A strange new life

6.14

It was the day after the negotiations. Kumoko led the way through a series of tunnels, some big, others small, twists and turns and passages that sometimes looked all the same.

Even after another day of rest, Karin wasn’t in better condition. The redhead lagged behind, and I often had to stop and wait until she caught up. At one point, I offered to carry her, but she just shook her head and pushed me to keep moving. Had I sucked out that much of her life force? I wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the time — dying and all — and I don’t really remember how much I took from her.

The path Kumoko led us through would take us near the so-called hive. We’ve been walking for the better part of the day in the twisting labyrinthine tunnels.

Karin and I visited the badger’s “storage” to get the gear I bargained for. There wasn’t much we could use there; most of the contents were designed for badgers. Even so, we managed to find things we could use. I found a green kimono that fit me more or less. The lack of underthings, I solved by cosplaying a mummy. Lack of shoes? Bandages. Lack of gloves? Bandages. Lack of a bra? Bandages. No belt? Well, you get it.

On the other hand, the redhead still had some of her gear from when she got captured. Her captors hadn’t bothered to take all of her stuff, only weapons and tools. After raiding the storage, Karin now wore a dark brown kimono over a fishnet bodysuit. She still had the open-toed shinobi footwear. All in all, she looked good. At least, that is what I thought, anyway.

Kumoko stopped near a small tunnel leading upwards. “We’re here, snake girl.”

I looked at the mini-badger; the tunnel upward. Kumoko didn’t seem keen on going up. I wrote words and Karin read them out loud for me. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Nuh-uh, can’t help ya.” The she-devil said, entire body shaking in denial. She was already used to mine and Karin’s antics. “You gotta get the royal jelly yourself; otherwise, what would be the point?”

“What’s up there?” Karin read my next question.

“Forest,” Kumoko’s head looked back toward the tunnel we just came from. “Pops said there’s a path nearby, find and follow it, shoulda take you to the hive.”

That smelled fishy. I was pretty sure something was wrong with this whole situation, I just couldn’t say what. I looked at Karin, who just shrugged. I started toward the tunnel.

“Don’t take too long, snake girl,” Kumoko called out after us, tail lashing. “I won’t wait forever.”

Delaying the royal jelly gathering mission for a whole day wasn’t just to let Karin recover. I wanted to prepare. Both badgers — giant dad and mini she-devil— were mum about the bee’s hive. Both ignored subtle questions and direct inquiries. That left me trying to prepare for things I wasn’t aware of.

Fortunately, raiding the badger’s storage didn’t result only in new clothing fashion. We managed to find a few kunai and shuriken that were similar to what I was used to. But the jackpot was finding sealing paper. That gave me a good idea to try. Bee’s were weak to smoke, right? I didn’t need to fight any assumed giant killer bees to steal their jelly. I could, you know, just put the whole hive to sleep and sneak in to steal the jelly.

That was how the previous day ended. I returned to our designed alcove with a shambling Karin in tow. She slept, and I prepared seals.

Tight stone walls of the tunnel Kumoko led us to pressed closer around us. The tunnel was dark, and the passage grew steeper the more we climbed. I wasn’t one to be claustrophobic, but it felt uncomfortable. Until now, I hadn’t considered we were underground this whole while. The soft crystal lights managed to trick me somehow. This passage had no crystals to provide illumination, forcing Karin and me to navigate through the darkness. I used my threads to help me navigate, kept a bandaged hand on the rough wall to steady myself, and held one of Karin’s.

Karin followed behind, breaths shallow. Even without being able to see her, I kept looking back. Karin was never a front-liner combatant in the show, more of a supporting cast. I was worried about her.

When we emerged from the tunnels, the sunlight blinded me. I stood still at the passage entrance, eyes closed, breathing the fresh scent of earth and greenery. Slowly, the spots in my vision disappeared, and a strange forest stretched out before us; a wild and untamed expanse of towering trees and thick undergrowth. The canopy above let in scattered rays of sunlight.

It was quiet—almost too quiet. There were no bird calls or sounds of other animals. Only the faint hum of insects broke the silence.

Karin walked from behind me soon after. She stopped by my side, also surveying the forest. 

“Creepy,”she muttered.

