A strange new life. [Naruto]

"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.

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]

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.

---

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

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

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

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

"Yamanaka-san," Shibi greeted.

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

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

"Welcome, Kumoko." Shibi said and bowed.

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

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

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

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

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

"Stop, snake-girl."

I froze, then looked at her.

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

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

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

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

"Is this enough?" he asked Kumoko.

The she-devil looked around, then nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I gave Shibi a chagrined look. He just chuckled.

---

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

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

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

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

"But—" Shino said, then sighed.

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

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

I looked at Ino, who shook her head.

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

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

Ino giggled. I laughed.

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kids, a couple of them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Which one?" I asked, confused.

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

The kids cheered. Even Kumoko looked interested.

Oh god, why?

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Training tomorrow?" she asked.

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

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

I left too, now feeling sad, despite everything.