A strange new life

The question caught me off-guard, but panic wasn’t my response. Without realizing it, I had already decided I wanted Ino to know most of the stuff I was keeping secret. Not everything. I don’t think I could ever talk about everything. 

Warm, bubbly feelings danced in my chest. Had Ino been thinking about that moment in the forest? I hadn’t scared her with the bloody kiss or the crazy talk?

“It’s the secret I can’t talk about,” I said.

Ino’s voice was a sad whisper. “Oh.”

“But I want to tell you, anyway.”

Ino’s head left my shoulder, hands gripped it instead, turning me until we faced one another.

“Are you sure? If it’s a secret, I can wait.”

I looked around, cast my chakra perception. There was no chakra nearby. I looked back at Ino. Her brows were furrowed, but her eyes were intense, searching mine, as if looking for a piece of a puzzle.

“There’s this place Kakashi-sensei took me once, kind of a private restaurant,” I said. Ino nodded. “It’s private and quiet,” I added.

Ino blinked, tilted her head. The furrow on her brows disappeared. She gave me a firm nod.

“I’m going with you to meet the Hyuga,” she said. “We can go there after.”

The warm feeling on my chest grew. I smiled. “It shouldn’t be dangerous, the Hokage will also be there.”

Ino looked at my face, touched my cheeks. “Then I need to go home and get ready,” she said.

I leaned on the touch, just a bit. “I’ll meet you at the shop, and bring supplies.”

“Cupcakes?” Her voice was hopeful.

I rolled my eyes. “Among other things.”

Her face bloomed into a full smile. She nodded again, got up. I did the same.

“Meet in one hour?”

“Make it two,” I said. It was cutting too close to the scheduled time, but I had things I needed to prepare.

Ino waved, sped toward her house. I also left, took the highway toward the commercial district. Houses blurred past me until I landed by the store entrance. I walked inside, waved at the Owner-san. He waved back.

“Oji-san, give me two jars of your best honey.”

The owner did a double take, blinked a few times. “Oh my, you can speak now? That’s marvelous!”

I smiled. “I’m in a bit of a hurry. I’ll drop by later to chat?”

“Right, right,” Owner-san waved me off. “You shinobi are always running everywhere, with no time to sit and talk.”

After that, he went deeper into his shop, returned a few minutes later with two sealed jars and a small clay dish containing a dollop of honey. He placed everything on the counter, and picked up a bowl with water and a hand towel.

“Here, have a taste,” he said, handing me the dish. “These are more expensive than you usually buy, but I’m sure they will satisfy.”

I washed and dried my hands, then stuck my finger into the honey. Finger went into mouth, moan escaped mouth. Damn this one was good. Owner-san smiled, crow’s feet showing up by his eyes.

After I polished the sample, I composed myself. “These will do.”

He nodded. Under his interested eyes, I paid for the honey and stored the jars in seals.

“Hinata-chan, you’ve been away for a while, so don’t forget about this old man. Bring me some of the storage seals later.”

“I’ll do it as soon as possible,” I said, then waved and ran out of the store.

With the honey acquired, I went toward the clothing store. The clerk, Oba-san, saw me, smiled, and took a package from under the counter.

“One set is ready,” she said, tapping the package. “The others will take more time.”

“That’s more than enough,” I said. Paid for the outfit, left after a few more moments of small talk.

Now prepared, I returned to the apartment.

Karin wasn’t around. I was curious to know what the Redhead was up to, but I was happy to know she wasn’t hiding inside the house all day long. It would have been better if she were here, but that was my mistake. I should have told her beforehand.

I hopped into the shower, cleaned the training grit away. Afterwards, I put on my new shinobi gear. It wasn’t anything fancy, or complicated: a fishnet undershirt, black shorts, and fishnet leg protectors that left almost no skin visible, black open-toed shoes, a sort of qipao shirt. Around my thigh, bandages for style.

The qipao reminded me of something Tenten would wear. I thought it was pretty.

Over all that, I wore my flak jacket. The look with the jacket wasn’t perfect, and I wasn’t planning to wear it all the time. But this was official business, and I wanted the Hyuga to know I was a Konoha shinobi.

After one last look in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place, I put the finishing touches. A bit of makeup, just enough to show I was taking care of myself, the weight seals, because those were integral parts of my style. Lastly, I tied my new forehead protector around my arm, similar to Shikamaru.

Not to toot my own horn, but I looked damn good, like a proper shinobi. I wish I had a phone for some pics. Fangirl-sama agreed.

After admiring myself for a while longer, I left the bedroom toward the living room. With a bit of effort, I pushed the table to the corner, cleared a space in the middle of the room. Out popped the honey jars. Open palm up, I created two hardwood beacons.

Those took about half my chakra reserves. I sighed; there was nothing I could do about that.

I hid one of the beacons inside my apartment, near a prepared supply pack and clothes. Back in the living room, I bit my thumb, placed the hand with the bloody finger on the ground, pushed my chakra and summoned Kumoko.

In a puff of smoke, the badger appeared. She looked around, eyes stopping near the jars before glaring my way. Strangely, she didn’t say anything. Her tail was still and unmoving. No frustrated lashing this time?

“How have you been, Kumoko?”

Her tail lashed out. “Fine,” she growled. “What do you want?”

Well, so much for small talk. I placed the hardwood kunai in front of her. Kumoko looked at it, sniffed the beacon.

“I need a favor,” I said.

Kumoko looked away, her voice was a squeaky whisper I barely caught. “Like I could refuse.”

“Take this back to your burrow, please,” I said, ignoring her whisper. Then I pointed at the jars of honey. “And here is your payment. The best I could find.”

Kumoko looked longingly at the honey, tail lashing, agitated. She sighed; it was a defeated half-growling. “I can’t take payment.”

She walked toward the kunai, stuck it inside the bandoleer around her chest. Then she looked at me. She didn’t blink. Creepy, but also cute.

I nodded. “Not payment then,” I said and walked to the jars of honey. I took seals, and stored the two jars separately. I gave them to Kumoko. “It’s a gift. One for you, the other for your dad.”

Kumoko looked at me like I was planning something foul. Well, I was planning something. In the end, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with the badgers, but I was still interested in learning about Kumoko. I’d keep my interactions with her only, and see how things developed.

“Pops said I can’t,” she squeaky growled.

I nodded. “Your dad said you can’t take payment. He said nothing about gifts.”

She looked between me and the seals a few times, before nodding. She walked closer, took them and put them in her bandoleer.

She looked around my room, still not saying anything. Well, at least she wasn’t demanding my eye anymore. It was a good start, right?

“That’s it,” I said. “Do you need anything, Kumoko?”

The she-devil looked at me, blinked a few times. “This place smells strange.” It was all that she said.

I gave her a sagely nod. “The kunai will disappear in about half a day, don’t need to worry about it, just place it on the alcove from before.”

Kumoko gave me one last look, her tail lashed again. I noticed it wasn’t the full frustrated lash, just halfway there.

“I’m leaving then,” she said.

I nodded. In a puff of smoke, she was gone. With my retreat secured, it was time to meet Ino, then Shisui and the Hyuga people. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Neji again. I think he’d be madder at me than before.

I mean, I almost killed him. But that was fair play, right? He wanted to do the same to me.