A strange new life. [Naruto]

[okashihime]

I remember a time in the before when all I wanted was to sleep. Dad had passed away not long before. Mom didn't have the mental bandwidth to worry about all the trouble that followed, her job, the press attention, and the death threats. It was, now that I think about it, closer to how I felt after finding the clones.

No, wait. That example got away from me. Point is, for a time, I just couldn't care about caring for myself. It took Kimby's literal bitch slapping me into action to leave that funk. Huh, dear chubby Kimberly. I hope that bitch Veronica didn't mess with my bae too much.

Argh, no, that wasn't what I wanted to think as well. The real point is, at that time, I felt like I had no control over myself. I knew what I had to do, I just couldn't. After our first kiss, Kimby had asked me about that time, and no amount of words was enough to explain how I felt. I think she never had the frame of reference to understand.

But for the last time, the real point of this strange monologue was, I knew I had to do something. And I couldn't. But this time, it wasn't some sort of mental fugue keeping me down. It was just physical abuse.

In the brief moments my consciousness surfaced from that haze, things just turned worse. I learned pretty quickly that moving was a bad idea, circulating chakra was an even worse idea. Trying to look around only earned me punishment.

I remembered bits and pieces. The ambush, getting separated from the team. Meeting up with Sai, his betrayal. Why?

As far as I could piece together, things took a strange turn. I was a bonafide kunoichi in distress now. Captured and kept under constant physical strain. That one took me a while to puzzle out why. A conversation helped me understand.

It was one of brief moments when I surfaced, half lucid, and still confused. I tried to lash out, move and get away. The hit to the head left me reeling and seeing stars. The comment after was illuminating.

"Again?" A voice I didn't recognize asked.

"Third time today," another voice answered.

I groaned, which was a mistake. Something else hit me.

"She's tenacious." A third voice said.

"She can regenerate, use jutsu without hand seals, can use shadow clones, and will murder everyone here if she ever wakes up." An emotionless voice said. It felt familiar, but I couldn't place a face to the voice.

At the time I remember thinking that I wouldn't murder everyone. I wasn't a murder hobo, after all.

That bit of information got stuck in my head. Each time I woke up, that conversation kept returning. I think I know why this is happening. Whoever was keeping me prisoner was well aware of what I could do. How do you keep captive a shinobi that doesn't need hand seals, can clone herself and is a regenerator? They went with the brute force approach, I guess. Keep that shinobi on the brink of death.

After understanding that, I tried to fake being hurt. Not that I really need to fake it out. I was hurt. But I was trying to get a few needed moments to center myself, and assess the situation. It didn't help. Those bastards seemed to be on a schedule. Punishment would come on a timely basis, even if I tried to play the fake card.

There was more conversation I heard, that helped with more context.

"… not sure when we can move…" a voice said.

"…Kirigakure ninjas up in arms…"

"…routes guarded, civil war preventing…"

"…a giant wall of trees blocking the way…"

"…reinforcements sniffing around…"

It was strange that even when not in any condition to do anything, my mind still roamed. Those tidbits helped me come up with a few assumptions. I'm guessing the kidnap attempt ended up going up in flames when Yamato summoned wood to help him escape. That would put the whole of Kiri on alert, not to mention the reinforcements from Konoha. I wasn't sure about the civil war one, but maybe it was something related to their Kage being a puppet? In the end, my guess was that the kidnappers had no choice but to go underground and wait until the fires died down.

That at least gave me some hope that Yamato was still alive. But what about Hayase?

Again, I wasn't sure how much time had passed, all of it was a blur. Most of my mental faculties were busy contending with the pain. There were a few acute points that worried me. First and foremost, my head. Even trying to think was agony. It felt like they cracked my skull and scrambled my brain. I didn't even know brains could hurt, but I swear it did.

Then my arms and hands. I think they were broken. The position I was in, I think somehow I was hanging from my hands.

Two other problems were the injuries from the battle. My sides where that shinobi managed to stab me with a kunai was pure fiery agony. The smallest of breaths was like lava spreading from there. The other was the puncture on my thighs. Had these savages removed the embedded shuriken? It didn't feel like they did, not with how much pain radiated from there. My eyes were swollen and closed shut.

All in all, I was thoroughly fucked. In a real bad way. But I had a plan. I just needed more time.

Even with all their preparations, one thing they couldn't prevent was me sensing the chakra around. I had a good impression of this hidey-hole layout. It was easy when the whole complex was surrounded by a layer of chakra that felt dangerous. This same layer also prevented me from sensing anything outside the complex. That let me know how many people I had to contend with. I also had a fairly good idea how strong they were. There were two I would consider jounin levels of chakra, five that I was thinking of as chunin. There were more chakra signatures around, but those were low ones, genin, probably, and given how they didn't move, I was inclined to think they were also prisoners.

My plans didn't involve saving any of them. Yes, that was brutal, and by all accounts of morality, I should help these people. I felt bad that I was following in Orochimaru's footsteps here and choosing to not burden myself with the traps of morality, at least for this instance. I wanted to live, I was going to live.

Peeking on shinobies through chakra perception let me learn a few of their patterns. Every few hours, a three man cell— jounin and two chunin— left. They never stayed away for long. Sometimes one hour, sometimes less. Sometimes, they took some of the imprisoned genin with them; other times, they brought more. I had my suspicions about things but, back to my plan.

Maybe because my lack of visible resistance lulled the enemies into going easy. Maybe they mistook how much my regeneration was capable of. The more time passed, the more alert and aware of my surroundings I was. That gave me an urgent feeling that I had to get the hell outta of here. The sooner, the better.

It wasn't going to be easy. Careful probing told me a few things: I don't think I was naked— thank god— but I wasn't wearing my shinobi gear. My weight seals weren't on me anymore, my bag of supplies was awol. My hands were tied to the walls, maybe ceiling. The feelings from there left me thinking about Iron chains, maybe.

No explosions, no kunai, no shinobi gear. Impaired vision, hurt, thirsty and hungry.

Thankfully, it wasn't the worst-case scenario. If I could release the shackles from my arms and legs, I could puppeteer my body with threads. I was also planning on using them to get a good feel for my surroundings. Made me think of a spider spreading her silk.

Timing was going to be of the essence here. I was on a clock. The three-man squad had already left, taking two genin with them. They would be back soon. I already had my chakra primed and ready, a single thought away from creating a beacon nearby. Now I just needed my jailer to piss off for a moment. Perhaps Fate-kun heard my pleas. The jailer left the cell, and the replacement was still a few rooms away.

I pushed my chakra. It burned, most of my reserves tanked. The beacon blossomed in my mind.

For the first time ever, I activated my jutsu. There was this brief moment of confusion. I was hanging by my hands, then I flopped on the ground on top of the wood kunai. My chakra exploded around with countless threads. I couldn't see, but I didn't need to see.

I wasn't confident I could move on my own. Threads wrapped around my limbs. Jerky hand swatted the hardwood kunai, my beacon. I heard voices from the other side of the door, my escape hadn't been unnoticed. Wood kunai in hand, I flickered forward, appearing behind the chunin that had just left the cell.

He might have been too surprised to react. My hand grabbed his neck. The other pushed the kunai below his chin, up to his brain. The man flailed, I let the body topple.

There was this moment of silence, before the place turned to chaos. The replacement was now rushing my way. The jounin and one other chunin were fast approaching as well. The trapped genin started screaming. Some cursed, others yelled for me to help them.

With my threads, I forced my swollen eyes open. I was doing my best to ignore the horrendous amount of pain I was in. If I stopped to think about that, I might just pass out, which wouldn't do. With hazy vision, I noticed the place looked like a dank, dark cellar. There were several small cubicles barred by metal. Inside, children and teenagers yelling and screaming for help.

A flash of red behind one of the cubicle doors caught my attention, but I had other things to do before anything else. I had a few precious moments to assess the situation; a quick scan didn't reveal anything I could use as a weapon. I doubled over and snatched the tool belt from the dead chunin. Smoke bombs, shuriken, kunai, wire. Useful, but nothing vital.

I was out of time. The replacement chunin was about to enter the cellar. The door burst open, I threw the hardwood kunai. The kunoichi, a girl this time, walked in, and I pushed my flying thunder god prototype again. She tried to dodge the kunai, unaware that the real threat was me. I teleported in the air near the beacon. I snatched the weapon before it collided with the walls. With my other hand, I stabbed the kunoichi with the kunai I stole from the dead guy. Or I tried. My hand was empty. The kunai hadn't teleported with me. The stab turned into a punch, which gave me time to move my other hand and stab with the beacon.

