. "Thank you, and please forgive me," she said.

I shook my head. Throat felt full again. But I wasn't going to cry. "There's nothing to forgive," I said.

She hugged me, almost crushing. It lasted way too little.

"Have you been well, eating proper meals?" She looked me in the eyes. "I know you don't like carrots, but don't forget the five colors."

I scowled. Sure, carrots were icky. I didn't like the texture, but I also didn't really mind eating them if they were mixed with other things, just in small amounts.

"Meals are fine," I grumbled, but I was happy, really happy.

"And what's this I hear about you and that Uchiha's boy?"

I scowled harder. How'd she even learn about that? Did everyone know?

"No," I said with as much finality as I could put on my voice. "Not interested. Boys are too complicated."

She hugged me again, kissed my forehead. But the look in her eyes told me she misunderstood something. Mom didn't broach the subject again. Instead, she let go of me, reached into the folds of her kimono, and handed something over.

I took the thing. A knot of something stabbing my chest and staring at me, literally.

Inside a small crystal container was none other than a single white eyeball.

My hands shook. "Won't he be angry, and won't you be in trouble?" The words escaped me.

"Leave your father for me to handle," Mom said, not denying my words.

I took a deep breath. Then tried to hand back the eye.

Mom didn't take it. "It's yours."

"But—"

Mom's hands cupped my cheeks again. "No, my baby. You leave me to deal with the clan. I know you have no reason to like us, but please don't hate us either. Losing you broke something in your father. He never recovered."

I opened my mouth, closed it. I wasn't even sure what to say. I hung my head, hands still gripping the crystal container.

"Can I visit again?" Mom said, her warm hands still cupping my cheeks.

I nodded. Fought the urge to cry.

She kissed my forehead one last time, hands now patting my hair.

"And if marrying that Uchiha's boy is what you want," she said, returning to that damnable idea again, the words cutting me like a knife, "you should follow your heart and not worry about the politics behind it."

Mom hugged me one last time and left.

I wanted to scream.

From inside its crystal prison, the white eye judged me

And when the full weight of the inevitable shitshow on the horizon crashed down on me, I wanted to scream even harder.

 

[okashihime]

Karin found me having a staring contest with a disembodied eye. Orphaned eye? No, that didn't sound right. I wasn't dead. Thankfully, instead of asking questions, she just gave me a quick one-armed hug, then left me in my turbulent mood.

The foremost thought in my mind was a silly one. Do I just pluck out one eyeball and plug the other in?

That didn't sound healthy or advisable.

Thinking about the logistics distracted me for a few moments until other, more relevant thoughts intruded. Should I keep it? I had limited options. Giving it back was out of the question. Because I didn't want to, nor was I going to throw away Mom's act of goodwill by returning the thing. The eye was mine, dammit. Gross as it was to think about plugging it into my head after the eye spent how many years rooming inside Oro's skull.

I couldn't fathom what went into Mom's head to do this. Maybe Hiashi wasn't the only one broken when Hina—I got kidnapped. But if she was, how do I fix it? Worse yet, if I accepted Mom wasn't of sound judgment, what about Hiashi? I tried to kill him. I don't think the kunai would have killed the clan head. Injury, yes. Cripple, maybe. Kill? No, he was too strong a jonin to fall for a single explosion, no matter if it was one of my best, aimed at his weak spot.

The container went inside a pocket. I needed to prepare for the fallout. I probably needed advice, too.

My hands flashed, and out popped a clone. From across the room, I heard Karin's gasp and whimper, but I didn't have time for that. I nodded at my clone, who sped out of the house.

"What's it?" Karin asked when it became clear the clone wasn't here to teas—teach her seals.

"Preparations," I said and ran toward the bedroom.

Karin followed me. "For?"

"Trouble." Going looking for advice was the better option, but I didn't want to be caught unprepared. There was no trouble that enough explosives couldn't solve.

I plopped my behind on the chair near the desk, my workshop, and got to work. Maybe because people treating me nicely lulled me into a false sense of security, or perhaps it was because the council didn't seem a physical threat, but just an annoyance I had to deal with. I let things fall to the wayside.

