Chapitre 13: Chapter 12
Snap Back to Reality 12
I thought the world had been dull, if not completely unbearable blind when I first started out. It was infuriating how I got lost, or how easily I bumped into things I couldn't sense. It wasn't until I learnt to calm down, to use my other senses as much as I used my vision before, that I realised how vibrant the world was despite losing my sight. Everything around me had a smell, a texture and even a sound that I hadn't heard before. I could suddenly paint a picture of a world around me full of vibration, fragrances, and sensations unlike any I had felt before. I did miss seeing the twinkle of the night sky, the gradient of a sunset, and the rustling of Konoha's deep green trees, but now I had a whole new appreciation for that as well.
I could dodge the traps set about me with effort now. I wasn't perfect at it, and sometimes I managed to miss a senbon coming my way. Sensei's traps had also become more and more elaborate now and infinitely less predictable. I had managed to get through the forest every day with a little less injury, and a little faster. Progress was slow for me. I was no prodigy. If anything I was like Guy, with a tad bit more talent in other areas. My natural talent for chakra control was my only redeeming feature. Everything else was achieved by hours and hours of training. I never complained though. I had a personal no complaints policy. If I complained it was in my own head, never out loud, because spoken words had power, and complaining led to complacency. I didn't have the privilege of complacency yet.
I stumbled into sensei as I finished the forest trap course again. I let out a few tired breaths as I took a moment to compose myself.
"Good work kiddo. You've gotten the hang of things. I think you're ready to take off those goggles now."
I jolted up in surprise, then excitement and then I frowned slowly.
"What's wrong?" sensei asked.
"I'm not nearly good enough. 4 logs still hit me on the way here," I grumbled.
"You've done the best you could."
"It's not nearly enough. I heard from another Inuzuka. You master this training in 3 weeks," I bit out uncomfortably.
"Hina," sensei sighed, and it wasn't every day he said my name. "The people who master this training have Inuzuka blood, which in and of itself helps us have already better senses than most other people. They are also much older than you and have been using their other senses for longer, and even then, not every Inuzuka can get this down."
I bit my lip and angled my head up and sighed. "I know… it's just that I want to be strong. I know I'm not the quickest or the best at learning things, but I don't want to be treated like I can't perfect something just because of my age or my lack of Shinobi blood."
"You're always in a rush," Gaku sighed in a bit of frustration and fondness.
"I'd like to think it's warranted since we're in war," I pointed out with an amused snort.
"Yeah, it's just that I've never met a kid your age this eager," he chuckled sadly.
"There's no time for being a child, not now," I replied, feeling a pang of loss as I thought about Kakashi.
"I know kiddo. Ok, you can keep those goggles on, but we don't want your eyesight deteriorating so for the next three days you'll wear a bandage around them, and then you will use your sight again for another 3 days before we continue with those goggles."
I nodded, not even bothering to argue. Just because I wanted to hone my other senses, didn't mean I wanted to lose my sight forever. I took off my goggles and let sensei tie the thin cloth around my eyes. Even now the feeling of light hitting my eyes was intense in and of itself. I couldn't imagine having to go from being blind to seeing all of a sudden and was suddenly so grateful for the cloth.
The next 6 days, sensei taught me breathing exercises and I took it easy as I worked on my katas and precision training with shuriken while being unable to see. It was considerably easier work than the past month. I spent my time practicing incorporating my awesome fire bending moves into my kata, much to my sensei's amusement. He thought it had potential in the future, but it was a lot less useful than I made it out to be. I think he just let me do it, because I acted like a kid when it came to using that. It couldn't be helped. Avatar the Last Airbender was my favourite show as a child, and there was no way I was passing out becoming Zuko in real life no matter how old I mentally was.
