A strange new life

“How long do you young ladies plan to sleep for?”

I stirred in my bed and pulled the blankets over my face. The room light was on, and I didn’t want to wake up. The bed was nice, and the pillow I was holding felt good, warm, and soft.

“Five more minutes, Mom,” I muttered.

The pillow moved, groaned, complained. “Moooom, it’s too early.”

“Don’t give me that. It’s halfway to lunch already.” The stern voice said. “I understand why you want to practice, but that’s no excuse to sleep without at least showering or removing your training clothes.”

I opened one eye. I wasn’t in my room. By the side of the bed, Yamanaka Mother glared at Ino. Her gaze flickered toward me, softened for a moment, before turning stern again.

“And you,” she said, then paused. “Welcome back, and thank you for looking after Ino.”

Heat crawled up my neck. I nodded, then disentangled my limbs from Ino’s. I didn’t remember when I fell asleep. At some point, the hug party turned into a cry party and then a sleep party. I felt better, a lot better. I still wasn’t fine, I don’t think I’d be fine for a long while, but I felt more like myself.

I slipped out of bed while the matriarch still berated Ino, who didn’t want to get out of bed. The scene brought a smile to my face. It was also an excellent opportunity to slip out. I needed to come back and talk with Ino again, but right now, I just wanted some time alone to think. I made some impulsive decisions the night before. I now had to live with it.

Silent steps took me toward the door. It didn’t work.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

I froze. Even without using my name, I knew deep in my gut that the stern woman was talking to me. Woodenly, I turned around, opened my mouth, and closed it. I looked around for my board; I couldn’t see it anywhere.

“Well?”

“…Home?” I offered.

The matriarch rolled her eyes. It was slow and deliberate, like she was dealing with a toddler whining that his candy fell down.

“Bathroom with you, and clean this—” her hand moved over her face, the movement like she was afraid of touching something terrible. “Then to the kitchen and set the dishes. Breakfast is already getting cold with you two empresses not wanting to leave bed.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again.

The regal woman approached, stopped in front of me. Her eyes bore down on me. Then she kneeled, hugged me. Kissed my forehead.

She got up, returned to Ino’s bedside, and resumed her scolding.

I was still stuck frozen, not knowing what to do. What the hell was happening?

Yamanaka Mother turned to me again. “What are you waiting for? Breakfast won’t serve itself.”

“Yes!” I squeaked. Fled toward the bathroom.

I got to the lavatories and looked at the wall mirror. Eye crust, old dirt, and flecks of blood. Yikes, now I know why. I was surprised the woman braved the mess to kiss my forehead. She was a lot braver than me.

Breakfast was strange.

Steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickled veggies with tea. Even after living here for years, this type of traditional spread still took me by surprise. When I was cooking for myself, it often resembled my old world: bread, juice or tea, maybe cake or pancakes.

Inoichi ate and drank his tea in silence. He wished me good morning and gave me a nod as if me being here was an everyday thing. Yamanaka Mother sat regal and imperiously on her chair, surveying her domain. Ino poked the food here and there, but didn’t seem keen on eating.

“I wanted cupcakes,” I heard her complain.

I rummaged through the things I’d brought yesterday but forgot to hand them over. Under a pair of eyes, I placed the miniature seal on the table. Ino’s face lit up. The matriarch looked at me disapprovingly, but said nothing. Inoichi kept drinking his tea.

Out popped the cupcakes I’d baked the day before; the ones I hadn’t told anyone about. Cardamom cupcakes with brown butter buttercream, chocolate cupcakes, dried fruits cupcakes.

“Yes!” Ino cheered and almost climbed on top of the table to pick some of the pastries. The matriarch tsked in displeasure but accepted one of each when I presented her with the peace offering.

Inoichi picked one of the dried fruit cupcakes, took a bite.

“A bit too sugary,” he said, then took another bite, drank from his bitter green tea after.

“What are we going to do about things, Hinata-chan?”

Breakfast had ended a while ago, and I was in the kitchen doing dishes. No one had asked me to do it, and I don’t even think they expected me to, but after intruding on their family moment, it was the least I could do to appease my guilty mind.

I popped out my comms board, propped it against the wall. I don’t think I even need to hide my threads anymore. I wrote. “We?”

Ino looked startled at the pencil that, for her, was moving on its own. Then she rolled her eyes. “You’re not dumb, so don’t pretend.”

A warm fuzzy feeling started from the pit of my stomach and crept to the tip of my ears. It was a nice feeling. It also felt nice knowing Ino wanted to help, even after all the pile of crap I dumped on her the previous night.

“I dunno,” I admitted.

“Right,” Ino said after a while. Then she walked to my side, shoulder bumped me and started helping with the dishes.

“We train in the mornings when there’s no mission. That’s non-negotiable," she said, picking up a dirty ceramic bowl.

I stopped and looked at the blonde.

She didn’t look my way, she kept talking. “Tell me everyone you know and have even a passing relationship with. Don’t leave anyone out.”

I nodded. Wrote slowly while still washing dishes. I wrote about all the ninjas I knew. Ino was also acquainted with most of the people I knew. Then, there were the civilians. I listed the shopkeepers, the ingredients suppliers, the people I met and talked to during my missions, Haku and Zabuza, Lady Shijimi and my trade deal. The old grannies from the GGC, the ramen store owner. Even about Linlin I wrote. Finally, I wrote about the two dinner invitations from the Uchiha and Aburame clans.

Ino listened in silence.

“You’ll prepare for the Uchiha and Aburame dinner,” Ino said after a moment. She nodded, then continued. “Be on your best behavior and see if they’d be willing to support you against the council.”

I nodded.

“Dad owes me a big one,” she offered as a side thought. “I’ll bug him to convince his Nara and Akimichi clan friends.”

“Ino,” I whispered.

The blonde stopped, looked my way.

“I haven’t told you everything.” I mulled on things. “I don’t know if I can.”

She nodded, wiped her hands on her clothes, and hugged me. “Tell me when you’re ready.”

I nodded against her shoulder. But deep down, another thought gnawed at me.

This was too good. Everyone was being too nice, treating me like a person. The other shoe was going to drop—I could feel it in my bones. And I wasn’t going to like it.