A strange new life. [Naruto]

[okashihime]

Due to the nature of our mission, there would be no training for the foreseeable future. I was very conflicted about that. Pre Crushcrushcrush was an intense month of improving both myself and my techniques. The days of walking, talking, and not improving felt off, like I was wasting my time. I still felt guilty of my failure to save the old man, and the lack of concrete improvements only made that worse. Or maybe I was a masochist and enjoyed physical and mental suffering. The jury was still out on that one.

Not that we had that much time. On the first days of walking Yamato set a hard pace. A whole day of walking wasn't hard for a trained shinobi, but walking, pretending to be someone else, while constantly paying attention to your surroundings wasn't easy. Come night, I was exhausted. Not to the same point as the hell month training, but still drained. Then we had to set up camp, cook food, and prepare things for the next day.

Once the team gathered, Yamato started what I called an infodump meeting. "Hayase, can you update the whole team on Konoha's current political scenario?"

Hayase lit up with interest. Gave a sharp nod and started talking.

It was interesting, but also boring. It was hard to keep attention after a day of travel and mental concentration. My bed roll called my name. Whispered tempting promises. Hayase's droning voice made it even harder to pay attention.

Days of travel went by.

I think after the second day Yamato noticed my restlessness. Our strategy meetings after the second day turned into impromptu lessons about intelligence gathering, infiltration and politics. We talked about ways to use our techniques, discussed scenarios and possible outcomes. Fan-girl-chan had the time of her life. Even if boring Sai still annoyed me with his lack of enthusiasm and direct responses.

There was no clear indicator we left the Land of Fire, but after close to a week of travel, when we arrived at a small village, the difference was impossible to miss. The architecture, the style of buildings, the colors, not to mention the rolling plains of rice fields. Not that it really changed anything we saw: The place looked like a horror movie ghost town.

Decrepit wooden houses, broken doors, burnt walls. If this was a western village, I would even expect a dust devil rolling around. The wind coming from the village carried the stench of carrion and rot.

Yamato raised his hand. We stopped. He moved his fingers, gave us orders. Sai, Hinata, scout.

I gave it a mental 'hell yeah'. Time to put all my sneaky shinobi skills to the test! Giddy excitement threatened to make me act stupid. But I was sure I kept the excitement out of my face. And body. The swaying was just me getting ready to go all out. Yamato's knowing look was just a figment of my imagination.

By this point, this kind of thing should have already become routine and not trigger fan-girl-chan, but much to my continued happiness, it still did. I held my happy dancing, but the smile still snaked into my face. I crouched down, performed hand seals, placed both hands on the ground. I didn't really need to, but doing so looked cool. I used two jutsu. Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu and Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Sai took his paintbrush, I don't know where from, drew some sort of bird, let it fly soon after. Sai was still uncool, but his jutsu was awesome.

Something I never considered popped in my mind: Was I betraying team seven by getting my ninja fix with another team? No, that was stupid, and silly. I pushed that thought out.

Clone-chan didn't take long to unpop herself. I braced against the rush of memories and impressions. Reported once I parsed through the information. Raised a hand, fingers signing the code: No chakra presence nearby.

Sai's report came soon after. "No one inside the village"

Yamato nodded, gesturing to us to get into formation. He took point moving toward the village, while Hayase covered our backs. Sai and I flanked the two, keeping an eye out for any threat.

The village was worse than I thought at first. The cloying smell of decay and rot didn't prepare us for the scene we found. Bodies, old and young, men and women, torn to shreds. There were signs of fighting: a corpse held a pitchfork, another had a wood spear. It didn't seem like the work of a shinobi. Not with the state the bodies were left in. Looked like an animal attack.

Our brief inspection revealed what we already knew. No survivors. Not even the children were spared. The tracks and other details we found made no sense. Whatever the attacker was, it seems to be a heavy humanoid, given the indentations left by its passing. There were different weapon marks on the corpses and buildings but also claw marks and looked like teeth marks. We left the village untouched. A part of me wanted to stop and give those people a decent burial, but that wasn't our mission, and we didn't have time.

A few minutes away from the destroyed village, Yamato finally broke his silence. "We avoid any other small community and go straight to the nearest trading town."

Our team nodded. I understood his reasoning. If there was something out there killing isolated places, we would have better luck going straight to a bigger city. We increased our pace, and raised our vigilance. The surrounding woods took a different tone. Where it once was idyllic and a bit boring, now the rolling plains of rice felt oppressive, ominous. I thought back on the things I'd seen. None of the wound marks on the corpses looked like injuries from any shinobi weapon I was familiar with. It was what I thought a rampaging beast's attack might look like. A rampaging beast that also had access to strange weapons, claws and teeth. The more I thought about it, the more it looked like something really big and strong just pulled people apart, or split them with a heavy blade. Like a kid pulling off the wings and legs of an insect.

That night, we didn't sleep, nor did we light a fire. Hayase was the first to question that decision. "Why? Normal travelers don't camp in the dark."

Yamato looked around. "Too risky."

Hayase opened his mouth again, maybe to argue. Yamato just stared at the chunin, huge black eyes framed by darkness. Inner me wanted to fangirl at finally seeing the man's ultimate weapon to control Naruto, but I couldn't. Hayase soon looked away, shivered like it was cold. Didn't complain again.

That killed any other further complaint. Given the circumstances, Yamato didn't even mind when I popped a few cupcakes after an awful cold dinner. I kept vigil the entire night. Cast my senses as far as I could, trying to feel any chakra presence nearby.

I don't know if it was my imagination, but it felt like something was watching me from the dark. I had no basis for why I thought that. There was no noise, no chakra presence, not even the sound of night animals. But the nagging sensation of being watched persisted the whole night.

Aside from that, the only thing out of normal was a distant roar of some unknown animal. It was so low and distant I wasn't even sure it wasn't my imagination. It also seems I wasn't the only one keeping an eye on the surroundings. It wasn't Sai's watch schedule, but he still sent a few chakra birds flying out. That earned him a few points. I guess he was also worried about being attacked at night.

The next day, we pressed hard on our journey, while still trying to keep a normal travelers' appearance. I was feeling a bit tired, but again, it was nothing compared to the hell month. I could endure a few more days without sleep, even more when I circulated my chakra. Something I started doing more and more in that month of training. It left me feeling energized and ready.

It was the start of the afternoon when Sai reported. "There's a town, just ahead."

Yamato nodded. "Good job, Sai." He turned to the rest of us. "Remember, we are travelers, don't draw unnecessary attention. Hinata, you are with me. Hayase and Sai, you two stick together. Don't wander alone, be discreet when trying to find out more about our goal."

Tasks decided and orders given, we crossed the remaining distance until we found a walled town, with locked and barred gates. Peeking from above the wall, a rough voice hailed us. "Who goes there? State your business!"

 

[okashihime]

"Who goes there? State your business!"

Yamato took a step forward, hands raised, palms open and towards the voice at the walls. "We're travelers on the way to the capital. We seek home and hearth for the night."

I assumed right at that time my disguised persona of a distracted daughter dragged on a trip she didn't want to go. I looked out, towards the rice fields. Crossed my arms, huffed in annoyance. Kept sneaking glares at 'dad' for dragging me on this trip. But inside I was so giddy about visiting other places in Naruto's world that I had to hold in my smile.

I kept an ear out for the important bits of the conversation, but I tuned out most of it. There were too many other interesting things to pay attention to. The walls, the people, the accents, the smells. In my mind, my lack of attention was justified. I was gathering information, learning about the place. I wasn't behaving like a country bumpkin traveling to interesting places for the first time. Nope, not at all. I was just paying extra attention to my information gathering mission.

Yamato went back and forth answering questions from the guy at the wall's and introducing our group. He patted my head, when introducing me. My hand moved without my consent, swatting the appendage away, much to the man at the wall's amusement.

"What news do you bring?" The same rough voice asked. He wasn't outright hostile.

Yamato stopped, considering. Hayase answered in his stead. He took a step closer. "We had to camp in the wilds for the past two nights!" His voice had a bit of a whine to it. I wasn't sure if it was fake. "Last village we passed was attacked by some beast or something, no one survived."

Hushed whispers and muttered swearing broke out from the other side of the wall. While only one person asked questions so far, the amount of voices suggested there was a crowd on the other side. I focused on my chakra sense, but no one other than us had any bundle of chakra. Civilians?

The wooden gates creaked open while I pondered that question. On the other side, a group of disheveled people armed with hoes, sickles, a shovel and an assortment of wooden sticks that didn't look like weapons. There was one individual holding a rusty katana. If the lack of chakra to my senses wasn't confirmation enough, a single glance at the crowd cleared any remaining doubt.

A hairy man, holding a sickle called us out. It was the same gruff voice. "Come in, quickly."

We entered the town. The gate closed behind us. Hands gripped farming tools-turned-weapons harder. Another farmer approached us, the one holding the sole real weapon among the lot, the rusted katana. "Come with me," he said to Yamato. "The town mayor will want to speak with you."

Yamato looked at us. Blinked the secret shinobi message. Play along.

I followed 'dad' through the town. We passed by several skittish looking people. Some looked at us with wide eyes, others glared. A burly man even tried to step in our way, fists closed, teeth gritted. The katana wielding farmer took two quick steps toward the man. They stared at each other for a few moments before the burly man retreated with a scowl.

We were led deeper into town. It wasn't big, at least not to what my modern sensibilities would say big, but the main street had a number of stores and other places for markets and street vendors. I knew now why this was considered a trading town. I saw a lot of places that looked like medieval Japanese versions of hotels, as well as white powdered, kimono-wearing ladies and a few men, trying to entice people to enter.

Our escort took us to one of the biggest buildings in the town's center. We entered a foyer, and Yamato was ushered toward one big double door passage. I tried to follow, but a hand barred my path.

The gruff farmer looked at me, then to Yamato. "This is not a conversation for children, especially girls."

I played my part. Crossed my arms. That was some medieval discrimination bullshit at its finest. And like any entitled teenager, I made my displeasure known by glaring, pouting and then looking away.

Yamato — the no-dad-energy — captain turned to us. "Hayase, you keep Hinata company. You can go see the sights, but don't go too far. Sai, you can come with me or join your friend."

Sai joined Yamato. Feeling left out, and babysat by Hayase, I left the house to explore the city. The bigger boy scratched his head, looking unsure himself. He turned to me. "Should we explore the market?"

I nodded. That was fine with me. I'm sure Yamato would report anything important later if needed. Right now, we could start our own investigation and information gathering operation.

The Honey Badger was on the hunt for the snake's lair.

"…"

That was so bad. Delete, delete, delete. I needed better ways to think about the mission. But the situation was an unexpected opportunity. In the past month of hell training, Research-chan spent all day, every day, trying to map and understand the seals in my body. It was a time bomb I needed to solve sooner rather than later. The problem was, aside from that one blueprint for the bone seals the creep shoved into my head, I had no other information.

That whole month of carefully probing every part of my body with chakra wielded interesting results. I learned that it was the seal on my bones that was responsible for my enhanced physical strength. The whole circulating chakra thingy? Hogwash I don't even want to remember I came up with. Assumptions over assumptions based on faulty anime logic. I still circulated chakra because it felt therapeutic, and made me feel better, but now I knew that as long as the seal was on my bones, I'd grow stronger with time. This wasn't an effect that I would lose if I removed the seal, on the contrary, it had permanently made my body stronger.

It was my own protagonist's cheat. The longer I live, the stronger I'd become. This whole thing reinforced my bones, muscles, and overall made me healthier and more resistant. At the cost of being a time bomb Orochimaru could pop anytime he wanted. Case in point, the seal was still trying to kill me. Damned snake never gave me a lock to disable the seal, just suppress it. I guess his real reason was to force me to seek him out when it turned out I couldn't stop the timed bomb. But now the snake was dead, and I my hope was to find anything useful in its lair.

… I really needed to stop the badger references. I was the future Black Flash dammit, not the future Black Badger.

Case was, I wanted to find Oro's base. Maybe if I was lucky, some part of his research survived and I could start disabling the bad part of the seals. However, I wanted to keep the good parts. The thought of getting stronger with the passage of time was something that made me giddy with anticipation. I don't know what the limit of that was, but stronger was stronger. Imagine if I could rival Tsunade on brute strength in a few years?

I still needed to learn about the other seals: The heart, the eyes. I had a few theories. My educated guess was that the seal on my heart was the one responsible for eating all the foreign chakra entering my body. Maybe it was a defense mechanism Orochimaru added to prevent others from meddling with the seals? Only the effect now was to make me resistant to external influences. It didn't work on Orochimaru because, being his own work, it recognized the chakra signature and offered no protection at all. That was also what made me bad at mokuton. Maybe the seal was incomplete, or parts of it aren't working as intended, which in turn forced me to use way more chakra than needed.

It was a far fetched theory, but I had no other ideas. I shook my head. Pushing the distractions away. I've been following Hayase almost on instinct. The older chunin talked to a few of the locals. Even attracted a bit of attention from some older folk. I scanned around, found a group of kids huddled together looking at us, then discussing furiously among themselves.

I didn't think I would learn anything new by following Hayase like a pup. I pulled at his shirt, gestured to the group of kids when he looked my way. Well, I guess it was time to meet the local kids.

 

[okashihime]

Years of partial isolation and unusual communication methods left me at a loss on how to approach the local kids. Did they know how to read? Should I just approach, write on my board and demand they tell me all the rumors around? The things adults thought kids wouldn't know or understand?

I looked between the kids and the boring conversation Hayase was a part of. Considered if I should really approach the locals.

Why was I hesitating? When did I become this timid?

I steeled my resolve. Tapped Hayase's arm. Pointed at the kids when he looked. Got a nod from the chunin. I got this. It was just a bunch of kids. I was a strong, independent kunoichi. I knew how to interact with people, I knew how to charm people. I knew how to extract information from people. It was a class subject in the third year of the academy. My grades were almost top of the class on that one. I can do this. No backwater peasant would scare me into timidness.

…

I approached the group of huddled kids. It drew some attention, but it wasn't until I was right by their side that they became aware of my presence. I flipped the board I had been carrying under my arm, and under the curious gaze of the small crowd, I wrote. "Hello! I'm Hinata. Is there anything fun to do around here?"

The gathered kids were what you would expect from a small town. The boys had an assortment of gray, browns and earthen tones: loose-fitting coats and pants, simple sandals made of straw. One of the five boys also wore those socks with separated toes, tabi. Another one barefooted. The barefooted one was also the biggest of the lot, with worse looking clothes, a crooked nose, and a nasty smile. The leering grin she shot my way earned him the name of Jerkface.

Among the small crowd of boys, there were two girls. One was as thin as a bean pole, tall and long faced. Sun tanned skin, pockmarked with acne and smeared with a few spots of dirt. The second girl looked younger than me, maybe nine or ten, dressed in fancy looking and colored clothes. She wore the full regalia: a light pink kimono, the skirt-like hakama, the wide sash over the kimono, the toed socks and wooden sandals.

It wasn't a surprise when the gathered kids turned to the smaller, better dressed girl and stared at her. The younger girl looked around, wide eyes, almost as if looking for an escape route. She stammered her way through reading what I wrote. Poor girl.

That had been normal enough. A bit of back and forth later, and off we went to another area, towards the place the kids usually gathered. It was a few streets away from the main trading area, in the more run down and old looking parts of the town. None of the other adults paid us any attention. I guess that no one cared what the brats were up to, as long as no one left the town's protective walls.

Our destination was something like an abandoned hut, maybe a shed, I wasn't sure. Medieval Japanese architecture wasn't my forte. For all its stylized charm, Konoha looked more like a modern city when compared to these rural villages. I was eager to dive into all the gossip and rumors and other info kids were wont to know. My surprise then, when two 'factions' among the gathered crowd, started bickering to see who would 'get' the 'new girl'.

Worse yet, the small kid, which everyone called Linlin got thrown into the mess, by virtue of being the only one among the brats that could read. Her scared demeanor and wide frantic eyes wasn't what pissed me off, however. The big barefooted jerk, that I refused to learn the name of, by virtue of being the tallest — and probably oldest of the lot — kept trying to declare me 'his new girl'. Dirty arm trying to snake around my waist, ignoring all the times I pushed it off me, or walked away from him. Worse yet, he kept staring at my face, breathing noxious fumes at me.

I don't know where the idea came from when I decided to talk with the locals. In my mind, I'd approach the kids, insta-join their clique, be told all the secrets and rumors regarding the boring adults and town news. Well, that wasn't what happened. Although it started simple enough.

I closed my eyes. Took deep breaths. Regretted immediately. A shudder started from my toes up to my neck, stomach roiling in disgust. Don't even know why I was even nervous before coming here to meet them. Dumb brats will be dumb brats.

Jerkface tried to put his arm around my waist again and I had enough of this bullshit. I stepped around him, kicked his legs. Kicked him on the sides while he fell. Might have put a bit more force than necessary. Jerkface cried out, curling into a fetal position, hands holding his side where I kicked him. The arguing stopped immediately. I looked at the wide eyed and open mouthed brats, already regretting my lack of restraint. The kid was annoying, but I could have just left, no need to hurt the brat. I was supposed to act like a normal kid, dammit.

Linlin, however, looked at me with stars in her eyes. Interesting.

Nothing for it. I walked forward, grabbed poor Linlin's hand, and gently pulled her away from the stunned kids, back toward the town's center. Pulling her away from the group might be even worse for her, but I wasn't willing to leave the girl behind. What if Jerkface decided to take revenge or something silly like that? And her reaction was strange. Not everyone got excited when a potential ninja did ninja things.

Linlin didn't resist. It'd be pretty embarrassing if she did. She was more than eager to follow. Her hand gripped mine and didn't want to let go. Even after I tried to release it a few times. We had just gone past the earshot of the other kinds when the supposedly timid girl opened the floodgates.

"You're like Sasame-chan, right? She is like you as well. So fast! I couldn't even see you move, how did you do it? So cool."

I glanced at Linlin. If before I thought I saw stars in her eyes, now it was whole galaxies. Sasame, that name sounded familiar, even if I couldn't place it. The kid didn't seem to notice my confusion.

"She's like, super strong as well, and not afraid to boss that big bully around." Her face fell, and her voice lost a bit of fervor. "He's been so annoying ever since they left."

My kunoichi-y senses tingled. I knelt in front of Linlin, tugged at her hands gently, coaching her to release me. When I was free, I took my board, wrote on it. "Where did they go?" I didn't know yet who 'they' were, but I was about to find out.

"Sasame-chan wouldn't tell me." The girl pouted. Kicked at the ground. Looked away. "Clan secrets."

Instead of taking Linlin back into the market proper, I took a turn toward one small park-like area I'd seen when moving with the other brats. There was this charming wooden bench made from a fallen tree, and a few other rustic looking tables. I sat, and Linlin did the same. I considered what to do. After thinking about it for a bit, I wrote on my board.

"You promise to keep this a secret?"

The girl nodded. Head bobbing up and down so fast I could barely keep with her movements. It was kinda cute.

I took one of my mini seals from the pouch on my skirt waistband. Under the kid's curious gaze, I placed it on the table and my finger on the center of the seal. There was a puff of smoke, a gasp from the kid, and out popped an assortment of cupcakes, sweets, and pastries. As well as a thermos with tea. The surprised squeal from Linlin when she saw the sweets brought a smile to my face.

I took my board again, wrote for the girl. "Eat, and tell me everything about Sasame-chan."

 

[okashihime]

This one was released back in Oct 31.

---

If I could make a sound, I'm pretty sure someone would say I was cackling like an evil witch. I couldn't help it. My masterpiece sat there, just in front of me.

It was perfect. Beautiful.

I threw my head back, silent-cackled again. Clawed fingers up. The classic crazy villain pose.

It took a while until I regained my bearings. I wiped an errant tear away. Damn, that was embarrassing. Laughing until you cry. I closed my eyes. Deep breaths helped me take control of myself. When I calmed down, I looked over the perfection on my kitchen table.

Small rectangular forms. Chocolate, wine red, sun yellow and sky blue. Colored caramel sprinkled with powdered sugar. An urge to laugh almost overcame me again, but I held back. With trembling hands, I took one candy. Took a sniff. Debated if I should risk a bite. Shook my head. Not worth it.

I gathered my magnum opus, taking care to not jostle the candy too much. With careful and deliberate movements, everything went into the container I had prepared. With one final longing glance, I sealed it. I placed it on the stack, with the rest of the explosive candies. On the left, was the other normal candy I prepared for tomorrow's academy exercise. A sigh of contentment escaped me.

The inspiration hit me after I finished baking the candy for the event. I already had exploding cupcakes, but what about exploding candy? The idea was perfect! Of course, I wasn't crazy. This one, different from the cupcakes, wasn't a real explosive. It was just explosive. I mean, if everything worked like I planned, it would expand and burst out, splashing sugary syrup everywhere. Not to mention the extra effects. I really wanted to test those.

A loud knock at the door interrupted my musings. "Hinata-chan!" The sunshine brat called out. Why was he here? Did something happen? Why was he banging on my door in the middle of the night? "Hinata-chan, we'll be late for the training mission."

I blinked a few times. Looked at the clock on the wall. Seven and half in the morning. Looked to the window and toward the sky. Overcast, dark clouds, but definitely morning. Shit, I was going to be late. How did time pass so fast?

The banging on my door sounded again. "Hinata-chan? Are you still sleeping?"

Without waiting, I turned around, ran. I was at the door before Naruto could rattle it again. Pulled it open. The brat had his hand raised, ready to cause even more fuss. He looked at his hand, the door, then at me. His cheeks turned pink, he looked away. I looked down. Last night, inspiration struck when I was preparing to sleep. I was still in my pajamas. I rolled my eyes. Brats will be brats.

Without waiting for anything, I grabbed Naruto, pulled him inside the apartment. Before he could say anything, out popped my board. "Naruto-kun, I overslept. There's a stack of seals on my kitchen table. Can you gather them for me?" I showed him the board.

Naruto tilted his head. Nodded. He turned, but before he left I grabbed his arm. He looked at me again. I went to write again on the board. "The stack on the left. Leave the ones in the center there."