Getting my sight back was something I couldn't describe with words. It was amazing. It was like a whole new world, especially now that it worked in tandem with my other, more enhanced senses. It was amazing. I think I grinned like a madman for the 3 days I was allowed to see, and I spent more time in the library reading up on things I was missing out on. Unfortunately, I had work to do, and senses to hone. My 3 days being able to see was over and I put my training goggles back on reluctantly.
I didn't have Kakashi to spar with for my second training month. He'd left after 2 weeks of consecutively kicking my ass. It left the competitive part of me writhing in indignation. I wanted to beat him at least once and then rub it in his smug face. Unfortunately it wouldn't even be worth it because I'd be unable to see his expression if that even happened. I sighed at the thought as I jumped up from my stretching.
"Sensei, what's the plan for training now? More death traps?" I mused.
"I'm glad you asked my precious little kohai. I've left several scrolls in the forest for you. 6 scrolls are trapped and only 2 contain a special prize. Let's see if you can find them."
"What's the time limit?" I asked.
"Oh the next two months."
"Why, would I need two months to find some scrolls?" I asked incredulously.
"Why little kohai, because you'll be chased by me the whole time."
"What?!"
"Times ticking my precious little bean. If I catch you, you're going to be punished with a hundred push ups! I'll give you a five-minute head start!"
I didn't have the time to complain. I was flustered sure, but I needed to get moving. I ran on head when I felt the air current to my right change as the familiar sound of kunai rushed by me.
"What the hell! Why is the place still trapped?!" I cried.
Where would I even start when it came to look for a scroll in this mess?! There were hundreds of kilometres of land to get through! I was so lost in thought that I completely forgot sensei was meant to be chasing me on top of it all. I ran like a crazy person with him on my tail, fumbling through the many traps, going through several very painful near misses until I was toppled to the ground by the man.
"A 100 push ups! Now!"
I groaned. Fuck my life.
A whole month of this ungodly training. A whole month and I finally got 3 hours to spare before my final session blind! I let out a sigh as I slumped down by the river near the bridge. A few Uchiha milled around since it was close to their district. The bridge nearby was considered the lover's bridge, and it was usually the Uchiha that got asked out on dates, because other than having the most broken doujutsu on the planet, they also had the prettiest faces. I thought it was a little unfair how much they were born with, then again it was unfair that I was born with my previous life's memories, so it kind of evened out the unfairness.
"You look like shit."
"Gee thanks Asuma-kun. I know I look beautiful," I huffed. What a blunt little brat.
He snorted. "But you've been getting better. You're not bumping into things anymore, and your footwork is looking good."
Huh, now I felt bad for my sass earlier. "Thanks," I said evenly, as I let out a breath and enjoyed the sun on my skin. "What does the clouds look like today?"
"Fluffy," Kurenai chuckled.
"You guys are boring! We should be training. Traininnnnng!" Obito whined.
"I don't know, this is very nice," Rin objected from opposite me.
"Then shall we train together Obito-kun! Your youthful enthusiasm has invigorated me!"
"In-vigrated?" Obito asked perplexed. "I don't understand those fancy words, but I accept! I'm going to kick your ass this time Guy!"
The two boys sauntered off down by the river to start their Taijutsu battle, which at this stage was less taijutsu and more just a brawl. I sighed. Children. Well at least it was good to see them having fun. I just wanted to lie on this soft grass forever, soaking up the sun. Why couldn't I have been reborn a tree?
"Vege-chan—"
"What is it Asuma?" I sighed in exasperation.
"You know water walking right? You have to teach me."
"Hmm… do you know how to tree walk yet?"
"No—"
"Then learn that first and then come back to me."
"I can climb a tree with my hands. I don't get the need to walk up it," Asuma grumbled.
"Why, that's very Nara of you," I chuckled a reply.
"Asuma-kun is lazy. Don't encourage it," Kurenai replied with a tinge of irritation. "Plus, we can't bug Hina-chan about training today. She only gets a few hours with us."
That's right. I felt a little bad about not being able to spend more time with the kids. They were going to be my future peers. I had yet to meet Genma or some of the others from the manga yet, but I was sure they'd be great allies in the future.