Couldn't let that continue. I drew the inscription for the Kuro Raikou no Jutsu.

Karin dragged a chair and sat by my side, watching me work. I paid her no mind.

Two things I needed to fix to make this jutsu combat-ready. First, it couldn't be temporary. It wouldn't be a problem if my chakra conversion when using mokuton was like Yamato's, but it wasn't. It took too much chakra. This meant I had to disconnect it from mokuton somehow.

Weeks of traveling underground with nothing to do gave me more than enough time to revise my approach and think of new solutions. My theory was mostly complete.

The other issue was porting and leaving my stuff behind. That one just rose in the scale of importance, almost more than disassociating the jutsu from mokuton. With the damn eye now burning a hole in my pocket, I couldn't teleport and leave it behind. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

About an hour later, my clone returned.

I looked over my shoulder, gave her a nod. Worker-chan placed a seal near me, one with special kunais I had requested some time ago, but never used, since the jutsu wasn't ready yet. Then my clone plopped on the bed, took out one of those big scroll rolls, like those Jiraiya carried on his back, and started inscribing.

Hours flowed. Karin left at some point but soon returned with food and drinks. I picked some, nibbled while thinking.

I held a wood-inscribed kunai.

"Did you finish it?" Karin leaned closer, trying to read the many diagrams.

"One of the problems."

"Which one?" Karin asked.

I grinned. Threw the kunai to the other side of the room and made a confrontation sign.

Karin eep'ed, face as red as her hair. My clone burst out laughing.

"This never happened!" I growled, flickered back toward the desk, and picked up the clothes that had stayed behind. Dammit. I was sure I had fixed that problem.

Two more attempts, some more flashing episodes later, I held the kunai. Wood, inscribed and fixed.

"This time it will work." I declared.

Karin nodded. She was numb. She covered her eyes. I rolled mine, then threw the kunai, teleported.

I appeared on the other side of the room, still gear clad.

"Got it on the first try!"

A cheer escaped me while I victory danced.

The past few hours never happened. I didn't flash people. Nope, that was impossible.

Worker-chan got up and delivered the day's work to me. I looked over, nodded, hugged her. In a puff of smoke, she was gone.

"Karin, come here, please."

The red-faced redhead approached. "What is it?"

I gave her several sets of kunais. Each set, four inscribed kunais. "When you want to disable someone," I tapped the ones with the white tags. "When you need someone gone," I said, tapping the ones with the red tags. "Weight barrier." I tapped again on the white. "Explosion barrier." I tapped the second.

Karin took those, looking wide-eyed at me.

"Why?"

I took the eye from my pocket. "Trouble will come calling."

With that, I ran outside and, using some of the newly prepared seals, placed a barrier around the apartment walls. It wouldn't make the place impenetrable, but it probably would give me enough time to react if someone came looking for trouble.

Back inside the apartment, I looked at my bedroom. It was a mess.

Near the bed went most of the seals Worker-chan created, as well as the big scroll. Inside that one were most of my remaining supplies. The tools on my desk went into the drawers, and finally, I cleaned the bed.

"Sorry for keeping you awake until so late," I said to Karin, fully aware she wouldn't have been able to sleep with me messing around in the bedroom. "Let's sleep."

Karin looked at me, at the table, at the bed. "I think," she said, face going even redder. "I'll sleep in the living room."

I flickered forward, grabbed her retreating form. "Get into bed," I ordered.

---

I met my team the following day. Before we started training, we discussed strategy, which was to keep training what you've been training and the 'don't slack, let's get strong' speech. As usual, I helped Ino train. In the afternoon, while my team had lunch and rested after training, I went to the mission center to get our mission. Shisui was there waiting for me.

"This isn't your first mission," he said, handing me a slip of paper. "But it is your first mission as team leader. I thought it was enough to keep the tradition."

I bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

The slip of paper in my hand wasn't the most impressive. Painting walls. Ugh, D-ranks, I forgot how boring they were.

The Hokage hadn't finished. "That wasn't the only reason I'm here. Shizune agreed to teach you and your friends."