I felt around with the threads. Yes, my clothes were left behind.

Huh, look at that. That emotionless voice person was right. I was absolutely going to murder the fuck out of everyone. In my birthday suit. Murder-exhibitionist-hobo me, I guess.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Monday.
Proofreader: CakeEight.

An update about my backlog: I finished on wed writing arc6. It goes up to 6.19. There is one chapter on that bunch I'm still on the fence about, but I liked how most of them turned out.
Now I need to write another chapter, this one from Naruto's POV.

Sunshine brat in: Where is this granny-ttebayo?

I will admit I'm kinda excited to write arc seven. Ooh, I do see many nice things in my head. I hope I can put them to paper! Or to the page, in this case.

 

[jayofgrey]

Yes, time for some nice fun relaxing ultraviolence!
/insert let the bodies hit the floor.mp3 here/

 

[RockLake]

My hand grabbed his neck. The other pushed the kunai below his chin, up to his brain. The man flailed, I let the body topple.

Click to shrink...

She's blind, bleeding, hungry, tired and in pain; yet did this to a chunin...bruh...

 

[Petrox]

In before Ino sees a naked mauled Hinata with branches controlling her movement bathed in blood and bile. There would never be a point when Ino would see her at her ugliest than this.

 

[okashihime]

The murdering turned out to be easy, in a certain definition of easy. After killing the kunoichi, I threw the smoke bomb through the door. Right now, I was navigating with my chakra sense and threads—thread-vision? Thread-sense? Blocking the enemy vision gave an advantage for this next confrontation.

On the other side of the door, it seemed like a bigger underground storage sort of room. It was a large square shaped room, with a lot of wooden boxes and sacks inside. Now that I could sense the room, I noticed there were two more doors. From the mental layout I constructed, I don't think I ever saw anyone using the one at the side of this warehouse. The important passage was the one on the opposite side from where I was, from where the jounin levels of chakra just entered through. That was the path that led out of the complex.

By my count, there were still two more shinobi in the complex. Kill the jounin, kill the chunin waiting two rooms down, don't die, escape. Easy.

I waited inside the smoke for my moment. I considered if I should use more clones, but my chakra levels were too low to divide it even more among clones. This one would have to be close and personal.

The jounin took their sweet time approaching. The wait would have been nerve wracking if I couldn't sense their position through the smoke. I won't lie here. I wasn't about to try anything fancy. I had no idea what the enemy was capable of, and my Kuro Raikou no Jutsu had already scored me two easy kills. Why change a winning strategy?

I threw more smoke bombs, this time away from the jounin. The bombs hit the wall, exploded. At the same time, I threw the stolen shuriken, stolen kunai and my hardwood beacon. In my empty hand, I created a rasengan.

The shinobi swirled toward the explosion, then again to deflect the thrown weapons. Again, like magic, super op, no one expected me to appear from the flying wood kunai. At the same time I did, I brought down my rasengan. I hit the jounin, another man with no visible village markings, on the chest. Pushed all the chakra I could manage on my jutsu. The enemy reacted fast. Even under my attack, his hands flashed, he spewed fire all over me.

The op combo worked better than I hoped. The ball of chakra expanded on my hand, flew forwards, carrying the jounin away. The man hit the opposite wall, the rasengan expanded, things got shredded. It was gruesome. I was suspicious before, but I was certain now. These guys weren't the same ones that ambushed us. It was not just the different way of dressing. They were just too weak when compared to the ones that ambushed us.

The impact of the jutsu dispersed most of the fire and smoke. The remaining enemy had just entered the room to see the end of that fight. I stood at the center of the room, my back to them, still smoking; at the other side of the room, a dying jounin.

Perhaps, the enemy decided the better part of valor was to wait for reinforcements. They turned around and bolted. Blew away the passage behind them, trapping me inside.

I would have gone after the fleeing ninja, and tried to contest that retreat. I didn't. I couldn't.

Like I said, easy, for a definition of easy. I stood at the center of the room, burned, hurt and with another kunai stuck to my chest. Fucker jounin didn't even have the decency to die and leave me alone. Had to burn and stab me. Blood poured out of the injury. I didn't pull the kunai, no idea if the man had hit anything important. It was already bleeding like a fountain. No need to make it worse.

That complicated things, a lot.

The collapsed passage was the only path I knew that led outside. We were, by my accounts, a few dozen meters underground. I could try to doton the shit out of here, but the faint chakra lines lining the complex gave me the feeling it did a lot more than just hide the place.

I walked closer to the jounin. The man was still alive, barely. Had to remedy that. A quick stab finished him off. The amount of injuries I suffered didn't matter when I wasn't moving my body the normal way. Puppeteering my own limbs made it that I just needed to endure the pain, to fight. But the lightheaded feeling told me the loss of blood was more dire than I thought.

The jounin had more supplies than the others. I stole more kunais, an exploding tag, bandages and other bits and ends. A keyring with several keys inside his pouch gave me an idea I could try. Release the prisoners, let them help themselves escape. Look at that, I was going to play the hero.

I shambled my way back to the cells, pressing the bandages around the kunai in my chest. Found myself trying to fit a key in the lock. Even with the puppeteering, my hand shook. It wasn't easy. The yelling was deafening. A hand sneaked from inside the prison, grabbed my wrist, steadying my hand. It looked young. Right, I remember, these were children. I forced my head up, and was greeted by despairing eyes and a mane of red hair.

Not only red hair, but red eyes as well. Her hair was on the short and spiky on the right side, while somewhat longer and straight on the left. She wore some sort of worn out shinobi uniform, but I couldn't see any village markings. One side of her face was marred by scars that resembled claw marks. It was a surprise how she didn't lose an eye, given the scar placement. I think she was saying something, but I couldn't understand. I tried to fit the key a few more times, shoved it into the girl's hand when I realized I was about to check out.

Damn. All this effort to drown at the finishing line.

Darkness claimed me for the second time. I hoped I would wake up again. I wasn't confident.

---

Against all odds, I woke up again. I couldn't make sense of things, but there was this voice, insistent, annoying, demanding. It was a girl's voice. I just wanted to sleep.

"You have to bite." The voice pleaded again. "You'll die if you don't."

Something was pressed against my mouth. I groaned, trying to push it away. The pain in my hands stopped me. I might have whimpered, which only caused more pain.

Cruel hands pried my mouth open, and something soft prevented me from closing my mouth.

"Bite," the voice asked again, "bite!" She yelled when I tried to push away.

That was really annoying. Fuck it, have it your way. I chomped down. Hard. The girl shrieked. I tasted something warm and coppery. But more than that, another type of warmth spread through my body. It was like a refreshing breeze, and sweet candies. Or maybe vanilla ice cream. I wasn't sure. I wanted more. I bit again, tried to drink, but the thing on my mouth wasn't the nice feeling. It just left me feeling grossed out.

The voice's owner cried out again. My hands moved, holding up the arm to my mouth. Huh, I could move now. The pain, I also noticed, was all but gone. The puncture on my chest and side smarted but was the weeks old kind of smarted. The injury on my thigh stopped demanding my attention.

"Stop." The annoying voice sobbed.

I didn't listen. I kept biting.

"Stop!" The girl shrieked. Something slapped my face when I didn't.

That, I think, broke the spell. I opened my eyes to find myself holding the red-haired girl's arms. There were several bite marks on her arm. Bleeding bite marks. My mouth tasted strange. There were a few other kids around. They were looking at me like I was a monster.

I turned my attention back to the girl whose arm I was still holding. She glared at me, eyes full of tears, cheeks rosy. She pulled her arm free. I let it go.

I looked around. The cells were open; no other enemy was in sight. I was lying flat on the ground, head on the red hair's lap. Someone, thankfully, had laid a shirt over me. I wasn't flashing everybody here. Meanwhile, a mental checklist appeared in my mind.

• Red hair? Check.
• Red eyes? Check.
• Glasses? No, but due to circumstances, a maybe.
• Scars? No. What was this one about?
• Heals people by letting them bite her arm? Double check.

Three in favor, one against, one undecided. I guess I could make this assumption.

"Karin?"

Spoiler: AN

https://i.ibb.co/HLph1QwY/Genin-Karin-1.png

 

[Petrox]

Nice to bite meet you!

 

[okashihime]

Nice to bite meet you!

Click to shrink...