"Hina-chan?"
I jerked up at that familiar voice. The kids seemed interested too. I turned around and cocked my head and furrowed my brows. The boy had a familiar chakra presence to him. Then it clicked.
"Shisui-kun," I greeted, a grin splitting my face.
He walked up to me, his feet rustling the ground beneath him, and then in a familiar older brother fashion he patted my head. I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. No wonder why Itachi was attached to this kid.
"Who's the cute Uchiha," Kurenai whispered to me as she nudged me.
"This is Uchiha Shisui. We met during my station at the border post," I said rolling my eyes, although they probably didn't see it behind the goggles anyway.
"Why are you wearing those Hina-chan? Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly.
"No, it's just for training. I'm learning to hone my other senses," I explained placatingly.
Shisui sighed in relief. I sniffed the air and looked in the direction of the really nice smell. Shisui chuckled as he patted the box in his hands.
"Takoyaki?" I asked.
"How did you know?"
I tapped my nose. I couldn't see his expression, so I didn't know how to proceed. Thankfully he spoke quickly, probably realising that I couldn't read his body language.
"I was going to sit outside to eat. Kaasan always makes more than I need, so do you want to share?"
It smelt delicious, and I was hungry, so I just nodded. We went back to sitting by the grass. Rin was very interested in Shisui. I couldn't fault her. He was definitely good looking from memory, and he was older than her. I remembered having heaps of fleeting crushes at her age for cute older girls and boys.
"Shisui-kun, you graduated early?" Rin asked.
"Yes, I've been a Genin for about a year now," he said a little reservedly.
"Oh you must have the coolest genin team and sensei then," Rin continued.
Ah, the woes of being a starry eyed, little innocent six-year-old. Rin had ventured into territory she shouldn't have. Shisui shut off instantly, his chakra fluctuating and pooling around his eyes. Had he activated his Sharingan after losing his sensei? I shuddered as I remembered the Iwa-Jounin who had very nearly killed the boy and me.
"How's Yugao-san and Hayate-san?" I asked, pulling the boy away from his darkening mood.
"They're training hard. Yugao especially. At the rate she's going, she's going to make ANBU," he said, a hint of pride in his voice.
"I'm sure you will to," I grinned.
"Hmm, not as soon as you will little miss prodigy," he replied amiably.
I snorted. Me in ANBU. Unlikely. It was too troublesome of a job. I didn't know much about it, but the idea of being deployed on S rank missions didn't sound very appealing. It sounded like you were signing yourself away for a delayed death. I kind of did that to myself by graduating so early so maybe I should reconsider just how sane I am too.
"Ne, Shisui-san, can you teach me how to water walk?" Asuma asked.
I rolled my eyes. Here we go again.
After two hours basking in the sun, chatting with the kids in relative peace, my free time was over. I waved goodbye to the kids. Guy cried all over me stating he had accidentally used up our time together to spar with Obito. I felt a little bad that I couldn't reciprocate his puppy-crush on me. After convincing myself (yet again) that he would eventually find another girl to actually fall in love with, I ran back to the training ground. I decided to jump onto the rooftops this time, easily running like I did with my eyesight. It took a bit of extra effort, but I actually managed to do it.
When I entered the training ground, I ducked and rolled as several kunai hit the ground. Then I channelled chakra to my ears and nose and yelped in shock as I parried away a kunai to my face. Sensei was in front of me, his chakra suppressed so I couldn't sense him. I just had to use my nose and the air currents then! He was going easy on me, but as I stumbled to parry his blows, being pushed away with every attack, I was reminded yet again why he was a Jounin and I was not.
"Kiddo, you gotta give it your all. Come at me with the intent to kill!"
"Hai!"