I nodded, gave him a salute. My fingers flicked a message: Complication, clan.

It surprised me that an army of Hyuga hadn't stormed my apartment demanding the eye back. Had Mom dealt with things like she said she would? It was prudent to keep Shisui informed, since he seemed to be in my corner.

He nodded. "Come visit me in the tower after you finish your mission."

I saluted again. Popped two of my Good Impression kits. One went to the Hokage, the other to the Kunoichi responsible for the mission desk today.

Her eyes were wide. "Are those…?" She muttered, then she got up, bowed. "Thank you!"

Huh, weird. I shrugged. Left. Pretend I didn't see the other people looking at the Kunoichi like they wanted to steal her pastries away.

---

Spoiler: img

https://i.ibb.co/Q78BYhbN/20250605-1538-Hinata-s-Byakugan-Gift-simple-compose-01jx08cwvherxa86yk06nf5j54.png

 

[okashihime]

I reported the eye incident to Shisui, who didn't have words of advice aside from asking Shizune for help if I wanted to 'install' the wetware, which I agreed was a good choice.

That same day, I also met with Hayase, who had returned to the tower. Like Yamato said, the boy was devastated that we lost the data, not about his injuries.

"You remember nothing?" Hayase had asked me, his face despairing.

I shook my head.

"Dammit that Sai," he cursed. "Even the data we delivered to the agents at the border was stolen; how long had he been planning that for?"

We commiserated in the hardships of life for a moment longer before I left him to his work.

Things got busier after that, even if there wasn't much to tell regarding the days before the council hearing. I talked with everyone I could. Made inquiries to the merchants I had business dealings with, sounded for support, even promised a few favorable deals regarding my seals if they helped.

That got me a bit of interest, and a promise that they'd send someone to represent the merchants to participate in the hearing to show their support. Still, my biggest hope was Madam Shijimi.

The day after that, I dragged Ino, Tenten, Sakura, and Karin to meet Shizune at the hospital for our mystic palm lessons. We met in what looked like a classroom of sorts. The kunoichi still looked tired, but better than the last time I saw her.

"Hello Shizune," I said, waving. She waved back. "These are my friends," I ignored Tenten's scowl and Ino's eye roll. "We're here to learn."

Shizune looked at us, at the extra person, but didn't say anything.

"Nice to meet you all," Shizune said, and didn't waste time. "Medical jutsu isn't something everyone can learn. It takes a lot of delicate control, dedication, and hard work." She looked over us again, then shrugged. "We'll start with improving control."

Among the group, only Tenten could water-walk. Worse was Karin, who couldn't even wall-walk yet. I looked at the girls, gears turning in my head. Had I messed up? I was so focused on taijutsu and ninjutsu training that I neglected to add control to our training routine.

That first meeting ended a few minutes after it started. Shizune gave us homework to practice our control, then dismissed us.

I waved Karin and Sakura goodbye. Turned to Tenten and Ino. "I'll meet you guys after lunch for today's mission."

"See you later, Hinata-chan," Ino said, waved.

Tenten just scowled at me. She still wasn't willing to be friends, for some reason. Once they left, I returned to the room to talk with Shizune.

"Can we talk?"

She gave me a tired nod and led me to an office. Once we were seated and comfortable, I popped tea and a few sweets for her.

"I think my control is enough to learn," I said, feeling bad about doing this, but I didn't want to wait that long to learn the jutsu because the others' control wasn't good enough. I knew my control was just above average, and the difference between me and others was the amount of effort I put into it, but with the years of effort, and given how… simple the exercises she prescribed were, I didn't want to waste time.

Shizune sighed, like she was expecting trouble. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I can already do everything you told them to practice."

She hadn't even drunk or eaten yet, which is why I think her mood was a bit sour. "Show me."

I did just that. Went through the whole gamut of exercises. It was the bare basics of tasks. I don't know why she expected these to be difficult. It didn't even include multi-tasking and different intensities for each exercise.

Shizune gave me a few more exercises, which I completed without any issue.

"Who trained you?" she asked, after a pause.