I agreed with her. There was something really wrong here. This place was strange. At first, it looked like a typical forest, but the more I looked, the worse I felt. It was the bark’s color, the leaves’ shape, the scent in the air, the shrubs and vines. They were all so familiar yet different in a way that set my teeth on edge. What was this place? Where had my summoning gamble taken us? I knew there were many contracted ninja animals in Naruto’s world; take Pink-chan, I mean, Tayuya, for example. She could summon some giant creatures, or Pain and the Animal path. But I had never heard of badgers.

More than that, I couldn’t dismiss the feeling I was missing something important.@@novelbin@@

“What complicated thing are you thinking about?”

I turned, faced Karin. How did she know? My threads wrote my question. “Can you read my mind?”

Karin waved, rolled her eyes. “I wish.” There was a bit more enthusiasm in her posture. “I can see your chakra. It got all swirly and spiky.”

Was that supposed to mean anything? What was she going on about?

“Now it’s all chaotic. That one is easy, confusion.” Karin stopped, scratched her cheek. “You have no idea what I’m talking about.”

I shook my head.

She sighed, trying to push the hair out of her face. Looked away. “I can somewhat tell how someone is feeling based on how their chakra moves. It’s usually not that precise but,” she looked at me. No, it was like she was looking inside me. “But yours is so clear and responsive and bubbly. It’s really easy to tell what you’re feeling.”

I scowled. That was bullshit, and not fucking fair.

“Now it’s alternating between spiky and shivering. That’s usually frustration and insecurity.”

I glared at her.

“It’s all dense now. Resentment?”

I glared even harder.

Karin looked from my navel to my face. Blushed, looked away. “Err, anyway, where are we going?”

Before anything else, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake. I held my hand out, a hardwood kunai formed on my palm, the beacon seal already inscribed. I ignored the spike of pain from bone seals. The pain hadn’t faded away after getting it back in control, it was this constant buzz that most of the times I could put out of my mind.

By my side, Karin gasped, gripped my arm tightly. I ignored her. My chakra dipped lower, but that was fine. I held the kunai to Karin.

“Keep that, don’t lose it. If things go bad, I’ll try to lead the enemy away. As long as you have that, I can find you anywhere.”

It felt strange misleading Karin like that. I was hoping she would take my words as the kunai being a tracking device, which wasn’t wrong. The original function was that, but I could also spy on her, and teleport to her if needed. That way, if the worst happened, I’d be able to react in time, use her as bait, or even lead any enemy away then go back to Karin after she gave them the slip. Was I being this paranoid because of Sai?

Karin gave me a considering look. She was reading my chakra again, wasn’t she? Damn it. She took the kunai, gave me a nod. She turned, looked in the distance, like she was looking through the trees.

“I can sense chakra, a lot of it, it feels different, somehow.”

“Different how?” I wrote.

Karin looked back at me, shrugged. “Remind me of the badgers?”

“Are they close?”

Karin shook her head, looked in the distance again. “About half an hour out, if we walk slowly.”

How… large was her sensing distance? I thought mine was good, about a hundred meters all around me. What did it mean for her range if this chakra presence was that far away? So fucking unfair. The more I learned about her chakra sense, the more mine looked like a discounted, cheap version no one else wanted. I shook those thoughts away. It wasn’t time to be petty, or jelly. I could do that later, once we were safe back at Konoha.

I looked around. Trying to find said trail Kumoko told us about. After a moment, I summoned two clones to help me. While my clones got their bearings, I walked a bit further away from the entrance, then took my water-skin to take a sip. That much walking left me thirsty.

“Hello, Ojou-chan. You’re so pretty!” One of my clones husked out.

I coughed, spat the water I had just drank.

“Eh?” Karin gasped.

I looked around. My clones were around Karin. One was slightly hunched over, one hand on her hips, another grabbing Karin’s waist, with a lecherous grin on her face. The second clone had a hand on her chin, a calculating look on her face, like checking merchandise. Karin was trapped between the two, with the clones invading her personal space.

“How about ya come with us?” Clone two said, hand going to Karin’s mane of red hair and gently tugging free a lock. Clone two looked at me, sent me a quick devilish grin before she turned to Karin. “We’ll take good care of ya.” She husked again.

“Eeh?” Karin looked spooked. She glanced from my clones at me and then back at the clones.

I face-palmed. Why were the clones behaving like that? I wasn’t that bad, right? …Right?

…

That decided it; no more clones. I might as well take a page from Shikamaru’s book and name them Troublesome-chan, The First and Second. Resigned to my fate, I crouched, kept looking, drank more water. I hoped that by the end of this, my clones didn’t traumatize Karin…

…Too much.