I used chakra slide to swoop up behind him, only dodging when Yama bit at my legs. Then I jumped into the fray, trading blows with sensei as he and Yama teamed up on me. I stumbled back as Yama pincered me from the side, and as sensei came at me from the left. Yama didn't bite down on my leg, but his sharp teeth were over it regardless and I could feel sensei's kunai against my throat.
"Good job kiddo," he said before pulling the kunai away from me.
"I lost though," I pointed out with a huff.
"You were fighting against a Jounin, who ambushed you and lasted more than a minute. You did good," he said exasperatedly.
Not good enough, I wanted to say, but I kept that to myself. Gaku-sensei had it in him that I was too hard on myself. He wasn't exactly wrong, but me being hard on myself was what made sure I didn't die out there. We only had 3 more weeks of training before we were assigned our next mission.
"I'd say a few more months training blind and you'd master your senses. Unfortunately we don't have that kind of time. Take the next week to recuperate your eyes, and I'll be teaching you, your first B rank Ninjutsu."
I perked up at that. Oh my god what a monument! I knew elemental manipulation was hard, that only really Chunin, and Uchiha children were expected to begin learning any form of elemental manipulation. I had exceptional chakra control, which was why I was allowed to even learn a few easy E rank and D rank fire elemental jutsu. Sometimes I wondered if I really was a prodigy. It was in moments like this that I felt stupidly prideful.
"What jutsu?" I asked eagerly.
"It's known as the Walking in Winds technique. It's a wind jutsu that is often accompanied by the Circle Walk style. It exponentially increases your speed by cutting wind resistance."
"I thought the chakra slide was for getting faster," I said in confusion.
"Chakra slide was a chakra control technique for the Walking in Winds technique."
What? So sensei had me do something for months to perfect an even better jutsu. What a crafty man! How much more hidden training had he given me to start me on my Tai and Ninjutsu journey? I felt giddy with excitement at the prospects.
"Walking in Winds—ugh let's just call it the Wind Walker��� who names these techniques? Anyway, the Wind Walker, is a supplementary Jutsu, in that it's used to aid. Sometimes it can abet… if you get what I mean."
"Um sensei, you need a moment to catch your thoughts?" I asked with an amused huff.
He looked a little unsure on how to continue so he just nodded before taking out a scroll and reading it again.
"The concept's a little foreign to me to be honest. It's a mixture of chakra slide in that, chakra slide is the propulsion aspect of the technique. You purse your body inwards before letting out a string of chakra through your feet. With the amount of times you've used it now, the tenketsu at your feet should be as well controlled, if not more so than the ones in your hands. Are you following?"
I nodded before frowning a little. "Is that why I can use Fire Release through my feet? And here I thought I was just a natural."
Sensei laughed at my petulant look before continuing with his explanation. "If chakra slide is a propulsion technique, then the second part to Wind Walking, is manipulating the air in front of you. You apparently have to create a kind of vacuum in which you push the wind to either ends of your body. The chakra training exercise her is pretty vigorous. You'll have to move a pile of leaves evenly in two stacks at the same time. So get to collecting some leaves."
"Hai! Um, sensei…"
"Yes?"
"I've only learnt one form from Tiger Palm. I know it's a Clan Taijutsu, but can I learn more?"
"There are 6 forms kiddo, 3 of which are open to the public."
I frowned. That seemed incredibly nepotic. Why bar non-clan members to essential information regarding techniques if it meant life or death? I was kind of annoyed. Actually annoyed was an understatement. This was unfair. It was like the whole world was against civilian born children. While Clan kids were taught incredible techniques that their families perfected and horded for generations, civilian kids were left with half formed Taijutsu and basic Ninjutsu. Only the truly smart and adaptable ones like Minato, Orochimaru and Jiriya managed to get by, and that's because they had to learn things on their own.