I shrugged. "No one," I admitted. Tilted my head. "Although, the Old Man gave me control training exercises when I was younger."

"Old Man?"

"The Third Hokage."

Shizune nodded, eyes sparkling up like she'd just solved a big mystery.

"Wait here," she said and left.

I nibbled the sweets and drank tea.

The medic-nin returned about half an hour later carrying an armful of parchments, books, and scrolls. She dumped it all in front of me. Took one of the books at the top, handed it over.

"Start with this one," she said.

I took the book, flipped through the pages. It looked a lot like a biology book, ninja style. She handed me an ordered list.

"Once you've finished with that, these next."

I sighed. Damn, this was going to take forever. Somehow, I had expected I'd come and talk with Shizune, she'd demonstrate the jutsu, and I'd amaze her by copying it on the first try. That will teach me to be arrogant.

"We can start training once you've finished the first book," she said, maybe noticing my defeated looks. "But you should still read through all that."

That was fine. I had a plan in mind for that already. I took out parchment, inscribed a new seal. Stored everything.

I wasn't entirely satisfied with how things went, but it was time to discuss the second thing I wanted to discuss with her. I put the seal away, cleaned my hands of crumbles, and then took out the eye. Showed her the crystal prison and the white eye staring from inside.

"Can you help me?"

That one request didn't pan out like I wanted. Shizune asked for permission to run a diagnostics jutsu on me, then the eye, then me again.

"I don't think you should, Hinata-san," she said after a long while of thinking.

"Why?"

"We don't know how the seals in your body will react if we try to remove one of your eyes," she said.

I scowled. Damn it, I hadn't considered that.

"Like Lord Jiraiya said, the seal has fail-safes to prevent it from being removed. Without knowing what the ones in your eyes do, I don't think you should risk replacing the eye."

There wasn't much to talk about after that. I left, disillusioned and sad. I had the eye. I couldn't fucking use the eye. There went my hopes of using the see-through vision to study the seals inside my body.

All the trouble and drama and whatnot, and right now, it was just a trouble-attracting trinket. Not fucking fair.

In the days that followed, I started leaving two clones in the apartment. One of them worked on the Kuro Raikou, while the other read through the medicine books Shizune gave me.

No one from the Hyuga came to cause trouble. Mom also didn't visit again, unfortunately.

The climate in the village shifted. A battle broke out in the lands between Fire and Lightning, in the lands allied with Konoha. At the same time, skirmishes started happening between Earth and Fire as well, with the Grass village as the backdrop for that mess.

A lot of shinobi were mobilized and sent out. Shikamaru's team was sent to Grass Village with another contingent of shinobis. Mine and Izumo's team stayed in the village, doing the boring D-rank missions. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad that I was being spared the hurdles of war.

Prices around the village increased. Mood dropped. There was now more tension between normal people and the Uchiha's police, like somehow the civilians thought it was the Uchiha clan's fault that a war was on the horizon.

Tension spiked when the Daimyo came calling. I don't know why the man and all his court were here. I heard rumours it was because of a war declaration, or maybe it was because of that town that got destroyed by Kimimaro when he tried to kidnap Naruto. It just made the atmosphere heavier in the village.

In regard to training, I added to our morning sessions, much to everyone's displeasure, control exercises. I had to bribe Choji with pastries to keep him from complaining too much.

The routine of training, practicing control, doing missions in the afternoon only ended when it was time to meet the codgers and hope all my preparations were enough. I managed to amass a good amount of support. The Uchiha, Hokage, Nara, Yamanaka, Haruno, a few merchants, the GGC. From Shijimi, unfortunately, I didn't hear anything. I guess that one was a big flop.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading.
Next chapter Wednesday.

 

[okashihime]

Way back then when the Hokage mentioned a meeting with the council, the first image that popped into my head was something like House of Lords meeting chambers: a tall, grandiose hall, full of seats where observers could watch and judge and participate.

It ended up being nothing like my expectations.

The meeting wasn't in the tower, and from the looks of it, also not a public affair. I couldn't bring the people whom I convinced to support me. It wasn't that kind of meeting. Instead, I had to get from them letters of endorsement or confidence. It smelled of bull.