Naruto read it again, scratched his head. Shrugged, nodded.

After that, I bolted for my bedroom. Had to take a shower and get out of my pajamas. Today was a special day.

---

I looked at my reflection in the mirror: Soft round face, fair skin, big black eyes, snake pupil in one of my eyes. Hair was done in a half bob cut, with the left side shaved. Shaved by virtue of necessity. Emosuke had, once again, tried to burn off my face for no reason. The gall of the brat. What was he? Depressed or something?

The face on the mirror reflected my annoyance with Emosuke. Or annoyance with all else. I mean, how could I compete with the clan kids at this rate? The three basic academy jutsu? That was just unfair. Stupid village rules and clan favoritism.

But enough moping about, today I had grand things planned. It was the last day of the tenth month. That meant Halloween! Not that anyone in Konoha even knew what Halloween was. There were a few civilian festivals in the village, mostly centered around one holiday or another. There were even a few spirit themed festivals, with the lanterns and all. But that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted — no, I needed — a good trick-or-treat Halloween day.

Unfortunately, there was no way I could organize a trick-or-treat day. The context just wasn't there. Young shinobi in training disguising as spiritual creatures and knocking on other people's doors asking for candies? Yeah, not happening. Which was why, after badgering Iruka-sensei for a long while, I managed to wear down the man and convinced him to accept one of my plans.

This whole situation, of course, was disguised as an academy exercise. Which was why I went on a cooking spree yesterday. I baked a lot of candies. Iruka-sensei agreed to hide the candies and set us to find them. It wasn't trick-or-treat, but candy treasure hunt on Halloween would suffice.

"Hinata-chan, we're gonna be late!" Naruto yelled again. "I can't be late today. Today is the day I defeat Sasuke!"

I rolled my eyes again. Sunshine brat and Emosuke rivalry was annoying as always. But Naruto was right. With one last look at the mirror, I left my bedroom. Naruto was already at the door, waiting. He handed me the stack of seals. I gave him a smile. Ushered him out. Closed the door. Academy waited for no one.

---

Damn Iruka-sensei. That man was evil.

Ragged breaths escaped me. I was sprawled on one of the training forests, sweat dripping from my forehead. I guess his idea of treasure hunting was to set other shinobi to hunt us while we tried to find the package. This was supposed to be fun treasure-hunting. Not to flee for my life and find treasure. But it was fun, nonetheless. Between Henge, Kawarimi and Bushin no jutsu, I think I did well. Behind me, the kunoichi in charge of catching me was also breathing heavily. Even if she wasn't as exhausted as I was. Our eyes met. I gave her a big smile. She smiled back.

If I just looked at this from another angle, wasn't this just a game of tag mixed with capture the flag?

"Good job." The kunoichi said after a moment. "You gave me a good workout."

I did a small victory dance. The kunoichi chuckled.

That wasn't to say I managed to complete the exercise. The girl was relentless. I couldn't shake her off, and nothing I did was enough to get past her and toward the goal. Time ran out before I managed to get past her. Which was fine.

We returned to the entrance of the training forest. The rest of the class was already there. It seems I was the last to return. Kunoichi-chan gave me a wave. She looked at Iruka-sensei and Mizuki. They exchanged nods. She left.

From near sensei, Emosuke sneered. From his self satisfied smile, I'm guessing he was the first to complete the training. Naruto was there as well, hand behind his head, hollering something or another. I guess he also managed to reach the goal.

The other students seemed fine. None of them looked as ragged as I felt.

Iruka-sensei cleared his throat. "Good job. Everyone did very well on today's exercise— "

Mizuki cut Iruka-sensei mid speech, eyes toward me. "Even those who didn't manage to complete their goal."

Iruka-sensei coughed. "Yes, even those who didn't manage to get to the goal. But everyone put in the effort. Congratulations."

Some of the kids cheered.

Iruka-sensei held up the container of colorful candies I had made. My eyes widened. I recognized it. It was the wrong ones — the experimental ones. I reached for my board, scribbled as fast as I could. Kiba shouldered past me, reaching for his prize.

"Second place isn't so bad," he grinned, picked up a bright blue candy. Next to him, Shino accepted a yellow one, while Sasuke examined a wine-red piece with his usual brooding persona.

I looked at Naruto, who was rubbing his neck. Our eyes met. He looked at my board, the message I scribbled there. Realization dawned on his face. His mouth formed a perfect 'O'.

But it was too late.

The first explosion came from Kiba. The blue candy expanded in his mouth like a balloon before bursting with a soft pop. A cloud of sugar powder erupted, coating his hair in a spectacular array of bright colors. The edible glitter sparkling with a rainbow shine under the sparse sunlight. Akamaru barked, licked Kiba's face. Barked again, tail wagging fast.

"What the—" Shino started, but never finished. His sun yellow candy burst next, and suddenly the air was filled with the excited buzzing of his kikaichu. Oh no, insects and sugar.

But the best—or worst—was Sasuke. He had just taken a tentative bite of the wine-red candy when it exploded in a shower of crystalline sugar. The Uchiha heir stood there, frozen. Powder settled on his face and hair. Then a stray beam of sunlight broke through the clouds, and Sasuke sparkled.

The class fan girl's squeals of delight could probably be heard in Suna.

But that wasn't the end. The rest of the candies on Iruka-sensei's hand exploded. Syrup and powdered sugar, and all those other things mixed into my experimental candies covered the rest of the class.

Mizuki bellowed, face red with fury. "What is th—" He stopped mid-sentence, having accidentally inhaled some of the airborne candy powder. His next words came out in squeaky high pitch: "What is this?"

The entire class fell silent. Even Sasuke stopped trying to wipe off the sparkles.

"When I find out who's responsible, they'll clean the Academy for a week!" Mizuki continued, looking mortified, his voice even higher.

I erased the warning I had written on my board, started to write an explanation. Wasn't sure if Mizuki would accept this was just a misunderstanding, but Naruto jumped forward, hands behind his head and wearing his biggest grin.

"Got you all good, dattebayo!" he declared. "This is my best prank ever!"

There was another moment of silence. The whole class yelled. "NARUTO!!!" He ran. The class ran after him.

---

Later that night, I went to visit the brat. Even made sure to buy his favorite ramen. I looked at Naruto. He slurped his food. Gave me me a thumbs up, "Your pranks are way better than mine, Hinata-chan!"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't hide my grin. Next time, better make sure Naruto wasn't anywhere near my experiments... or maybe not.

After all, Sasuke did look much better with a bit of sparkle.

 

[okashihime]

Between mouthfuls of cupcakes, pudding, and sweets induced squealing, Linlin spilled all her secrets. Which didn't amounted to much more than what her questions had already revealed. This Sasame was an older girl — or perhaps my age, given the way Linlin tended to exaggerate everything related to this girl. She was this awesome ninja, capable of beating anyone — or maybe just bullying the normal annoying kids. She could fly between trees and hide in plain sight — pretty normal for a trained shinobi. Sasame-chan belonged to this family of legendary ninjas — maybe just a small town shinobi clan?

In the end, what I learned was that Sasame was a two meters tall girl, unrealistically super strong, with a penchant to bully normal kids when they were being annoying, and that all of her family — a hidden shinobi family — were legendary people that lived somewhere close but obviously hidden. All in all, the only thing I was certain of was that this Sasame was a girl, and she had orange hair.

Even so, the kid was cute. I mean, it was pretty funny how much she went gaga for the sweets, like she never ate any before. Not even her forehead escaped. Not sure how she managed to splash pudding there. It was like the kid was on fire. She ran, she yelled, she even puppy eyed me into playing tag.

"Please? No one plays with me anymore, ever since Sasame-chan left months ago." From running and yelling to on verge of tears in seconds. I was sure the kid was yanking my chains, but I didn't have the heart to deny it. So I played. Tag, hide and seek, ken-ken-pa, Nawatobi — No idea where she got the rope from. I might have gotten too much into playing. The sun started to dip behind the mountains in the distance, Linlin began yawning. I felt a bit ashamed of enjoying it that much. Crazy good ninja I was. This was just an act. I was just doing my part.

I might not have learned much, but I learned some things. There was a shinobi family in this town. A lot of them disappeared months ago, the remaining fled or might be hiding from Orochimaru, or perhaps working with Orochimaru. I'd report that to Yamato.

I patted the kid's head, she leaned into my hand. Still not sure why people liked doing that to me. She yawned again. I took my board again. "It's getting late, should I take you home?" I poked the girl after I finished writing.

Linlin eyed me with sleepy eyes, nodded. Her movements were slow, like she was almost asleep already, which surprised me. She yawned once more, then raised her arms to me. The sacred gesture of kids everywhere begging to be carried. I rolled my eyes, stowed my board, extended my arms to the girl.

Linlin moved closer, draped her arms around my neck. Gently, I coached the girl until I was carrying her piggyback style. It was a bit awkward because, even though she was young, she wasn't small. Carrying her took some adjusting, more because I didn't want people to see how easy it was to carry her.

Under sleepy instructions, and a few gentle shakes to keep Linlin awake, we arrived at her house. Not one bit surprised to learn she lived in the same place as the town's headman. If my history lessons didn't fail me, the correct term was shoya, or nanushi depending on the region, but I was going to call it what it was: the mayor's house. Was Linlin the man's daughter? That would explain the nice clothes and why she knew how to read. I stepped forward, the guards at the door already moving toward me. At the same time, the gates opened and out stepped Yamato, Sai and a portly man, followed by a gamut of servants.

We looked at one another for a moment, when the portly man laughed, and patted his belly. "Oh my, it seems someone took care of finding my runaway daughter."

There was this moment of quiet, where I think the man expected me to say something. I looked at Yamato, held back an eye roll, shrugged. What did he expect me to do here? Drop the kid to take my board?

"Apologizes, sir." Yamato finally intervened. "My daughter hasn't been able to speak since her mother passed away." I nodded. Looked at the portly man, then at the sleeping girl.

The mayor took it in stride, looked behind him, yelled for someone. "Come and get Linlin."

Out of the gates power walked a young woman, dressed in simple but clean clothes. She approached, gave me a small bow. Took Linlin from my hands with a small fond smile on her face. Gave me a nod before disappearing inside the house with the sleeping kid. I walked to Yamato's side, pretending I wasn't paying attention to everything around while the "adults" talked. And talk they did. I got only the last dregs of their conversation, but the fatso kept asking about the destroyed village we saw on our way here.

It still took a few minutes until Yamato managed to ditch the man. Together we left to meet Hayase, with one of the mayor's servants accompanying us. We arrived at the agreed place to find the chunin was already there.

Yamato looked at us after we were reunited. "The mayor was kind enough to provide us a place to sleep and someone to lead us there." He indicated the man that had been following us all the while. "The day was long and we best rest for tomorrow's journey."

Hayase nodded, Sai shrugged. I think I missed something there. That was out of character even for Yamato. 'Dad' turned to the man in question. After a brief exchange of words, the servant led us away.

The place the man guided us to stay for the night wasn't far from the town center, or the mayor's house. It wasn't exactly a dilapidated house, but it was clear the place hadn't been maintained for a while. The door stood ajar, the front lawn was infested with weed and vines and other types of vegetation you didn't see on a cared for house. He didn't follow us inside. The servant bowed and left after delivering us.

The inside of the house wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Even if the outside wasn't in good condition or cleaned in a while. The interior was clean-ish, with just a fine layer of dust sprinkled over the furniture and floor.

While the boys looked around, I went searching for lamps to light and fend off the night's darkness. The house wasn't bad, all things considered. I wasn't sure what Yamato said to the portly man to warrant such treatment or accommodations. I was pretty sure no random travelers were escorted to a house where they can rest for the night. Had Yamato paid for any of this? Did he come to some sort of agreement with the mayor? In the end, it was kind of funny, because I was sure that if it wasn't because of our disguises, Yamato could conjure a better, and cleaner, house for us to rest for the night. The things we ninja did to keep on our disguises.

Shaking my head at the useless thoughts, I got to work. After a cursory examination of the place, I plotted how to do it in my mind, then moved back to the entrance. The rest of the team was still there, looking around, and talking in low voices. Bunch of lazybones.

I took my board, wrote things. "Hayase, you go back into the market, see if you can find any merchant still there. Buy fresh vegetables and meat, if you can."

Hayase scratched his head, looked at Yamato, but when the jounin didn't say anything he shrugged. "Anything in particular?"

I thought about it for a bit. "No mystery meat?" Hayase scratched his head again, nodded, left the house. I looked at my next victim: even after days, I couldn't put away my dislike for Sai Everytime I looked at the boy, annoyance bubbled in my chest. I wasn't sure what his deal was, but he didn't seem to like me either. It was in the way his dead eyes kept following me. Or the veiled contempt in his voice. Or it was just my imagination because I didn't like him. My bias toward the fictional character I disliked.

Mulling over things, I wrote on my board. "Sai, can you check the bedrooms and clear some of the dust?"

Sai didn't agree, or disagreed. His emotionless eyes stared just for a fraction too long, smiled without feelings never reaching his eyes. He turned round, moved inside the house.

The last one was Yamato. I didn't want to order him around, but since he hadn't said anything, I kept with my original plan. "Yamato, can you clean the living room? Meanwhile, I'll clean the kitchen and get started on dinner."

The jounin smiled, nodded, then started on his task.

I turned around and went to do my part as well. Had to clean things off before Hayase returned. I wasn't sure yet what to cook for dinner, that would depend on what Hayase managed to find, but I'm sure it would be better than anything we could come up with on the road. My stomach rumbled. I thought back on the day. Linlin kept mentioning this Sasame-chan, and given everything, it seems she and her family left the town a few months back. Had they really left? Maybe there was an answer there that I wasn't seeing.

 

[okashihime]

Hayase managed to find eggs, a chicken, potatoes, cabbage, and rice. I won't say dinner was the best affair out there, but it was decent. The team sat in the living room around the table with the food spread over it. Egg fried rice, chicken with potato, stir fried cabbage. I still wish I had packed more than salt.

While we devoured dinner, we talked and talked. On the surface, we're discussing the day of travel, the food, how our day was in the city, all that boring travel talk. Meanwhile, we also talked using Konoha's standard coded language to convey actual information.

Between bites of rice and chicken, Yamato ordered through a coded hand movement. "Hayase, report."

Hayase, eating a mouthful of rice, replied "Trade all but ended with nearby towns and villages. People are too scared to leave the walls. Rumors of a man-eating monster outside the walls started a few days ago. There's something most people are too afraid to talk about with a stranger. They might have been threatened by someone. I was followed to the market and back, but didn't see anyone that wanted to attack."

He looked bored on the outside, but the signs were all there. The way his mouth kept curving up in almost a smile, the movement of his fingers, just a bit faster than necessary for the message he wanted to convey, the gleam in his eyes, his posture, just slightly forward in anticipation. Our eyes met, I held back the smile. Another one that understood how coded messages were cool! I gave him a thumbs up, barely containing my anticipation at my turn to report.

My turn was next. "Hinata, report." Coded Yamato.

"There was a shinobi clan in the town. I don't know what the clan's name is, but they left, or moved out a few months ago. I couldn't find where their base of operations was, but according to what I managed to find, while the clan had a base of operations inside the town, a shop or bar, most of the clan lived somewhere outside the town."

Yamato nodded, ate another bite, turned to Sai. "Report."

"The mayor has someone watching the house, and as Hayase said, followed him to the market and back. They don't look like trained shinobi."

When Sai didn't code anything else, Yamato moved on with his own report. "The mayor seems to be up to something, but I don't think it is anything related to our own mission. The attacks started a few days back, like you already reported, and while he didn't say specifically, he complained about people that were supposed to protect the town leaving for no reason. Overall, the man seems more interested in the state of things outside, and his own fortune." Still eating, he turned to Hayase, coded the next question. "What are your thoughts on the situation, Hayase?"

Hayase sucked on a chicken thigh bone. "There's not enough information for an accurate assessment. Normal people are used to feeling threatened, which can be explained if Orochimaru took over the Land of Rice Fields. The shinobi clan leaving might be related to that: They either fled because of Orochimaru, or tried to put up a fight and were wiped out. This monster might be something out of Orochimaru's lab. The timing is too coincidental to what we expected from his operations. The remaining troops from Konoha's attack might have fled here, released the monster as a distraction, maybe for any other number of reasons, or the creature broke out of whatever prison it was in when no one came back to check on it."

While out loud Sai talked about the Mayor's house and city in general, he coded a different message. "What if we go looking for this hidden shinobi family? They might know about Orochimaru's lab's whereabouts, and have vital information we can use."

Yamato considered. Out loud, he spoke about the food they ate at the mayor's house and how quaint the town was. Meanwhile, his code spoke of something else. "We cannot risk it at this moment. We don't know this shinobi clan's disposition, and if possible, I still want to maintain secrecy over our presence here. Going after this monster is a gamble, but one that might not alert others to our presence."

All around the table, we nodded at Taichou's decision. I shuffled, uncomfortable. Remembered how I lost my cool, almost beat up that bully, and let Linlin see the storage seals. Even if that led to learning useful information, it was a huge mistake that a competent kunoichi shouldn't make.

Yamato nodded, eating the last of his dinner. "Good work everyone. We'll go after this monster attacking the nearby villages tomorrow. If Hayase's conjecture is right, following its trail might lead us to the hideout. I'll take the first watch, followed by Sai, Hayase and Hinata." He stopped, placed his chopsticks down. Spoke out-loud. "Thank you for the meal, Hinata-chan. It was delicious."

Hayase didn't miss the opportunity. "Thank you for the meal, Hinata-chan!"

I scratched my cheek. Pretended my face wasn't burning in a whole different type of embarrassment.

---

Waking up to someone shaking your shoulder was never pleasant. I wasn't one to sleep until noon, but years of living alone and making my own routine and keeping my own hours made me grumpy in the dark hours before dawn.

In front of me, Hayase yawned, waved his hand, then crawled inside his sleeping bag.

The four of us had set up our sleeping bags in the living room. Hayase and Sai wanted to sleep in the bedrooms, but I argued that it was a risk factor when we didn't need to risk being separated. Now, I know, I did send Sai to clean those bedrooms, but I never claimed I wasn't petty, and that my dislike for the show version of Sai wasn't influencing my decision making. Thankfully, no one called me on that. The decision to not split apart was always a good one.

I yawned again. Cleaned crust from my eyes, wiped away a bit of drool with the back of my hand. Still on sleep mode, I got to my morning ablutions.

It always surprised me the mix of modern commodities and charming medieval customs the world of Naruto had. I finish cleaning my mouth, spit out the mint flavored mixture, put away my toothbrush. All this while, I keep my senses honed on the outside.

Ready for the day. I step through the room with my sleeping teammates. A quick look and I move on. Nothing here to see, aside from Yamato sleeping like he was in a coffin, with his back on top of the sleeping bag, instead of sleeping inside it. He even kept his hands clasped over his chest. I think he does that on purpose. Creepy.

Checking the other rooms in the house didn't reveal anything, which was expected. I would have sensed chakra if there was someone hiding there. It was good practice to not get complacent, just because I could sense chakra. Done with the inside of the house, I did a tour of the outside.

The town was as quiet as a graveyard. In the darkest hour of the day, just before dawn, it had a sinister look, and I all but expected the town destroying monster to jump on me. Nothing of the sort happened. The place was quiet, only the cold wind breaking the silence.

My steps almost faltered midway my patrol route. There it was again, that feeling of being observed. I focused on the sounds of the night, or the lack thereof. The only thing I could hear was the wind and rustling of leaves. Night animals, insects and the many noises you usually hear were not there anymore. I didn't remember when they had stopped. For all my focus, I hadn't been paying attention to sounds disappearing.

Like the other times this happened, nothing jumped at me. There was no sound, no presence, no chakra, nothing. I wasn't going to report it again. I reported the first three times. The rest of the team went on full alert, and we spent hours scouring the surroundings trying to find what was the cause. Cadaver pale Sai dismissed me as being paranoid and over reacting, Hayase was on the fence about the whole thing. Yamato took me seriously and didn't dismiss my concerns. But each time I raised the alarm, it disrupted the whole team, and at this point, I was starting to believe annoying Sai might be right on some level. Maybe I was just paranoid.

The sensation of being watched disappeared when the sun showed up on the horizon and the voices and buzz from the waking town heralded a new day. I wasn't sure if going monster hunting was a good thing, but I was itching to do some cool ninja stuff. I mean, infiltration mission was cool and all, but it had been a while since I trained or even used my jutsu. A smile crept on my face. My fingers twitched in anticipation. You can't blame a girl for feeling anxious because she's been separated from her explosions for too long.

 

[okashihime]

Before we left town, we visited the mayor again. I think it was a courtesy visit rather than an obligation on our part. Maybe Yamato didn't want to burn bridges if we somehow needed to come back here. I didn't mind either way. While waiting for the 'grown ups' to talk the important talk, I took the opportunity to meet Linlin again. Pat her head, leave more pastries for the girl. These ones I popped out of their seal before we even left the house we slept in. No need to give even more people more information about us.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that after the girl learned I was leaving, she clammed up. Her face flashed with a lot of expressions too quickly to parse. She looked down, and her shoulders began to shake. I didn't hear a single sound from her. What was I expecting? From everything I saw, she didn't fit with the other kids, and her only friend, this Sasame-chan, left without even saying goodbye months ago. I knelt in front of the silent sobbing girl. Wrapped my arms around her. She grabbed my clothes, sobbed harder.

We stayed like that until the same woman from yesterday came looking for me. "Your father is waiting for you."

I patted Linlin's head. Took my board, thought about what to write. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want to make any promises I couldn't keep either. After I wrote my message, I guided the girl's face to read from the board. "I'll come back to visit if I can. If I find Sasame-chan, I'll tell her to visit too."

Linlin looked at me with those big, sad, tear filled eyes. She nodded, lips quivering.

Urgh, I always thought I was bad with children, but this was too much. Lilin looked like a sad puppy. I closed my eyes. Exhaled, my whole body releasing tension I didn't even know was there. I patted the puppy's head. I didn't dare to look. That girl was way too adept at puppy eyeing others. I couldn't risk it.