Oh
The test Jiriya gave me. No prior information given, just a seal and a challenge to decode it. It suddenly put everything into perspective. That was how Jiriya learnt. No one, unless they were born lucky, was handed anything in this world. Knowledge was power, and for those unfortunate enough to be born without, they had to figure things out on their own. Suddenly I was very grateful for Gaku-sensei, and Hanami-sensei and even Shikaku-san. They had all helped me in their own ways because despite everyone touting Clan loyalties, they did care about others on a fundamental level. The reason why sensei was teaching me as much as he could about his own Clan styles, the reason why he also took a style from Suna to merge it together wasn't because he didn't want to give me all his Clan knowledge, but because he wanted me to succeed in spite of it.
I suddenly felt very stupid for getting angry. I let out a harsh breath through my nose and nodded. If there was anything, I was getting from this, it was that I wanted to be strong despite everything. There was no use lamenting about the fact that I wasn't born into the ideal position. I had that in my previous life. Good parents, paid for education, and an easily lavish and selfish life. I didn't have that now, but it didn't mean I couldn't work for it. I had a sensei who was helping me build my own unique fighting style and I wouldn't take his help for granted.
"Ok kiddo, once you're done with that internal monologue why don't you actually begin training?"
"Huh, how'd you know I was—"
"It's written all over your face. You should probably invest in a mask soon."
"And look like I'm copying Kakashi, no thanks," I replied with a scowl.
"You got yourself a rival huh?"
"I'd like to think Guy is my rival."
"From the way I see things you've got him beat. A true rival is someone who keeps you on your feet, pushes you to improve."
"Speaking from experience sensei?" I smirked.
He whacked my head. "Don't get sassy on me now kiddo. Get back to your exercises."
"Hai~"
He just chuckled, and I went about picking up some leaves to part.
Like the snap of a finger, the 3 weeks were over. My training period was done, my sight was restored, and I had a grasp on the Wind Walking technique with no real way to use it in combat. It was frustrating sure, but necessary. Gaku-sensei was putting a lot of faith in my ability to learn incredibly hard things. I wasn't so sure I had the same faith in myself. I wasn't a prodigy like Kakashi. I couldn't simply just learn some intense A rank jutsu within a week like Naruto. I was simply me. I had a maturity and intelligence beyond my age because I was older, not because I was any wiser than a person as mentally old as I was. Sure I was smarter than the average person, but in comparison to someone like Kakashi, who seemed to pick up Jutsu like he was learning his ABC's, I was just an average, if not extremely hard-working girl.
In short, while I had been working on the leaf technique, it took me 90% of the time I had to even finish the first step. The problem with manipulating wind was controlling how much of it I manipulated and managing the expenditure of my chakra. Once we were on the road I would not be allowed to train, not with the amount of chakra I'd be expending. It would be too risky, and so I had taken it upon myself to get it down before we left. Unfortunately I only barely managed that and sensei refused to tell me what exactly I needed to learn to progress the jutsu.
I'd packed up, put on the spiked gloves I received for my birthday and suited up in the new, more durable outfit I had planned. It made me look less like a karate student at the least. I pulled on my mesh shirt, then a sleeveless green kimono shit with a navy blue haori that hung at my sides up to my knees. My new pants had sleeve pouches already stitched onto them and I tightened it with bandages at the bottom as was the customary style around here. It helped keep it from flapping around. The only thing I didn't change was my steel tipped shoes. If there was one thing, I wanted to kick people with, it was steel tipped shoes and not my bare toes.
Everything else when it came to packing was something, I'd gone through with Nami and Gaku-sensei at their house. Spare clothes, extra kunai, sanitary equipment, rations, water purifiers, chakra pills and other personal items. I sealed it away in the scroll Jiriya kindly gifted me with. At least I got a rather massive sealing scroll out of that whole debacle.