Haha. Lol, I hadn't thought about that. xD

 

[jayofgrey]

Abused healer waifu GET?
A bunch of traumatized children GET!
Looks like the murderhobo arc is a go. Or will it be a merc arc? Track down traffickers and murder them and take all their shit arc?

 

[Eastiling]

Nah, feels more like hunt a pal bitch ark. Gotta make sure Sai becomes the corpse he was always meant to be.

Also it was already mentioned that track lead in all directions and Hinata went off alone. Or maybe just with one or two people? I'm betting that fully recovered due to biting and with having experienced the Flash jutsu she could probably manage to use it for a small group now to break tracking attempts. Just launch the kunai at full strength into the distance, wait until it lands, teleport and rinse/repeat.

Or even easier, just give it to Karin, let the girl run off, go make tracks elsewhere and then jump to Karin later on at a preplanned time. Since noone else knows she has the jutsu yet it would be a nice trick to play.

Also given Sai, prick, I'm assuming Danzo was responsible for all this. Hopefully he's in the nearby hideout and can get his deserved reward. Along with Sai. Please, no redemption ark for him!

 

[okashihime]

Karin's eyes were a mix of startled, scared and curious. She pushed me back. My head flopped out of her lap onto the ground.

"What? How do you know my name?"

Oh, right. I wasn't supposed to let people know I knew this stuff. Goes to say I wasn't fully recovered yet if I messed up this bad with my most guarded secret. Hadn't something similar happened with Ino-chan as well? No, not the time. It was thinking-very-fast-no-jutsu time. I had no idea how to answer Karin. Change-subject-no-jutsu, made a surprise appearance to save the day.

"How long was I out?" I rasped out, felt the familiar stinging on my throat. The healing healed the injury, but it hadn't fixed the root cause. Talking was still a chore, and it still hurt. I didn't wait for a response. I got up, and under a half dozen pairs of wide eyes, I got dressed in the rags that had been covering me until now.

I mean. What else could I do? I wasn't going to show how shy I was about this whole stuff. No, my face wasn't burning. My ears weren't red. That just didn't happen. I was a badass strong kunoichi who just kicked a lot of ass, in her birthday suit, then just decided to traipse back into the cells. Nothing out of ordinary here. Move along, citizens.

Dressed and not flashing anyone, I looked at my injuries. The stab in my chest looked like a months old injury, same with the side and leg. Most of the small injuries were gone, the burning had faded, leaving a barely visible scar on the worst parts. No wonder Orochimaru kept her around. I wanted to keep her around myself.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I tried to check the others. Aside from Karin, there was one more girl and four boys. The girl looked like a very thin fifteen year old, dressed in dirty rags. There were some sort of markings on her face that looked like a clan mark, but I couldn't place them. The boys were a mix of young and older. There was this one kid that looked like ten, while the oldest around seventeen. All of them looked rough, dressed in hand-me-down type of clothing. They also looked roughed up, but I was guessing that was courtesy of our captors.

Between the boys, two of them also had some sort of markings that made me think of shinobi families or clans.

That sparked a memory. Wasn't this a thing in Kiri? Wasn't that Haku's whole situation as well before they met up with Zabuza? The persecution and discrimination against bloodlimit shinobi families due to the constant wars and violence and how those shinobi were used as tools of war.

Was this whole bunch all kekkei genkai shinobi?

Like a reflex, I tried to pop out my comms board, only to glance at my bare arm in a bit of confusion. Ah, yes, taken, prison, bad. My brain really wasn't working properly. I had to talk with these people if we were to have a chance to leave this place alive. A small sigh escaped me. I had only one choice left if I didn't want to keep hurting myself. My hands flashed with seals. Out popped another me.

The kids all around took another step back. I saw a few looking for ways to escape. Even Karin looked startled now. Why? I mean, yes, here I was using clone jutsu, but that wasn't bad, right? I nodded to my clone. Communication-chan had only one job: talk with this gaggle of people and make them ready while I prepared for our escape.

Communication-chan squealed, threw herself at Karin in a bear hug. "Oh my gosh, Karin-chan! I love you! Even if you have the worst taste ever in boys. Emosuke, really? Why?"

I face-palmed. Right, out of control clones, lower inhibition head injury. What else was I expecting?

---

It took a while to calm down Communication-chan and placate Karin. While my clone tied the bandage around the bite marks on the girl's arm, it ended up falling to me to explain things.

"Chunin exam." That was the excuse I blurted out. I knew from Karin's story she had participated in the same exam as me, even if I hadn't seen her there. I hoped that was still true.

"Konohagakure's Chunin exam?" She asked, her hand going toward her face in an unconscious gesture, fingers tracing the scar.

I nodded. The scar wasn't as bad as I first thought, or maybe Karin's healing abilities worked on that as well? The mark looked fading, like it had been years since the injury, and not months. My guess was that those marks were a gift from Forest of Death Bear-kun, since Sasuke wasn't there to save her from it in this timeline.

Karin didn't seem willing to let me off the hook.

"Emosuke, who's that?"

Communication-chan, the traitor, giggled. I shot her a glare to make sure she kept her trap shut.

"Is this really the time? We have to escape."

I played the deflection card again. I might have over played the throat injury card as well, letting a trickle of blood escape my mouth along with a bit of coughing. Take the hint Karin, I'm hurt here, can't keep talking.

That might have done it. Karin looked startled, offered me her arm again. Communication-chan decided to do her job. Finally, thank god.

She pushed the offered arm down.

"It's not something you can help with," she husked out.

I had to shake my head at that. Why was Comm-chan using our Seduce Best Girl voice with Karin?

Karin looked from me to the clone, and I took the chance to leave them while explanations were given.

I left the cells and scoured the underground rooms for anything we could use. There wasn't much. There wasn't much time I could spare. None of my stuff was here. Back at where I faced the other shinobi, I salvaged all the weapons I could, picked up the used kunais, shuriken wires and all that. Ran back to the cells and shared it with the other prisoners. It wasn't much. Four kunais, a dozen shuriken, two spools of wire, two exploding tags. That would have to be enough.

While I was scavenging, Comm-chan managed to get others on board with the escape plan. Among the other prisoners, only Karin had shinobi training. The others were mum about it, but by the looks of it, yes, they were descendants of bloodlimit clans. I think only the tall girl actually knew how to use her bloodlimit. A misty hazy cloud that could be used to block vision, and other types of perception. Could be useful, but that also somehow interfered with my chakra sensing, which was less than ideal.

The escape plan was simple. I was going to blow up the blocked passage, and we would storm out of the complex before their reinforcements arrived. Time was of the essence here. There were lots of questions being thrown around, none I had the patience to answer.

I mean, how would I know where that kid's pet was?

While the others bickered, I went on with my preparations. First, I created another beacon. I pushed my chakra, and a hardwood kunai formed on my hand. One of the downsides of using a modified mokuton clone for this was showing up in a ugly way. When I passed out for a few minutes, the kunai dispersed, just like a clone would do.

If Karin hadn't healed me and let me suckle on her arm for a chakra top up, I'd be screwed right now. No, who am I kidding? If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead right now. I owed her big time.

Now, while Comm-chan wrangled the kids into some semblance of order, I was about to start stuff. We spent enough time already. For this part, I was almost chakra depleted again, even after being topped up by Karin. Why? You ask? Well, the reason was simple. I had to reinforce the walls and pillars with mokuton for what was about to come. I couldn't sense anyone in the complex above. The remaining chunin was nowhere near my perception range when I woke up.

With one last glance, I got a nod from my clone. It was time. I approached the blocked passage, found a place where I could inscribe my seal. Only the best explosions for our escape. I pushed my chakra, black lines drawing the shape of freedom. Then I ran back to cover.

Yes, I know, blowing stuff underground was a bad idea, which is why I made sure to reinforce the whole thing with hardwood. Now I just had to deal with I don't know how many more enemies outside, without using chakra.

If everything went to shit, I could always sacrifice Comm-chan like a chakra refuel package. I hope she didn't catch me thinking that. That would be so much trouble.

Blow stuff up, kill anyone trying to stop us. Escape.

Should be easy, right?

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Friday.
Proofreader: CakeEight.

Hinata at a grocery store buying baking ingredients?

 

[okashihime]

The blast reverberated underground, deafening. The whole room shook, the ceiling cracked, pieces of stone fell around us, dust blocked our vision, but we weren't smashed by a fuckton of rock, so I reckon my reinforcements worked.

