I met Ino outside her family's shop.
She was dressed in her iconic purple ensemble, but there were two differences. She did not wear arm warmers; fishnet elbow protectors replaced those. She had protectors for her knees.
I noticed she was armed and ready, pouch at the back with shinobi tools. I smiled, glad to know she hadn't missed my hint.
She waved, I waved back.
"You look good," I said.
Ino rolled her eyes, slapped my arm.
"You're wearing makeup and the jacket." Her fingers brushed my cheeks. "And what happened to the other outfit? I liked it."
A bit of heat crept up my neck, but I soldiered on. "I wanted a new start, and it's official business."
From the shop's entrance, I saw Yamanaka Mother casting condemning glares. I guess she disapproved of Ino getting involved? I'd prefer the same, but I wouldn't push Ino away because of my insecurities. I waved at the woman, who gave me a grave nod. I nodded back.
I'm going to keep Ino safe. I tried to tell her through the gesture. I'm not sure if she understood it.
"Follow me," I said to Ino and took to the highways.
Once we were further away, I moved to an empty patch of land.
Under Ino's interested eyes, I took one of the rolls of storage scrolls, one of the many I created over the years, full of delicious exploding kunai and maybe exploding cupcakes. Out popped a bunch of weapons. I took a dozen of my best explosives and handed them to Ino. I took one of the still rolled-up scrolls and gave it to her as well; a few dozen more explosives, just to be sure.
"These are about ten times stronger than the normal ones," I explained.
Ino looked wide-eyed at the explosives in her hand, the rolled scroll I gave her and all the other rolls strapped to my thighs, waist.
"Don't you think that's overkill?"
I shook my head. I was done being walked over. "If they want to start something, I'm ready to finish it."
I wasn't practiced in summoning weapons mid-fight, but this was more of a deterrent than anything else. I wanted them to know I was not going to be messed with. I was ready to escalate things, if that's what they wanted.
This reminded me of Tenten's fighting style. Maybe I could approach Tenten to discuss fighting tips later. Given her reaction to me last time, that might as well be a pipe dream.
Fully armed and ready, we made our way to the Hokage Tower.
With all the goings-on around, I didn't meet a lot of people that I needed to meet: Yamato, Hayase, and Secretary-chan, which was a damn shame and something that needed fixing asap.
"Tomorrow after your shift?" I asked.
Secretary-chan was still patting my head. "What's this about?"
"We never meet if it's not here," I said looking around.
Secretary-chan nodded. Gave me a gentle smile. "Now tell me the real reason."
I shrugged. "It took months, but I finished that mango mousse recipe," I confessed. Just remembering her reaction that one time made my cheeks a bit rosy.
She smiled. "Where?"
I wasn't sure yet. "I'll meet you here in the evening?"
"It's a date then," Secretary-chan said, then kissed my forehead.
Ino looked at me and Secretary-chan's interaction with narrowed eyes. Secretary-chan looked between me and Ino.
"Bring your friend too? You never talk about any of your friends."
I looked at the blonde. Her eyes were still narrowed. She nodded.
"Now up you go, the Hokage is waiting for you."
I gave Secretary-chan a quick hug, climbed toward the Hokage's room. I could feel Ino's glare at the back of my head.
"Who's she?"
I stopped, turned around. From my position on the stairs, I looked down on Ino. I didn't like that. I climbed a few steps down until I was by her side.
"My first friend," I answered truthfully.
Ino's narrowed eyes kept shooting daggers at me.
"I met her during my first Academy year," I added.
The blonde gave me a nod, as if to say, go on.
I sighed. "I was lonely, and most kids ignored or avoided me. She never did."
Ino looked away. I caught a hint of red on her ears.
"She's been helping me test new recipes for years," I confessed.
Ino's head snapped back to me. Her eyes were wide. "Years?"
"Yeah," I shrugged. "If she doesn't like it, I usually scrap the recipe. But it's been a while since I've created something she doesn't like."
Ino pointed a finger at my nose. "Me too," she demanded.
"You want to taste test my experimental concoctions as well?"
She gave me a solemn nod.
"It might not taste good," I warned her.
"I still want it."
"Alright," I looked up the stairs again. "I have one from my special series, but I'm still unsure about it."
"What's that?"
Ah, right, she never got one of those.
"Explain later? We better not let the Hokage wait."
Matters settled for now, we climbed. Once we arrived, I knocked, and ignored the invisible chakra bundle that moved closer to trail us.
"Come in," came Shisui's voice.
I opened the door, gestured for Ino to go in first. Once she did, I walked inside and closed the door behind me.
Shisui wasn't on his seat. He was standing, already ready to move out. The man wore the standard Uchiha blue, with the Hokage coat and hat. He looked at Ino, then at me.
"Are you ready?"
I nodded, gave him a V for victory. I didn't even mind that he had no idea what that was about.
"Ready to kick butts and take names," I declared. Huh. That sounded way cooler in my head.
Ino giggled. Shisui sighed. He cast a glance at all the weapons I was packing.
"Please don't. We want a peaceful resolution," the Hokage said.
"That's up to them," I said and shrugged.
It hurt being cast away for something that wasn't my fault and over which I had no control, but even after all these years, I never had any beef with the Hyuga clan. I knew there was something fishy happening with all the hostility, even if I had no contact with them for years. I was more than happy to let bygones be bygones. They could even keep the damn eye, for all that I cared.
Still, if possible, I'd like to, if not make friends, at least be in a cordial relationship with them. Part of me wanted to meet family and have a family in this world. I was ready to forgive and turn on a new page. I looked around the room, then at my gear, ensuring all my weapons were strapped and ready. I was also ready to end any feud. I nodded and followed the Hokage out.
Good guy Shisui decided we had to walk toward the compound. Why? The highways were so much better.
It was strange walking around the village accompanied by the Hokage. People stopped, bowed, saluted, but it wasn't like with Old Man Third. Almost no kids ran up to Shisui to climb on his legs, and most of the reverence I saw had a hint of apprehension. It felt like fear.
Why would they be afraid of the Hokage?
Most of the people who approached had the hallmarks of a Uchiha. A squad of the Uchiha's police followed us from a distance, making the situation tenser. I was missing something here. I knew some didn't like the Uchiha clan, but Itachi and Shisui were supposed to be good guys, and somehow not affected by the Curse of Hatred.
It made no sense to me why even civilians would behave like that. Other shinobi I could understand. Shisui's sharingan scared the crap out of me, but that was because I knew what his mangekyou was capable of.
From the tower, we walked near the Uchiha compound. The difference was stark. We had to stop there, and Shisui had to fend off kids, well-mannered neighbors, and grandmas. Ino and I still got a bit of a stinky eye at times, but walking around with the new Hokage seemed to soften most of their distrust.
Past the Uchiha compound, we walked a bit more until we arrived at our destination, the vast walled area closer to the edge of the village with the inverted triangle with a fire burning inside stamped across the walls.
White eyed shinobi greeted us. Their posture was rigid. The gate opened, and we walked inside.
It was time to meet family, and hope no one died.