A strange new life [Naruto fanfiction]

When: The day after the council meeting.

"We're changing the teams," Shikaku said as soon as I entered his office.

I straightened up, saluted. I was a bit giddy about meeting the Jonin commander. All other times I saw the man, it was always with someone else. This was our first real meeting alone.

He was cool. A cooler Shikamaru. "Sir?" I couldn't resist.

He glanced from his papers to me, then back at his reports. "Due to the current political situation, the Akimichi clan requested we remove Choji from your squad."

I took the news with all the grace of a drowning swan.

The situation with the clans wasn't as clear cut as the two council codgers first wanted me to believe. I learned the stance from the Inuzuka and Akimichi clans weren't against me, directly.

Their position was something like: if a shinobi is suspected of being a spy, a clone, or anything else that might endanger the village, they should be detained and questioned. It was reasonable. Even I had to admit that. But they weren't specifically targeting me. From what I was told, the council proposed things on broader strokes, which they then happened to aim my way.

Ino had confided that her father wasn't happy with how things played out, how the council made it seem like one group was against another.

In this situation, it made sense they'd want Choji in a different squad. Better not get even more involved with all that mess.

As usual, I was ready to forgive, but not forget. I didn't hold it against most of those clans, aside from the Hyuga. I understood that this was all political machinations to twist the truth.

"And who's replacing him?" I asked.

"Uzumaki—" My mood soared. A grin crept on my face. Naruto on my team? Heck yes! I would bully the shit out of the brat! "Karin," he finished.

The grin turned into a full-blown smile. I might have danced a bit if Shikaku's stare was anything to go by.

"She's a Konoha shinobi, then?" I said after the stare turned a bit too awkward. I still wanted to bounce off my feet, maybe hug the stern man. Those were fantastic news; the best ones in a good while.

He released his papers, leaned back on his chair. "Yes," he said. It felt like there was a but coming, but he said nothing else.

That also meant the team needed a new name! Not that it had a name to begin with. With Karin joining the gang, maybe the Power Puff Girls? No, that was too silly. Power Shinobi? That didn't ring right.

A light bulb lit in my head. Shinobi Sentai: Kunoichi Four? That wouldn't work, even if it was a step in the right direction.

Another idea popped. It was perfect: Ninpo Sentai: Fuin☆Rangers.

I would be black, Karin red, Ino yellow, and Tenten, well, white, because of her shirt? Shame she didn't have white hair. When Sakura joined, her color would be pink, of course.

Then I just needed to shove fuinjutsu knowledge in their heads, which was a no-brainer. I already wanted to teach them anyway.

"What about Choji?"

The jonin commander studied me for a few moments before speaking. "He's joining Izumi's team."

I tilted my head. If Choji joined them, did it mean Naruto was about to leave with Jiraiya?

"Five-man cell?"

Shikaku shook his head. "No, Uzumaki Naruto is being reallocated as well."

I nodded. That made sense. Still, I couldn't understand the decisions behind the teams this time, but it was okay.

It was the day after the council meeting. Most of the accusations were effectively gone. Unless they wanted to go against the Daimyo, no more spy accusations toward me. It didn't mean I was off the hook entirely.

Some of the claims raised by the councilmen caused a bit of a problem. To sum up, I was broke and couldn't sell my storage seals anymore. There was a hefty fine for leaking the village's secret techniques, which they took from my savings regarding all the missions I did. I even had to dip into my other savings and fork out money.

Which was fine. It was just money. I could make more later. It was more of a petty revenge than anything genuinely debilitating.

"Anything else, sir?"

Shikaku studied me for a few unnerving moments. "Your team will start receiving C-Rank missions."

I nodded. Heck yes! Please, I was broke and needed monies. And D-Ranks were so dull.

"Nothing that takes you too far, and nothing close to Iwa or Kumo."

That made perfect sense. It was strange why they didn't want me to join the war if it was happening. I was relieved. The longer I could delay joining in the bloodshed, the better. I wanted to enjoy living my best ninja life just for a while longer. It wouldn't last much, one way or another.

"Thank you, sir," I said, saluting again. Left soon after.

In the weeks that followed, a lot happened.

Karin started to train with us, which gave me the perfect hook to teach Ino and Tenten fuinjutsu. Tenten wasn't a beginner. With her, we mainly talked theory. Learning and helping her learn more abstract concepts.

From my own lacking understanding, Tenten was still stuck in the copy phase of fuinjutsu, not having found her language yet. I tried my best to explain things, but sometimes I had the impression she thought I was messing with her, instead of trying to help. She never called me on it, which was fine.

I was broke, and most of my mission credits were used to learn the mystic palm, but even then, I had a few points to spare. I learned Water Bullet jutsu. Hayase was my teacher for that. We might have spent a few hours geeking over code instead of learning the jutsu, but it was worth it.

When Yamato was around, and with a few minutes to spare, I bugged him to teach me stuff. Mostly, we talked about Mokuton. From him, I also learned a jutsu I think he created. It was a simple ball of light made of chakra. Useful for someone who couldn't see in the dark.

Outside the village, the long forgotten stalker returned. Whenever we had to spend the night out, that same sensation of someone watching was always there. By this point, I don't think it was Orochimaru anymore, but the damn sword. It bugged me enough that I was considering trying to find the damn thing.

About a month after the council meeting, Naruto left with Jiraiya. I was super conflicted about it. Really. There was a bit of resentment toward the frog sannin, even after everything, which was petty on my part.

We were at the gates, and things were a mess of crying and goodbyes. It was surreal, thinking I might not see the brat again.

I pinched his cheeks. "Take care, okay?"

Naruto hugged me again. "You too," he said. "Don't get captured again."

I rolled my eyes. "Brat."

It was a shame my teleport jutsu wasn't ready yet. I wanted to give Naruto one of the kunais so I could visit whenever, but Fate-kun wasn't that nice of a guy. I was so close, but not yet. Unfortunately.

While Naruto said his goodbyes to the others, I meandered near Jiraiya.

"Hinata-chan," the old perv greeted me with a smile.

I stopped by his side, watching the brat make a mess.

After a few moments of silence, I spoke. It was a horrible idea, but well. "If you ever visit Amegakure," I started ruminating on what to say. "The rain has eyes, and they're not six, but just one."

The frog sannin stared at me for a long while, then nodded. It was a grave, serious thing. I hoped he didn't forget it. Naruto liked Jiraiya. I didn't want to see Naruto sad.

Even with all the changes to the timeline, some things seemed set in stone. I hoped Naruto would be okay. I was going to miss him.

I missed mom, too. She never visited again.