I was starting to have this feeling about explosions, the way they made my bones tremble, how the impact flowed through my body. This one was seven out of ten, ten being an evil laboratory pile of explosions after effect. The payload wasn't the highest, but I think being underground was enough to amplify the reverberations. Nice!

Me and Comm-chan were probably the only ones enjoying it, however. The other kids were scattered around, hands blocking ears, groaning, disoriented. Ugh, some people didn't know the good things in life. I pulled Karin-chan up, then the other kids. Comm-chan helped, and soon after, we ran through the exploded passage.

On the other side of the once barred passage, were stairs leading up. It opened up into a bigger complex, with lots of doors and other areas to explore. We didn't. From the layout I had memorized, I guided the sorry lot toward the door. There was no enemy yet in my sensory range, which I was conflicted about.

I had given Karin-chan a kunai, an explosive tag and, call me selfish, my Kuro Raiku beacon . Impressed upon her the importance of not losing the damn thing. I think I managed to convey how important it was. She held the hardwood kunai in a white death grip.

The lot behind us was a disorganized mess. The tall girl held a kunai, the oldest boy held another. The younger had shuriken, while the one in between had the wires. I had the remaining kunai, while Comm-chan had the last of the explosive tags, shuriken and smoke bombs.

The above complex still had locked doors we had to bypass, but they were just reinforced wood, nothing that normal explosion wouldn't solve. For a moment, I considered if I should try to find my supplies, the things I took from the laboratory. Having my own seals and weapons would help, having my own reinforced shinobi uniform would help more. I discarded the idea. But I vowed to return. I needed the data from the hideout.

We climbed yet another set of stairs, and blew yet more doors, until we burst out into an open area under a canopy of trees. The sky was foreboding and angry, full of dark clouds. Evening or dawn, I wasn't sure which. Looking back the place we just left was just an unremarkable patch of grass, with no indication whatsoever that something hidden lay beneath. Not even my chakra sense could pick up the fluctuations on the walls I could feel when inside.

Outside, there were no enemies. No ambush, no mob of shinobi waiting for us. The group stopped. For a moment, no one moved. Then the other prisoners fled as fast as they could, each running into a different direction, and leaving me behind, alone.

Karin-chan's hand found my arm. She grabbed it in an ever worse death grip. "No! Don't run!" She yelled, which only spurred the brats even faster. I looked at her, she was looking wildly. "It's a trap," she whispered. "They're waiting around us."

I looked around, I paid attention to my chakra senses again, and felt nothing. I knew Karin-chan was a sensor type, but was her sensing ability that better than mine?

Most of the escapees weren't stopping. If anything, they ran even faster after Karin's warning. In a way, I could understand them. This looked like a prime opportunity to flee. Would I stay with the crazy girl that likes exploding things.

I gritted my teeth. Fucking unfair.

Comm-chan picked up on my mood, understood my decision. Asked the question that needed to be asked. "Where to? Which way has the least and most enemies?"

Karin-chan looked around, pointed. I grabbed her trembling hand, gently pried the beacon from her fingers. Tossed the hardwood kunai to Comm-chan. For once, my clone was on the same wavelength as me. She hopped closer, gave Karin-chan a hug, then saluted me and flickered away, toward the direction Karin pointed had most enemies. Maybe that would help.

"W-what is she doing?"

"Can you hide your chakra signature?" I rasped out. I did what I just asked from Karin. I wasn't the best when concealing my own chakra, but it was impossible to always feel the chakra without learning a thing or two. I just never thought I'd need this ability. I should have trained it.

Karin-chan gave me a shaky nod, then faded from my perception. It was strange. Seeing her there, but not sensing her. I shook my head, waited. Counted to twenty. When I heard the first explosion, and yells, I grabbed Karin on a princess carry, pumped my body full of chakra and ran as fast as I could. All around, towards where Comm-chan went, I sensed enemies moving.

I ran, but Karin-chan was on the driver's wheel. Behind us, even from a distance, the sound of battle and explosions. They were from my best supply. Was Comm-chan creating them on demand? I approved. I had fantasized about doing just that. Thunder Flying God plus on demand explosions. That was a match made in heaven, wasn't it?

"From there," Karin whispered, pointing her finger. I swerved away, moved in another direction. "There," she said, and pointed again.

That repeated for a few more times. It was clear however, the enemy wasn't after us specifically. Most were moving toward the battle. Comm-chan hadn't dispersed yet. I sent her a prayer and a request. May she kill them all. Was I evil for thinking that?

---

Comm-chan knew her brain wasn't working right, more so than being a clone already screwed things up. Being a clone was a strange experience. Things just didn't seem to be that important or serious, no matter how much the original Hinata thought they might be.

Original-chan could be a little more open with her thoughts and her feelings as well. Suppressing things made it hard being a clone. All those repressed impulses were just like candy boxes waiting to be unwrapped. It made her want to do strange things.

Comm-chan gave Karin a hug and her biggest smile, and debated if she should snog the startled redhead. Decided against. Kissing Karin just to mess with the original was a tad too much, and she would feel bad. Comm-chan wanted to snog Ino, not Karin. Karin was cool, but she wasn't Best Girl Ino.

She saluted Hinata, then flickered away. Thoughts about the future pushed away from her head. Comm-chan was just a clone, there was no need to worry about the many hard decisions to come. No, she had a different purpose and goal.

It was finally time.

Original-chan finally decided it was time to stop holding back. She could see it in Original's eyes. A new name was needed. A fitting name.

Assassination-chan, the newly appointed, regretted she wasn't dressed up for her part. A ratty shirt and nothing underneath. She wasn't going to lie. It was embarrassing as hell, but that was life. Couldn't choose the cards dealt.

Her first victim entered her sensing range. It was a medium blaze, a bit over chunin. She knew ranking people over their chakra reserves wasn't the best metric, given she knew a sunshine brat that had more chakra than anyone else, but was also almost like an inoffensive puppy. Killing him would be so easy. Teleport, hug him, stab his eye while he is distracted.

…

Why was she thinking on how to kill the brat? Was she that far gone? She cast away those thoughts, the first victim was here. Hidden behind a tree trunk. She picked up a pebble, tossed it to one side of the soon to be dead enemy, the beacon to the other. As soon the pebble hit and the enemy bolted, she teleported, knee already in position to strike the fleeing enemy. He tumbled, she grabbed his head, filled her arms with chakra, snapped his neck.

Assassination-chan let go of the body, watched it flop to the ground. She nodded at a well done job. Being physically strong had its perks.

Then she tsked, bent down and grabbed the corpse. She slapped her hand at the corpse's back. Inscribed the explosion seal, special vintage. Propped the corpse against the tree, with the seal hidden. Jumped on another nearby tree, and threw nearby one of the normal explosive tags.

Assassination-chan was dedicated to the job, but chasing after prey was boring. Better set up the bait and make prey come to her.

The clone stopped. Thought back on that statement. Nodded. That was a suitable edgy and dark line for an assassin. She snickered, dimmed her chakra presence. It was time to get to work.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. <3 Next chapter Monday.


Proofreader: CakeEight





I created two and updated a few images from a while ago.
Random Hinata Images
Casual Hinata Images

 

[jayofgrey]

Is it finally explosion time? Big boom o'clock!
Can't wait for the mook horror show!

 

[GAMB42]

And another Chan joins the chat. No wonder the mind ninjas can't read her, there are too many Chans inside her head all the time lol.

 

[okashihime]

And another Chan joins the chat. No wonder the mind ninjas can't read her, there are too many Chans inside her head all the time lol.

Click to shrink...

I got a good chuckle out of this one. Thank you for reading.

 

[okashihime]

It was evening and getting darker fast. For a while now, Karin had been quiet. There were no enemies around us, and we were so far away from the prison that the sound of battle didn't reach us anymore. Somehow, Comm-chan was still alive and exploding things. I could feel the beacon moving with her, and if I paid enough attention, caught glimpses of the action on the other side.

I know I prayed for her to kill as many as she could, but did she need to transform every enemy she could put her mittens on in a bomb carrier? Wasn't that a tad too much? Even if the body count wasn't as big as I thought it would have been, exploding enemies was somehow, way worse than just killing them. Was Comm-chan trying some sort of mind game or something against the enemies?

Cold darkness fell. With the clouds blocking the sky, there was no light to help me see. No star light, no moon light. Just pure darkness. I pushed out with my threads to sense the surroundings. I had to move slower to avoid tripping, but the important thing was to keep moving.

