A night away from home

The Hyuga Clan, Main Courtyard.

"Young lady, it's getting cold. Please go back to your room." Seeing Hinata suddenly sneeze, the maid handed her a tissue.

"O... okay."

Hinata blinked blankly and took the tissue the maid offered, though she only gave her nose a token wipe.

She hadn't caught a cold; she had simply sneezed. Innocent as she was, Hinata wondered whether someone was thinking about her. And in fact... someone was.

Kumogakure wanted to establish diplomatic ties with Konoha!

In the original story, Kumogakure had tried to use this as a way to enter Konoha and steal its kekkei genkai, the Byakugan.

Ultimately, it all came down to Konoha having grown weaker.

The Fourth Hokage had died, and although the Third Hokage had returned to the position, he was already old. The strongest clan, the Uchiha, had been massacred until only two members remained. Of the Konoha Sannin, who had once possessed the strength to protect Konoha, one had become a rogue ninja, while the other two were involved in porn and gambling respectively. Neither lived in the village.

Konoha had long since lost its title as the strongest ninja village. Naturally, the other villages were itching to steal its last hope, the Byakugan. Kumogakure had merely been the first to act.

Soon after leaving the Naruto Building, Chinatsu met her fellow operatives. They wore all sorts of masks, and judging by the aura they gave off... they were probably all above Chunin level but below Jonin... oh, no, there was one exception.

Kakashi Hatake...

The Anbu member at the head of the group was none other than Kakashi Hatake. He wore a catlike mask and was the only Anbu member present with Jonin-level strength.

"You'll be working with us on this mission." One of the Anbu members stepped forward and addressed Chinatsu in a deep voice.

"Mm... okay. Looking forward to working with you~"

Chinatsu held out her hand, but the Anbu members in front of her seemed to ignore it completely. After a brief silence, Kakashi turned away and said with his back to her, "The people from Kumogakure will arrive in Konoha tomorrow. Let's assign everyone's duties first."

There was more than one Anbu squad. Some squads were leaving the village to investigate Kumogakure beforehand, while other members would remain in Konoha to keep watch and provide security.

They would monitor the village's eastern, southern, western, and northern approaches, then place the people from Kumogakure under targeted surveillance once they arrived.

Chinatsu listened as Kakashi laid out the plan. Though most of it went over her head, she could still tell that it was extremely detailed.

With surveillance this thorough, how did those guys from Kumogakure get a chance to carry Hinata off in the original story...?

Chinatsu murmured softly as the thought crossed her mind. Just then, Kakashi raised his head and looked at her.

"We'll operate in pairs. I'll take responsibility for the rookie this time."

"Understood!"

The Anbu members nodded. Naturally, they had no objections to their captain's decision.

With a wave of Kakashi's hand, the Anbu members immediately dispersed, leaving only Chinatsu standing there looking bewildered. Of course, with her mask on, no one could tell.

"Hey? Hey? Are you listening?"

Kakashi watched the motionless Chinatsu in silence for a moment, then reached out and patted her shoulder. She immediately snapped out of her daze and reflexively opened her mouth. "I'm listening! I'm paying attention in class!"

"..."

We're not in class right now. We're carrying out...

Forget it. Whatever you say.

Kakashi had no idea how to talk to Chinatsu either. His mouth stayed open for a few seconds before closing again.

Women. What a pain.

Watching Kakashi practically radiate the urge to say something and then think better of it, Chinatsu's mouth twitched beneath her mask. Suddenly, she felt as though she had been insulted yet somehow owed him an apology...

That evening.

Sasuke and Naruto headed home after classes at the Ninja Academy. Naturally, that home was the Uchiha Residence. Naruto hadn't gone straight back to his own place in a long time; he didn't really think that little house in the middle of nowhere deserved to be called a home.

"Sasuke, let's spar today!"

"No. I still have to practice with shuriken today. I'm aiming to hit the bull's-eye ten throws in a row!"

"Aww~ What's so fun about shuriken? Ninjutsu is where it's at! Chinatsu said she'd teach me an incredibly powerful jutsu once my basics were a little more solid!"

Naruto and Sasuke walked shoulder to shoulder through the streets and returned home. Sasuke turned his head, scanned his surroundings, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Just as I thought... Sis isn't here..."

Sasuke pouted. Chinatsu had already told him that morning that she would be away, and not just for one day.

Days without Sis... are so depressing.

"Sasuke, I'm heading out for work. I probably won't be back for the next few days."

"What?! What work? You're not coming back, Sis?!"

"Ninja work. These next few days will be pretty busy. Don't worry about me. Study hard at school and keep training. I'll test you when I get back."

Recalling the scene from that morning, Sasuke took a deep breath, pulled out a packet of Soldier Pills, and opened it. He stuffed them into his mouth as though they were candy.

"Nawuto, dish ish yer share. (Naruto, this is your share.)"

Still chewing, Sasuke pulled out another packet and tossed it to Naruto. Naruto caught the Soldier Pills without any complaint, tore the packet open, and wolfed the whole lot down in one go.

Soldier Pills were a type of food ninjas ate. Put simply, they quickly staved off hunger and restored stamina. Their taste generally wasn't very good, though. An ordinary person who ate one without mentally preparing would end up sticking out their tongue and gasping several times.

Early on, these things had been established as restoring chakra, but that detail had been abandoned later.

After all, Soldier Pills that restored chakra were far too broken. Otherwise, the perpetually chakra-starved Kakashi could carry a huge bag of them around and declare himself invincible.

After hastily finishing their dinner, Naruto and Sasuke immediately ran out to an open patch of ground. One began throwing shuriken, while the other sat cross-legged and steadily worked on refining his chakra.

That dedication...

Might Guy, the Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf from the same world, would have given it a huge thumbs-up!

Someone in another world who was also named Chinatsu would have felt terribly awkward!

"Don't push yourselves too hard. I won't be able to drag you back to your rooms tomorrow, and I can't do anything if you catch a cold, get a fever, or have a headache..."

Hidden outside the Uchiha Residence as she watched the two boys, Chinatsu muttered to herself, then turned and followed Kakashi into the darkness of the night.

The sun was about to rise when Kumogakure's "ambassador" strode into Konoha with an arrogant, swaggering gait, as though he owned the place...

Starting today, at least two updates a day... ahem, I'll put up another one late tonight...