A strange new life. [Naruto]

[okashihime]

Unfortunately, our journey didn't take us close to the Great Naruto's Bridge, but even if it had, I don't think we had time to stop and chat with people that lived around there. As much as I wanted to visit Tsunami again and see how that brat Inari had grown the past couple of years, there were just more important things to do.

Like saving Secretary-chan and killing Danzo.

This was another one of those missions where I couldn't wear my full shinobi regalia. No big scroll strapped to my back, no iconic fishnet gear, no visible forehead protector. Which meant it was my normal shinobi gear (shorts and qipao shirt and shoes), without any of the visible shinobi accessories. Those went into seals and stored into a fake backpack.

Out of his shinobi gear, Yamato looked like a fish out of water. Karin looked very comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt. The scar over her eyes had all but disappeared, even if I still caught her touching it when she thought no one was looking. She kept glaring at me from time to time too. I guess she hadn't forgiven me for not asking if she wanted to come along when I left the village.

In my defense, I thought Karin wouldn't want to leave the village at all. She had settled down pretty hard, being entrenched with the Intelligence people, as well as dating the Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village and pretty Tsuntsun Sakura.

Ino on the other hand, Ino was pretty no matter what she was wearing. She wore sandals, a yellow t-shirt and small dark blue shorts. Her hair was tied on a high ponytail and I won't lie and say she didn't catch me staring more than a few times. The impish smile she had told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me. I loved it!

The first day of travel passed without much fanfare: We walked, Yamato talked about the mission details and intel we needed to know, Karin glared at me, I sneaked glances at Ino. The normal stuff.

Unfortunately, Yamato hadn't taken to me calling him Green-kun. He never answered when I called him that, the spoilsport.

When night arrived, Yamato led us away from the road. I knew this routine already. While the man prepared our resting place for the night, I set up a perimeter barrier around the area. I had improved my seals since the last time we did this, and also included the effect to anyone trying to sense chakra.

"The night is not done," Yamato said when I attempted to prepare a meal in the kitchen.

I turned to him, tilting my head.

"You all need training. I'm to teach you any jutsu I can that will help in this mission."

That earned him a lot of attention. Karin and Ino crowded closer. Yamato took out instruction scrolls and distributed them around. Then he turned to me. "While they learn the basics, we'll cover mokuton."

I guess we were skipping dinner today.

Sleeping arrangements were awkward at best. There were enough rooms for each person in Yamato's portable house, but a Karin and a now a fuming Ino decided my room was the place they wanted to sleep in.

I could even see the lightning strike between Karin and Ino whenever their eyes met. Like before, I wanted nothing to do with that. Let them settle their differences by themselves. So, Ino settled on one side, while Karin grabbed me from another. I closed my eyes, took deep calming breaths and tried to sleep.

Yamato knocked at the door a few hours later and I hadn't slept a wink. I turned around, saw him looking at the tangled knots of limbs in my bed and shake his head.

"It's time for your watch," he said.

I nodded, then in a move that I was sure I was going to regret later, teleported away from the bed, but left a clone in my place, so it wouldn't disturb sleeping Ino.

My clone gave me a knowing grin and wicked a smile. She pulled Ino closer and… I glared death at my clone. Her hand, which was hovering over Ino's butt, moved up to her waist. I was going to kill that clone.

---

There weren't any notable events while we traveled. No ambush or sudden attack on our team. Crossing the borders had been as simple as delivering papers and boarding the boat towards Land of Waves. On the outside, we were nothing other than normal traveling civilians.

Even after two full days of travel, Karin still looked mad at me. I was wondering when she'd muster the courage to confront me, or if I should take the initiative and ask her myself. This situation felt keenly familiar. It reminded me of all the times I had to talk with Sasuke and put it off because I'd have time later.

Well, at least I could learn from my mistakes.

I gave Ino a meaningful glance and reluctantly, she nodded. I took Karin by the hand and led her to an empty corner of the boat. Suddenly, she looked like a deer in headlights. I think there was something wrong with me, because seeing her look scared made me want to tease her, just a little.

Naruto's original story really did dirt towards Karin. With her vibrant red hair, thick black framed glasses, she looked like a lovely teenager, not whatever she really was in the original story. It was made worse because they made her into comedic relief for Emosuke. Another thing I had a hard time forgiving him for, even if it wasn't his fault at all.

I pulled her into a hug. "What is it, Karin-chan?"

Karin resisted a first, but I didn't let go. Then she leaned into the hug, sighing deeply. She didn't speak for a long while. I didn't press her to open up. Coward me thought it was fine if she didn't want to talk.