As soon the threads spread out, Karin-chan gasped. "How're you doing that?" She looked this way and that. Finger touching some of the threads. "It's beautiful."

That was nice to hear. I think my control, and thus threads, was my most developed skill. I spent literal years training this stuff. Felt good to be appreciated. Karin didn't seem to be waiting for a response. She kept trying to grab the threads, and at some point, it became almost like a game. It was a good bit of distraction that kept me moving late into the night.

I kept fleeing but even so, I had my limits. I was tired, cold, hurting, hungry and thirsty. I wanted water so bad. So much for a place called Land of Waves. There was no river or water nearby. No lakes or ponds. I wasn't even sure if we still were in the Land of Waves.

But now it wasn't just being tired anymore. Moving around wasn't enough to keep warm, not when I had barely anything to wear. The cold wind cut deeper than any kunai.

From running, to jogging to walking to shambling.

At some point, my clone, the drama queen Assassination-chan met her end. I was proud of her, and maybe a bit scared. Was I that dangerous when I didn't have to worry about anything else? She led the enemy in circles, abusing the teleport to strike from places they wouldn't expect, planting explosions whenever she could.

She… made a mess. But now with her memories, I understood why. She wanted to attract attention. Maybe that would also help the others escape. Maybe that would prompt Kiri to investigate. We could only hope.

The beacon was still there with one of the enemies. He didn't seem to know what my kunai was for. He had bagged it, and now was lugging it around. I kept part of my attention on the guy, hoping to find any clue to what was happening. The nameless shinobi had put it among other items that looked like contraband or loot. He left soon after, but there were people nearby.

And people talked, and stuff was discussed. Two of the masked shinobi were talking around the contraband. Most of it was in some sort of code or shorthand I couldn't understand, but there was one word that stood out above all else.

ROOT.

I could even hear the capitalization in the words. I should have guessed. I'm kinda mad I didn't.

In the show, Sai was emotionless and disconnected from his emotions due to ROOT training. Now, here he was, seven years free from Danzo, supposedly not part of ROOT and yet still emotionless and disconnected. Why hadn't I seen it? Was I that blind?

I stumbled, almost dropped Karin, who had fallen asleep while I carried her. She yelped, windmilled, grabbed my hair, pulled it.

I couldn't keep going this way. Now that the adrenaline had faded, and the cold snuck in, the past how many days of abuse was catching up. Karin might have healed my injuries, but that didn't erase the mental strain. I changed focus from moving away to find somewhere to hide.

In total darkness, I carried Karin through a small cave opening.

Jagged rocks and twisting paths made it look like a nice place to hide. However, it turned out to be a dead end. The passage wasn't long, and it tapered off in a small crack in the stone that wasn't big enough for Karin or me to fit through. I considered staying here, but I didn't like being trapped with only one way of escape.

I turned around and walked away from the cave. My hazy meandering led me to the base of a massive tree. From what I could gather with my threads, it might take at least five of me, hand in hand, to wrap around the tree's base.

My chakra threads retracted, and I tried to think through this. Going inside a cave was a big no-no. Hiding on the canopy of a tree? That might be better. It was open space and I could flee in any direction if needed. On the other hand, it would be way colder than the cave. With how cold the air cut me, I wasn't sure that staying out was feasible. Somehow, I couldn't decide what to do. It was like my brain OS had blue-screened.

"Hey, are you asleep?"

I blinked; Karin's hand was on my cheeks. I hadn't seen her moving.

"The chakra lines disappeared, and you've been quiet for a while now."

I pushed my threads again. Noticed that my beacon had disappeared. Had I fallen asleep standing?

"Hold on tight." I whispered, and before Karin could say anything, I coated my feet with chakra and climbed the tree. A few branches up, I found a nice place to sit down, then plopped myself with my back to the trunk. As for the cold, Karin would have to take responsibility and help me deal with that. I adjusted the redhead so she was on my lap, back pressing against my front. Karin let out a startled yelp. Don't blame me, I had the most innocent of thoughts. It was just cold and I was butt naked, with only a flimsy shirt. Karin could deal with a bit of awkwardness.

There was a moment of silence, until she started speaking again. "What's your name?"

I wasn't keen on speaking, it was time to try something else. I formed words with the threads. "Hinata." Karin could sense them. Would she be able to read it?

"Hinata?" Karin read back to me. I slumped forward, head pressing against her back. I nodded. "Same as the dead Hyuga girl?"

I stiffened. What was she talking about? I scrambled to write more words. "What dead girl?"

Karin wiggled on my lap, adjusted her seating, and pressed us closer. "You don't know? I thought everyone in Konoha did. Mom told me about it. Even in Kusagakure, it was a huge scandal." She stopped, picked up my arms, and put them around her waist. Her arms were all lined with gooseflesh. "Someone stole the Hyuga Princess right under their noses. The poor girl was also named Hinata."

I felt numb. I wrote. "Yeah, like that Hinata."

"Thank you for saving me Hinata-chan."

Again, I nodded. I don't know why hearing that from someone else startled me this much. I wasn't dead, dammit.

The silence stretched again. The night was quiet, and the cold wind rustling the leaves was almost therapeutic. I closed my eyes.

---

"Hinata-chan." Karin's whispered call startled me awake again. How much time had passed? "They're coming."

I didn't need to ask who or how. They're ninjas, and I didn't do anything to hide my tracks. I forced myself up and adjusted Karin so she was on my back instead of a princess carry. Her hand grabbed my shoulder and squeezed before I could move.

"They're around us. Five of them."

I still couldn't sense them. I needed more information. "How strong?" I wrote.

Karin looked at the invisible words. I could only tell because I had threads on her to keep up with her movements. "Stronger than you. Their chakra feels… different. Too controlled, dark, bitter."

What could I do here? I wasn't in any condition to fight. Assassination-chan had burned through most of her chakra. When she dispersed, I barely got anything back. I hadn't recovered enough to put up a serious fight.

Could I use the beacon? I cast my mind again, then shook my head. It vanished when I fell asleep, and even if it hadn't, what about Karin? If I used the beacon, I'd leave her behind.

"What do we do?" The redhead asked. Her voice was a whispered whimper.

A crazy idea hit me. It was so crazy that it might just work. "I… have a crazy idea, I can't promise it will work."

"Is it dangerous?"

I tilted my head, then wrote more when I realized she couldn't see it. "There's a chance it won't work at all. There's a chance we'll be separated, or it will work only for me. I don't know."

Karin patted my shoulder, released my neck and dropped down. She grabbed the kunai I gave her at the start of this mess. "Do it," she whispered.

That was kinda cool. And foolhardy. She didn't even know what I wanted to do. Still cool.

I moved closer, hugged Karin. She let out a strangled yelp. "H-hinata-san?"

Huh, why the formality? I shook my head. Wrote with my threads. "Hug me as tight as you can. Don't let go." She did just that, arms sneaking around me and pulling me closer. I popped out more of my threads, made them tangible, but instead of spreading them around, I wove them around us, like an invisible cocoon, then used it to press us even closer.

The surprised gasp from Karin sounded wrong, even to my ears. Not the time, brain. It was life or death here. By now, I could already feel the jounins approaching. They finally entered my sensing range. Karin was right, there was something wrong with them. Their chakra was too still, too controlled, and an absolute fuckton.

I brought my hand to my mouth, bit my thumb until it drew blood, then I willed the Kuchiyose no Jutsu I learned from Naruto from what felt so long ago. My already low chakra got sucked up by the activation, and when it ran out, my threads started to disperse. I couldn't let them. I pushed and pulled from reserves I didn't know I had; it drained something else I couldn't put into words, but my threads remained.

The world spun, and it was like I was being pulled in all directions at once. It wasn't painful, just disorienting.

It ended as soon as it started, and we fell into a warm, dark area. Soft, warm earth beneath us, a strong musk scent, and pale crystal-looking lights in the sky. No, not the sky, the ceiling. The faint light illuminated the cavernous walls and the small — was it a hill? — nearby. Karin was still with me, breathing loudly.

I didn't have time to be glad my gamble paid off. My threads cocoon unraveled. I didn't get up. My whole body burned. Worse yet, a familiar onset of agony spiked. It took me back to that time in the Forest of Death, with Orochimaru burning heretical knowledge into my mind. My body ached, my bones burned.

Karin looked up, gawked at the ceiling and wall. She grabbed me by the shirt, shook me like her life depended on it. "What the fuck did you—" She didn't finish. The redhead froze, woodenly looking around. It was like she'd seen a ghost.

