A strange new life

8.6.i

Growing up, Ino always knew what she wanted. She was smart, having graduated at the top of her class along with Sasuke and Shino. She was pretty, had good friends, and was her clan’s heiress.

Her future goals were simple: Find a handsome husband — Sasuke, preferably — to marry, learn her clan’s secret techniques, have a lot of friends, become a famous kunoichi, enjoy life. Easy, simple goals.

But things weren’t so simple anymore. They hadn’t been for a while.

Ino’s eyes lingered on the now quiet Hinata, still resting on her shoulder.

When did things become complicated? Ino couldn’t say. If pressed for an answer, she might say it started during the preliminaries of the second exam. As strange as the situation was, that kiss never really faded from her mind.

It… hadn’t been nice, far from it. Ino could still feel the blood-soaked lips against her own. She pushed that memory away.

That day might have made her pay more attention to Hinata, but it wasn’t when the once-mute girl became a recurrent thought. Ino wasn’t sure when or how, but she’d usually think about Hinata even before that.

Before that kiss, she would’ve dismissed the strange flutter as just a craving for sweets and cupcakes. But after that kiss…

It just didn’t make sense. Ino already knew what she wanted: Friends, a good husband, and happiness.

So why did the thought of separating from Hinata sting so much?

Ino’s thoughts drifted back to the weeks before Hinata had returned, when she had to hope against hope that her friend was still alive. Those days were a blur that she barely remembered. Holding Hinata’s forehead protector until she cried herself to sleep. Wishing she were strong enough to go and look for her friend.

Ino knew what she wanted. Friends, be famous, be happy.

Then there were all the things Hinata had said. When Hinata first mentioned secrets, Ino had imagined many things: maybe a secret crush on Sasuke, perhaps that she was secretly Naruto’s girlfriend — those two ideas bothered Ino more than she would admit — maybe she was the secret daughter of someone else famous and that’s why she wasn’t part of the Hyuga clan anymore.

Even with all that Ino already knew — the kidnapping, the experiments, and everything else — these new secrets… Ino couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Millennia-old goddess hidden inside the moon? A world-spanning genjutsu? The whole of the Uchiha clan’s traditions manipulated by some shadowy being?

Had everything she suffered broken her mind?

Ino didn’t want to think that, but what if it was true? Her fingers traced spots on Hinata’s head, the other girl shuddering.

If it wasn’t madness, the future was grim. The Fourth Shinobi War. The death toll. The sheer scale of it all was too much.

“And these people,” she groped for the right words, “they need the Kyubi sealed inside Naruto to complete their plan? And that’s also just another trap by this goddess?”

The tale Hinata told had lasted hours, even if Hinata had been vague on the details. Often, she got sidetracked, talking about things that made no sense, like how Kakashi’s sensei’s face looked beneath that mask. Or something she called Inner Sakura.

There were significant differences between the tale and reality. In Hinata’s version, Tsunade, the slug sannin, had become Hokage instead of Shisui. More shinobi had died in the attack during the chunnin exam, while no civilians watching the exam had been hurt. That man, the one she often talked about, Danzo, was still a council member, plotting and mind-controlling people.

It was so unreal.

Ino’s fingers found that exact spot in Hinata’s head that had caused a reaction. She pressed down, just a little harder this time.

Still in her arms, Hinata’s breath hitched and she shuddered. It was a whole-body thing this time.

When she answered, her voice was barely a wheeze. “Yes.”

Ino’s first impulse was to tell her father about it. He would know how to deal with the situation, but she remembered her promise. Maybe the story wasn’t real. Perhaps it was just a fabrication of Hinata’s broken mind. But Hinata believed it. Ino could see how hard it had been for her to open up and tell this secret.

Having memories of another life, it was absurd. Ino didn’t know what to believe. For now, Ino chose to believe in Hinata, or at least that Hinata believed in her own story. That would have to be enough.

The sweets sat untouched. The tea long gone bitter. Time slipped past unnoticed. How many hours already? It was probably late at night, it was hard to tell. There were no windows, and Ino couldn’t hear anything from outside.

There was one thing that Ino needed to know, two things. If this whole story was real, she needed to know what they could do to prevent it.

“What’s our plan, Hinata-chan? How do we stop this?” Her nails dug just a bit harder on Hinata’s skin.

Something about the way Hinata shuddered, because of her, stuck in Ino’s chest. Something Ino liked.

Hinata floundered, breath hitching, until Ino finally loosened her grip.

Her voice was breathy, heavy. “I have plans,” Hinata whispered, still catching her breath. “But right now, I’m nowhere near strong enough.”

Silence stretched between them, broken by Hinata’s whispered voice.

“I don’t know if I’ll live long enough.”

Pain laced through Ino’s chest. She gripped Hinata closer, fingers digging harder into her scalp. That was bullshit. Ino had thought Hinata had died once. She wasn’t going to let it happen.

“Bullshit,” she said.

“Hum.”

“You talked about those diagrams you lost, or maybe this Tsunade woman. She’s a miracle medic-nin, right? We can go looking for her.” Ino said. There must be a way to help.

Hinata pushed away, breaking the hug. Her face had cloth marks; her eyes were a bit puffy.

“Tomorrow, when I talk with Shisui, I’ll ask him to send me looking for Tsunade.”

Wasn’t that what Naruto’s mission had been? He had often talked about going after this Obaa-chan with the Ero-sennin.

“I’m coming with,” Ino said before she could think things through.

A hint of a smile showed on Hinata’s face. Her dark eyes fixed on Ino’s.

“Thank you,” Hinata said. “If Tsunade can’t help, then I have no choice but to hunt down Danzo and hope I can recover the things he stole.”

Ino looked at Hinata’s determined eyes. Every time she remembered that Hinata might not be alive in a few months, pain laced through her chest. It wasn’t fair. But Ino wouldn’t let it come to that. There must be a way; if not, Ino would make one herself.

After all, Ino knew what she wanted.