"You were going to abandon me," Karin whispered so low I barely caught it. "You promised you wouldn't."

And I had, hadn't I? When I convinced her to come to Konoha with me, I had promised I was going to have her back, no matter what happened. What could I even say here? I had excuses, good ones if I was ever to voice them, but they were after all, just excuses. Should I promise I wouldn't do it again? That sounded very cheap.

"I'm sorry," I said in the end. What else was I to say?

Karin nestled closer into the hug, nodding against my shoulder. We stayed like that for what felt like hours.

---

We disembarked on the Land of Waves and there was a group of shinobi ready to meet us. It seems that we didn't need to pretend to be civilians on this side of the ninja world. It was a full squad of shinobi, two of them I knew, a third I could guess who it was, and a fourth I had no idea who.

The tall, one armed man walked and stopped in front of me. He glared down, killing intent bearing down on me and everyone around. Yamato seemed ready to do something. Karin was trembling and looking very pale, and Ino looked about to attack.

I signaled them to wait.

"Zabuza," I said, staring at the ex-missing-nin. "Taking hold of life with both hands, I presume?"

The fourth shinobi in their group gasped, but I didn't pay attention to them. Zabuza smiled, it was wicked evil. Then he burst out laughing and the killing intent subsided.

"The brat has grown. She can even speak now," he said, clapping me on the shoulder with his one good hand and walking closer to Green-kun. "Yamato, we meet again."

The second known shinobi approached. If I had doubts before, I had even more now. Haku looked even more stunning than before. To make my confusion even bigger, I could see hints of feminine curves beneath his/her/their shinobi outfit. What the heck, canon lied to me?

"Hinata-san," Haku said.

I nodded back. Ah, heck it, I was going to call Haku a she, sue me Fate-Kun.

"Haku-chan, it is nice to see you again."

The one I maybe knew who they were, stepped forward. He was a middle aged man with blue hair styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered with an eye-patch. I glared at that eyepatch. I was pretty sure I knew what was behind it.

"I'm Ao," the man introduced himself, confirming my suspicions. "You've already met Haku and Zabuza," he said, gesturing to the two. Then he turned toward the fourth shinobi, a slender, white haired kunoichi that didn't look older than twenty. "That's Hōzuki Yuki."

The name pinged something against my memories, but no great revelation came from that. Yuki's eyes were not the normal fare. Her sclera was a deep grey, almost black, while the iris and pupil were light blue, almost white. Was that a dojutsu?

 

[okashihime]

I was in a bit of a pickle, with no immediate way of solving the problem.

Meeting Zabuza and Haku was something I'd been looking forward to, Haku specially. It felt like it had been ages since I last talked with her, and I have several new pastries I'd like her to sample. I knew from previous experience in Konoha that my sweets were popular. Why not start spreading the love?

The problem wasn't the duo, or even Hōzuki Yuki (which I still couldn't remember where I'd heard that name from), but Ao.

I don't think anyone knew the man had a Byakugan hidden beneath that eyepatch. I don't think anyone was supposed to know, at all. The only reason I knew was that in the before, I always thought the Byakugan had been all but abandoned by the author in favor of the Sharingan. That had led me into a deep wiki dive looking for more information about it, and I ended up finding that Kiri had one eye taken from a fallen Hyuga during the third shinobi war.

The Hyuga would probably have made a big stink had they known, right? Or maybe there was some complicated politics involved that I wasn't aware of.

I wasn't sure why they'd send him specifically to greet us, but his presence put any secret we discussed between ourselves in danger. I couldn't even communicate that to my team because the all around vision from his eye would catch any attempt.

This felt like an ambush of another kind all of the sudden.

It was a good thing I had a Byakugan of my own.

The all around vision helped me keep an eye on Ao for any strange movements, while I pushed my chakra perception to make sure no strangers were getting closer to our position. I didn't want another repeat capture session this time. There was no way I was letting them take me, Ino or Karin. Hell, I wasn't letting them touch Yamato.

Not that I thought Yamato had any need of being protected.

Karin was the first to notice something was off. Her chakra bubbled and she kept sending me glances. Ino was next, saddling closer to me and sneaking peeks at my face.

Escorted by a full complement of shinobi, we didn't need to hide and pretend to be civilians.

Zabuza took the lead, followed by Haku. Green-kun led our squad, followed by Yellow, Red and me covering our backs. Behind us, Ao and Yuki closed the gap. There were more shinobis around our flank. It felt like we were prisoners instead of guests and visitors.

We traveled at ninja speed, hopping between tree branches, running over rivers and lakes and covering a good distance in a matter of hours. The port city we landed on the main continent wasn't that far from the hidden village. Before night arrived, we were dashing through dense mists covering the whole countryside.

Karin, once again, was the first to notice we were getting closer to our destination. She scrunched her brows, then signaled a message. Shinobi, many, ahead.

Yamato gave her a slight nod, signaling back. Kirigakure.

That was good to know. It seemed my paranoia was getting the better of me and there was no ambush this time. But I did notice that Ao seemed to react to our silent conversation. It was minute, but his chakra bubbled, and his shoulders tensed, but there was no attack.

The mists parted and at the front, Zabuza turned around, a wide, maniacal smile on his face.

"Welcome to Kirigakure," he said.

I took my first good look at another hidden village.

Like Konoha, Kiri had several sprawling mountains dotting the background, but that was where the similarities ended. Konoha looked like a city where ninjas also lived. There were a lot of people, civilians, houses and more. Kiri, on the other hand, had fewer buildings and the whole place was surrounded by thick fog.

Kirigakure's architecture had several cylindrical buildings, with a big one near the center, which I guessed was the analog to the Hokage's tower; it being the widest and largest. Most of the buildings had vegetation growing on their roofs and were built taller than Konoha ever did.

Part of our escort, the ones guarding our flanks, veered off at that point. I saw them hopping towards the bigger building in the center of the village, nary a look in our direction.

Ao pushed to the front, and turned to us as well.

"The Mizukage is waiting, you can gawk at our village later." He turned after that, dashing toward the Mizukage's building in the distance.

Zabuza laughed. "Don't mind him. One day he'll take the stick off his arse."

Haku shook her head, but didn't contradict Zabuza.

"Welcome to Kiri," she said as well. "We can talk more after official business is dealt with."

Our group was led towards the center structure with nary a moment to gawk at the view.

I had this immediate urge to climb those circular buildings and check out the vegetation on top: was it a garden? Some private retreat? Was it left to grow wild? I realized I knew almost nothing about Kiri other than the basic strokes.

It was a land plagued by civil war, with the population blaming bloodlimit Shinobi to the point of hunting them down. On top of that, Madara or Obito, I wasn't sure which, had been controlling the last Mizukage, and keeping the place in a constant state of tension.

Reports from Konoha told me the three tails had been dispersed with Yamato's help and that Mei was the new Mizukage. It told me almost nothing about their current disposition towards us.

Into the central building we went and I started to notice a strange pattern. There were a lot of young shinobi about. Most of them were about my age, maybe a couple of years older. Pretty boys and handsome girls who happen to be passing when we were close by, but I knew from my chakra perception they'd been just standing still until we approached.

When we arrived at the Mizukage office, she wasn't alone.

Terumi Mei wore a deep blue gown which left her shoulders and neck exposed. The luxurious red hair covered one eye, leaving the bright green contrasting with the red hair. She had the silly kage hat on her head.

Ao stood besides her desk, face as impassive as ever.

Standing guard near the walls was a full squad of Shinobi. only they were dressed to impress, all were boys and girls, all around my age, all eye candy.

That was how I found myself meeting Terumi Mei for the first time.

 

[okashihime]

"Good, you've arrived," Mei said, getting up from her comfy-looking chair. "It's good to see you again, Yamato."

Green-kun inclined his head.

"And you must be Hinata," she said, turning to me. "I'm glad you managed to find your way back."

I copied Green-kun, inclining my head as well.

Mei's eyes flickered to Ino and then Karin. She gave both a small nod. With a swish of her hands most of the documents on her table disappeared, and in their place there was now a map of the Land of Water.

"We've compiled reports about disappearances and suspected kidnappings across the Land of Water."

Like they had rehearsed, Ao started pinning markers on the map.

"Most of the clues we've been following were gathered at the prison they held Hinata in," Mei glanced at me again. "Her escape broke the seals keeping the place secret and the cell operating there didn't have time to clear all their traces before we arrived."

I looked at the point in the map she'd tapped and did my best to hold back a scowl. That place wasn't somewhere I liked to think about. The only good thing that happened there was meeting Karin.

By my side, Karin's chakra turned chaotic, and her hands clenched into fists.

"The enemy has been using a new type of defensive barrier that prevents most detection techniques. We managed to find a way around it, but it needs a powerful sensor."

Mei looked at Yamato.

"The missive from Konohagakure said you'd bring a sensor specialist with you."

Yamato glanced at Karin. "Uzumaki Karin is our specialist."