Ino wanted to join the meeting. "But what if they want to, I don't know, keep you captive and you have to flee?" She held the hen of my shirt, tight in white-knuckled grip.

"That might happen," I agreed. Before she could say anything else, I held out my hand. Out popped a beacon. I placed it on her hand, then I also gave her my prepared supplies. "If I do, I'll come find you."

I had packed all my tools, seals, and food for months.

"You promised," Ino said, staring at the kunai.

"I won't leave you behind," I said.

I wasn't prepared for violence, but to flee. If in the end I couldn't be free of their influence, then I'd have no other choice than to leave home and strike out on my own. Karin was also aware of my plans, and if I left, she wanted to follow. No words convinced her to stay in Konoha, which ended with both her and Ino 'training' in field three.

Pretty sure if there were someone watching, the pretend training wouldn't be hard to see through, but the gesture warmed my heart.

I wore my new shinobi gear and flak jacket for the occasion; it was official business, after all.

Shisui and Nara Shikaku led the way. Despite not being allowed into the meeting proper, Kiyo-Obacchan and another grandpa I didn't know followed us into the residence, ignoring the stern shinobies guarding the place. We entered the building.

Before going toward the meeting place, Kiyo-Obacchan grabbed me in a tight hug, even tousled my hair.

"Show those 'codgers' who they're messing with," she said, voice full of mirth at the codger word. I might have let that one slip one or two times.

The two grandpas made themselves comfortable in the reception room, and after that, I followed Shisui and Shikaku through a reception hall and headed toward a small room tucked in the back.

The room had bare wooden walls and a blue tatami floor. In the center stood a table with gold tones, surrounded by four couches: two single-seaters at either end, and two larger ones along the sides, each able to seat two people. The couches were upholstered in dark red leather, with armrests decorated in the same golden shade as the table.

The two codgers were already inside.

Shisui took a position at the head of the table. Nara Shikaku sat on the opposite end. I walked inside, closing the door behind me. I sat facing the councilmen. Papers and reports were placed on top of the table. I glared at the two. Koharu ignored me, Homura glared back.

We had barely exchanged glanced accusations when the sliding door opened.

Kakashi-sensei walked inside, gave me an eye crescent smile.

"You weren't invited," said Homura.

Kakashi-sensei waved, uncaring. "Don't mind me, I'm just here to keep my cute chunin company." He didn't sit, instead he leaned against the wall, from where he could see the whole room.

I wanted to get up and hug the man. I mean, wow, that was so cool. He gave me another eye crescent smile, a nod. I nodded back.

"Thank you all for coming," Shisui said, bringing us back to the moment. "We're here to address a few concerns regarding Hinata." There were nods all around. He turned to the councilmen. "Councilmen Homura and Koharu, supported by several families and clans, raised a list of concerns.

"Shikaku," he said, turning to the jonin commander, "Can you list those concerns so we may address them?"

Shikaku took a paper from the pile and started reading—and reading, and reading.

Some of the things in the list didn't even make sense. It was like they've been following me my whole life, taking notes and finding faults.

Leaking secrets, destabilizing allies, betraying my team, espionage. Accusation after accusation flew at me.

"When have I leaked village secrets?" I interrupted. That one didn't make any sense.

Koharu had one paper in hand, maybe following along with the accusations? She was the one who answered.

"You've sold village secret knowledge for money."

"I didn't," I said. "This is a baseless accusation."

Homura fixed his glasses in place. Started reading a list of 'transactions'. It clicked then. They were talking about me selling storage seals to the merchants.

"The Third Hokage entrusted you with fuinjutsu knowledge, and you gave it to civilians, who in turn sold it to other villages."

I scowled. "No one told me I couldn't sell that."

"Ignorance doesn't absolve you of guilt."

What the hell. I've been selling my seals for years. It was my go-to for a tiny bit of extra money while still at the academy. Baking ingredients were expensive, after all.

Each item was more ridiculous than the last until I had to interrupt again.

"I haven't leaked any confidential information."

Koharu sighed; she sounded exasperated. "The mission to find Orochimaru's base was a classified one, and you've been telling everyone you meet about the details."

I opened my mouth. Closed it shut with a snap. It hadn't even occurred to me that I couldn't talk about it. I was so relieved because I was back and with friends that I forgot.

Shisui spoke on my behalf. "Those were extenuating circumstances," he said, looking at me and Shikaku. The jonin commander took the hint.

"The mission left its classified status once we received the full report from Yamato and Hayase."

Homura shrugged. "She didn't know, thus she still acted with the intent to leak secrets."

Kakashi chuckled. "Are we to act on what ifs now?"

The accusations went on until it started to veer into the absurd. I was being accused of inciting trouble with allied villages, by bringing Karin to Konoha, and 'demanding' she stay, instead of shipping her back to Grass.

"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.

"This is bull," I growled.

"Is it?" Homura said, fixing his glasses again.

"What? You think I attacked Sai? Why would I do that?"

"Why, indeed," Koharu said. "You've escaped an ambush that almost killed one of our best jonins. You managed to 'save' an allied shinobi, only to bring her here instead of sending her to Grass. Your actions put Yamato in the crossfire of the whole Kirigakure civil conflict."

Homura glanced my way. "You have nothing to say?"

I growled, not sure what to say. "I didn't."

Homura scoffed.

"There is no evidence she orchestrated her capture," Shikaku said, looking again at the reports. "These reports from Sai, where did you get them from? They weren't delivered to the Intelligence Department."

Homura just shrugged. "He was afraid you'd disappear his reports, and send them to me instead."

They weren't even trying to be subtle about things. Fucking hell.

Shikaku stopped, picking up another piece of paper. I could see the disbelief in his face. "Instigating turmoil between two noble families, the Uchiha and Hyuga, by seducing the Uchiha's heir to put them in direct opposition to the Hyuga clan."

Shisui's face was a blank mask. Kakashi-sensei, by the door, chuckled. "Don't forget to send me an invite to the marriage, Hinata-chan."

The sarcasm in his voice was thick.

I blinked, then I laughed. I couldn't stop it. This was just dumb.

The two councilmen didn't seem bothered by my reaction.

Homura took out one more piece of paper. "We have evidence she knows secrets that can endanger the whole village, but has been keeping them to herself."

That shut me up real quick. What were they on about? Had they somehow learned the things I told Ino?

Their evidence was reports from the intelligence department. A detailed recounting of the story I told them when I was five, all the holes in that story, as well as observational logs from ANBU squads, Ibiki, Inoichi, and Aobe with cold reading reports between body language and other evidence of lies and more.

I scowled. What the hell was this?

"Those are confidential reports, dismissed by the Third Hokage," Shikaku said. His face was serious.

Koharu spoke next. "Lord Hiruzen was an excellent Hokage," she said with a slight nod, "but he'd grown soft in his late years. He was the reason no action was taken when she was found, even despite all evidence."

She turned to me. "If she's not a clone, she's partially responsible for his death."

"What?" The question escaped me before I could stop.

"Orochimaru used the stolen Byakugan to bypass most of Lord Third's defense and deal a killing blow," Homura said.

"I'm guilty now of being kidnapped?" I growled out. Fuck these codgers.

Homura glanced my way. "It's a clan's responsibility to protect and make sure their bloodlimit is not used against the Land of Fire."

And since I was clanless, then I was guilty of 'not stopping' Orochimaru from using the Byakugan to hurt the old man. Conveniently, since I wasn't part of the Hyuga clan anymore, that didn't apply to them.

Homura straightened. "She should be contained and interrogated. Like it should have been done seven years ago, when she was found."

Shisui shook his head. "There's no real evidence she's a spy, or is acting against Konoha. Her actions in the past seven years have been exemplary, and in line with any other loyal shinobi from Leaf."

Koharu shrugged. "It doesn't matter," she said, looking at everyone in the room. "Others agree with us. The Hyuga, the Akimichi, the Inuzuka, and many other families agree she shouldn't be allowed to remain free."

She pushed over the table a list with many names and clans.

I took my list.

"This isn't a popularity contest," I said, fed up with everything. "There are just as many who think you're the ones out of line." I looked at Shikaku and Shisui, who gave me nods. "Nara, Yamanaka, Hatake, Uchiha," I counted off. "Even merchants agree you're going too far."

Koharu rolled her eyes. "The same merchants you sold our village secrets to?"

That sparked a different debate. The Hyuga supporting the decision wasn't unexpected. I tried to kill the clan leader, and even had the eye. But Akimichi and Inuzuka? I liked Choji and Kiba, I thought they were friends.

I didn't have time to dwell on that either. I felt a crowd approaching the residence, then walking inside. Many, many chakra signatures. All strong, jonin level or more. Almost a dozen jonin. My head snapped into that direction. I got up, looking at the door.

The discussion stopped.

Kakashi-sensei looked at the door, then at me. "What is it, Hinata-chan?"

My fingers flew, messages sent in a way the codgers wouldn't be able to read. Shinobi, approaching, strong, many.

Kakashi-sensei took a step away from the door, watching it warily.

I wasn't sure what to do. Should I flee? By the looks of things, Shisui and Shikaku didn't agree with what they wanted, but what if they didn't have the necessary pull to ignore all the other families? Which I thought was bullshit. Shisui was the Hokage, what the hell.

I took too much time to decide.

The door slid open, and in entered a veritable army of dangerous-looking shinobi escorting a single man. He had small, circular eyes with dark pupils, wearing what looked like a fan decorated with flame symbols as a headpiece. The man even had a fan in his hand, open in front of his face, covering his mouth.

Everyone got up and bowed. I did the same.

"Lord Daimyo," Shisui said.

The man closed his fan, looked around the room. "What is this?"

It was Homura who answered. "There have been concerns about the security of our village, Lord Daimyo. We're discussing how to solve it."

I raised my head a little, watched the people around. I saw a blob of pink behind the whole army of shinobi, heard a familiar yowl of a tortured cat.

"Which concerns?" Daimyo asked dismissively.

Both councilmen exchanged glances. "There's reason to believe she's a spy trying to infiltrate our ranks," he said, gesturing to me.

The Daimyo turned my way. "Girl," he said.

I snapped up, saluted. "Yes, my Lord."

"Are you a spy?"

"No," I squeaked.

"Do you plan to betray the Land of Fire?"

"No," I said, more firmly this time.

The Daimyo looked at one of the people in his entourage who gave him the smallest of nods.

"There, she's innocent," said the Daimyo. "Why are you wasting your time with this when there are bigger concerns? What about Iwagakure's attack? And what are you doing about that city that was destroyed recently?"

I saw faces change. Shisui still looked calm, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. The councilmen looked like they had swallowed a lemon. Shikaku was still his serious self, organizing papers.

The meeting got hijacked by the Daimyo wanting to discuss war. I stood there frozen, watching the two codgers scramble to answer the questions and propose plans to deal with future events.

Kakashi's gentle hands held my shoulders, led me outside, away from this whole other meeting. I was still a bit numb from all the whiplash.

Outside the room, chubby arms smushed me against pink bosom and a dishevelled cat.

"I told you hubby would take care of it," Madam Shijimi said.

Sensei just chuckled again.

"Thank you," I croacked out, still bewildered.

This counted as my win, right?

Oh, I knew it was far from over. Some of those accusations might as well stick, even if the troublesome ones might not. It was a battle won, not a war. To get those out of my hair, I'd need to deal with the root of the problem. Their rhetoric reminded me a lot of Danzo, which only confirmed for me that the two codgers were just figureheads.

But this, at least I hoped, gave me some time to breathe and plan, and hopefully, find Tsunade and get her to help me disable the ticking bomb.

---

AN:

Thank you for reading.

Like I said a few days back, I'll take a two weeks break to rest my wrist and think on how to move the story forward. ARC 9 is already finished (it goes up to 9.26), and I also need to write a few interlude chapters that should be released before arc 9 starts.

Again, thank you all for reading. <3

 

[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.