Try as I might, I couldn't answer. I knew this feeling all too well. The seals on my bones were trying to kill me, and I had no chakra left to suppress it. An agonized scream escaped my mouth. Karin yelped, let go, and I fell back on the ground, hands trying to dig into my skin, reach my burning bones.

The nearby hillock shifted, shattering the quiet of the place. From all around, I heard hustling, grunting, chattering, and growling. From behind the moving mound, a car-sized black-furred triangular face with beady eyes approached and stared at us.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Wed.

Proofreader: CakeEight.



A quick update on the backlog status: I have up to chapter 7.7 written.

Arc 6, somehow changed, and now goes to 6.24. Those extra chapters include two from Naruto's POV and one from another.

It's time for Best Girl Ino images!
(Since the first one refuses to load, here is the link: https://i.ibb.co/fzdJh9Qb/00000-664854670.png)

 

[Petrox]

Canon, filler or OC summon?

 

[Praky]

My money is on Badgers after all her talk about being a Honey Badger.

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Lewascan2]

Heheh, if this is somehow Badgers/Honey Badgers as a summon clan, I expect making a contract with them is going to see things getting very silly and hilariously violent (more than normal) in the future. XD

Because Honey Badger don't care. Honey Badger don't give a fuck.

 

[okashihime]

Karin knew that participating in the chunin exam in Konohagakure was a terrible idea. The team she was forced onto was wholly unprepared, and the higher-ups in Kusagakure somehow believed that because she could heal her teammates, they were qualified to compete against the geniuses of the bigger villages.

Case in point: she was the only survivor of her team after they entered that damnable forest. Karin should have, by all accounts, died as well. She remembered the bear and trying to fight it. She remembered the claws that should have taken her eye. She remembered the pain and the teeth. Then she woke up in the hospital with a scar to remind her that it hadn't been a dream.

Karin considered if she should just flee. The life of a missing-nin looked more appealing than the forced servitude her own life was. She looked down on her arms and the many bite marks from abusing her healing ability. The jounins in her village knew she risked her own life every time they overused her lifeforce. Karin's mother was proof of that. Kusagakure's ninjas didn't care. Every time a battle broke out, she was dragged to the battlefield.

The same day she woke up in that hospital, Zosui took her away from Konohagakure and back to her village.

Her life of enslavement continued, day after day, week after week, until, once again, she was taken to the battlefield to heal injured ninjas. Or that was what should have happened.

Days away from Kusagakure and preparing for the confrontation, Zosui commandeered the village's elders' house for the night for him and his squad. Karin got the cellar treatment. Locked in the damp underground with no hope of escaping. That same night, Karin sensed a large group of shinobi approaching. She found a dank and dark place and hid. For two days, she waited alone in the dark.

The skirmish lasted all night and all day. In the chaos, no one came to find her in the dark cellar. Karin escaped into daylight again once she couldn't feel anyone outside anymore.

The village had been razed, and her minder was nowhere in sight. Hopeful for the first time in her short life, Karin ran, but not for long. Not two days passed, and she was accosted by two shinobi who recognized her cursed lineage.

Karin tried to put up a fight, but they were stronger. She blacked out after a well-placed kick to the head. The next time she woke up, she was somewhere underground, surrounded by shinobi. Strong shinobi with bitter and rotten chakra.

The whole situation was more than disheartening. Karin was ready to give up. Why keep struggling when, at every turn, things become even worse? Fate, however, didn't seem keen on letting her go.

Her captors brought a new prisoner whose chakra was nothing like Karin had ever felt. It was clear, fresh, bubbly, with a hint of darkness. She couldn't see who it was, but she heard the results. The constant physical abuse and beatings. She expected that one to die within hours. It didn't happen.

Trapped in her cell, Karin couldn't sense the outside. There was some sort of barrier blocking her perception. But she still could feel the chakra of everyone present. There was something happening. Most of the shinobi with that strange and bitter chakra left, leaving only a token force behind. The chakra of the ones who stayed behind was all spiky and swirly.

Karin knew in her gut something was about to happen. Then it did.

Days later, the prisoner that was kept under lock, key and beatings, broke free.

It was a young girl. Naked. Wreaking havoc and destruction. The five minutes that followed were the hardest in Karin's life. She tried to understand what was happening by the movement of their chakra, but she couldn't make sense of it. The escaped prisoner moved erratically. Worse, her chakra was like tight clothing in the shape of a person. What kind of jutsu was that?

Somehow, the girl managed to kill three of their captors while the last one fled. Karin had expected the girl to flee, but then she returned to the cells. Naked, eyes hazy, holding bandages to an injured chest. Even with that, the amount of blood she left in her wake was scary. Karin had no idea how the girl was still standing.

The escaped ninja had a bundle of key rings, and maybe it was fate, so she stopped by Karin's cell. The girl tried to open the metal cage, but her hands shook too much while she looked barely coherent.

Karin's own trembling hands snaked from inside the cage and grabbed the girl's arm to steady her hand. She didn't want to try taking the keys. She had no idea how the other would react. "Let me help you." She whispered. Her voice was a weaving mess.

The shinobi heard her. She looked up, pale-faced, and Karin was left staring at unfocused black eyes, even if one looked more like a snake's eyes than a human's.

"I can help you." Karin pleaded again.

Unfocused eyes looked down; the girl tried to fit the key a few more times before shoving the whole thing into Karin's hand. Not a second later, the injured shinobi toppled over.

Karin stared for a few uncomprehending seconds before the yells of the other prisoners woke her from her surprise. She tried the keys and managed to open her cell on the second try. She pushed the door open, and as much as she wanted to help the dying girl, she needed to do something else first. She ran toward the nearest cell—it was the older teen's.

"Here!" Karin yelled, thrusting the bundle of keys at the boy.

The decision to save the dying shinobi wasn't wholly altruistic. If injured and unarmed this ninja managed to kill most of the jailers, saving her life would also improve Karin's chances of surviving this whole fiasco. Now, she just needed to wake up a half-dead shinobi and make that person bite her arm.

---

From the moment she decided to heal Hinata, Karin never would have imagined she'd now be in some godforsaken cave, staring down a mountain-sized honey badger, while Hinata screamed herself hoarse.

Karin was petrified. All at once she wanted to help Hinata, run and hide, scream hysterically, but she ended up doing nothing. That massive, triangular face and beady eyes kept her rooted in place. Worse, that wasn't the only one. All around, the cave had come to life. She heard grunting, rustling, growling, and chattering.

Another hoarse groan from Hinata broke the standoff. Karin flinched. Looked at the contorting girl at her feet. She didn't dare to move more than that, however.

A rumbling, deep voice cut through her panic. "Tend to your companion, unworthy one." The voice from the massive badger resounded in her whole body. "We can decide what to do with you once the heretical summoner isn't about to die."

Karin stared at the massive animal before her, still frozen stiff.

"Or you can let her die." The voice rumbled, amused. All around, the tittering and chattering grew. "It's been a while since our little cubs ate an unworthy one."

Karin whirled and dropped to her knees. She pulled her sleeves up on the arm that wasn't bandaged. Not enough time had passed since she last let Hinata drain her life force, which would probably mean another set of scars. These, at least, were her choice. The big one behind needn't threaten her into helping. She wasn't about to let Hinata die.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Friday.

Proofreader: CakeEight

Spoiler: Images

There isn't much for genin Karin, so those don't really "match the normal naruto's vibe" but I guess they look kinda nice?

https://i.ibb.co/TBXD9BdL/00224-718163423.png

https://i.ibb.co/ksgTnSwb/00218-718163417.png

https://i.ibb.co/YBkwxVXX/00242-4041570177.png

https://i.ibb.co/PGgJps8x/00246-4041570181.png

Spoiler: Mapping

I'm using this as the "emotion mapping" for Karin.

• Still/Steady: Calm, serene, or focused.
• Gentle/Waves: Comfort, affection, or empathy.
• Erratic/Spiky: Anger, frustration, or irritation.
• Turbulent/Swirling: Anxiety, nervousness, or fear.
• Pulse-like/Throbbing: Excitement, eagerness, or determination.
• Shivering/Flickering: Sadness, vulnerability, or insecurity.
• Flowing/Stream-like: Contentment, satisfaction, or harmony.
• Bursting/Explosive: Intense joy, passion, or exhilaration.
• Dense/Compressed: Resentment, bitterness, or suppressed emotions.
• Cold/Slow-moving: Apathy, indifference, or exhaustion.
• Warm/Expansive: Love, compassion, or hope.
• Chaotic/Unstable: Confusion, desperation, or mental turmoil.
• Sharp/Needle-like: Hatred, malice, or a strong sense of betrayal.

