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.