Mei nodded. "Our researchers will teach her how to bypass the barrier. From previous experience, it might take a couple of days until she masters the new technique."

Yamato was up to task. "I'll help with her training."

Mei continued like he hadn't interrupted. "Meanwhile, I've prepared some of my own specialists to fill the gaps in your team."

Both eye-candy stepped forward. The boy threw me a cocky grin after giving me a once over, while the girl met my eyes, then looked demurely away, blushing.

I almost believed they were being genuine.

"Amagiri Rei and Amagiri Shizuka will help you—" Mei started, but I was already shaking my head.

I wasn't going to let Mei do whatever she wanted.

"That won't be necessary," I said, keeping my eye firmly fixed on the Mizukage. "I'm sure Karin will master your technique in no time, and even if we can't find it by ourselves, we can scout locations and prepare for action."

I also wasn't being fooled one bit. Her scheme was very transparent, if effective. Knowing Yamato, he wasn't about to let Karin alone in an unknown village 'training', which forced him out of our group and left me and Ino primed for the poaching, so to speak.

"We'd do better teaming up with Haku and Zabuza. We are already familiar with them."

Mei stared at me for a long while, then she smirked. Zabuza started laughing.

I felt like I had been played.

"Of course. Zabuza and Haku will accompany you and Yamanaka-san on the recon missions, while Uzumaki-san masters the technique." She turned to Yamato. "Is that acceptable?"

Yamato glanced my way, before nodding.

"Now, let's discuss what clues we've gathered…" Mei said, picking up a report and reading from it.

---

The meeting lasted hours, and while there was a lot to take in, there wasn't much actionable info right now. From the investigation, this group (which they specifically didn't name as ROOT), had been operating in the area for years.

A rough calculation told me the operation started not long after Danzo has been ousted from Konoha.

There was no real evidence of why bloodlimit shinobi were being taken, but speculation was rampant: Genetic experiments, enslavement, breeding programs. Every possibility was discussed and pondered upon.

I felt a little sick, thinking about it, but I didn't let it show on my face. It hit too close to home.

We discussed available resources, reinforcements and a lot more. Most of that went over my head. I was feeling like Naruto right now, with the important logistics details making me cross-eyed. At least I wasn't screaming to the four winds I was going to be the next Hokage.

Damn. Now I was missing the brat. I hope his training went well.

After the meeting was over, Rei and Shizuka attached themselves to our group like leeches. Rei, the boy, kept trying to invite me for dinner or to sightsee, while Shizuka kept sending me shy glances.

I felt like a monkey in a parade.

Thankfully, that didn't last long. We arrived at the place we'd be staying for the night, and that gave me the excuse I needed to flee inside and away from the leeches.

"That's so annoying," I said as soon as the door closed.

A chill ran down my back, and I turned to find Karin and Ino glaring at me. It was like they had planned it.

"If you step out of the line—" "I won't ever forgive you if you fall for that—"

Sheesh. What the heck.

---

Kiri was very different from Konoha in more ways than its architecture. In Konoha, I was used to a bustling city full of people and kids and gossipy grandmas staring from the windows. Here, I got empty corridors and quiet, serious shinobi.

Despite the harsh description, it wasn't bad. It had a sense of ninja that appealed to a side of me.

We had been assigned one room each, side-by-side. Not that it mattered any, because like always, Yellow and Red ignored their room to bunk with me for some reason. In this case, I even preferred that. I don't think Kiri was about to try anything funny, the villages being allied and all, but my trust fund had been thoroughly emptied with the last betrayal.

Yamato had also arrived before the night ended and we had an impromptu strategy meeting.

A quick peek around told me that Ao had finally left, which made this the perfect opportunity to relay secrets.

"What do you guys think about the two Mei wanted to saddle us with?" I asked. At the same time, my hands conveyed a whole different message. Surveillance. Ao. Avoid Secrets. "Rei somewhat reminds me of Sasuke. Do you think that's why they chose him?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "There's no way he can compare to Sasuke." Her hands worked on another message. Surveillance medium? Range? "He isn't brooding enough."

Karin snickered. "Sasuke was pretty dreamy, but Rock Lee is better." No shinobi nearby.

"Girls," Yamato said, sounding exasperated, while his hand told another message. Stay sharp. Good job. "We are here to find a traitor, not gossip about boys."

I rolled my eyes. Green-kun was so uncool. "Don't be a sourpuss." My hands flashed another message. Ao. Byakugan. Eyepatch.

 

[Petrox]

Yay! Glad this is back and going for Danzo right away