After that, I took my leave. No reason to keep this awkward moment longer than it needed to be. It left me thinking about a similar situation that happened in the Land of Waves, where Tsunami also went all emotional on me when I was leaving. No, I didn't get emotional. Not then, not now. I just got a bit of dust in my eyes. That's all.

I met with the rest of the team outside. We were ready to leave. Yamato said a few last words to the mayor and off we went into the sunset. No, of course not. It wasn't even noon yet. Officially, our destination was Daimyo city, same as yesterday, this being just one more stop in our journey to visit family. But again, that was just our disguise. What we wanted was to search the surrounding areas for any clue about this monster in the hopes it would lead us to Orochimaru's hideout.

We kept on the road for a few hours. Sai's ink birds flying overhead to make sure no one followed us. When we were distant enough from the town, we left the road and ventured into the surrounding wilderness. The area around the trading town was surrounded by farming communities and rice fields. Our goal was one of the nearby forests. Hayase pointed out during the strategy meeting the previous day that any hideout wouldn't be in the open or in a rice field. There were also the details from the monster attack: all the information happened near this one particular patch of forest. It was still a huge area to search, but it was a lead nonetheless.

I sealed away my backpack. Took out my ninja tools. I cast a Henge no Jutsu to change how I look. My ninja outfit was just too distinct to keep wearing when I didn't want to be recognized. Which was a bummer. A thought I might mull over later. A small, rebel voice in the back of my head yelled that I should dress like a proper ninja. I ignored it—for now. That voice didn't know what it was talking about. I don't think this kind of disguise would fool a competent shinobi, but every little detail helped. The others did the same.

With preparations finished, we ran, dashed, hopped between tree branches.

Hayase did a midair flip, flying for a moment upside down. Instantly, it reminded me of that iconic image of Naruto doing the same in the tv show. I had no idea what sort of tactical advantage that provided, if any, but it looked cool as heck. I wanted to do it too. Laugh, and cheer, and yell. Being a ninja was awesome. I didn't though. This was a serious mission.

The fun didn't last long. With the speed we traveled, it didn't take us long to arrive at our destination. It was one of the areas Hayase pointed from the rumors and hints gathered in the town.

Yamato looked at the tall, foreboding trees. Scanned the horizon, then looked at us. "Hayase, you and Hinata explore the west side. Sai and I will explore the east." When we didn't ask any questions, he continued. "Be careful. We don't know what is happening here, what we want is information and the location of Orochimaru's hideout. If you encounter this creature that is scaring the nearby villages, retreat and regroup."

I saluted. Hayase nodded.

Yamato wasn't finished. "Sai, send one of your ink birds with them. We'll use that as a way to communicate between teams if needed."

A few moments later, a black inky bird flew above me and Hayase. The older chunin looked my way. After a brief nod, he ran into the forest and I followed.

It might have been because of my biased expectations, but this place looked weird. Huge towering trees with canopy that blocked most of the sunlight. The forest had this foreboding atmosphere that made me think of horror movies. Worse yet was the silence: no skittering sound of bugs, chirping of birds or neigh of animals. Even the rustling wind sounded muted to my own ears. That didn't stop us. Deeper into the creepy forest we went in search of a monster, maybe a hideout of a worse monster, or even a missing orange-haired kunoichi.

I concentrated on sensing any chakra around me.

One of the things I've neglected over the years of being a shinobi was this chakra sensing ability. I mean, there was always something more urgent to train for the immediate crisis at hand. More so when chakra sensing started to — around a lot of strong shinobi gathered in one place — be a distraction instead of something I could use. Now, I tried to push my senses as far as I could, cursing my earlier self for neglecting this ability. Even if I had no idea how to train it. No academy class covered it. I never tried to broach the subject with Kakashi-sensei. I knew sensor ninjas existed, at least I knew they existed in the original show, but it wasn't something I had easy access to. Maybe when I was back at Konoha, I could bug Kakashi-Sensei to teach more about chakra sensing.

With thoughts of new training methods in mind, I jumped from the branch I was perched on, landing by Hayase's side. His brow was furrowed, fingers touching a particular spot on the ground.

I took out my board, wrote my question. "Did you find anything?"

Hayase looked up, then shook his head. "Not sure. See here?" He pointed at a patch of soil near the base of the tree. I saw dirt, dry branches, decaying leaves, shrubs and all those things you see in forests. "It looks like someone hid something here, but it was removed some time ago."

No matter how much I looked, I had no idea how Hayase reached that conclusion. Shinobi academy taught basic tracking, mostly in the form of games, but nothing that let me see whatever this clue was.

Hayase shook his head, got up. "I can't say for certain, it was some time ago, weeks, maybe months. Let's keep looking."

I didn't want to look that incompetent, I nodded my agreement and off we went again searching for a needle in a haystack.

Minutes turned into hours. Hayase pointed out more of those spots he was certain were used in the past, but even with those spots, we couldn't pinpoint what they were used for, or even if it had any link to Orochimaru's hideout. It was a good lead that there was something to find here, but not where to find said something.

I did find other clues. Not that it took any super ninja tracking skills on my part. Not when the clue was a motherfucking uprooted tree, used like a baseball bat to bat other trees away. At least that was what it looked like to me.

We were still looking around for any other information when the ink bird nearby us screeched, soon followed by Sai's voice. "We're under attack. Please follow the bird."

We didn't have time to send a message back. The bird took off flying southeast, Hayase hot on its heels. I grabbed an exploding kunai, dashed after Hayase. I didn't really care if anything happened to annoying Sai. He could take a beating, it would serve him right. But Yamato was Kakashi-Sensei's friend and my part time teacher. Couldn't leave him hanging for no good reason.

 

[okashihime]

Tree hopping was, at least for me, one of those quintessential ninja staples. I mean, who doesn't remember those moments of Naruto jumping from tree to tree, and the image of those same trees blurring past? Or that impression of movement, in which most ninjas didn't really hop from one tree to the next, but threw themselves, like a toss from a slingshot, with turning in the air and landing with an impact and all. I didn't have it in me to do that, even if envy burned inside me at seeing Hayase do just so.

He threw himself from one branch to another, flipping upside down before landing on the next branch.

My thoughts didn't stay in ninja hopping for long. In the distance, roars of an unknown creature, and the sounds of battle, took all of my attention.

The sounds weren't anything I could place. It didn't sound human, not any animal I knew. The place of battle wasn't even hard to find. Not with huge branches popping out into the sky. Yamato was going all out. Which didn't bode well. Yamato was a strong jounin. He had the experience, the techniques, and his kekkei genkai. From what I knew of the man, he preferred small scale attacks. His mokuton lent well to restraining enemies, and if he was forced to bring out the big guns, then whatever he was fighting wasn't anything easy to deal with.

Hayase sped up, a muttered curse under his breath. "Shit."

I understood his sentiment. I didn't know what enemies we were facing, but I could at least plan. For some reason, Yamato didn't want me using Mokuton. The first day of our mission, he called me out away from the others.

"Hinata-san," the man started in his serious voice, big black eyes staring at me. "Unless it's an emergency, please avoid using your Mokuton jutsu." I tilted my head, unsure of why. "It drains too much of your chakra." Yamato had explained.

That was a few days ago. It smelled of hogwash for me, but I wasn't about to disobey. I could see the advantage of keeping my abilities secret. I don't think it was widespread knowledge yet, even in Konoha, that I had the same ability as the first Hokage, even if it left me gimped in the chakra department.

Mid-jump, I picked up several kunai. Tied explosive tags around them. With a few others, I wrapped with my Kekkai Hōjin tags, the non explosive version. Our mission was to gather information, I would try to capture instead of kill — another howl cut the afternoon air, a distant explosion sent a plume of smoke up to the sky — even if I didn't think whatever was roaring like that was human enough to be interrogated.

We arrived at a scene of chaos straight out of a demented nightmare.

Fighting against Yamato and Sai's ink animals was something that might once have been a human. It had legs, arms, heads. I counted three legs, seven arms and five heads. The amalgamation of what once was a human was tall. Two of me on top of each other might not be as tall as the thing. Two normal sized arms protrude from the front. It held a huge fuma shuriken. Another arm, protruding from the shoulder, was almost as long as the creature was tall. It was bulging, muscular and held a sword that wouldn't be out of place in the hands of some berserker anime characters. Another hand had claws like fingers. Other hands held kunai, shuriken and wires.

The creature had one head in what might have once been its chest. The face looked like an enraged man in his early forties. Black hair, prominent tear troughs. Somehow, that head still had a red bandanna around its forehead. The head on the right shoulder was of a young woman with long black hair. The woman's face resembled those evil spirit faces. The mouth, too large for the face, the eyes all white. The hair moved like it was alive, clumps forming into what looked like spears and spikes, lashing at everything nearby.

The back of the creature bulged, in a way that made me think of an even worse Hunchback of Notre-dame. There were heads at the creature's back, screaming as if in pain. Two were female: one had short green hair, while the other a mane of orange. A pang of something uncomfortable hit me in the chest. Linlin's crying face intruded in my thoughts. The last head was of a male in his twenties, with purple hair.

The creature's stomach had a huge mouth, with serrated teeth.

Yamato-One was crouched, hands on the ground, face serious. Yamato-Two dashed in and out in a frantic battle with the enemy. A third Yamato was near Sai, wrapped by blue strands of hair coming from the enemy. Wood and roots and branches tried to tie down the enemy to no avail.

Sai sat down, leaned against a tree. Hands on his stomach, blood pooling out of a wound. The other hand on a scroll laid on the ground. Around the battlefield, a group of ink tigers harassed and distracted the monstrosity.

In the moments I stood there gawking at the scene, the living black hair pierced through Yamato3. In a puff of smoke, Yamato-Three transformed into wood. A mokuton clone. But the clone's defeat left Sai vulnerable to enemy attack.

The ink tigers leapt in the hair's path, protecting Sai, but the situation wasn't sustainable.

The many combat scenarios Yamato had us discussing in our strategy meeting at nights came to my mind. None of them covered this exact situation, but I knew what was expected of me. In team seven, my usual role was one of support and control. Sasuke and Naruto were good at engaging the enemy head on, and improvising mid fight and abusing opportunities to turn any fight in our favor. My role there was to distract, create opportunities, reinforce them when needed. In this mission, my role was similar. Create distractions and opportunities, set up traps, precision strikes whenever possible.

With a single glance at Hayase, who gave a brief nod, I prepared to engage. My hands flashed with a Tiger seal. I pushed my chakra in the necessary pathways. By my side, in a puff of smoke, out popped two shadow clones. Without waiting, I dug into my pouch, share some of my tools.

Clone-chan 1, newly dubbed Distraction-chan, took the smoke bombs and explosives. Clone-chan 2, aka Seal-chan, took my prepared barrier kunais, among other supplies, gave me a grave nod. I took out some of my special explosive seals. Giddy excitement bubbling in my gut. It was finally time to explode things! Err, no, it was time to save our teammates and do cool ninja stuff.

I glanced at Distraction and Seal-chan. Both had this silly, goofy grin on their faces. Feet boobing, body coiled, like they were trying not to move. I shook my head. My clones could be so silly. They didn't have my amazing self control. With one last nod the clones flicked and operation Explode stuff… err Rescue Annoying Sai officially started.

 

[okashihime]

The battle didn't wait for deliberations on my part. The preparations, even if it took little to no time, was time the enemy used. Without Yamato-Three to provide protection, Sai was left vulnerable to the creature's living hair. Yamato-One tried to compensate, creating even more roots and branches, but the chimera's huge Guts sword swung like a kid's toy was more than enough to cut off the attempt. Yamato-Two was still busy keeping the other arms busy. I understood it very well, if that thing started to toss shurikens and kunais on top of everything Sai was done for.

Distraction-Chan took to her task with gusto. She leapt into action, explosive kunais soon followed by smoke bombs. It still wasn't any of my special supply—Sai and Yamato were too close for that— but the explosion impact, followed by choking clouds of smoke, served to distract and obscure the creature's view. Meanwhile Seal-chan flitted around the battlefield, placing barrier kunais around the enemy.

The enemy response was a howl. Many overlapping voices screaming in what sounded like pure agony. It reverberated through the air, made my skin crawl. From inside the cloud of smoke, I heard something cutting through the air, then wood breaking and splintering.

Hayase moved, hands flashing with seals. Globules of water shot towards and into the smoke. I knew that jutsu. It was the same Zabuza used after tricking me to leave that drunkard bridge-builder from the Waves defenseless. A shudder of phantom pain spiked on my shoulder. Damn that man, how was the missing-nin and Haku doing? Had they managed to reach an agreement?

I shook my head. Had my part to play. I didn't think getting close and personal with the enemy was the way to go. I wasn't afraid of getting injured, but I also wasn't the best in close quarters combat. I'd leave that for Yamato. No, my goal was to provide distractions and bail the team out if needed. My hands flashed into seals: Tiger, dog, snake. My chakra, already divided between three, myself and the clones, tanked.

Manipulating the wood clone jutsu to create the transmission seed wasn't easy. The way Yamato taught me was to create a clone, then morph the clone into a seed. I did similar, but instead of allowing the clone to form, I twisted it into a wooden kunai, used Shikoku Fūin to imprint the beacon into the formed hardwood.

A kunai wasn't a mandatory shape for my Kuro Raikou no Jutsu (Early access, alpha version v0.1). I could very well have used a shuriken, a katana, a frisbee or anything else, but if I was going to style myself after the Yondaime and his overpowered jutsu, I would god damn well use a kunai. Fangirl-sama demanded it, sue me. I didn't throw it, however. Yamato's orders were still clear in my mind. Mokuton was a last resort measure, and the situation didn't call for it yet. Even if I really wanted to use my jutsu. I mean, I needed to start my own legend at some point, right? Right?

Another roar took me back to the now. I stashed the wooden kunai; a secret weapon should remain secret, even if I really wanted to use it and be awesome.

More explosions followed. Smoke already dispersing. Most of Sai's ink summons were gone, the boy was paler, not sure how that was even possible. Hayase kept harassing the enemy with water bullets, but hadn't had the opportunity to extract the injured Sai. I threw exploding kunais. Had to explo– I mean, help with the battle.

The battle was a blur of chaos, frantic attacks and defense. It was hard for me to keep track of everything that was happening, which cost me a bit of initiative. I shook my head, now wasn't the time to reflect on that. If I couldn't keep track of everything at the same time, I just needed to focus on what I could do. I dashed in towards the enemy. I held a single kunai. It was a calculated risk, but one I was willing to take.

Meanwhile, the enemy wasn't idle. Roots and branches snared the creature to the ground, preventing it from moving. The huge sword moved faster than the eye could see, each time it did, it cut the roots ensnaring itself, even if more kept growing to trap it back. Meanwhile, the living hair changed focus. It left Sai alone, changing targets to Yamato-Two. At the same time, the hands in the chest threw the fuma shuriken at Distraction-Chan. Other hands threw kunais and shurikens at everyone around.

I moved out of the way, my clone ducked down, Hayase conjured a water shield; Sai's ink animals jumped in the path of the incoming projectiles. Yamato-One raised a small wooden barricade to block the thrown weapons.

That barrier seemed to be the opening the monster was waiting for. It threw, not a kunai or shuriken, but the Guts sword the oversized arm was weaving around like it was a children's toy. Yamato-One, now hidden behind the wall, had his vision blocked and didn't dodge.

A scream tore out of my mouth. "Look out!" I tasted blood, felt the pain.

It happened too fast. The sword pierced the barrier like it wasn't even there. Impaling the hidden Yamato behind it. At the same time, Seal-chan unpopped herself. A deluge of information, and where she'd placed the barrier flooded my mind, the communication between her and Yamato-Two. Distraction-Chan moved in, close and personal, holding a single kunai.

I knew what came next. Distraction-chan's eyes were wide and manic, the smile unhinged. I flickered in front of Sai, hands flashing, forcing my still in progress and unnamed jutsu into play. A clear, force-like barrier sprang to life. The world shook, turned white, thunderous noise hit me. More information flooded my mind. The explosion impact hit the barrier and the barrier broke like it was glass. It hit me too, threw me like a rag doll. I didn't resist, I moved with the impact, twisting in the air, and positioning myself above the injured Sai.

The ringing in my ears told me I would suffer for a while. A quick glance showed me that Sai, still alive, was now unconscious. A disheveled Hayase popped nearby. He said something. I shook my head, pointed to my ears. He nodded, walked closer, knelt, took Sai in his arms and fled.

I turned my attention back to the still ongoing battle. Yamato, two of them now, double tagged the enemy, herding it toward the area Seal-chan prepared.

Blood poured from the enemy's many injuries. Patches of skin were burned and cracked. One of the heads, the one with green hair had stopped screaming, it was now a listless dead face. Some of the creature's arms were missing. Even hurt like that, the monster hadn't stopped.

Yamato's hand, clone or not I couldn't say, flashed into seals and a huge closed fist sprang out of the ground. Without the sword in hand, the chimera couldn't cut the wood and prevent the attack. Like a practiced boxer delivering a left hook, it hit the enemy, throwing it back— and into the trap Seal-chan prepared. A shade of a smile came unbidden to my face. I don't know if my heart was beating faster because of the anticipation or the battle.

The result was a bit anticlimactic, in a way. When the enemy crossed the perimeter, the barrier came to life. The explosion tags set in each of the corners were of my special supply. There was a muted thump and thunder, one I could feel on my bones. The barrier held, which I guess would make it worse for whatever would be trapped inside.

When I was sure the explosion payload had ended and the barrier wasn't going to break, I moved closer, another kunai in hand. Yamato and his clone also approached.

It took a while for the dust to clear inside the trap. When it did, there were only unmoving, partially charred corpses. Five of them. One, I noticed, looked like a young girl, maybe my age, or a bit older. The bits of hair that had survived the explosion was orange.

Linlin's smiling, sparkling eyes, gushing about her amazing older ninja sister came to mind. "Shit." I cursed. I didn't even mind the pain and blood in my mouth. It felt deserved.

 

[okashihime]

Yamato and I stood side by side, watching the results of the trap. My eyes were still glued to the corpse of the orange haired girl. A theory had started to brew in my head ever since I saw her, about the rumors and words spoken by the town's people regarding the elusive shinobi family living nearby, and their sudden disappearance.

Linlin's sad frown talking about how her cool older ninja sister disappeared a few months back without warning. Information gathered by Hayase indicated that most of this shinobi family had gone missing. There was also another thing nagging at me. This whole trip felt strangely familiar to me. Like an old memory that wanted to come to life. Like something important I was forgetting.

The silence stretched for what felt like minutes, but wasn't more than a few moments.

"Good job, Hinata-san. You did well. Kakashi would be proud."

I blinked, tore my eyes away from the corpses, stared at the jounin. My mind was still reeling from everything, not able to make sense of his words. More on reflex than conscious thought, I gave him a thumbs up.

Yamato's hand flashed into the seals. Out of the earth, another Yamato popped out. Both original and clone's big black eyes bore into me, until the original looked away, toward where Hayase had fled, then back at me. "I'll go check on Sai. See what you can learn from our enemies meanwhile. I'll leave a clone here to protect you."

The clone nodded, flickering away after a few moments.

I looked at the Yamato, where the clone had been, at the corpses, back at Yamato again. My mind still insisted on not working like it should, and the sick feeling in my gut wasn't going away. After a while, I nodded.

Yamato opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, then shook his head, looked away, back at me. "If anything happens, blast something nearby. I'll hear and come as fast as I can. I don't think we need to worry about being stealthy anymore." After one last long look, Yamato left.

Those words at any other time would have made me super giddy. No, I'm lying, they still made me giddy. Being praised by a canon famous jounin was like a dream come true, but the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach dulled the moment. My eyes somehow returned to the orange haired, burned body. Why was that? These weren't the first people I killed. I killed that chunin in the land of waves, I killed more genin in the forest of death, I killed people during Konoha's Crush. That wasn't to say I enjoyed killing. On the contrary, I didn't feel anything at all.

At Waves, I was giddy but not about the killing, it was because defeating that enemy meant protecting my teammates and the client and completing the mission. In the forest of death, the sound-nins I killed never even crossed my mind, I wasn't of sound mind at that time. The invading ninjas that attacked during the exam were the enemy, and it was my duty to protect the village, the civilians and myself. I never felt any pleasure or satisfaction in the act of killing itself, nor did I ever felt guilty. So, why now?

I shook my head. I had my orders, I could dwell on the whys of things later. My hands flashed with seals, out popped a shadow clone. This one, I named Investigation-Chan. It could have been my impression, but my clone looked ragged. Her eyes looked troubled, mouth in a strange frown. She gave me a curt nod, turned away and toward the place we had to investigate. I took a deep breath, shook my head, followed Investigation-Chan.

Inspecting dead bodies for clues wasn't what I would consider good shinobi fun, it was kinda creepy, if I was honest with myself. There were a few things I noticed. First, and strangely enough, most of the corpses were still wearing clothes. I should have guessed as much, given the center head had still been wearing a bandanna when we found the creature. The other part was their skin; now in death, apart from the charred and burned parts, they were fair and normal human looking, not like the red tinged and rough skin from before, when the chimera was still alive. At the time, it somehow made me think of the second stage of the cursed seal transformation.

That was a possibility, right? I couldn't discard that option. Perhaps Orochimaru captured people to experiment with his cursed seal, and now that the host of the seal was dead, the effect that kept them merged ended, and the bodies separated. I made a mental note of that possibility. I wouldn't be able to clearly state the effects of the cursed seal to Yamato— I wasn't supposed to know any of it— but pointing out the obvious without saying 'cursed seal' would also work.

Maybe that was something I could confirm, the seal, I mean.

With morbid curiosity, I searched the dead bodies for a seal-like tattoo. A few minutes later, I gave up. Unless I undressed the dead people to search beneath their almost destroyed clothing, there was no mark that I could identify as a cursed seal. There was a lot I could put up with in the name of being a good shinobi. Undressing dead bodies was a bit too much though.

Another strand of thought distracted me from my musings. Had these people also been enhanced with seals inside their body? For a brief moment, I imagined myself strapping bodies to a bloodied table, cutting them open to inspect their bones and heart.

I… might need help. What were these strange thoughts? I shook the gruesome idea away. I wanted to know about the seals, but again, defiling bodies wasn't the solution. I wanted to be free of Orochimaru's traps, not become him.

From the bigger guy with the bandanna, I retrieved some parchments hidden in the pockets of his clothing. It was, unfortunately, written in a cipher I didn't know. I stored that away for later, and kept on my gruesome work.

Investigation-Chan was by my side, also looking at the dead shinobi family. The investigation was enough to confirm these people were part of the missing shinobi family we heard about in the trading town. We found enough to be certain of that: Clan symbols, small notes and other personal things all pointed to that conclusion.

My clone looked from the corpses to me, walked closer. I looked at her, still distracted with my thoughts and what I needed to report. Investigation-Chan stopped in front of me, close, invading my personal space. Was it an invasion of personal space if the other person was still me? She put her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug.

I froze for a moment, then relaxed. My arms found their way around Investigation-Chan, pulled her closer. It was nice. She smelled of moist earth and explosions. I didn't even remember how long it was since someone hugged me like that. We stayed there for a while, more than appropriate, until Investigation-Chan pulled away. She pressed her own forehead to mine, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Memories, information and impressions flooded my mind. I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts. There was something I needed to confirm.

My hand found its way toward my storage pouches, and to a particular seal. I took out my timeline diary. The one I wrote when I was five, just after arriving in this world. It seemed so long ago. Most of my memories of the original show were fuzzy and distant. I still remembered the important parts, but the smaller details were not so easy to remember anymore, and for some reason, it had been a while since I last consulted my notes.

In a puff of smoke, my old story book popped out of the seal. I opened it, read the pages. The story book was a childish account of Little Chef Camilla's adventures to learn all the recipes in the world. In my storybook, the first main dish was Camilla's first foray into the cooking arts, trying to combine Orange, Lemon and Strawberry into a delicious pie with the help of a spirit mentor, a chibi wolf-like spirit, that was a complete tsuntsun. For this main dish, Camilla had to travel to distant islands, only to be waylaid by brigands and a bridge defending troll. Don't judge me too much, please. Orange represented Naruto, Lemon was Sasuke, Strawberry Sakura, while the mentor spirit was Kakashi-sensei.

The thing is that, at the time, I was confident that just a few mentions of the elements of the plot of the original story would be enough to make me remember everything. Yet, years later, the things I wrote barely made sense to me. Oh, I still knew the broad strokes. Land of Waves, Exams, Crushcrushcrush, Search for Tsunade, Sasuke Recovery mission, Timeskip, Kazekage Rescue Mission and more. I flipped a few pages ahead. Stopped on a particular story, marked as a side dish.

Camilla's search for all recipes took her to a rice farm, where a perverted frog helped her find the evil snake that had lured her prized Lemon away. To make the travel acceptable, she took Orange and Strawberry, in the hopes of finding Lemon and guilt tripping him into returning to the fruit basket.

It was hogwash, of course. Side dish was my way of saying this wasn't story canon, but part of the dreaded TV show filler episodes. In this one, Jiraiya, the perverted frog, took Naruto and Sakura to the land of rice in the search of Orochimaru's hideout. The problem was that I was a bit of a snob Naruto fan. To me, the comics were the true canon, with the TV show being a so-so adaptation, while the fillers were trash that shouldn't be watched, or even exist— even if I did watch that one about unmasking Kakasi-sensei. Don't blame me, it was fun.

But back to the topic. I remember now, I never really watched that series of episodes, but I've seen the images, and read the synopses. The Fuma clan, Orochimaru's hideout, a monster created and left behind, a confrontation with Kabuto. Was Kabuto still hiding here?

The story book went again into the seal. I hid it with my other things. I needed to consider the original story and how my meddling had changed things. I had been putting it off for far too long. What were my plans to deal with Akatsuki? Deal with Danzo? How was I going to change the world again? But now wasn't the time. I hated raising flags, but I would do it as soon as I was back at home.

I looked around, Yamato's clone was nowhere to be seen. I turned away and toward where my teammates had moved to. There was a report to make, and a hideout to find, a Kabuto to hunt down. With a bit of luck, the coded notes would have that information.

 

[okashihime]

It didn't take long to find the rest of my team. Sai was still out cold, sides cleaned and bandaged. Next to him, Yamato and Hayase talked. They looked alert, but not worried. My arrival didn't go unnoticed. The jounin waved me over.

"Welcome back Hinata-san, how did the investigation go?"

Out of the armband popped my communication's board. I don't really think I had to keep it hidden anymore. I wrote down part of my report. "Victims confirmed to be the missing shinobi family from the town." I took out the clan symbols and notes and personal items that confirmed that idea. "My current theory is this family decided to fight against Orochimaru, and in turn, were experimented on."

Hayase's eyes were glued to the items I presented, but then he looked at me. "How did you arrive at that result?"

I tilted my head. For someone so smart, Hayase did ask silly questions. I shrugged, wrote on my board. "They were turned into monsters. I don't think anyone would have signed up for that."

Hayase nodded. "That is a fair assumption."

"Anything else of interest?" Yamato brought us back to topic.

From inside the pouch, I took the parchment with the coded message. "I found this, I couldn't decipher it, however."

The chunin's eyes sparkled. He leaned forward, eyes intense. "Can I see it?"

Good thing he asked. Hayase was the reason I brought those papers. I remember him geeking about ciphers and codes. Papers exchanged hands. Eyes sparkled with even more interest. Hayase soon took out a notebook and pen and started scribbling and mumbling, lost to the world.

The impetus to join was there. I wanted nothing more to help, learn more about this kind of stuff. It was right up Fangirl-sama's alley. I shook my head, there was more stuff to do. I turned around, left Hayase lost to the world. My steps took me back to the corpses. Yamato had followed me, thankfully in silence.

When we arrived at the location, I wasn't sure how to do this. Options flashed into my mind. Use barriers, explosions, or even doton jutsu to open up a hole in the ground. I shook my head. Somehow, I didn't want to. Didn't feel like the right thing to do. I thought about the many tools I had stored in my seals. My hands searched for one in particular. Out popped a spade and I got up to dig.

Yamato watched for a moment, before creating a spade out of mokuton. In silence, we dug.

It didn't take long. No more than an hour later we were finished. We were stronger than normal people, and we had more stamina. I jumped out of the burial hole we dug. After that, it was moving the corpses inside. Conventional methods would have demanded me to take these corpses back to Konoha if possible. They were unknown shinobis, there were lots of secrets one could learn from how the enemy trained and how their body developed. Thankfully, Yamato didn't give the order to store the bodies in seals for transportation. He didn't even question me when I decided to bury them. I think that somehow, he understood how I felt.

Body after body went into the hole, and soft earth created an eternal roof over them. What was up with me and being all emotional and poetic? Finishing all that, I knelt by the grave. My hands flashed with seals. My chakra tanked, but I didn't mind. Out of the earth popped a stone tablet. I took a kunai, carved words. Got up, bowed.

There wasn't much I could do other than that. I wasn't about to swear revenge for a group of people I didn't know. More than that, Orochimaru was already dead. I wasn't discounting that the man had a way to come back to life, not when most of the evil people in this world did, one way or another. No, my motives were more selfish than that. I think now, when I have to face Linlin again, I would be able to tell her that I at least paid my respects to her amazing shinobi sister. Even if I was the reason said sister was now dead.

I took a deep breath. I pushed those self-destroying thoughts away. It wasn't my fault. I wasn't the one to turn them into monsters. A hand patted my head. My mood was so morose I didn't even duck out of the way. I might have leaned into the touch, just a bit.

"You did well, Hinata-san. I'm proud of you."

Warmth bubbled inside my chest. I blinked away some invisible dust that got into my eyes. I don't know why his words affected me like that. A part of my mind, the cynical one, pointed out that this was nothing more than manipulation 101. They knew what made me tick, and weren't shy about pushing my buttons. I threw that thought away. The world moved based on manipulations, intentional or otherwise.

There would be a time, maybe in the near future, where I would need to decide if this kind of thing should continue. But now was not the time.

We stood there in silence for a few more minutes. Out popped my board. I hesitated, but wrote down my question. "Do you think we could have saved them?"

Yamato looked from the board to the grave. The silence lasted for a while more, but then he sighed. "Maybe. If we knew beforehand, if we had managed to capture them, if we could have taken them back to the village. But that is a moot point now. The only thing we can do is try to do better in the future."

I nodded. That was a fair answer. One that I knew before asking the question. I guess I just wanted to hear someone else tell me that it was okay.

We met up with Hayase soon after. The chunin was still lost in his own mind, trying to decipher the note. That was fine. That skill set was one of the reasons he was on his mission. We moved somewhat away from the battle site, until we found a small clearing surrounded by huge trees. Yamato threw a group of prepared tags in a square, then summoned a house for us using Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu. I knew the tags created a barrier that made it hard, if not impossible, for someone else to find the house.

Now that the need for secrecy was over, it was nice to get back to the Yamato's camping standard. I knew the house. Back at the hell-month training, Yamato had created a house just like this one, where we often camped to talk about strategy, discuss theory or just rest. It felt almost as familiar as my own apartment, even if it was a brand new house. Yamato usually created the same layout, for some reason.

I nodded at Yamato in thanks, ignored Hayase who was still lost in his own obsession and hadn't even seen the house spring out of the ground. We ventured inside, Yamato carrying Sai to one of the bed rooms. I went straight toward the kitchen. I wanted a decent meal. No more cold dinners and eating dry travel rations.

---

I cooked, we ate, Sai still slept, Hayase was still not with us.

I took this time to work on my still unnamed barrier jutsu. I had managed to use it before that explosion, even if the barrier didn't hold up like I wanted. But it was progress. I think that after that trial run, I could at least name it. What would be a good name for a jutsu like that? My musings on possible names were interrupted by a shout from Hayase.

"I got it!" The chunin yelled, a fist closed, pointed at the sky. "I broke the code!"

That got our attention. Yamato soon returned from the bedroom where he'd been keeping vigil over the still unconscious Sai. I moved closer as well, keen on learning if those notes had any useful information.

Yamato's stoic voice congratulated the chunin. "That is amazing work. Did you learn anything useful?"

Hayase beamed. Shook the original note. "Better than that, the note was a secret communication of the Fuma clan. They were using a mix of the Hashirama principle with two other sets of encryption to hide the message. It took me a while to break it. You see, I don't think I would have managed if not by—"

Yamato coughed, interrupting the tirade.

Hayase scratched his head, looked embarrassed. "Right, sorry. The note is a secret communication of the Fuma clan detailing a plan to attack Orochimaru's hideout. It has information about where the place is."

"Good job Hayase. I doubt anyone else would've managed it in such a small time frame." Yamato praised the chunin again.

I nodded, gave him a small punch in the shoulder, then a thumbs up and a smile when he looked my way. Hayase looked happier than I ever saw him. I even forgot my gloomy mood as well. It felt good, knowing that finally we had a conclusive clue. From there, I took out the area map we got from the town, and using the clues provided, Hayase was able to pinpoint the area the hideout was located in. It still wasn't the definitive location, but better than we had before.

"You guys did well. Make sure to rest and prepare for tomorrow, we don't know what we'll find there."

I nodded. Gave the map one last look. With luck, tomorrow we'd find the place. With even more luck I would find information to help me up with my seals. Or if fate smiled on us, we'd find Kabuto. I won't lie here. I was hoping for the last one. Somehow, I wanted to blame, maybe punch someone, and Kabuto was the perfect target.

 

[okashihime]

I followed hot on Yamato's heels.

It was a few days after the chimera battle and the two of us moved through the trees in search of the damnable hideout. Hayase stayed behind at camp, keeping Sai's company. Due to his injury, Sai wasn't in any condition to join, which left us with a few options: retreat, wait or press on.

Option one wasn't really an option. No way I wanted to have that black mark on my perfect completion record. I wasn't about to abandon the mission just because someone got hurt, and it wasn't because of my dislike for Sai. I wasn't going to lie and say I liked the boy. At this point, I could just shrug and accept that. I don't think I was ever going to be friends with him, but I respected him as a shinobi. His condition wasn't critical, he wasn't in any risk of dying. What he needed was time to recover. Abandoning the mission because of a non critical injury was out of the question. It was nice of Yamato to bring up the option, however, even if no one, Sai included, considered that a choice.

The second option was to wait. Like I said, Sai needed only time to recover. Thankfully, the injury wasn't laced with poison, nor had it hit any vital organs. Given a couple of weeks, maybe less, Sai would be in top condition again, ready to face even more dangerous enemies for the glory of Konoha!

Third option was to split the team. If anyone out there ever played TRPG to any length of time, they would know that option was also known as the party killer prelude. Splitting the party was tantamount to summoning death flags. Several of them, all at once.

A mix of second and third option was the agreed upon path forward. Hayase would stay behind at the hidden camp to protect Sai and hold down the fort. Yamato and I, on the other hand, would scout for the hideout location. The clues we got from the deceased members of the Fuma clan was enough to point us in the right direction, even if we still didn't have a precise location. It was a huge area to search, but at least we didn't need to scour the whole forest anymore.

Up ahead, Yamato jumped on a tall tree branch, but instead of jumping ahead, he stopped. Raised one hand, palm open. I jumped closer, stopped by his side.

Ahead of us, in the distance, inside a clearing by the base of the giant trees, a stair led down inside the earth. The walls were constructed of a purple tinted stone. The roof tiles above were created of a deeper shade of the same hue. At the bottom, a doorless threshold. Above it, two crimson snakes coiled, painted on either side of a grated vent. Fitting for a snake.

Yamato was silent, but his hands conveyed the new orders. "Careful, scout, investigate."

We had discussed what to do when we found the place. Yamato wasn't keen on taking any unnecessary risks, not while half of the team was still at the camp, but we couldn't also just leave without gathering any information, which was the reason the two of us were here. He had wood clones, I could use shadow ones. We were the ultimate—danger free— scouting duo. With a silent nod, my hands flashed with seals. Out popped a shadow clone.

By my side, growing out of the tree, a Yamato clone appeared. My clone, Scout-chan, saluted, flickered away to do scout things. Yamato-clone nodded, merged with the tree and disappeared.

I took out a few seals, slapped them around us. These weren't mine, but supplies provided by the village. They muted our presence, helped us hide.

---

There wasn't much to do while Scout-chan did her job. While we waited, Yamato was on guard duty. I sat cross legged, a number of parchments scribbled with my prototype jutsu, pondering about clone techniques, and how to use them efficiently.

One of the biggest differences between shadow and wood clones were how durable wood clones were. Mokuton clones didn't disappear after taking a hard impact, and the clone shared the chakra pool of the original, instead of splitting chakra like shadow clones. Wood clones, however, were not as independent. They were akin to an extension of the shinobi, which made them tricky to use in battle. One needed good multitasking abilities or the clone wouldn't perform up to standard.

Shadow clones on the other hand, were completely independent. They didn't depend on the shinobi for directions or orders. They worked like a functional copy of the ninja who summoned them. Which I think, was one of the reasons some people didn't use the jutsu. I remember reading somewhere that Orochimaru used shadow clones only once, then never again after his own clone tried to kill him. Had that really happened or was it just my imagination playing tricks on me?

Wood clones also had an intrinsic connection to their creator, a function which Yamato exploited to create the transmission seed's tracking method. It was that particular characteristic that I incorporated on my alpha version of thunder god jutsu. In the time-frame I had before the exam, I wasn't able to tie the beacon to me and make the jutsu usable. The innate transmission from the wood clone solved that problem, and created another. Right now, any beacon I created was a temporary one.

What I was trying, while Scout-chan labored to find any traps, was to identify and isolate the aspect of the wood clone that provided this innate connection. When I managed that, I'd be able to create a permanent beacon. That would move my jutsu from alpha to beta version, with future changes being quality of life improvements.

A silent chuckle escaped me. It was at times like this I wished I still had a Byakugan. Observing the chakra flow and how it behaved while someone used the jutsu could potentially help isolate the parts I needed.

I stopped, tilted my head, looked up from the parchments toward the direction I thought Konoha would be. Could I do it? I wasn't that attached to the idea of a Byakugan, but I also couldn't deny how useful it would be. No one else told me what happened to Orochimaru's eyes after he was defeated.

Out popped my board. I considered the question. I guessed it cost nothing to ask. I wrote, waved to get Yamato's attention. Showed him the words after his attention was on me. "Yamato-taicho, do you know what happened to Orochimaru's eyes?"

Yamato's gaze bore into my soul, or maybe that was just the effect those huge eyes had. It was hard to know what the man was thinking when he stared unblinking at me like that. The silence stretched, and for a while, I thought he wouldn't answer. Then he looked away, sighed.

"After his defeat, the Hyuga clan reclaimed the one Byakugan eye from Orochimaru's corpse."

I erased the words, wrote some more. "One eye? Not two?"

Yamato nodded. "Only his left eye was a Byakugan."

Another stray thought intruded on my head. They wouldn't have, would they? It was so far-fetched that it might even be true. I erased the words on my board, considered this ridiculous idea, wrote another question. "Is the true reason we are searching for Orochimaru's hideout an attempt to find and recover the second eye?"

I could see it. The divas from the Hyuga clan threatening something dumb in case the second eye wasn't returned. I mean, they threatened civil war when I was kidnapped, and I'm sure they weren't happy with the Old-man after he stopped Hiashi from killing me. Huh, weird.

Yamato sighed again, shoulders slumping. "Yes, but also no."

For some reason, Yamato went quiet after that. Was he really going to drop that bomb and then say nothing else? I moved to erase my question and write another, when a raised hand from the jounin stopped me.

"You have to understand the political situation in the village is a powder-keg waiting to blow. The council wanted Lord Jiraiya to take the position of fifth Hokage, him being one of the three illustrious sannin and disciple of the third. Jiraiya refused."

I nodded. That made sense. It was why, in the original story, Jiraiya took Naruto on a trip to find Tsunade, to convince the woman to return, and to keep Naruto safe from the Akatsuki.

Yamato didn't stop his explanation. "In the wake of that, the Hyuga clan started to pressure the council to appoint Hyuga Hizashi as the new Hokage. One of their main claims was the village's inability to protect Konoha's clan bloodlines. Danzo stole sharingan eyes, Orochimaru experiments with the first Hokage cells and your kidnapping among other attempts from outside agents."

Wasn't that a bit of a master plan from the Hyuga clan? I mean, I knew about the family seal on the branch family. Wasn't that just placing a puppet Hokage for the main family? I wasn't sure why they didn't push for Hiashi instead. That one didn't make sense to me. More importantly, wasn't I screwed if one of them became Hokage?

"The problem is, while the Hyuga are powerful as a clan, none of their members are at the same level of strength as Lord Third, or Jiraiya, and a strong leader is needed to prevent the other villages from declaring an all out war against Konoha. Killing Orochimaru helped, losing Lord Third didn't."

I nodded, digesting that information.

"The chances are slim, but if we manage to recover the last eye, that could be used to dismiss the Hyuga main claim to the position."

Huh, in the end, I thought myself smart for realizing the mission was more than they told me, but I was also way off the mark. The full scope of the mission made sense, but a nasty feeling brewed in my gut.

What about me? Was I supposed to just hand over my eye, if we ever found it?

Why was I even getting angry over this? Wasn't I just thinking I didn't care for that damn eye?

 

[okashihime]

That revelation distracted me enough that I couldn't concentrate on deciphering the wood clone details for the rest of our vigil. I knew there was more happening behind the scenes. If the Hyuga was making a play for the Hokage position, I was sure the other shinobi families wouldn't let this opportunity pass. Another clan came to mind that could also use this opportunity: the Uchihas'.


I didn't know much about them even after many years. They controlled the police force. They were ridiculously strong. Emotions ran hot on that clan. They already wanted to try a coup before. I wasn't sure what the clan political situation was at the moment. Danzo, I think, was the one in the original story oppressing the clan to the point of rebellion. Itachi's father was the one more vocal about fighting back. Itachi was a pacifist at heart, and Shisui was willing to use a genjutsu on his own clan to prevent civil war.


Itachi was now the Uchiha's clan leader. Shisui was a member of the ANBU.


That particular branch of secret ninjas was the last one I would expect to cause trouble to the village. They operated directly under the Hokage.


A deluge of information flooding my mind put a stop to any political consideration. I pushed thoughts about the shinobi family, Hokage's succession and stolen eyes out of my mind. Scout-chan finished her job and unpopped herself.


There was a lot to parse through, but also, not that much actionable intel. Scout-chan found many things to report: hidden traps, places where paper seals were placed, battle scars and trails. From the looks of it, this hideout used a similar technique to Yamato's house jutsu, only that those seals had faded and not been replaced in a while. Perhaps there was no one still keeping the hideout operating?


I organized the information, saluted in Scout-chan's last known direction. She would be missed. Then I turned and went looking for Yamato.


I found him talking to his clone. Yamato-clone's report was similar to Scout-chan. None of them entered the hideout, and there was no evidence that anyone, apart from a big heavy humanoid creature with claws and a big sword, went in or out recently. When the clone was done, I wrote my report. Yamato was patient enough to wait until I wrote everything my clone found out. When I was finished, the man was scratching his chin.


"All the information points to that no one is currently inside the place, aside from the creature we defeated a few days ago. It might be worth moving our camp here, that way Hayase can keep an eye at the entrance while Sai is still recovering from his injuries."


I gave Yamato a thumbs up. Easier than writing down a response. With one last look toward the hideout entrance, we left.


Things moved fast after that. When we returned, Yamato explained the plan. Hayase took charge of carrying Sai. The house went puff, and we hurried toward the new camp location. All in all, it took hours to relocate, reorganize and prepare the new camp. Night had already fallen when we finished setting things up again.


This close to the enemy's place, I wasn't about to relax security. Even if the house was hidden under Yamato's seals, a bit more protection wouldn't go amiss. My hands flashed again, out popped two clones. Sentry-chan the First and Second saluted, then moved out to keep watch. I popped out my apron and went to make sure my domain was in order, and to prepare food. After today's revelation I wanted to eat something special. I had a feeling tomorrow wouldn't be a good day. Better make sure to keep spirits up before delving into a madman's house.

---

Yamato and I had already explored part of the hideout complex. Much to my disappointment, the places explored were devoid of life, even if not of danger. It was all a bit sus. The complex had no power, and signs of being abandoned in haste. I think I knew the reason for that. It was big, had several arms and heads and was deadly.


What had the people from Oto done after fleeing from Konoha? Where was the sound four. Wasn't Kimimaro supposed to be here in this hideout? At least, that was the impression I got when querying my brain for memories. At this point, I wasn't certain anymore, but the main beats of the story were still somewhat clear to me. In the Sasuke recovery mission, egged on by Kabuto, Kimimaro left his treatment to help bring Emosuke to Orochimaru. This place didn't match my expectations.


We had managed to find what seemed to be a vault of sorts. One still locked and trapped. If Kabuto had returned here after fleeing Konoha, he hadn't managed to access that place as well.


Trying to open the vault was going to take a lot of time. Which was why I convinced Yamato-taicho to let me explore on my own. I could use my clones to help with the traps and stay safe, we've done it a few days already while exploring. And I was never alone on my own anyway.


Crouched down in the dark tunnel, I studied the walls, floor and ceiling. This was one of the passages where the chimera hadn't gone through. When we first entered the place, it became obvious that most of the traps were sprung on what I've been calling the prison path. If we followed the obvious destruction, we had a relatively clear path from the entrance to the cells. I reckon that's where they'd been keeping the creature until it broke free.


The cells were… not a good place.


Small, rough stone cubicles, with a single opening barred by thick metal doors. A small slit on the metal door let me see the interior. It reminded me of those solitary confinement cells in the before. The whole prison stank of decay and shit. A single peek inside the cells was enough for me. I'd leave identifying the bodies to the others. I was, after all, a young impressionable kunoichi. I wasn't averse to playing the child card to avoid that particular duty.


The cells all fed into this one corridor that led to an underground arena. The arena's floor was full of crusted and dried blood.


The sequence of events in my mind was like this: After days without anyone to keep maintenance in place, the chimera escaped. It tore a path toward the exit, springing most of the traps in its way. Once outside, the creature attacked nearby settlements, but often returned to the hideout for one reason or another.


I think the passage I was casing at the moment led to the labs. I had already found what seemed to be a dormitory, a common area, and storage. There were a few more passages to explore. Yamato was on the other side of the complex, trying to break past one particular nasty trap. He was sure it was a vault of sorts. If we were lucky, most of the information we wanted was stored there.


The dark corridor I was in now didn't seem trapped. No strange markings on the walls, no fissures on the ground, no wires or strange devices. I summoned Decoy-chan, the Eleventh. She glared at me, gave me the finger, but did her duty. She strode toward the door, and when nothing happened, pulled it open.


Somehow, I was expecting an explosion, maybe poison, or something more insidious.


Decoy-chan peeked inside and froze. Without looking back, she unpopped herself. I was right. This tunnel led into the labs. The room was large, partially hidden in darkness. In the middle of the room, an operation table, with a corpse on top of it. On the walls, rolls of vat tubes, filled with green goop. Human shaped silhouettes barely visible inside said goop.


I closed my eyes. Tried to stop my trembling hands. I knew there was a chance to find more experiments. I had avoided thinking about it until now. I had hoped there would be no mad-lab here.

---

Spoiler: AN

Started playing with AI drawings again.
Behold, hell-month, goth edition:

https://i.ibb.co/0t1ntSp/00020-1446186405.png

https://i.ibb.co/YpFT2NT/00021-3988241731.png

https://i.ibb.co/Sspk03j/00030-1051965520.png

 

[okashihime]

In my seven years of living my best ninja life, I tried my damnedest to never think about that first day and what it really meant. Unfortunately, this wasn't a case of "trauma begone!", it was a severe case of "trauma be repressed!". This attitude had already bitten me in the behind once: I could barely function in the brief fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. There, I was subjected to the role of kunoichi in distress, and Emosuke had to save me, much to my chagrin.

Now, here I was, trying my hardest to enter the lab. Only, my body wouldn't obey me.

There was this quake that hit me every time I tried to take a step forward, and this unseen marathon I ran that took my breath away, leaving me gasping, not to mention the invisible booze I drank. That was the only explanation of why the world spun around me.

I closed my eyes. Tried to recenter myself. Took one, or maybe ten deep breaths. Opened my eyes, took a step toward the door. I whimpered, but pushed forward. The part of me that was the original Hinata stirred, wailed in my mind, distressed. Weird, why now? She'd been quiet for years.

It wasn't easy, but I think I did my best here. Quakes, marathons and booze didn't stop me. I crossed the door, looked inside the room. The light I carried illuminated part of the lab, and the many vat tubes lining the walls. Near the door, there was one of those antiquated computers, like those eighties' looking DOS based machines: big and bulky and utterly useless.

I approached the table, peeked at the corpse. It was a young woman, face covered in seal inscribed fabric, black hair spilling from behind the cloth. Given her proportions, she looked around my age, maybe a couple of years older. All of her body was inscribed, the lines moving from the skin to the table and beyond. Some of those symbols were familiar. I didn't know what they meant, but I recognized Orochimaru's sealwork. I had, after all, a prime example etched on my own bones.

My gaze inevitably found its way to the rolls of vat tubes. They continued down the room, further into the darkness where the light wasn't enough to illuminate them. It was macabre, like those silly drawings of monkeys turning humans representing evolution. The vat nearest the door contained an embryo. The further deeper into the room, the more developed the person inside. From embryo to an unformed baby, to a small toddler, to a young girl and more.

It was surreal seeing the same girl in various stages of growth. The same round, soft face, black hair, button nose. It was evident the girl inside the vat was dead. There was no power in the whole complex. There was no movement from the person inside the tube. The green goop wasn't all that clear anymore, patches of red and brown mixed with the green.

I refocused on my task, or I tried. It was really hard to think. The small, quiet voice I always thought of as the original Hinata was neither small nor quiet anymore. I could barely hear my own thoughts amid all her screaming.

Turning, I took a step toward the computer. If I could make that thing work, I might get information regarding the experiments. I moved, but there was something wrong with the world. It tilted and hit me on the face with the ground. I blinked, surprised. My throat really hurt. I closed my eyes. My head buzzed.

The screaming hadn't stopped.

---

Yamato pushed his chakra yet again to form another wood clone. The vault was proving harder than anticipated to open. The main door was rigged with so many traps that he didn't dare try bypassing it. If destruction was their main goal, he wouldn't have hesitated to force the door open, but the situation was too delicate for the brute force approach. Which left him no other choice than to burn his chakra and clones trying to find a weak point around the vault.

It was slow, draining work.

All in all, things were going well. Apart from Sai's injury, there was no other surprise. Right now, Hayase and Sai were outside, keeping vigil over the hideout entrance, while he and Hinata explored the place with the help of clones.

Yamato had to give it to the girl. Using clones for recon and infiltration was a textbook example of clone usage. Using them as disposable trap detection tools was something else. Which worried him now that he had more time to think about the situation.

Wood clones were like automaton puppets. They could function at low levels without input, or controlled directly making them a copy all but indistinguishable from the original. Shadow clones on the other hand, were independent copies. From how Hinata talked about it, there was no communication between them, but she received the clone's memories and impressions after it dispersed.

That Hinata was willing to send a copy of herself to die in traps, and didn't show any sign of being uncomfortable with the pain and trauma of dying was deeply disturbing. There was no mention of any destructive behavior on her dossier, aside from the almost masochistic levels of training. Most took that as a good sign: more training meant stronger shinobis. But was that indication that something was wrong with the girl? Yamato had tried to remedy that excess on this mission. Forbade all excessive training, gave the stealthy nature of their mission as an excuse.

It hadn't worked like he expected. Not a day after, Hinata showed signs of stress. He turned things around, relying on Kakashi's advice to keep the girl centered. Strategy meetings and formal, structured shinobi communication. The result was better than he had hoped for.

By all accounts, she didn't show any symptoms of being affected by her past. Which didn't make sense. Even Yamato, some two decades later, wasn't unmoved exploring those secret labs when he was with ROOT, then ANBU.

Yamato maneuvered the clone closer, going for the same fault-line in the rock he found early. With luck, he could use that to bypass the traps.

A noise in the back of his head stopped him. He heard someone panting. Yamato riffled through the sōshinki he left with his team. Hayase was talking with Sai about some code or another. That boy really liked his ciphers. Sai sat quietly, pretending to listen. Yamato shook his head. Another of Danzo's victims. A good thing they managed to find the boy before he was taken by ROOT. No, the noise that caught his attention was from Hinata. Which was why it was so strange.

The girl was like a wraith. She rarely spoke; her clones being the ones that often talked most. Most of the time, even things like breathing or panting were muted by the seal inside her throat.

Yamato concentrated on the transmission seed, feeling for the situation on her side of the hideout.

Hinata was walking down a corridor. She seemed out of breath, but not in danger or being attacked.

He pushed the connection to the back of his mind again. Yamato took no pride in spying on Hinata, but orders were orders, even if the real reason he did it was to make sure the girl was safe, otherwise he wouldn't have let her explore alone. He knew the girl was strong, but he wasn't about to let her face Orochimaru's traps without support. She was under his care, no matter what the council thought about her.

His clone, who had stayed unmoving while Yamato checked things, started to move again. He concentrated on the earth around the clone. Doton: Iwagakure no Jutsu wasn't his favorite jutsu, even if it was extremely useful. Finger pointed toward the faultline, he urged the clone's finger to transform into wood, questing for an opening.

There was a whimper, then a low wail, which soon turned into hoarse screaming in the back of his mind.

Yamato bolted up, concern spiking. The attempt to enter the vault was discarded. His hands flashed with seals: Ram, Dog, Rat, Bird. The tunneling technique wasn't meant to be used on walls, but all of the hideout's walls were carved from stone. He opened a straight tunnel toward where Hinata was.

The noise coming from her hadn't stopped, if anything, she screamed even louder. A quick peek through the link didn't show what was the problem. She was in a huge room, there was no one attacking her.

It took four more jutsu to finish the path. By now, Yamato didn't need his transmission seed to hear the girl. He burst inside the room, kunai in hand, ready to fight for his life and protect his charge.

Yet, there were no enemies.

The room was large, a laboratory. Hinata was on the ground, holding her head, screaming. There was an operation table in the middle of the room, with a surprisingly familiar corpse on top of it. Yamato's eyes scanned the room, looking for enemies, then he saw the vat tubes.

And the girl inside it.

And Hinata's dead face, from toddler to adult.

 

[okashihime]

3.11 and 5.17 are, to this date, my fav chapters. I am biased tho.
Maybe add Kunoichi 201 as well. That one was fun to write.

 

[okashihime]

I stared at the wooden ceiling of Yamato's mobile home base. I was on my bed, tucked in comfy warm blankets. That had been a nice touch from the stoic jounin. My evaluation of him had to change a bit. I once thought he had no dad energy, but now I knew the truth: he just had hidden dad energy.

Time had been hard to keep up with. I wasn't about to lie and say I didn't remember anything. There was no timely loss of sanity this time for me. No passing out and dealing with dreams, no merciful oblivion of unconsciousness. I was all too aware that some part of my mind couldn't deal with what we found in the lab. That same part refused to let me forget.

My throat was a stinging, agonising mess, that not even my enhanced regeneration had been able to keep up with. Not when I screamed for hours, until I couldn't anymore. After that, I just hadn't the will to move. Yamato carried me out of the Hideout, tucked me in bed. I didn't resist, even if the screaming hadn't stopped.

I did, however, hear Yamato's explanation of the situation to Sai and Hayase.

He was kind enough to fudge the truth. I wasn't having a mental breakdown, no, in his version of events I had fallen prey to an insidious trap when trying to enter the labs. For that reason, that wing the hideout was off-limits for now. Too dangerous to explore alone. My guess was that Yamato wanted to keep the others away from learning about the clones.

It was a good plan. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

Was that Orochimaru's plans here? An army of cloned Hyuga? Somehow, that didn't seem to fit my idea of the murder-hobo. He was evil, not burdened by morals or sentimentality, he didn't mind killing, nor did he mind bringing back the dead. He didn't mind using people, then discarding them. But an army of clones? Maybe I was jumping the gun here.

How long had it been since I was placed on this bed? I considered getting up, but just wasn't feeling up to it. My eyes were dry, and stung every time I tried to blink. My stomach roiled. It felt like I was about to spill it at any time.

There was a cup and wooden jug of water by the bed, a bowl of some soup I couldn't identify. I really wanted a sip of water, but the cup was too far away. The effort to get up and take it didn't seem worth the hassle of getting out of the bed.

While I contemplated what I should do, the door to my bedroom opened. Yamato walked in, holding a bowl. He walked to my bed, removed the old bowl, placed the new one there. Steam billowed out from the container, the smell of veggies and cooked meat reached me.

My stomach protested. I looked away.

"Hinata-san?" Yamato called out.

I didn't answer. If I tried to talk, I'd start screaming again. Probably. And I was too tired to talk, really. I just wanted to sleep. Not that I was feeling sleepy. Yamato stayed for a moment longer, tried to talk a few more times, but in the end, he left me alone. Which I was glad for.

This state of events couldn't keep going. I knew that. I was on a mission, and I didn't want to mess things up so much we had to abandon our orders and return. More than that, I needed to go back inside that lab. Whatever else were Orochimaru's plans for the place, I couldn't let go of the opportunity to learn more about the man's seals. I still had one active seal trying to kill me. It hadn't caused me any problem yet, but I wasn't about to leave a primed bomb inside my body.

Which brought me back to what I had to do. But first, I somehow had to deal with my other self.

In all these years, there was this part of me that reacted to things and I often thought about that part as the original Hinata. I had no idea if that was true, or if it was just a representation of all the things I was suppressing. In the end, it didn't matter right now. That other side of me was in a constant state of panic, which took all my will power to appease. Seeing other cloned me's in that lab freaked the shit out of me.

Worse were the questions it raised. Was I the original Hinata? Was I just another clone?

I didn't think I was a clone of the original. I had memories from even before being kidnapped. There was this gap, between being taken at age of three, and waking up at age of five. But I knew those memories weren't gone, just suppressed. Part of those came again to the front of my mind after Orochimaru's attack in the Forest of Death. Back then, I thought it was a genjutsu, but what if it wasn't? What if being subjected to Orochimaru's killing intent was the trigger that unsuppressed and brought those memories back?

What if that first day when Kakashi-sensei rescued me wasn't when I first woke up in this world?

All of those questions were important, but not urgent. Right now, I had to find peace with myself. I tried to go about it in the most simple way I could.

Did I care if I was a clone? Honestly, I didn't. It didn't change anything for me. I was still myself. If one really thought about it, wasn't the act of conception just an organic way of creating a copy of two other people, mixing their genes? Framed like that, being a vat grown clone wasn't something that bothered me. Everyone was just a copy of two other people. Being a copy of Hinata also wasn't bad. She was, after all, my second favorite female character in the show. I loved her. She only lost to best girl Ino.

Did I care about the clones in the lab? Yes, I did. But mostly, I was sad and angry, frustrated? Not about them being created, but at the loss of life, and the despair of it all. It seemed that, when the complex lost power, the clones drowned inside their container, never even given the chance to live. That, above all else, filled me with so much angst I wanted to kill someone. Someone called Orochimaru. Maybe someone called Kabuto, or Danzo. Those fuckers.

Given this new development, was I going to give up on my ninja life? I remember the Third asking me this when I was five. At the time, I had the option to put all that away and just be a civilian. I don't think it would have worked, not with all that I knew now. Danzo wouldn't have left me alone. The Hyuga clan probably wouldn't either. But more than that, I couldn't see myself living a normal life anymore. No, I wasn't ready to hang my kunai and become a normal girl. I still wanted to do more awesome ninja stuff.

How was I going to solve this problem, then?

I ignored all the world shattering, mind-boggling and trauma inducing revelations and questions. Put away my anger, and resignation, and sadness at the loss of life. I –very reluctantly– shelved my burning need to be a good shinobi and obey my orders. In the end, what did I want right now?

Unburdened by all those thoughts, the answer was simple, and sad.

I just wanted someone to hold me.

With difficulty, I climbed to a sitting position. While I was there, I stretched toward the small table by the bed, took the cup and sipped the water. It hurt going down, but that was fine. I placed the cup down again, settled once more on the bed.

It was ironic that my solution in the end involved clones, when this whole mess also started with clones. My hands flashed, my chakra churned. In front of me, there was another me. Round face, black eyes, black circle under her eyes, face pale and wan.

This time, I didn't change her name. No cute, endearing nicknames today. Today, we faced the truth. "Hinata-chan," I whispered.

My other self nodded. Tears welled in her eyes.

I scuttled closer, pulled her on a tight hug. She placed her arms around me, trembled at the contact, or maybe I shuddered, I wasn't sure anymore. We didn't talk, there was no need to. We went from sitting down to laying on the bed, still clinging to each other. I wasn't sure how to convince myself everything was alright, even if I knew it wasn't. At some point, I started to shower her face with small kisses. Her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, nose, chin. It wasn't the passion-filled kind. I just couldn't think of any other way of saying what I needed to say.

There was this old adage, actions speak louder than words. I just wanted me to understand that I still loved myself.

At some point, not sure when, we fell asleep. I had a nice dream.

 

[okashihime]

I woke up the next day not refreshed, but feeling better, ready to get out of the bed and start a new day. The trauma hadn't gone away, but it was contained, after a fashion. A memory of the laboratory surfaced, and I had to close my eyes, force the shaking to stop. I wasn't going to have another mental breakdown. Not here, at least. I was sure I'd be able to complete the mission. Delving deeper into the nature of what happened to me, and what it really meant could wait until I was back at home safe, sound, and hopefully happy.

Maybe I should try counseling? Did Konoha even have the concept of therapy?

A thought flashed in my mind, I imagined how a therapy session would be like in Konoha: A comfortable room, and a comfortable chaise lounge. On a similar comfortable chair opposite the chaise sat Yamanaka Inoichi, with a book in hand titled: The secrets of the mind. With his grave voice he would say. "Now, relax and open your mind. This won't hurt a bit."

I shook the silly thought away. My chest burned with thirst, my stomach growled in hunger. More than that, I needed to find the loo. It was a matter of life and death.

That need spurned me out of the warm blankets and into a new day. The water jug had been replaced at some point, and the bowl of food swapped to bread, cheese and a few dried fruits. I remember those. We purchased them back in the town to complement our own supplies.

Before the day really started, I pushed my chakra, out popped another me. She had bed hair, lines on her face from the blanket, eyes still crusty, clothes in disarray from staying in bed for days without removing her ninja gear. But her eyes, while sad, weren't despairing. Her mouth curved with a small smile.

I hopped closer, gave her a big hug, then kissed her forehead. I know what you're thinking, but don't blame me too much. I just decided I was done lying to myself and ignoring my own loneliness. With my particular set of skills, I could actually give myself a hug, so why not? Other me gave me a cheeky grin, like she knew what I was thinking, then another hug before unpopping herself.

I ran toward the restroom and worked on my business, relieved myself before things got even more awkward. Done with my morning ablutions, I swapped for a cleaner outfit, adjusted the weight seals, made sure I was presentable. It was time to face the music.

Yamato's default house was a two story building with the bedrooms on the upper floor, living room, small rooms that I thought of as offices and the kitchen. Given how dark and cold the house was, the sun hadn't risen yet. I climbed down the stairs, and found Sai sitting cross legged on a cushion. His eyes were closed, hand in front of his stomach, with each finger meeting the opposite hand counterpart.

Cadaver pale Sai opened his eyes, maybe alerted by the sound of my footsteps. The light was dim, but I could see him glance my way. He gave me a nod, I waved back. Then he closed his eyes again. Behind his facade of calm politeness, I saw something else: indifference, contempt, annoyance.

It wasn't the first time I had the impression Sai didn't like me. But it was the first time the feeling was this strong. What was that about? Hold on, was Sai jelly of Yamato taking care of me? I wouldn't be that, would it? Imagine it, Sai wanted some of Daddy Yamato's care.

I held in a chuckle at that inappropriate thought. I had no idea about Sai's situation, and had made no attempt to understand him. It wasn't fair of me to make fun of him, even in the privacy of my own mind. I was trying to be a better, more honest person.

Kitchen work kept me occupied for the next few minutes. An early breakfast might help with the hard day to come. I decided to splurge. Took out of my seals, a few prepared supplies. Before leaving Konoha, I knew I wouldn't have much time to bake stuff. The purchased pastries were good enough for my pre-defined good impression kits, but I wanted something better, and I had a few hours to burn before morning.

I rolled up my metaphorical sleeves, and got to work. Breakfast wasn't going to cook itself.

---

Later, after I was done with baking the cake, I larded the hot slice with butter. I don't think doing so was common even in the before, but it was one of my comfort foods. On another plate, I put another slice of cake, a small pot with butter, and a knife. Together with that, was the thermos with tea. I carried all that to the living room where Sai was still keeping vigil.

Not long after I started to prepare breakfast, Sai sent out a few more of his ink birds. At first, I was a bit confused about what he was doing. I could sense his chakra moving, then bits of chakra moving away from the camp. It took a second to link those small bundles of chakra with his ink constructs.

I walked near Sai, placed breakfast in front of him. He opened his eyes again. Looked at the food, then to me. Gave me another nod and got to eating.

I sat on another cushion and ate my butter heavy slice of cake. We didn't talk. For one, I wasn't in the mood to talk. This was just my first step to trying to mend a relationship that hadn't been there at all. Again, we might not ever be friends, that was what my gut kept telling me, but I wanted at least a cordial working relationship.

The aroma of fresh baked cake roused the rest of the team. First Yamato. He walked down the stairs, prim and proper. Nodded at both of us, and went to the kitchen to get his own slice of cake. Hayase showed up a few moments later. Bed hair and bed face, barefooted and scratching his stomach. He let out a big yawn, said something I decided meant good morning, and also disappeared inside the kitchen to get his food.

We ate in silence.

After we finished the meal, Yamato was the first to break the silence. "I'm glad you're feeling better today, Hinata-san." I got up and bowed in thanks to the jounin. He'd done a lot for me. "If things go as planned, I'll break into the vaults today. I can tackle the laboratories tomorrow, while you help Hayase catalog the vault's contents. We'll also need your help to store the contents in storage seals for ease of transportation."

Sai glanced from Yamato to me, while Hayase nodded.

I popped out my board, considered my words. I was aware Yamato fudged the truth a little and was giving me an out to avoid the labs. I didn't want to avoid the place. I wrote my response. "Thanks, Taicho. I'd really like a chance to make up for the lab. I'd appreciate it even more if you came with me."

Yamato read the words, his big eyes stared into my soul. "Are you sure?"

I nodded.

"Help me with the vault then. Once we finish there, we can move toward the lab and work there together."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Hayase, who still looked ready to sleep more, asked. "Whatever that trap was, I don't think I ever heard something screaming like that." He glanced my way, gave me a chagrined shrug before looking at Yamato again.

The jounin sipped his tea. "It might be, but we still have to investigate the lab. It was my mistake splitting up from Hinata-san, and sending her to investigate the rest of the complex while I dealt with the vault. A mistake I won't make again."

I looked down. I didn't like this. Yamato was taking the blame for something he hadn't done. It felt nice knowing he was ready to take the fall if it meant keeping others from asking about my mental breakdown, but I also felt indignant that he was coddling me that much. I might be only twelve, but I was proud of being a ninja.

With those conflicting feelings bubbling inside my chest, I followed Yamato into the snake's lair again. I won't say I was over all the things that had happened. I was still confused with my own feelings and reactions, but this felt too important to ignore. And, somehow, Yamato wasn't trying to keep me away from learning.

For some reason, I was expecting that if we ever found anything important related to Orochimaru's experiments, Yamato would try to keep me as far away from it as possible. It didn't look like that to me. The man just looked worried for me.

Weird. Was he actually on my corner, and not a spy for the village? I mean, there were all these confusing signals from him. If his goal wasn't to keep me under surveillance, why did he always hide some of his transmission seeds on my stuff? This wasn't a new thing, he'd been doing it since hell month when he started to train me. I never really minded the privacy invasion because I didn't have anything I actually wanted to hide from him, and guessed the man was just following orders.

And he was probably aware I could feel the chakra in the seeds. Yes, I couldn't tap into that connection and transmission to learn what he was seeing, but Kakashi-sensei knew I could sense chakra. The seed still had chakra inside it, even if it was a tiny bit.

So many mixed signals messing with my head.

---

Spoiler: AN

Tried to generate more images without the grit from hell-month. Some of those look nice. AI can't decide if it wants an older or younger Hinata, tho.

https://i.ibb.co/xYRcX6w/00004-783783561.png

https://i.ibb.co/3vTgMLF/00005-194401917.png

https://i.ibb.co/fSn5NFk/00007-1562089882.png

https://i.ibb.co/5vpy7vk/00017-520008536.png

https://i.ibb.co/9vqWjwz/00001-3551047012.png

https://i.ibb.co/xjtbM9X/00003-133094528.png

 

[okashihime]

Crouched down in the dark tunnel, I studied the walls, floor and ceiling.

There was a hole in the wall that created a direct path from the vaults to the labs. That was an interesting way to use a jutsu. Would Yamato teach me that one if I asked him? I guess I just found what to do on the trip back to Konoha. Thinking about that, I might as well try to leech that water bullet jutsu from Hayase as well.

In the original story, Hinata's Nature Type was fire and lightning. I'm guessing my affinity to earth came from the implanted Senju cells. Wood release was, after all, a mix of earth and water. If that theory holds true, I could potentially excel in four out of five types of elements. Missing only wind to join the exalted group of very rare ninjas capable of using all five basic elements.

The entrance to the lab had been sealed by a barrier created out of wood. Yamato's attempt to keep the place out of reach? Said jounin stood by my side, observing me carefully. He didn't press me, for which I was thankful.

We'd managed to break into the vault a few hours ago. Thankfully, the insides weren't trapped. There were a lot of things there. Books, scrolls, papers, curios, organic samples sealed inside glass containers. It was a lot. From a quick glance, most of that was in some sort of code. We left Hayase to catalog the contents while we tackled the lab, as Yamato had suggested at breakfast.

Sai was still outside, keeping vigil at the hideout entrance. True to his word, Yamato was being a lot more careful this time. He left a wood clone with Sai, another with Hayase. I tried to leave a shadow clone as well. I wanted, after all, to do my part. But Yamato told me not to.

I could guess his reasons. If I had another breakdown, the clones might disperse and cause confusion.

All these considerations were just me trying to procrastinate. I was serious about facing this head on, but wanting was one thing, going forward with it, another. I got up, took a deep breath. Nodded to Yamato, who nodded back.

His hands flashed with seals, and the wood sealing the lab retreated, leaving the door unbarred.

I closed my fists. Took another deep breath. Repeated in my mind one, maybe ten times, that it was going to be alright. I wasn't in any danger. Whatever truth I found inside could only help. There was no lower point to fall anymore. I was already aware and living the worst case scenario: I could be a living clone with a ticking bomb inside her body, mistrusted by her own village, with her staunchest ally in this whole thing dead, because she failed to save him.

The only way things would get worse was if there was some possession shit waiting for me inside that lab. I didn't think that was probable.

Eyes open, head held high, I entered the damn laboratory.

It hadn't changed from the last time I was here. The corpse was still on the table. There was a medical trolley by the operating table I hadn't seen the first time. The green goop inside the vats was ever more polluted with brown and flecks of red. The computer was still bulky and out of power.

Yamato didn't enter. He stayed at the door, surveyed the place with a quick glance. "I made sure there's no traps, you don't need to worry about that."

I looked back at the jounin.

"I'll wait outside. Please call me if you need my help." I gave the man a serious nod. He left after that.

Yamato hadn't given me any orders regarding the lab. My guess was that he was leaving it up to me to decide what to do, or maybe it was another test of loyalty. At this point, I wasn't sure I would be able to tell. I did have an idea of how to deal with the lab. It had been on my mind all day long. A bit of anxiety and dread building at the idea of what I was about to do.

From the entrance, I moved to the vats. I needed to confirm if any of the clones were still alive. I should have done it the first time I was here, but I hadn't been in the right frame of mind to think about it. I walked down the rolls of tubes, inspecting the copies of me inside them.

Now that I was paying more attention, I noticed something strange. While those girls inside the vat were undeniably copies of myself, they weren't perfect ones. There were subtle changes to each of them. One had a smaller nose. Another, a bigger mouth. There was one with a different bone structure, her face more elongated than what seemed normal. It wasn't just the face. Some of the clones had different body structure, skin color, one had longer legs, while another thicker arms. I even saw one, looking about a year old, with male genitalia.

There was another, one of the oldest, that I couldn't even say it was me any longer. It was still my own face, if square-ish, but the body shape was all wrong.

Her body resembled one of an adult, but she had no breasts, nor any genitalia I could see. Her shoulders were winder, hands larger, but her waist was still thin and curvy. The sense of wrongness was so strong I had to look away. My stomach churned, and the world swayed a little. I doubled over, hands on my knees, taking deep breaths. I refused to have another breakdown.

None of the clones were alive.

With a noiseless groan, I pushed myself up, and turned back toward the computer near the entrance. There was, I noticed now, a filing cabinet that had been hidden by the bulky machine, as well as a chair and a desk with writing implements on top of it.

Walking to the table, my attention was on this new discovery. The papers didn't seem disturbed. It was like Orochimaru left it there, expecting to be back a few hours later to keep experimenting. The notes were all in that strange code of his, but even a cursory glance told me they were important. On one of the parchments, there was a sketch of a skeleton, and a number of seals carved on the bones.

The drawings there were a lot more complex than the ones I was familiar with. Was this an improved version? I scanned all the available information. There were more drawings, but nothing that made sense to me. I'd need to understand Orochimaru's personal code to read his notes. I gathered all the papers into a neat pile, and turned to the filing cabinet.

The first drawer was filled to the brim with even more notes, drawings and sketches. Was all of this related to this one particular experiment? I would find out, one way or another.

I gathered all available dossiers, notes, and parchments into a pile. There wasn't time right now to try deciphering them. That would take a lot of time and effort. From my own seals, I unsealed a bigger piece of parchment. Placed it on the ground, my hand at the center. Before I pushed my chakra, an idea struck me. I blamed Hayase and his endearing dorkness of all things code related.

The idea was simple. What if I could create a cipher of my own, but for my storage seals? That sparkled another thought. How would I go about it? A subdued smile found its way to my face. Now that I think about it, Seal-chan and her many iterations had already figured that, back in hell month. Sure, at the time, I failed in tying the beacon to my chakra signature in particular, but I did learn how to infuse it with my own jutsu. So, I just needed…

I took another piece of parchment, a small one this time. I modified the seal, created more building blocks from my own vocabulary. These were simple, they'd take the chakra of the person activating the seals, and change the end result. That way, only a person with that same chakra signature would be able to release the seal contents. I pushed my chakra, and inscribed the new seal. Took one of the pencils from the table, placed it on top of the experimental version and activated it. With a puff of smoke, the pencil disappeared, the sealing complete.

Somewhat giddy at how easy it had been, I tapped the seal with my finger, willed the seal undone. Out popped a pencil. Slightly worn, marks of abuse, a cracked end. It was the same.


That changed things. This new version of my seals did need more chakra, but I thought it was a worthy trade. Not everything would need this security measure, but the contents of this laboratory? It wasn't even worth considering not using the new yet to be named jutsu.

I turned back to the bigger parchment, keeping the shape of the new seal in my mind, Shikoku Fuin did the rest. Guided by my will, the chakra spread through the parchment, creating in seconds a seal that would have taken me minutes to inscribe with ink.

I owed Kakashi-sensei a hug. I never really thanked the man for this jutsu. It saved so much time.

That done, I scoured the lab for any other note, paper or drawing I could find. I placed everything on top of my prepared storage seal, pushed in my chakra, and sealed everything away. Now I just needed to think of a way of keeping this information to myself without those geezers in the village taking it off from me. Problems for the future.

The next part was a lot less interesting. I walked to the table, pulled the inscribed fabric off the corpse's face. She was almost an exact copy of my own, maybe one or two years older. Out of curiosity, I opened her eyes. Lifeless black eyes stared back at me. Gently sliding my hand over her face, I closed her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the dead version of me.

My hands hovered over the trolley. With one last deep breath, I took a scalpel. Gruesome as it might be, I wasn't about to pass on the chance to see with my own eyes if she also had other seals in her body. It could be a clue to understand what the ones in my heart and eyes did. A clue to disabling the ticking time bomb the seals on my bones were.

This decision made me feel like I was following in Orochimaru's footsteps. I wasn't happy about that.

 

[okashihime]

Absentminded, I cleaned my hands against the apron. Lines of red decorating the white fabric. My forehead was damp with sweat. I worked very hard for the past hours, but I was almost done. With firm steps, I walked to the last tube. Holding a kunai, I struck the container. Glass broke and green goop poured out.

My hands shot inside the broken container and supported the corpse before it fell down as well. I unplugged the many sensors tied to her body. Those things were small, wicked needles-like thingies that gave me the heebie-jeebies. Soon after, I pulled the tube out of her mouth. It came away flecked with blood and more. I was past trying to keep my hands clean. That ship sailed with the autopsy. Thus the apron.

I took the corpse in my arms, walked back to the middle of the room. With deliberate care, I placed her together with the others. From embryo to adult, I left none behind. Around the bodies, six kunais were placed in a rough circle, inside a formation of four other kunais. Each of those kunais had a tag on them.

No, I wasn't about to explode my clones. I liked explosions, but it had its time and place. Those six tags were a modified version meant to produce fire. The outer ones, a simple barrier setup to contain the blaze. The second barrier also prevented the fire from burning all oxygen underground and giving me CO poisoning. That led me into a rabbit-hole trying to understand how to make jutsu fire still burn in an enclosed space. Despite all those implications, the answer was simple: Burn chakra, instead of oxygen. Modifying the seal hadn't taken long when I decided what I wanted to do. I wasn't about to take the corpses back to the village. No chance in hell I would deliver this many versions of myself to those codgers.

I guess that after the emo phase, I finally hit the teenage angst phase. Rebelling against authority. How normal of me.

With one last look at the bodies, I stepped out of the prepared area, activating the seals.

---

The blaze burned for hours. In the end, all that was left were ashes. My work wasn't done, however. While the pyre burned, I went about dismantling and storing the beast of an old computer. The thing was too unwieldy to store in one single seal. I tried my best to not break anything, but I might have forced some cables out of their place with a little more fervor than delicate bulky machinery should be dealt with. I guess I'd trust the Intelligence nerdy ninjas to fix the thing.

Imagine that, Shinobi IT Geeks.

When I was done, my eyes felt heavy, and I was tired. I think it was already the next day when I was finally finished with everything I wanted to do. The lab looked like a hurricane swept past it. Broken glass everywhere, green goop making the floor slippery, a huge patch of burned stuff in the middle. A few cables and wires stuck out where the computer once was. The operation table tossed aside.

I placed the last explosive tag by the door. This time, it was the best of my best supplies. I hadn't skimped on it either. By the time I was done, there would be no more lab, and hopefully no trace of the travesty perpetuated inside. All that would be left were my memories, trauma, and stuff I stored on my seals.

I didn't see Yamato when I walked outside the lab. Had he left me alone? I took the path leading toward the entrance, but before I could have walked more than a few meters, Yamato phased through the walls. Damn, that was another jutsu I really wanted. At this point, I was considering if I should really lean into the daughter's disguise. I mean, dad Yamato would have to teach me his jutsu, not just the mokuton stuff, right?

I didn't stop. Yamato matched my pace and together we walked to the hideout entrance. Before we left I stopped. There was this angry part of me that didn't want to obey my orders and follow the mission, but if anything, now wasn't the time to rock the boat. From what I remembered, Tsunade would be a good Hokage. I was more than willing to give her the benefit of a doubt before taking more drastic actions. Not that I had any idea what those drastic actions would be. I hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

I would argue my case with her. I didn't want the information and knowledge I found in the lab being disseminated. It just felt wrong.

Facing the jounin, I produced the many scrolls with all the stuff I deemed I could take away. Held it in both hands with a death grip. All rolled neatly into a pile of seals. The contents of the labs I had sealed away with the improved version of my storage seal. It might be naive of me, but if the village took it away, I could at least use the fact that without me they couldn't access the contents as leverage. Leverage for what, I wasn't sure yet.

Out popped my comms board. My threads wrote my message. "I burned all of the corpses." A lie I hoped Yamato would forgive me for. I kept one. "A few of them had white eyes, but most didn't. I didn't take any." That at least, wasn't a lie. I had no idea what changes Orochimaru made to those clones, more than that, they were dead for how long? Were those eyes even still alive? I wasn't about to try plucking an eye from a weeks old corpse and plug it into my head.

That sparked a different thought: what about the eye from Orochimaru? What kind of setup were they using to keep it alive? Do dojutsu eyes even need to be kept alive? Had I made a massive mistake by burning everything? It had been a spurn of the moment decision, one I didn't regret, but now I was left wondering.

I shook my head, wrote more words. "Gathered all the documents I could find. Dismantled the computer and stored it away."

Yamato didn't say anything.

I pushed the rolled scrolls toward him. "Here." My threads wrote.

Yamato nodded, extended his hands, but didn't take the scrolls. He pushed it back to me. "Keep them. Once we're back at Konoha, I might be able to delay things for a couple of days. Do you think that would be enough to make a copy you could use?"

When I walked out of that lab, I was ready for some push back, maybe pressure from Yamato for the information, an order to give away everything I found. My hands tightened around the parchments. It crinkled under my grip. I hadn't expected him to try to fudge things again in my favor.

I couldn't look the man in the eyes, but I nodded. Maybe I blinked away some dust in my eyes. His hand found my head and ruffled my hair. I grumbled, slapped away the offending appendage. He chuckled. Why people liked doing that I would never understand.

"Hayase still isn't done with cataloging the vault, but he learned some important things." Yamato looked towards the outside, took a step in that direction, I followed. "The sun is almost up, we can talk about it over breakfast, what do you think?"

Nodding, I erased my board. There was one more piece of information I needed to pass on. Threads worked their way into writing the words. "I jury rigged the whole lab with my best explosives. A few dozen of them."

Yamato read my message, stumbled. Blinked. "Those explosives you used in the battle?" I gave the man a serious look, shook my head. His shoulders sagged with relief.

I erased the words on my board, wrote others. "Those were my good ones. I meant what I said. Only my best."

His hand pinched the bridge of his nose. His voice sounded strained. Body tense. "When are they going to go off?"

I shrugged. Who did he think I was? "On command."

Yamato's shoulder sagged again. "Hinata-san, we'll need to talk about acceptable levels of destructive force sometime soon."

I shrugged again. There wasn't much to talk about. Explosion made things go boom. The bigger the boom, the better.

Outside the house, patrolling the perimeter, we found a tired looking Hayase. When he noticed us leaving the hideout, he walked closer, then came to a screeching halt when he saw me. He pointed at me, then looked from Yamato to me a few times.

"Why are you wearing a bloody apron?" The chunin demanded.

I looked at myself. Hands covered in dried blood, apron splashed with red and bloody handprints.

I scratched my head. Oops?

---

We sat around a small table in the dining area of the camp. On the table, crumbles of cupcakes and an empty tea thermos. I was still tired, and a bit sleepy, but the sugar fix gave me a few motes of energy back into my body.

Hayase was still giving me strange glances from time to time. Even after I removed the apron, took a bath, donned a new outfit, and made sure the blood under my nails was gone, it still didn't seem enough for him. Might be because I played that off as an everyday occasion, answering as if walking out of a madman hideout covered in blood was the most normal thing in the world.

Huh, who would have thought that was where he drew the line.

Yamato took a last sip of his tea, placed it down and looked at me. "Hinata-san, report." He ordered.

 

[okashihime]

I had, again, made attempts to smooth things over with Sai. I prepared breakfast —pancakes, yay— and even unpopped a few of my cupcakes. Once the food had been served, I tried to strike a conversation. It went something like this:

"Hello Sai-kun, are you feeling better? Any trouble with the injuries?"

I know those weren't the best ice breaking conversation starters, but I was a bit lost on what else to talk about with the guy. I thought his jutsu was cool, and was curious if his hobby was painting, but it would have been strange to ask that directly, when he was just coming out of a battle injury.

Sai looked at me. Nodded. "I am well." He answered in a tone that made clear the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

I wasn't going to push. Maybe I'd try a few more times, just to make sure I didn't catch him on a bad day.

Yamato didn't let the silence linger for long. We had already finished eating when he ordered. "Report."

That command always made fangirl-chan happy. Today wasn't any different. She was still giddy, but a more subdued kind of happy. I understood her. I'd give her a hug if I could. I saluted, then took out my board. Words flowed. There was a lot to report.

"I finished the lab investigation. Disposed of all organic matter that wasn't fit to be stored or transported. Gathered all available information. Disassembled the computer and stored it as well."

I gave the boys time to read my report while I wrote on the other side of the board. When I was finished, I flipped it, showing the second part of the report. "I placed explosives at the lab and am ready to trigger them at any point to make sure anything that I missed won't fall on the wrong hands."

Well, guess what, my report wasn't that long.

Yamato gave time for the other chunin to read before he addressed me again. "Good job Hinata-san. You'll have to coordinate with Hayase today to pack and store the vault contents. I know it's a lot to ask, but you're the only one in our team capable of creating those storage seals."

I gave the man a nod. I didn't mind using jutsu. It was cool, and awesome, and fun.

"Sai, report." Yamato ordered again.

The pale boy nodded. "My scouts are keeping the area under surveillance. Nothing new to report."

I'm guessing he wasn't direct and curt with only me. Good to know. Yamato didn't seem to mind the curt report. "Thank you Sai, and good job." Lastly, he turned to Hayase, who had leaned forward, feet bouncing. "Hayase, report." Yamato ordered again.

"Yes, taicho!" Hayase said, engaged nerd mode, and disgorged the exposition. "Most of the information is protected by a code that is unlike anything we've seen before. It doesn't resemble anything the intelligence department is aware of. At this point, my conjecture is that we're dealing with Orochimaru's personal encryption. I haven't tried to break it yet, but even at a quick glance, that won't be easy, unless we find the cipher."

Three heads nodded. That wouldn't be easy. Even in the before with the use of supercomputers, breaking encryption was difficult.

"I've cataloged and listed most of the stuff in the vault. Weapons, jutsu, a lot of ledgers, money, and correspondences. Again, most of that is protected by code, but not all." Hayase stopped here, looked each of us in the eye before continuing. Was he enjoying being dramatic? "I did find, however, that Orochimaru had at least two other hideouts, maybe even up to four."

I ransacked my brain trying to remember. Knowing that stuff should be right up my alley, but me and fangirl-chan stared in frustrated disbelief when my brain decided to play dead and turn in no memory whatsoever regarding this topic.

"Are you sure?" Sai, who usually didn't participate much in these talks, asked.

Hayase nodded, serious. "Yes. One of the notes that wasn't protected by code suggests there's a hideout near Kusagakure, but there were no clues to the precise location. The second hideout is a place named Southern hideout."

Hayase pulled a rolled scroll next to his seat. I got up, cleaned the table before he made a mess. The chunin gave me a nod, then a smile, before remembering he was still freaked out with me and looking away. Silly boy.

Yamato coughed, which was enough to dispel the awkwardness. Hayase laid the map open. It was a good version of the known lands. His fingers tapped a group of islands in the Land of Waves.

"I'm pretty sure I know where the Southern Hideout is." He tapped the islands again. "These islands. If you look here," the chunin took a few more papers, handed them out to us, "There's mention of prisoner transportations to this facility, and this one," he handed Yamato another parchment, "even indicates where are the secret passages Orochimaru uses to reach the hideout in island."

There was a moment of silence while we digested that information. Hayase's look of glee told me he was enjoying this.

"Amazing work Hayase." Yamato praised. The chunin preened. "How long until you're finished with cataloging the vault's contents?"

Hayase had started nodding even before Yamato finished his question. "I should be done with it today. The part I think will take the longest is storing everything in seals." He cast me a glance, one that had pity written all over.

I shook my head. Silly boy, he didn't know that was the easiest, and most enjoyable part of the work. Seals were cool. I took my board, wrote my words. "If everything is already organized and prepared, it shouldn't take me long. Watch." I let the boys read the words then dug into my pouch for a small parchment. I placed it on the table, and put my finger on top of it. With an effort of will, my chakra spread over the paper, drawing squiggly black lines. After that, I took the empty thermos, placed it on the seal, activated it.

Under three pairs of eyes, I stored my trusty thermos with my other stuff.

Under three pairs of eyes, I gave them a V for victory.

Under three pairs of confused eyes, my shoulders slumped. Damn, when would they start learning the cool modern symbols?

"That's impressive Hinata-san." Yamato said when the silence stretched for too long. I just hung my head, defeated. If only they understood. Did I need to become Hokage to start some cool new trends? I shook my head. Forget it. That was sunshine's brat dream. I wanted no part of it.

"That's decided then." Unaware of my despair, Yamato continued. "Tomorrow we leave for the Land of Waves."

I perked up. Not Konoha?

"Not Konoha?" Hayase mirrored my question.

"No, this is too important to afford the delay." Yamato traced a line in the map. "We'll cut through the Land of Hot Waters. Speed is our priority now. If that facility was used to hold prisoners we need to find it as soon as possible." We nodded, but Yamato wasn't done with his orders. "Sai, I'll trouble you to contact the village with your ink constructs. You'll relay the basics of the information and request reinforcements."

There were more technical details after that. New protocols to follow. Land of Waves was, after all, home to Kiri. Transgressing into another hidden village's domain was asking for trouble. I wasn't sure how Yamato planned to smooth things over, if he even planned to. My guess was that our best bet was to just not get found out.

But even with all that important information being bandied about, something else was on my mind. Land of Waves means Naruto's Bridge. That made me think of Tsunami. There was this strange fluttering feeling in my belly. Silly as it might be, I wouldn't mind being mommied over again by her. Her mom's energy was top notch, and now that I decided to stop deceiving myself, I did enjoy being fussed over by her. It made me think of my own mom in the before.

I missed her.

 

[okashihime]

Packing up everything left me empty of chakra and exhausted. Hayase chatted all day long about this or that code, often trying for minutes to understand some new piece of information or another. I could understand his enthusiasm, but I just wasn't feeling the same. Mental breakdowns and gruesome autopsies weren't conducive to a happy mood. Even so, I nodded at the appropriate times, displaying the appropriate level of tired, but genuine interest. I liked that stuff, after all. I think Hayase got so into his own geekness he forgot to be weirded out by me.

That night, chakra depleted and tired, Yamato excused me from the watch rotation. I wasn't going to complain. If ordered, I would have tried, but I don't think I was in any condition to stay awake and concentrate all night.

Warm blankets embraced me. My eyes drooped. Before I fell asleep, I pushed my chakra one last time. Another Hinata-chan joined me under the blankets. It felt nice to cuddle with her. Sleep found me soon after.

---

The feeling of being watched woke me up. The side of the bed was empty, my other self dispersed when I fell asleep. I cast my senses out, trying to feel anything that could point out why this kept happening.

Two bundles of chakra, one was the familiar earthy flavored one that I knew was Yamato. Something about that was nagging at my mind, chakra flavor? Another, this one smaller, slept in the adjacent room. By the size, I knew it was Hayase. Which left the one at the living room as Sai.

All around, other smaller bundles of chakras were moving around the camp. Sai's ink constructs. Somehow, my sensing range seemed to have expanded, or Sai was keeping his constructs closer. While I was still looking for the source of the disturbance, Sai's chakra churned. He held the new small bundle for a while, and soon after it left the house. It flew out of my perception range. I guess Sai was doing a staggered recon area. For a moment I thought my range had gone up.

I brushed those thoughts away, sleepiness making me think strange things. I kept searching for what had woken me up, but when I caught myself dozing for the third time, I called it a bad job, tucked back into covers, and fell asleep once more. When I catch the peeping bastard, I'd teach them a lesson.

---

We departed the next morning before dawn. Yamato unsummoned his awesome portable house. I adjusted my travel bag. Somehow, it fell to me to carry all the stuff we gathered. It was just paper seals, but outside their storage, they were bulky. I think Yamato was bullying me, or maybe obfuscating the fact he left me with the laboratory data. I wasn't sure.

Yamato turned to our team, specifically the pale boy. "Sai, please report our new plans to Konoha. We'll use the same details we discussed yesterday."

Sai nodded, pulled out a seal scroll, pencil and ink. With a flourish, he created an ink bird. The construct flew up and landed on his shoulders. Next, Sai took a more mundane piece of parchment, and held it to the bird. The ink thing swallowed the paper, fluttered its wings, took off flying.

I followed the construct until it left the range of my chakra perception.

"Stay focused, we will travel fast." Yamato advised, then started running.

We stopped a few miles later. I judged that was far enough. Yamato gave me a considering look, Hayase looked nervous, Sai was just indifferent. That was fine, it was my moment. My hands flashed, out popped a clone. She was alert and ready. Eyes sparkling and face open in a full-wicked smile. Body swaying in anticipation. I understood her, I wanted to smile myself. But I didn't. I had better self control than my clones. I adjusted my footing. Found something to hold on to quiet questing hands.

My clone, the awesomest Bomber-chan, gave me a nod, a salute. With a quick hop my way and a devious smirk, she took me into a hug and planted a kiss on my cheek. The gall of that gal! Three pairs of startled eyes stared at me. My ears burned. Damn it. The clones were getting out of control.

With another cheeky grin, Bomber-chan saluted the three flabbergasted boys, then flickered away. I endured their curious gazes until I knew it was time. They might have asked more than a few questions. I didn't bother with answers. Pretended I hadn't heard it. I raised my hand, fingers splayed, then lowered one by one.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I hoped they understood.

The explosion was a muted thump that shook the world. It was glorious. Even prepared as I was, I windmilled to keep my balance. There was no plume of smoke or blast of fire. The hideout was too deep underground for that, but I did see a huge swath of trees toppling in the distance. Nice! Another good memory. I needed more of those.

Yamato had crouched, both hands on the ground for support. Sai, fast on the uptake, had copied the jounin. Hayase was still trying to ask silly questions. Served him right, now he was picking himself up from the ground. With one last salute to Bomber-chan, the ever short lived, I turned around and led the way away. They wouldn't ask questions if we kept running, right?

This time, we weren't worried about not being seen. Our pace was fast and demanding. We kept out of traveled paths, preferring to tree hop in a direct line toward our destination. Yamato set a grueling pace even for shinobis. We didn't even stop for lunch. The devil!

Boy was I glad I didn't arrive in Middle Earth. With my size, I'm pretty sure I'd be a hobbit and that just wouldn't do. Imagine having to run all day long without second and third breakfast, without lunch even. Madness.

We stopped when night fell. Yamato found us another hidden place among a copse of trees and summoned up another portable house. He didn't look tired. He barely looked winded. The cheating bastard.

I shambled inside. An entire day of running was a different sort of torture. I might have gone a bit overboard with the weight seals too. It felt good to push myself. It wasn't as bad as hell month though. Hayase looked worse than me. He all but collapsed on the first cushion he could get his hands on.

Sai, surprisingly, didn't look all that bad. His cheeks had a bit of color. An entire day of running was all that it took to put some color back on his skin. I guess I couldn't judge by appearances. I was expecting Sai to be the one half dead, with Hayase doing better at the prolonged exercise. Teaches me to make assumptions.

My shambling took me to the kitchen. Yamato peeked inside before I could start cooking.

"Something light Hinata-san. It won't end well if you cook anything heavy after an entire day of physical exertion."

I nodded. That was a shame. I was in a mood for something more complex. In the end, I made a light veggie stew. It wasn't the best, but it was tasty. I served the food, got my bowl and sat by Sai's side. The boy cast a glance at me that I couldn't really understand. What was going on inside his head?

I sipped my soup, popped my board. Tried again to mend a bridge I don't even know how I burned. "Bit of a silly question, but is painting your hobby?" I gave the pale boy a cheeky grin. I mean, I knew the question was silly. I was trying to appeal to his sense of humor here.

Sai looked from his food to me, to the board, to the food again. I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. "No." He answered again in a tone that screamed: stop bothering me.

I sighed. Well, this was getting sillier by the moment. I couldn't force someone to be my friend. I wasn't about to do a Naruto and annoy the shit outta of the guy until he became my best friend. I wasn't that patient, or desperate. I tried, that was more than enough for me. If he didn't want to connect, it was his loss, not mine. Now I could badmouth him in peace in the quiet of my mind.

Yamato had observed the whole exchange. Hayase too. Awkward. I wonder what they were thinking. I unpopped my board, picked up my food, got up and went to sit with Hayase. It was time to geek over encrypted messages and learn more about them. I would need that knowledge soon enough if I was going to decipher Orochimaru's notes. And I guess geeking out with the older chunin would help him forget to be weirded out by all that lab business.

---

The grueling travel pace continued until we had crossed the Land of Hot waters and arrived near the port city we would use to reach the Land of Waves. There, we had to assume our disguises again. There wasn't much to say about that leg of the trip. We purchased more supplies, purchased passage, contacted Konoha's spies for another report and updated info. I was glad to unload on those poor spies the loot from Orochimaru's hideout. Carrying that many dangerous, and potentially valuable, seals was nerve wracking.

I kept the ones from the lab though, for a few reasons. Yamato agreed that giving those away before I had a chance to make a copy for myself could set me back for a while. The intelligence department wasn't in the business of giving away forbidden and valuable information. Orochimaru's experimentation data was highly valuable. I also hadn't told Yamato about the changed seals. I didn't want others to know about them just yet.

As it was expected, Konoha wasn't prepared to send a full contingent of reinforcements. The situation was a cauldron waiting to boil over back at home. The jounin commander, however, promised at least one more team to support us. It just would take some time for them to arrive. A couple of days at earliest.

That tidbit of information didn't change our plans. Yamato was right, we couldn't delay the mission to wait for reinforcements.

We left the port city the day after we arrived.

It wasn't a long journey, from Hot Waters to the Land of Waves. A full day's worth with the boat we managed to get passage on. For this next part, I cut back on the weight training. It was enemy territory now, and I wanted to be in top shape for the hideout. It might take one or two days to get the soreness out of my muscles, but based on the information we had, it would take a few days to arrive at the southern hideout.

We didn't discuss the mission, nor did we use jutsu. We were inside enemy territory now, and any lack of focus could spell disaster. Inside our quarters, we had another coded conversation. Yamato reinforced the need for secrecy now. It was best to stay under the radar than cause a political incident for the village at this critical stage.

A day of travel later, seasick and nauseated, we arrived at Mists territory. A distant part of my mind cursed Yamato's decision to play the civilian again. Why couldn't we just run over the water until we arrived here? Another part of me was sad that our path didn't take us close to The Great Naruto's Bridge. Maybe on the way back, I hoped. Another not so distant part wondered if Fate-kun would conspire against me and put Haku on my path again. That would be funny, wouldn't it?

Disguised as traveling companions, we left the port city. There was no running today. Our objective was to reach the coast, near where the island was, and scout from there, while we waited for the reinforcements. We could have reached there in a few hours at a ninja go brrr speed, but again, we wanted to stay unnoticed. There was no way to say if the people in the hideout had spies nearby, nor did we want to alert Kiri about our presence.

Problem was, the world didn't want us unnoticed.

When we were a few hours away from the city, I noticed the first bundle of chakra. Further than I normally would. Did my perception range really increase? I thought it was dumb sleepy brain thoughts. Did confronting my inner demons give me a power up? I scoffed at that last thought.

Noticing the chakra wasn't all that uncommon, sometimes, a blip of chakra passed near my perception. It happened often enough on Konoha or on the road that a single blip wasn't really worrying. But then there was a second, and a third, and a fourth and more. Worse, they were all around us. At the distance they were, they had stopped just shy of what once was my previous sensory range.

How? Why? What gave us away? I looked up, Sai's bird was a small black dot in the sky, barely visible. How had these shinobi escaped Sai's notice?

Urgency building inside me, I skipped forward closer to Yamato while still keeping up with my excited daughter persona. Tapped his shoulder, hands flashing with my code. A part of me really hoped these were our promised reinforcements. Waring. Shinobi. Strong. Surrounded. Quantity unknown.

I was expecting Yamato to try to play it cool, try to investigate. It didn't happen. The man's hand flashed with seals. Out popped two wood clones, he barked orders and all hell broke loose.

The enemy attacked. Each I could see was dressed in a dark uniform, with no visible markings. A featureless white mask with no opening for the mouth or nose. Kunais, exploding tags, smoke bombs, enemies flickering and trying to stab us in the back. More and more chakra blazes appeared around us. From the intensity, I couldn't think of anything else than chunins and jounins. My hands trembled. I gripped a kunai in return.

The first few moments of the ambush was utter chaos. It also managed to separate our team.

Out popped a shadow clone, just in time to intercept a shinobi trying to stab me. I whirled, parried another attack. I flickered to avoid a thrown shuriken, only to be hit by a chunk of earth protruding from the ground. I threw my explosive, in the ensuing boom, I took two other explosive tags, threw them and flickered again. Yamato wasn't far away, but there were so many shinobi between me and him that I couldn't approach. I tried.

I kept fighting, and injuries kept pilling. I failed to dodge a punch. A shuriken found its way into my leg. A group attack from three other ninjas left me with a kunai stuck to my sides and having to flicker wildly to escape. Not even pumping my body full of chakra was enough. No matter what I tried, the enemy was prepared. My speed, which I considered my best asset, was matched and surpassed. It was like they knew everything that I could do.

At some point, I found myself back to back with Sai, panting and trying to catch my breath. The nausea from the seasickness hadn't left me entirely. My legs still hurt from all that running.

Sai stumbled into me when I was being attacked by two other shinobis, with my clone too far away to help fend them off. His ink counstructs swarmed the attacking enemies, forcing them to retreat.

Now, I guarded his back and he guarded mine. Sai looked ragged and hurt, but still in better shape than me. His ink constructs were all over the place: birds, tigers, giants and more. Great distractions, keeping the enemy busy. Giving us a chance to breathe. By this point, I was about to throw caution to the wind. Using mokuton would leave me chakra drained, but what other choice did I have?

I was cursing myself for not having prepared a beacon for my prototype thunder god jutsu. I had no idea where Hayase was, or what happened to Yamato. At some point, they just weren't in the range of my perception anymore.

Before I pulled the big guns and burned myself with mokuton, I whispered a question to Sai. In the original story, the chunin was someone Danzo considered a prodigy. He was also more prepared, fit and powerful in battle than Hayase, who was years older. Even here, he managed to push away enemies I was having trouble dealing with. "Do you have a plan?" The pain on my throat was nothing compared to my worry about the others.

There was a moment of silence, then I felt a prickle of pain on my neck. My body froze, my breath hitched. I couldn't move, couldn't keep my balance. I fell down. Sai's indifferent face made its way into my field of vision. Looked down on me.

"Yes." He answered, voice emotionless. "It's working perfectly."

His foot found my face and darkness claimed me.

---

Spoiler: AN

That's it for ARC5. I hope you guys enjoyed (and will forgive me for the massive cliff.)


Proofreader: Awesomest of cakes, CakeEight.




Overall, what you guys think?
I tried to add a few hints of Sai's disposition from the start, like his instant "dislike" for Hinata, or the failed attempts to create rapport. There was also a few instances of Sai "sending" his ink birds in the middle of the night that Hinata took as him just performing recon, the biggest one being on the same day they found the destroyed village.
That day, Sai sent out birds even when wasn't his time to be on lookout.
This last chapter, there's a bit of difference, Hinata's perception range did increased. More on why will be left for future parts of the story, but she mistook the bird flying away as him just scouting further. The key point here is the bird staying near him for a some time.
The scene with Yamato ordering Sai to send a message was just to contrast with the part where he did the same just a few paragraphs early. Again, the key point being the bird staying on his shoulder for a moment before flying away. It was a mirror to the previous action: the bird didn't flew immediately away because Sai was giving it messages to carry.
Not sure if I was being too subtle with my hints here. I did try. I mean, I called him Cadaver Pale Sai. Can't get more foreshadowing than that, can it?





Thank you again for reading.

 

[okashihime]

Two days after the Sunagakure and Otogakure attack.



Scattered piles of reports, slips of encrypted communication piled on a ceramic bowl, rolls of opened archived scrolls for reference, drawings, analysis, speculations, facts. Nara Shikaku's mind churned with cause and effect, choices and possibilities. He considered what he knew and the Third Hokage's last request.

A knock at the door disturbed his concentration. The person outside didn't wait to be invited in. Inoichi's face looked even more drawn in and hard. His long-time friend pulled a chair and sat in front of Shikaku's desk, back pressing against the chair's rest, face turned to the ceiling, eyes closed.

"You owe me a big one." Inoichi said without opening his eyes.

Shikaku pulled back on his chair, hands resting on the desk. He waited. He knew his friend. There would be more said.

Inoichi looked down. His face was even more haggard. "Ino will never forgive me if she learns of this. She's taken with Hinata."

Shikaku shook his head, eyes finding the picture of his wife and son on the desk. He knew all too well how women could make life a living hell. He tore his gaze away from the images. It wasn't time to reminisce. "What did you find?"

Inoichi shrugged. "Nothing we didn't already know." The jounin looked around.

Shikaku noticed those details. His fingers moved, one of their signals from their time on the same team. 'Safe, private, speak freely.'

"She's hiding something. I can't enter her mind. I don't believe she has any harmful intentions toward Konoha. I don't believe she's a willing spy, if she's a spy at all." The man shrugged. "I've read the reports, same as you did. They didn't let us make any attempts to earn her trust, why is the council now mad that she's keeping her secrets?"

"Your opinion then?" It was just a formality. Shikaku already knew his friend's answer.

"I'm endorsing her promotion to Chunin. It's the least I can do after interrogating her like that."

Shikaku took a piece of paper, handed it over.

"You're sending her away then?"

The jounin commander looked at the pile of papers and reports again. "That's the best option we have."

---

One day after Hinata left for her mission.



"Those were not your orders." Mitokado Homura's calm voice wasn't enough to hide the man's dissatisfaction. "You were told to apprehend the girl, not promote her."

Shikaku glanced from Homura to his counterpart, Koharu. As he often did these days, he wondered if they indeed held Konoha's best interests in mind, or about their fixation with Hinata. Those two, along with Danzo, have pushed for more drastic measures since day one.

Shikaku shrugged. "I followed my orders."

Koharu shifted on her seat, permanent squinting eyes and frowny face not making it easy to read the woman's mood. "Those were not—"

It seemed it was now time for Koharu to push her rhetoric. Shikaku was tired of this. There was so much to do. He had to appease the Hyuga, send delegations to Sunagakure and Kirigakure to sound for an alliance, send a formal diplomatic mission to Iwagakure and Kumogakure. There might still be a chance to avoid war altogether. Some of the new information provided by Lord Jiraiya was a concern not only to Konoha. And yet, those two kept taking his time with pointless questions.

"The Third Hokage's orders." He interrupted. The councilmen looked at each other, a thousand words with a glance.

He considered saying more. Maybe appeal to their sense and explain the looming crisis. Or maybe remind them they couldn't order him around like they seem to think they could. In the end, he didn't have the time or patience. Shikaku's goal was to hold the fort until a new Hokage was appointed. After that, he could dump this pile into their lap and return to his real work.

He got up and left the meeting room without being dismissed, his mind already preoccupied with the more pressing issues. However, a nagging thought kept returning to his mind: both councilmen were acting, in many ways, the same way when Danzo was still a council member. Had the man left at all?

---

Around two weeks after the start of Hinata's mission.



Not for the first time, Shikaku tried to decipher the mystery that Hinata was. How had she known about Danzo's actions and plans? Even Danzo had been taken by surprise by that knowledge. The old traitor reacted fast when an ANBU squad was assembled to interrogate him, but not fast enough to get rid of all the evidence.

The details of ROOT activity, human experimentation, forbidden seals to ensure compliance, plans to deal with the Uchiha clan. Worse yet, the confirmation that he had a stolen Sharingan beneath that bandaged face. One that no one could trace the source of. None of the clan's records had information about a missing eye. By all accounts, every dead Uchiha was accounted for.

In the end, how had Hinata known? He read the transcription of her reports. Seven years ago, Hinata already knew about Akatsuki, even pointed them out by name and described some of their members, as well Orochimaru's involvement with that group. She also implied they were behind the Kyuubi attack eleven years ago.

Shikaku could understand the many frustrated egos regarding this situation. Hinata's secrets could be invaluable. And instead of fostering her trust, the council made sure she was alienated. Shikaku put the paper down, looked back at the picture of his loving, fierce wife. Was this their plan all along? Drive Hinata away from the village?

A knock interrupted his thoughts. Shikaku shelved that analysis to pick it up again later. He hid the secret reports, all the confidential information, disabled the privacy seal. Once he was ready, he called out. "Come in."

The visitor was one of the Intelligence department chunin in charge of external communication. The boy had a rolled up parchment in his hand. "A report from Yamato, sir."

Shikaku waved the boy closer, took the still sealed parchment. "Thank you." He dismissed, mind already full with the implications. Once the chunin left, he broke the seal and read the report.

It was surprisingly light on details. They found a hideout, cleared the place, found a lead to a second place in Kirigakure where Orochimaru kept prisoners. Something about the report bothered Shikaku. He got up from his desk, moved to the door. Poked his head out. The intelligence room was still the same, frantic organized chaos it ever was.

"I need to speak with Hatake Kakashi, send a bird, please?"

He didn't wait for a response. Shikaku got back to his table and started to consider options. Who could he send? If he wanted to change things and start fostering Hinata's loyalty, a familiar face would be preferable. Kakashi, perhaps? He discarded that idea. Kakashi's expertise was needed elsewhere. Naruto was away with Lord Jiraiya, searching for Tsunade. Sasuke wasn't in any condition to travel, the young Uchiha's heir suffering from some unknown malediction.