 

[Belisario]

I was honestly expecting something else, the badgers here seem a bit frivolous to me, honestly.

 

[theaceoffire]

I was honestly expecting something else, the badgers here seem a bit frivolous to me, honestly.

Click to shrink...

As it turns out, when it comes to concerns regarding frivolity, honey badger don't care.

 

[Kuriboh1233]

Honey Badger....that's a new one. Also totally fitting for Hinata.

 

[Lukisesa]

Hi! Fantastic read so far, love thr characterization and how trauma-laded Hinata lives. Do you have a patreon or something i can donate?

 

[okashihime]

Hi! Fantastic read so far, love thr characterization and how trauma-laded Hinata lives. Do you have a patreon or something i can donate?

Click to shrink...

Thank you. Recently I created a patreon, yes. I haven't added it here because I'm not sure about forum etiquette and mostly because the patreon is there so I can commission artwork, not really to motivate me for writing. xD

It's: https://www.patreon.com/Okashihime

Thank you. <3

 

[Lukisesa]

Of course! Your work is sublime and I want to support anyway I can! Also, I do think you can plug your patreon in your Author Notes.

 

[okashihime]

Keeping the seals in my bones suppressed had never taken much conscious effort. The key Orochimaru provided drew from my chakra to suppress the ongoing kill effect. I should have asked this question before, but what would happen if I ran out of chakra? Well, as it turned out, the damn thing was trying to eat me alive in an excruciating way.

A detached part of my mind watched the seal at work in fascination. I wasn't a fan of the Snake Sannin, nor did I approve of his methods, even more so when those methods were directed at me, but I couldn't deny that his work was exceptional. Beautiful even.

It was a level of mastery I could only dream of. My seals looked like a patchwork of cobbled-together dirt. No, that was just my depressed side getting out of control. There wasn't a good way to compare my seals with the Snake's. They were different paradigms. Oro's seal was like a well-oiled machine designed to use every iota of fuel available, while mine somehow had a better conversion rate. My seals had trouble converting the chakra into energy, but the small amounts it did, somehow had better output.

All of that was to say that now – out of chakra – the seal was converting my life force into fuel to kill me. It was devious, brilliant, awesome, even. And it hurt like hell.

I was aware of movement around me. I heard voices—one deep and rumbling, Karin's gentle and insistent, others squeaky and chattering.

"Bite, Hinata-chan," Karin whispered, "but gently this time."

Even with the whole dying situation, that one threw me off kilter. Not hours ago, I had chomped down on her arms to the point we had to bandage the entire forearm to hide away the gruesome teeth marks. And now, here she was, offering me the other one. That inflicted me with a severe case of feelings. Not the good kind.

I was tired of being the damsel.

Teeth found flesh, and sweetness poured again in my mouth. I didn't chomp this time. I wasn't that far gone. The groan-slash-moan from Karin told me she wasn't doing well either.

The chakra top-off gave me enough to avoid the draining of my life force. It didn't, however, stop the seal. For that, I had to work on the key again. But I had already done it once. I could do it again.

I hope I was right. It would be a very gruesome death otherwise.

The work to re-suppress the seal was challenging and time-consuming. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and still in pain, but I couldn't stop until the seal was back under control. I heard yet more voices around. Then, warm hands carried me somewhere else, plopping me on what felt like warm, scratchy blankets. The underground cave wasn't as cold as the forest in the Land of Waves, but the warmth helped.

With painstaking care, I spent hours rebuilding the key. Once it was done, I fitted it into the lock. Immediately, I knew there was something different. It took just a second to understand what. This was part of the Snake's plans all along. The key couldn't be used over and over again. Now that I knew more about his style and work, I realized the first key was modifying the original seal. Every time it was used, the efficiency decreased. Not enough to be fatal, but enough that I was now on a timer.

His plans all along. If I couldn't be better than him, I'd be forced to seek him out. I wasn't going to lie; I was kinda amazed at how devious he was. The fucker.

My options weren't great. Maybe Tsunade could help? I just needed to convince the future Hokage-sama to poke me on my insides.

…

Huh, that didn't sound very nice.

When I opened my eyes, the cave's darkness greeted me. All around me were sounds of moving, grunting, and the ever-present musky smell.

I was on a mound of furs, Karin sleeping by my side, grabbing me like a cushion. I looked around. We were inside what looked like a small nook in the stone wall. Beyond, I saw shapes moving in the darkness around us. Big, small. Every one of them was a bundle of chakra. There was, besides the fur pile, a bowl with water, another with fruits. That was nice of whoever did that. I disentangled myself from Karin, rolled on the furs until I was by the bowl side, grabbed it, and drank as much as I could.

It tasted a bit earthy and stale. And it was the best thing I had ever drunk.

Sweet nectar down my throat and munching on tasty fruit cleared my head to think of more pressing matters. Where was I? With all the events post space-time jutsu, I hadn't paid attention to my surroundings. How long had it been already? What happened to the mission? Given the amount of chakra around, I was pretty sure that, somehow, my gamble worked. If I could convince my destined animal shinobi companions to sign a contract with me, maybe they could send me back to the land of waves.

Even if I was days too late to help, I could at least try to learn what happened with the rest of the team.

No, that wasn't the real reason. That was just the lie I told myself to make me feel better. What I was worried about was the revelations I learned from the laboratory. Was I a clone? I still thought I wasn't, but on the not-zero chance I was, where was the original Hinata? Could she be, for example, being held, for years, in some dank, dark prison Orochimaru used to keep his captives? Like the one in the Land of Waves?

My moving around attracted attention.

A small shape approached from the darkness. It was also a tiny bundle of chakra. I placed the bowl down, sat up, and waited. It didn't take long for the interloper— or was I the interloper?— to approach.

Small — maybe a bit bigger than a Miniature Pinscher—, stocky, triangular head with beady eyes and small ears. Dark fur covered most of its face, with white hair from above its eyes to the end of its short tail. It had wicked claws on the front paws. It also wore what looked like a shinobi's uniform, with dark-colored fabric covering parts of its body and a utility belt around its torso.

A honey badger. A mini ninja honey badger.

It stopped, got on its hind legs, and stared at me. Still stunned, I could only stare back. Why badgers, of all things? I wasn't going to lie. It looked cute as heck. I wanted to pick it up, cuddle, maybe pet it.

The badger raised its paw; its wicked claw pointed at my face—no, not at my face, at my eye—the one with the snake pupil. My hand moved, tracing the skin just beneath said eye. The badger tilted its head, tittered. It was so cute. Then it spoke, a soft, squeaky female voice.

"Imma gonna gouge out that eye and eat it up." The tittering rose into laughter. "Just wait till pops says you're food."

I take back what I said. She wasn't cute. She was freaking adorable! Like a creepy-cute-little-murder-ninja. I wanted to cuddle her. I might even have tried.

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Monday.
Proofreader: CakeEight.

 

[jayofgrey]

Ahhh. They're a perfect match!
Cute adorable bundles of murder and explosions! And snake hating too!
5$ say badgers will be Hinata's buds for life if she just rants about wanting to explode Orochimaru. That contract's is plain guaranteed by offering to feed 'em Madara or whatever Orochimaru's pet snake was called.

 

[Lewascan2]

Ah yes, adorably murderous furballs, those honey badgers. Just wait until they find out she has a "human" snake in her life she hates very much and wishes to thwart utterly, and they'll practically be chomping at the bit to make her their human proxy in their (likely already ongoing ) blood feud against the snake clan.

In retrospect, if the summon clan you reach by doing a blind summon is your "destined" one, then the fact that Hinata got her hands on what is probably the most aggressively appropriate anti-snake summon clan just makes way too much sense. Truly, there is no better "fated" result than the motherfucking honey badger and its rather hilarious tendency to completely hard-counter snakes, given Hinata's charted course of being perpetually at odds with the frustratingly immortal snake-man (speaking of which, Orochimaru is still actually "alive", right? Pretty sure he can't truly die as long as any of his totally-not-horcruxes/curse marks exist, right?).