"Hi-chan, you're leaving again…"
Taichi looked sad, but he pulled out something wrapped in paper and I took it. I opened it to find my favourite pastry. A little apple and cinnamon roll. I pulled him into a hug. When it came to affection I rarely did it with words. Sometimes things were just explained better physically. I resolved myself again. I could probably die out there, but I'd died once and that just made me not want to repeat the process again. This time I would survive. The fact that Taichi had been able to afford a cinnamon roll in the first place was an indication that we were more financially well off than half the civilian population out there. It was because I was a ninja. If I left, it was more than just my life on the line. My family could afford maybe a year or two, but five years of war would leave them near bankrupt.
"Did you make this?" I asked softly.
"Yeah, it's your favourite right."
"Yeah…"
"Hi-chan—I'm not a very good big brother, am I?"
I looked up at Taichi and he looked sad. I shook my head, unsure of how to approach this bout of depression from him. He was my older brother by blood, but really, I treated him more like a younger brother I needed to protect, because he was younger than me.
"No! You're the best nii-chan ever. Now don't look so sad. Give your imouto a big smile before she leaves ok!"
"You'll come back, again right? Kaasan says… she says you're going to die, but I don't believe that!"
What? I was suddenly lost for words. Why would she—why did she hate me so much? What had I ever done to her to deserve this kind of treatment? It hurt because what she said was true. I very well could die, but to tell my brother that… just why.
"She's an idiot," I hissed.
"Y-you shouldn't say th—"
"—I'll say whatever I want," I snapped, before taking in Taichi's frightened expression and angling back calmly. "Sorry Tai-nii… I just. Kaasan hates me for whatever reason—"
"She doesn't hate you!"
"Why else would she say that to you then? She wants me gone," I said bitterly.
"No when Kaasan said that she looked very sad. She was crying."
I paused; my mind caught in the implications of what was just said. I bit my lip and frowned. She was sad… so what? It didn't matter if she was sad. It was her duty as my mother to support me. Family was to be treasured and protected. It was a duty, obligation and most of all a privilege. A mother who couldn't even see her child off to war, wasn't a mother but a coward. I was cut out of those bitter thoughts when dad came by holding something. He knelt down besides me and took me into a hug.
"I'll be waiting for you to come back home. Until then this will see you through."
I looked at the little tag in dad's hand. It was a sturdy embroidered tag, tied together with red rope and green beads. It had the Kanji symbol 'yakuyoke' engraved in fancy green lettering against the navy blue and sky-blue background depicting clouds.
"It's an omamori."
"A protection amulet?" I whispered.
"Yakuyoke means to ward away evil. This will help you out there, if nothing else, then to remember we're waiting here for you. Okay?"
"I will be back," I said, not sure if I was reassuring myself or my family. It didn't matter. It wasn't a truth engraved in some talisman. I would have to make it the truth by seeing it through till the end.
"We'll be waiting."
With that I hugged him, said my goodbyes, and left. Mother didn't come to see me. I didn't let it distract me. I jumped through the roof until I reached the missions desk and spotted sensei's scent. I dropped in through the window making the administrator there twitch in irritation.
"Damn ninja! Use the door!"
"Huh? I thought it was some unwritten rule that we had to come through the windows," I pointed out.
"What made you think that brat?!"
"Well, everyone else always—"
"—Now listen here!"
I sighed as the administrator went on a rant about common etiquette. He continued on despite the many Shinobi milling around, groaning at him to continue handing out their assignments. Gaku-sensei just ruffled my hair and barked out a laugh as he harassed the man incessantly for our mission.
"5 months at the Yu no Kuni outpost. You'll be under the lead of… Orochimaru."
WHAT?! My jaw hung wide open and apparently so did sensei's because when I turned to him, he looked utterly furious. Even Yama barked in sudden protest.
"There must be a mistake. I have a Genin with me. She's only barely been a Genin for a year and has no teammates! Not to mention 5 months is an incredibly long time for even an experienced team!"
The administrator winced. "Sorry, I don't make the call, I just hand out the missions."