That left only one option. Inoichi would have his head for this.

Before he got up, he felt the presence in his room. He looked up. Kakashi was inside his office, leaning by the door. Never one to abide by protocol, that one. He met with the detached eyes of the white haired jounin. "Thank you for coming. I need your expertise." He got up, walked closer and handed Kakashi the report from Yamato.

Kakashi read the report, then reread it. "ANBU code. There isn't much aside from that he couldn't put that information on the report. Too dangerous for long distance communication."

Shikaku sighed. That didn't make things easy. More plans started to form. Could he still send Ino's team?

"I heard of your disagreement with the council," Kakashi's voice interrupted Shikaku's thoughts.

The jounin commander looked back at Team Seven's leader, all too aware of Kakashi's opinion regarding Hinata. "I fear that's a mistake we'll all pay for." He didn't say more. There was no need.

Kakashi nodded. Turned and left without saying anything else. Shikaku made up his mind. Poked his head out of the door again. "Please send a bird for Sarutobi Azuma. There's a new urgent mission for his team."

Maybe he could still salvage this situation.

 

[okashihime]

"Pack up, we're leaving for a mission."

Ino looked up from her food to Asuma-sensei. The trio had started eating while they waited for their teacher. The man looked haggard and tired. He hadn't even sat down yet and was already dropping bombs. Team Ten was at their usual barbeque place, Yakiniku Q. Choji was stuffing his face like usual, Shikamaru looked even more annoyed than normal.

"Troublesome."

Choji despaired. "What? No! We just started lunch!"

Ino put the chopsticks down, cleaned her mouth with a napkin. She was as annoyed, if not more so, than the rest of the team, but there was no need to be immature about it. "What is the mission?"

Asuma-sensei looked at the table, the food, and the empty chair that was his usual place. He sighed, sat down. "Another team has requested reinforcements for an infiltration, asset acquisition and possible extraction mission."

Shikamaru scowled. "Why the hell are they sending us?"

Asuma-sensei sighed again, lit a cigarette. "Short staffed."

Shikamaru's scowl didn't go away. Ino knew him well enough to know that they would only waste time if she didn't change the talk to something more productive. "What are the mission details? What do we need to prepare?"

Asuma-sensei nipped the cigarette at the table. He hadn't taken a single puff. He looked at the food, took a piece of meat, chewed, spoke after he swallowed. "The details are confidential and are not to be discussed outside our team. Not to friends, family, or any other shinobi that might ask, do you understand?"

Ino nodded. Shikamaru shrugged. Choji stuffed his face even more.

Asuma-sensei placed both hands on the table. "About two weeks ago, a team left looking for the hideout of the enemy that attacked Konoha. They—"

"A single four-man cell?" Shikamaru interrupted. Ino glared at the chunin, but he wasn't paying attention to her; his face was grave. Asuma-sensei's answer was a single nod. "A full complement of jounin?" Sensei shook his head. "Shit."

"The team succeeded. They found the hideout, and there, they found information about where captured enemies are kept. The jounin in command sent a notice requesting reinforcements, and his team went ahead to scout and prepare a plan of attack in this new location."

"What will we be up against?" Ino asked.

Asuma-sensei shrugged. "No idea. The first place they found was teeming with traps but abandoned. There was some experiment gone wrong rampaging nearby, which they put down. There was no information on whether this new place was still in use or what defenses there were."

"Who is the other team? What are their capabilities? What do we need to prepare?" Shikamaru shot in quick succession.

"A jounin and three chunin. The jounin's name is Yamato, age twenty-four. Graduated from the academy at six, and was promoted to chunin that same year. He has the same ability as the first Hokage to control wood."

Choji dropped his food. Shikamaru cursed. Ino didn't know what to think. Chunin at six? What sort of bullshit was that?

"Hayase, age eighteen. Member of the intelligence department. From the mission briefing I received, his main role is support. Data analysis and strategy."

"Sai, age fourteen. Combat ninjutsu specialist. Can summon an array of ink constructs, which he uses for communication, recon, and combat."

Asuma-sensei stopped, looked at the rest of the team, then fixed his eyes on Ino. Her stomach churned. She didn't like the look in his eyes.

"Hinata, age twelve. Logistics specialist."

Choji choked on his food. It was Ino's time to scowl. From what she understood, the mission was almost like a suicide one; why the hell was Hinata involved? Was that because of her storage seals? Ino knew they were good; she saw them often enough to know it wasn't the normal fare. And chunin, since when? Was this what her father was hiding from her? Ino knew him well enough to know something had happened and he was keeping it a secret.

Choji removed the food from his mouth only to stick his foot. "Hinata? Why? She lost to Naruto. What's she doing on such a mission? And since when is she a chunin?"

Shikamaru face-palmed. Ino just shook her head. Asuma-sensei's face, however, was grave.

"Hinata, age twelve. Logistic specialist." The man repeated, eyes not leaving Choji. "Former member of the Hyuga clan, proficient at combat, can use shadow clones, can use jutsu without hand seals, is effectively immune to genjutsu. Like Yamato, she can use mokuton. She fought and killed three chunin during the attack. She killed the full Otogakure team during the Forest of Death preliminary exam, fought and survived a battle against an S-Rank missing-nin, fought and survived against an A-Rank missing-nin on her first mission outside the village. Created a new type of explosive tag with at least five times the yield of normal ones. Created a new type of storage seal that can store four times more while using three times less space."

The silence stretched. No one said anything.

Asuma-sensei pressed. "Yes, that Hinata." He sighed. "Look, Choji, I know you're trying, but yes, that silly-looking, happy-go-lucky girl who likes to give candy to everyone is the most dangerous person on that team beside the jounin. You can't judge a ninja just from their appearance. Hinata has done an excellent job of building a harmless persona. Don't be tricked like many others."

Ino disagreed with Asuma's assessment. She didn't believe for a second that Hinata was putting on an act. That was just how she was. Ino's lips curled into a smile. It was fitting, she guessed. Cute on the outside, deadly when provoked. Like an adorable kitten.

"What are you smiling about?" Choji complained. "You got tricked by her too!"

Asuma got up and lit another cigarette. "Finish eating, pack up everything you think might help. We'll meet at the mission hall in one hour." He didn't wait for their response and flickered away.

"What? No!" Choji cried out. "What about dessert?"

"How troublesome," Shikamaru complained again.

Ino pushed the food away. Her appetite was gone. "See you guys in a bit." She turned around, left for her house. One hour wasn't enough time to prepare. She took to the roofs, or as Hinata liked to say, Konoha's Shinobi exclusive lanes. Ino rolled her eyes and smiled. Strange. When did remembering Hinata's silliness become nostalgic?

She dropped at the store entrance and rushed inside. Her mother was at the counter; there were no clients in the store. "Mom, I got a mission. It's confidential. I'm leaving in one hour." She didn't wait for an answer. She rushed up to her room and started packing.

Kunai, explosives, wire, parchment, makeup, skincare, haircare, bandages—she made sure the essentials were secured. Her eyes found the letter Naruto had delivered a few weeks back. She took it, read the neatly written letters, pulled the parchment closer, smelled it—cherry blossoms. Another smile came to Ino's face. Hinata wasn't one to use perfume herself, but it was a nice touch to send a perfumed parchment.

She folded the letter again, then, after a moment of deliberation, stored it in her pouch as well. Lastly, she packed the few remaining seals she received from Hinata. Those were supposed to last for months. Hinata knew she might be away for a long time. Ino was ashamed to admit she might have… over indulged. Maybe just a bit.

"That's fine." She said to no one in particular. "Just need to help her finish the mission and return. Then I can get more."

 

[okashihime]

Hidden in the tree's canopy, squirrel-Ino nibbled the nut, looked at the lone shinobi in the clearing.

The shinobi wore the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit with a green haori and white trimmings over it. She had a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped twice around the waist. She wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as the kimono. The hair gathered in a white bun holder while two locks fell loose, framing a beautiful face. A dainty hand pulled the hair out of the girl's face. The nail polish on her fingernails matched her toenails—soft blue-green. The shinobi wore a black forehead protector with the Kirigakure's symbol.

This whole mission had become a mess of untold proportions. Konoha's spies, who should have greeted them at the port city, prepared Team Ten disguise and transportation, were AWOL. That forced Team Ten to water-run the whole night to reach the main island.

The main island wasn't any better. Kirigakure shinobi squads fighting each other and attacking without provocation, aggressive locals, corrupt officials—it was one problem after another. What should have taken four days had turned into a week-long slog of hiding, evading, or fleeing enemies. Now, they arrived at the meeting point, only to find a lone Kiri shinobi waiting for them.

It had to be a trap, but it was so out there that Ino wasn't sure, not anymore.

The shinobi description also sparked something in her mind. Maybe something Hinata said? Ino wasn't sure. Squirrel-Ino took one last nibble of the treat, then she released the jutsu, already regretting not having finished eating the acorn. Now back where her body rested and her team was gathered, she organized her thoughts. "There's a single Kirigakure shinobi waiting there in the open. I don't think it's a trap."

Asuma-sensei scratched his chin, gave them new orders. "I'll meet with them. Get ready to back me up if things go south."

Team Ten moved into formation, with Ino ready to use her family jutsu again, Shikamaru to take over the enemy's shadow, and Choji to smash, if needed.

Ino didn't like this situation. Political considerations aside, why was a Kirigakure shinobi waiting where Hinata's team was supposed to be? A gnawing pit of worry ravaged her stomach. She felt sick. Her hands itched.

Asuma-sensei walked inside the clearing. The target noticed him. Waved. The jounin stopped a few paces away. Words were exchanged.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Ino found herself asking Shikamaru. The genin shook his head. Ino bit her lip, eyes scanning the surroundings for an ambush.

Down in the clearing, Asuma turned toward them, signaled to approach. Ino moved from her position until she was by Asuma's side.

"This is my team." Sensei said, gesturing to each in turn. "Shikamaru, Ino and Choji."

The shinobi, a pretty teenage girl a few years older than Ino, looked at each of them in turn. Bowed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Haku."

That name was familiar. Shikamaru tsked, looked away. Choji looked smitten. Ino tilted her head. The memory was almost there. Then she remembered; a conversation Hinata mostly glossed over. As usual, the mute girl was more interested in talking about the sweets and the people who got to eat them. "That Haku?" The words escaped her mouth. It wouldn't be that same person, would it? That Haku wasn't a Kirigakure shinobi, but allied with a missing-nin named Zabuza. No, wait, what was it that Hinata said? That Haku pretended to be a Kirigakure shinobi, but they had become somewhat friends by the end.

Asuma turned her way, one eyebrow up.

"Do we know each other?" Haku's melodious voice asked.

Ino blinked, shuffled under their scrutiny. She got distracted. "Ah, no. A friend told me about someone she met once with that name." How was she supposed to pass on the information to Asuma-sensei without causing a commotion? Ino regretted not dedicating more time to learn and train her family jutsu. If she'd only learned that one that let her send mental messages to her teammates.

"Haku is a representative of Kirigakure," Asuma said, his voice neutral. "We're invited to meet with one of their leaders regarding an incident from a few days ago."

Choji, who had finally stopped looking at Haku's face, asked. "Which incident?"

"A group of unknown shinobi caused a commotion nearby." Another voice answered. Ino turned to look. This time it was a tall, muscular man with grayish skin and short spiky black hair. He wore bandages like a mask, covering the lower part of his face, and the forehead protector sideways. He wore a black shirt and trousers under a gray flak jacket. A huge sword on his back. Ino noticed, the man was missing an arm.

Asuma was instantly on guard, he moved between his team and the newcomer, trench knife in hand. Tension skyrocketed at the newcomer's arrival.

"You're Momochi Zabuza!" Ino blurted out.

For the second time, all eyes were on her. The man, she remembered his nickname now, Demon of the Mist, chuckled. It was creepy. "Even little girls know of me now? I'm flattered."

"You're a missing-nin, what are you doing here?" Ino blurted.

Zabuza looked at them, posture relaxed, like facing a whole team from Konoha wasn't an issue. "That's a topic we can discuss in another place. You'll come with us. There's someone that wants to meet you."

Asuma's face was serious. "And what if we don't?"

The missing-nin shrugged, unimpressed. His sole hand went to the sword pommel, and he gripped it. "Then someone will die."

Before things could escalate further, Haku sighed. "You're doing this on purpose." She cursed. "Are you still holding a grudge?"

Zabuza released the sword and chuckled again. Still creepy. "An unknown enemy force attacked a group of shinobi from Konohagakure. Two of yours escaped the ambush. One of them is injured and not in condition to travel. We found them, took them in."

Ino's heart rate spiked. Was that Hinata's team? And only two? What happened to the other two? "Are you keeping them hostages?"

It was Haku who answered. She shook her head. "No, but also yes."

Asuma-sensei gripped his trench knives tighter, Shikamaru cursed under his breath. Choji complained. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The fourth Mizukage learned about this incident, and has taken an interest in our guests."

Ino remembered her lessons. Karatachi Yagura was considered a bloody, despotic leader, and the reason why Kirigakure was also known as Bloody Mist. "What does he want with them?"

"What do you think, little girl?" Zabuza mocked. "What does a bloody tyrant do with spies from an enemy village?"

"What Zabuza is trying to say," Haku interrupted again before things could escalate, "Is that unless we do something about it, the two Konohagakure shinobi are in deep trouble."

"You're talking about a coup." Shikamaru, who had been silent until now, spoke. "And you're using Konoha shinobi as leverage to force our hand."

Zabuza looked at Shikamaru. "Look at that. At least one of these brats can think."

"I'm not a brat," Ino muttered, but no one paid her any attention.

"We'll follow you." Asuma-sensei said finally, "But if there is any sign of treachery, we'll end you."

Zabuza laughed. He turned to Asuma-sensei. "Sarutobi Asuma. You were in my bingo book. But you're no Sharingan Kakashi. I may have lost an arm, but you're still no match for me." His gaze turned to the rest of the team; it was intense and full of madness.

Sweat beaded on Ino's brow, she could barely breathe. A wave of dread washed over her. She wanted to scream, and she wanted to flee. Her legs felt weak, she felt like spilling her guts.

"And these brats are useless. A bit of killing intent and they're already quaking like little ducks."

Before Ino could do anything, Hinata's face flashed in her mind. She remembered that one time she asked the mute girl about the person who attacked her in the forest. The one now Ino knew was an S-Class shinobi. She remembered Hinata's faraway look and shudder. She also remembered that Hinata fought and survived.

"Stop it, or I'll put you down," Asuma growled.

Ino bit down on the insides of her cheek. Coppery taste filled her mouth, but the need to flee lessened. "Who— " she started, coughed. "Who are you keeping hostage?"

Zabuza gave her a considering look. The wave of dread lessened and then disappeared entirely. "The Mokuton Shinobi and the injured guy he was lugging around."

The world fell from under Ino's feet at his words.

 

[okashihime]

The evil turtle roared in the distance, soon followed by yet more explosions.

Ino wiped the blood off her mouth with her one good hand. She tried moving the other, winced at the pain. She'd been too late to release the jutsu, suffered some of the damage as well.

Out in the distance, the chaos of battle was dying down. The gigantic three-tailed spiky turtle was finally defeated, with limbs bound in wood, and the parts not tied down covered in boiling lava. It was a mess. How did a simple meeting with that woman, Terumi Mei, turn into such a disaster?

She looked around, tears falling from her eyes. The field was in ruins, littered with craters and bodies and blood.

"You're alright?" Choji's hoarse voice found Ino's ears. She heard sniffling, then a muffled sob. "I thought… I thought."

Ino looked up from where her body had been propped against a rock. Choji's chakra still burned in soft blue light, covering his fists, sprouting from his back, like butterfly wings. The chubby boy was no more. He looked gaunt, like someone who lived a lifetime of starvation.

"Thank—" He started, but his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he toppled forward.

"Choji!" Ino cried out, tried to get up, then cried out again. One of her legs was broken, bent in the wrong direction. She looked around. There was no one near her that she trusted to help. She couldn't find Shikamaru or Asuma-sensei.

Gritting her teeth, Ino crawled closer to the unconscious boy. Time was of the essence here. She crawled to his side and, once there, dug into his pockets and pouches until she found the antidote. She pried open Choji's mouth and put the small pill inside. With luck, it would be enough to cancel the effects of his clan's secret medicine.

Ino tried to stand, but her arm gave away, and she fell on top of Choji. She didn't try to get up again. It hurt too much, and she was too tired. The last thing she thought was: At least now Choji can say a beauty fell all over him.

---

Ino gripped her crutches with white-knuckled fingers. Choji was still unconscious, but not in danger anymore. Shikamaru had suffered injuries, but his injuries were the least serious of the team. Asuma-sensei's injuries were serious, but the man behaved like they were nothing at all. With the three of them was the other Konoha shinobi, the mokuton user called Yamato.

The man looked even more haggard than Choji had been. Dark circle under his already large dark eyes. His uniform was in need of serious repair, and the blotches of dried blood glared against the green color of the flak jacket.

Ino wasn't supposed to be here. By all accounts, she should be in bed, resting. But she had to hear it.

"We were attacked by a large force of shinobi, at least a dozen." Yamato said, shoulders slump. "Somehow, the enemy knew our team's capabilities, and how to disable my tracking method. Soon after the battle started, I lost track of Sai and Hinata."

"Is she—" Ino choked. Eyes turned toward her, but she couldn't finish the question.

Yamato shook his head. "Unlikely." He looked around, like searching for an invisible person. "Haku told me disturbing news that might be tied to this. For years now, bloodlimit shinobi have gone missing. They suspect the same group is responsible for the ambush."

Ino worked her jaw, trying to speak through a full throat. "And you think they took her because of her ability to manipulate wood?"

Yamato cast a brief glance at Asuma-sensei. Ino didn't miss the silent communication between both jounin. "It could be," he said finally.

Ino pressed. "Can't you locate her? You said you had a way to track your team."

Asuma looked at her. Shook his head. "Ino, enough."

"My tracking method only lasts for a certain period of time," Yamato admitted, looking away. "With the ease Hinata-san seal's provided, we kept everything stored. All her personal items were lost in the ambush."

With trembling hands, Ino took the envelope from her pouch, then the perfumed letter from inside it. Under intense eyes, she took the seals with the stored cupcakes. "Could we track her with this? She gave me this before leaving for her mission."

---

Ino stood at the cubicle entrance, hands gripping the forehead protector and black shirt that were part of Hinata's outfit. She noticed the patches of dried blood scattered on the ground and walls. Her eyes fixed on the bloody chains hung from the ceiling. Was this where they kept her? Was this where they tortured her? Ino's chest hurt. She had trouble breathing.

With the letter and seals and a lot of effort, a hunter team from Kirigakure managed to track down this hidden prison. Only the place was already empty. There were signs of battle outside and inside. Blood, explosion and discarded items that hadn't been taken away. Among those, they found the remains of Hinata's clothing. Remains that Ino now clung to her chest.

They knew that, somehow, Hinata had managed to escape the cell. Yamato confirmed the dead shinobis outside had the hallmark of Hinata's explosions all around. There was also another trail that led away, one that ended up near a cave a few hours out. There were a lot more trails, other shinobi in pursuit. But from there, the trails just disappeared. It was like Hinata vanished out of thin air. What did her captors do to prevent her from being tracked? There were no signs of struggle at the end of the trail. How had they taken Hinata again, and where had they taken her after?

Asuma-sensei approached, placed a hand on Ino's shoulder. The touch should have been comforting, but it wasn't. Ino held in a shudder.

"Come, Ino. We have to leave. We're returning to Konoha."

Ino didn't look away from the bloody chains. Her voice was flat. "Are they giving up on her?"

"No," Asuma-sensei said after a brief pause. "But the trail has gone cold. Without any new clues, there's nothing we can do here. Returning to Konoha and reporting the situation is our best bet."

Excuses after excuses. They were giving up. Ino knew it in her gut. She nodded, turned, and left.

---

The mission to Kirigakure was reclassified as S-Rank. Her first S-Rank mission, and Ino couldn't muster the will to care about it. Her dad tried to talk about it, but Ino ignored the attempt. She hadn't forgiven him for what he'd done to Hinata. Her mother hinted she was there if Ino needed anything, but it felt hollow.

In the days following her return to Konoha, Ino talked less and less with her friends, spending more and more time training. Sometimes, she'd meet with Naruto, who had also returned from a month-long trip. He cried when he heard the news. Ino cried telling him the news.

A few times, she met with Sasuke, who was still sick, but getting better. More often, she met with Sakura, but her friend was distracted. Ino knew the signs: Boy trouble, and it wasn't Sasuke.

A new Hokage was appointed, Ino didn't participate in the ceremony. Shikamaru was promoted to chunin, Ino wasn't in the mood to celebrate with her team.

It was silly, but all Ino could think about was getting stronger. If she were stronger, she could look for her friend on her own. If she were stronger, Choji wouldn't have to eat his clan's secret medicine to protect her. If she were stronger, Hinata wouldn't need to leave Ino behind.

She punched the wooden dummy again. Her fist was bloodied. The tears hadn't stopped falling.

Ino knew it was irrational. She didn't care.

 

[okashihime]

And we're caught up. Oof.
Well, now you guys will have to suffer my slow writing speed. <3

 

[Belisario]

I have to say that I really like this novel, it's strange and I find its constant attention deficit a little frustrating, but I like it, although I would prefer that she gets her Byakugan at some point, it's weird to have Hinata without Byakugan.

 

[Kenji Kage]

Nooo our hinata should not suffer so much

 

[Petrox]

Damn, bad timing to find this and catch up on now. Sai is enacting vengeance for getting NTRd

 

[okashihime]

Nooo our hinata should not suffer so much

Click to shrink...

Poor Hinata. Gotta get her some more cupcakes.

Damn, bad timing to find this and catch up on now. Sai is enacting vengeance for getting NTRd

Click to shrink...

I understand how you feel. I hate when I'm reading a novel and it just ends and I have to wait for the next chapter.