On that note, it gets me thinking about what kinds of techniques Hinata would learn from the badgers, and just off the top of my head, I'd bet they spec extremely hard into earth-style jutsu (of which Hinata is already a firm appreciator) along with anti-poison/venom techniques. I'm imagining the badger-brand body modification techniques or sage mode likely incorporate some elements like their durable/flexible skin (known to shrug off spears/blades/teeth), their feral flexibility and likely sharp claws and senses. Lots of fun options.

 

[okashihime]

Wrote lots of interesting words and theories.

Click to shrink...

I see what you mean. I did try to put a spin on it, based on the fact the badgers aren't just creatures of instinct anymore, but sapient beings, and also as a reason why "they aren't better known" in ninja lands.

As for their style: I'm still unsure about senjutsu. My original plan was to leave that to the normal three (still undecided, really), and the badgers able to teach/a different set of skills.

 

[okashihime]

I lay on the fur pile, nursing a bitten finger and trying to sleep. Karin, the grabber, had ensnared me the moment I settled by her side. She wasn't only a grabber, though. In the ten minutes I was here staring at the darkness and trying to sleep, she pulled my hair, kicked my legs, scratched my arms.

Was she having a bad dream? A careful, probing look left me with more questions than answers. Her face was calm and peaceful, as if she dreamed of something pleasant. This was contrary to the reality I was experiencing, but I decided to endure it instead of shaking the redhead awake. It had nothing to do with her holding me and the human contact. Nu-uh. I just didn't want to wake her up. That was all.

I closed my eyes, thinking of blondes, cupcakes, and dates. I wanted to see Ino.

It felt like I had just blinked when everything changed. The light from the ceiling crystals was brighter, the chattering and rustling all around louder. My mini-ninja-killer abused finger was no longer smarting from the bite, and Karin was still making me her pillow. For the second time, I disentangled myself from her.

I got up, looking around. The previous night, tired from the ordeal and lack of sleep, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to realize we could be in real trouble. I cleared the crust from my eyes, unlimbered my sore limbs. It was time to get the ball rolling. I pushed my chakra, created a beacon for my Kuro Raikou no Jutsu. There was a tinge of painful heat inside my body following that. I held back in a groan. Fucking fucker Orochimaru.

Karin was still asleep even after all that moving about. Was this a side effect of me draining her life force twice in a single day? I shook her awake.

I pressed the wood kunai to Karin, and while she got ready, with one last stretch, I left the furs. I looked around, trying to see what was different from before I fell asleep. The guards I noticed before falling asleep weren't here anymore, but many more were going around outside the alcove.

Badgers, a lot of ninja badgers. Tiny cubs running, grunting, and playing. This small group was trying to throw shuriken, which was too big to hold. Another older group was play-fighting. Or at least, I hoped they were play-fighting. It looked brutal enough, but there was no blood, so I was keen on thinking they were only playing.

"Good morning, Karin-chan." I wrote with my threads.

Karin pulled the bed hair out of her face. Fur lines marks on her skin. She looked worse than I'd seen her ever. "Errrhhr" she groaned. I took that as a yes.

The small nook we slept in led to a larger tunnel or area. The crystals in the ceiling provided some illumination, but it was like faint moonlight. Enough to move by. With no idea where exactly to go, I picked the direction with the most chakra bundles. Karin shambled behind me.

The central passage, large and tall, had several other small alcoves and tunnels branching from it. Across from where we slept there was an area that looked like a nursery, given the number of cubs and mini-badgers there. I'm guessing the she-devil that bit my finger escaped from there. The place wasn't unprotected. Pony-sized badgers kept the place secure. I was sure they were using some sort of ninja jutsu or something. The only reason I knew they were there was because of their chakra. It took a while of staring at the spot one was at to see it, and I was sure it let me.

The one that broke his stealth was kind enough to point me in the correct direction.

What I meant by pointing was grunting, growling, and bare fangs whenever we tried to move anywhere other than a particular direction. I was guessing they weren't happy with us for some reason.

Another room down along the path had what looked like a classroom. The badgers there were older, or at least larger than the cubs, and the teacher, a scarred-looking, grey-furred badger, pointing to a mural with several sets of images. In the darkness, they were more complicated to make sense of. The first one depicted what looked like a burrow and a group of badgers. The second was the badgers and a group of humans. In the third, there was some sort of agreement or trade. The mural showed the badgers receiving jars, fabrics, and other items. The next mural I could see showed the badgers fighting alongside the humans.

Badgers receiving jars and fabrics seemed strange. Were those payments for their help? A trade agreement for their loyalty? The jars looked similar to honey pots I'd seen in Konoha markets while shopping for ingredients for my pastries.

On the other side of the room, an epic battle unfolded across the mural: badgers, clawed and fierce, clashed with giant bees the size of wolves. The bees swarmed over the badgers, their stingers dripping with what I imagined was venom. One badger stood atop a fallen bee, triumphant, but others around him lay lifeless. There were more murals, but I'd need to enter the room to see them.

Most badgers seemed to talk in a grunting language I couldn't understand. At least, that was the impression I got. There was a lot of chattering and grunting whenever I approached. Some sounded suspiciously similar to laughter.

Following the path led to an even larger chamber, where we had arrived at. The badger I mistook for a hillock was there, giant beady eyes focused on us.

Karin whimpered. Grabbed my arm. I looked back. She looked even paler now. Had the big lug of a hillock badger done something to her while I wasn't paying attention? I patted her head. Still not sure why people liked doing it, but it might have a good reason.

Karin looked somewhat calmer. But still didn't release me.

I turned back to the giant badger. This was going to take a toll. My comms board was AWOL; summoning a clone might cause trouble. Oh well, it was time to bleed for my ideals. I squared my shoulders, raised my head. The circumstances of our arrival might have been strange, but I was here to show the badgers that making a contract with me would benefit them, too. Not sure how it would benefit them, but I was going to do my best to convince the big one.

"The summoner survived," the badger's voice rumbled. His eyes flicked down toward its massive paw. There was a small bundle of chakra there. "You can't eat her eye, cub."

A familiar female squeaky voice squeaked in response, "Imma no cub no more pops. I earned my name." The little devil turned to me and growled. It was adorable. "And why not? She's tainted and brought an unworthy one!"

I didn't like where that conversation was going.

A chuckle that sounded more like an earthquake preceded the answer. "Right, Kumoko."

That was a strange choice of name. If I understood it right, didn't that mean Spider Child? Why would a mini murder badger be named that, of all things?

The big face turned toward me. It was marred with many scars. Most were hidden beneath the coarse black and white fur but still visible if I paid enough attention. Somehow, the atmosphere changed after the chuckle, like a switch turned on.

"You arrived uninvited and dying," the big one said. "I gave you shelter. I shared my food and water. You partook in my hospitality. No harm befell on you," the big one stopped, glanced down at Kumoko, "that wasn't of your own making." Was he implying the little-she-devil was right in biting me? I mean, I did try to pet her, but still. "Customs were observed."

There was a pregnant pause. Was I supposed to say something?

"I'm the patriarch of this clan, and you may call me Tsuchigaru. Why have you come here, Hebigan Kuchiyose-te?"

My mind raced at the question. I knew why I was here. It had been a gamble, and I needed to escape. I hadn't known where I would appear, but as long as it wasn't snakes, I was happy with making a contract with any other shinobi animal clan. But there was something strange in his way of addressing me. Names, I was coming to realize, meant a lot to these badgers. The big one meant Earth Growler, which was fitting, all things considered. If I took it at face value, the way he addressed me meant Snake-Eye summoner.

I wasn't sure what that meant, but I could convince them to sign a contract with me as long as they weren't hostile. I thought back on what benefits I could provide. I had my modified storage seals, my explosives. I could help them get things from the human population and bring it back here. It might be expensive, but I wasn't that poor anymore. I nodded. I could work with that. I opened my mouth. I didn't manage to speak.

"You reek of the snake clan. Why shouldn't I let my daughter eat your eye and entrails for trespassing into my lands?"

---

Spoiler: AN

Thank you for reading. Next chapter Wed.
Proofreader: CakeEight.

Releases update: I'm going back to morning releases. GTM 11AM. Releasing chapters this late is bad for my sleep. I keep wanting to check the site for comments. Yeah, I'm spoiled that way.

Backlog update: I've written up to 7.15. I liked how most of those turned out. Arc seven, I think it's going to be a long one. I might need to slice it into another, maybe. I'll see how things shape up. I'm in chapter 7.15 already and there are four big events that I wanted to cover in this arc. Don't know yet how I'll organize it yet.