Sensei looked appalled, but he schooled his face soon after he looked at me. It was probably because my hands were shaking. Dammit! I gripped my hands together and took in a deep breath. Five months out in the front lines. Not even a border post, the actual front lines. Why the heck was I reborn if this world was so intent on killing me so soon in life? I had to bite back a maniacal laugh, as the bubbling trepidation nearly overtook my composure. Sensei grabbed my hand, and I realised just how small they were in his. I was so small. So insignificant.
I would die.
"Hina, look at me."
I would die. I only had a years' worth of training and barely enough skills to make it through. I wasn't some prodigy or shounen protagonist or something. I was just some unfortunate soul, some insignificant unfortunate soul, that somehow managed to slip through some improbable cosmic crack.
"Hina!"
I snapped my attention up to sensei's eyes, those dark eyes full of warmth and care and fire. He pulled me into a hug and sighed.
"Sometimes I forget you're just a kid."
I'm not.
"I don't know what the Hokage's thinking. This is very unlike how Konoha operates."
It wasn't. It probably wasn't the Hokage's doing. Sarutobi Hiruzen was too soft to do something like this, and he was the one who told me he wouldn't be sending me out to a border post. There was foul play here and with my future knowledge I knew who it was. The why was what was confusing me. Orochimaru was involved with Danzo before he was considered a NUKE nin, and that bastard of a man was the only one I knew that could have any power or interest in sending me out. That still didn't explain why. I assumed I had slipped from Danzo's attention since Kakashi seemed more the talk of the people. Why would anyone care about a civilian child, prodigy or not? Maybe I was wrong to assume that no direct action on my part from ROOT, meant there was no action at all.
Because of me, I had signed away Gaku-sensei's life too.
"We're not going to die," I hissed.
The anger, the sheer indomitable rage wasn't something I often heard from my own voice. Right now I was seething. I wanted to rip Danzo's oesophagus out from his throat. It was Yama's low whine that made me snap out of it. I realised all the ninja around us were staring at me, their hands at their kunai. I had radiated killing intent. To my shock even sensei had his hand twitching to his sides, although they were resolutely pulled back. It couldn't have been intense, but this was war, and everyone was on edge.
"I need you to calm down Hina. Look at me. I'm not going to lie. This will be a hard mission, but we have a Sannin on the team, and most of all we have each other."
"Kami, sensei. Too sappy," I said, forcing out some much-needed humour. It came out stiff, but sensei played along, chuckling back and ruffling my hair before gesturing me to follow. I followed behind him, trying to school my face into something impassive. Maybe I should invest in a mask. The question plagued me even as I came to face Orochimaru himself at the gates.
What was the snake's role in all of this?
A/N
No Hina won't be getting a mask XD Also I think this chapter is the turning point of the story when it comes to plot. Shits going to go down is all I have to say. Thanks for all the phenomenal reviews and to all the people who liked and followed this story!
Review Responses:
Ptbv- Thank you!
Immortal Potatoe- Thanks!
Guest- Thank! Yeah Genma is a cutie! Hina will definitely grow up to be… interesting XD
Shadow Wolf 15846- Yeah Hina values the people in her life to an obligatory level, so she does still love her mother deep down. As for if their relationship gets better, well its complicated. Yua is a traumatised little bean, and she's actually kind of neglectful of a mother, but at the same time she does love Hina. I'll let you enjoy the emotional ride that is their relationship and not give away too much. Thanks for the review!
ishan19sati- Oddly enough I can kind of see that. He's like a cell. Reproduces by splitting XD Now the cursed image of Rock Lee being Guy's cloned son is in my head! Thanks for the review. It made me laugh.
OllieZ- Thanks a lot! I do hope the characters hold up!
RileyBlue00- Thanks for always leaving a review! Hina's going to have to talk to Kakashi more in the future for sure. She's been somewhat neglecting her friendship with him because she's too awkward to broach emotional topics XD Orochimaru's a pain in the ass to write but you'll be seeing more of him soon too (evil laugh insert)
RandomPasserby96- Thanks for randomly passing by this story bro!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone