I was happy with my progress in unsouring Kumoko. Whenever I summoned her, it was about seventy percent frustrated tail lashing now. A wonderful improvement in my humble opinion.
But today it wasn't about stuffing her with so much honey that she went into a food coma. No, today it was time to see if the badgers would accommodate the Aburames in their search for the biggest insect of them all.
Early in the day, we completed our village assigned mission, it hadn't been hard. Somehow, babysitting Tora had become a C-rank. I think it was just an excuse so Lady Shijimi could collect the sweets. Our team had that mission almost every week.
But again, not important.
We guarded Tora; I gave out pastries; kind Daimyo wife left satisfied.
Karin fled somewhere as soon as the mission was over. I think she was afraid I'd give her more training. Or maybe she went to meet with her bae. Karin had been a giggling mess for a few days now.
Ino wasn't here either. She left as soon as the mission was done. I understood it very well. Trouble with her mom, and I didn't want to make things worse.
Tenten never joined in these things, unfortunately. I don't think she wanted to be friends. Which was totally fine. I wasn't bitter about it. Not one bit. I just didn't understand why. Was it because I almost killed Neji? That seemed excessive.
Enough procrastinating.
In the quiet of my apartment, I bit my thumb, placed my hand on the ground and performed the summoning.
Kumoko showed up in a puff of smoke. She looked around, smelled the air, then turned to me.
"Snake-girl," she greeted.
"Hello, Kumoko," I greeted back.
"What is it you want today?" she asked, looking around and searching. Well, I guess she'd expected me to try something. I shrugged. No need to be coy about stuff.
I pulled out a seal, and out popped some of my new confections: small, crusty cakes. I think they're called galettes? I wasn't sure. Honey flavored, of course.
"Here, try these and tell me what you think," I said.
Kumoko grunted, but didn't argue. She bit into it, chewing slowly. Her tail lashed again, absentmindedly this time. Interesting.
"So?" I asked.
"Too dry," she said after a while.
"But did you like the flavor?"
She grunted.
"Here, there's some crust," I said and gave her a quick scritch disguised as cleaning her fur. Kumoko glared suspiciously, but I hadn't taken long with my petting and she had no way of saying that I did what I did.
"But that wasn't the reason I called you today," I said after a while.
"What is it, then?"
"There's a shinobi family that wants to meet your clan," I said.
"What for?"
I shrugged. "They don't want the badgers, really, but the bees. The easiest way seems to come to an agreement with your clan."
Kumoko lashed her tail. I couldn't tell what that was supposed to mean.
"Can you meet them?" I asked.
Her tail lashed again. She growled, pacing in front of me.
I waited, but she didn't answer.
"Kumoko?"
"I can't," she squeaky growled. Tail lashing frantically again.
"Is it because you're too young?" I asked.
Kumoko went still. She turned to me, fangs bared. "I'm older than you," she spat.
I raised both hands, trying to appease her.
"I'm thirteen, Kumoko," I whispered.
"I'm over three decades old," she growled again. Her tail snapped side to side in tight, erratic swings. Then, with a sharp glare aimed somewhere past me, toward nothing, or maybe someone not here, she muttered, "So why do you still treat me like a cub?"
The last part wasn't aimed at me. I could tell. Her eyes had gone distant, like she was seeing someone else entirely.
I opened my mouth, closed it shut. Mind racing. I hadn't connected the dots before. I knew Kumoko was Tsuchigaru's kid, but I hadn't thought her mother was the badger who died because of the summoner's betrayal.
"Can you tell me what happened?" I asked.
Kumoko stared at me for a long while, her fur still bristling. Then she sagged. Her tail went limp, and she flopped onto the ground, silent, then shaking. Was she crying?
I pulled her onto my lap, resting my hand gently over her head. She didn't resist. Didn't complain.
"There isn't much to tell," she said, voice flat. She didn't sound like she was crying. "When Mom died, I wasn't born yet."
Oh.
Later that day, I sent Kumoko back to check with her dad about meeting the Aburames. Like she'd predicted, she wasn't allowed to represent the badgers, but neither was her dad interested in dealing with other shinobi. Kumoko gave me instructions about another badger to summon for the meeting. Her name was Mitsuna. The name made little sense to me. If I wasn't reading it wrong, it was something like a secret vegetable? Weird.
I sent notice to the Aburames, and they agreed to a meeting for the next day.
After that, I popped by the tower, hugged the prettiest secretary of them all, and dropped by the Hokage's office.
Shisui seemed happy to see me, if only to distract him from the mountain of paperwork. Poor dude.
I reported my dealing with the Aburames and the badgers, then after a sloppy salute, and a "ganbatte!" kit, left the man to his work.
That got me thinking. I could have just as well dropped that information with the intelligence department. There was no need to bug the Hokage at all. Was I a snob shinobi by flaunting my easy access to Shisui?
Well, who cared?
That night, I prepared a few pastries, honey, and other things for the next day.
Shisui had been kind enough to cancel our team missions, which left me with morning and noon free. Which I spent training with Ino. Karin had fled as soon as I told them no mission for the day, while Tenten stayed to train by herself. She was improving fast with her seals.
When the afternoon arrived, I summoned Kumoko.
In a puff of smoke, she appeared, looking around. Her gaze met mine, then a smiling Ino.
"What's it, snake-girl?" she asked, tail lashing. That tail lash looked almost anxious.
I extended my hand to her. Kumoko looked at it for a long while until she got closer. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulder. "You're my bodyguard, remember? Not meeting other shinobi without protection."
There was a moment of silence, then tittering.
I exchanged glances with Ino, who hadn't stopped smiling too.
"Any last-minute preparations?"
No one said anything, and we set out.
With Kumoko grabbing my shoulder, I didn't have to worry about her not keeping pace, so we took the highways, jumping from roof to roof until we landed in front of the compound.
The first time I'd been here, I was so preoccupied by a second marriage proposal that I had paid no attention to anything around, but now I had time.
It was in the shaded outskirts of Konoha, shrouded by thick canopies. The air was quiet, aside from the occasional hum of insects. The trees around were dense and tall, some twisted into unnatural shapes, trunks hollowed out. Even from here, I could see insects slipping in and out of knotholes.
The compound itself was a series of low buildings crafted from dark wood and reinforced with paper screens. It blended well with the trees around; the architecture favoring function over flair.
Shino waited for us at the door. Same high collar jacket, same dark glasses, same dark bushy hair.
We landed in front of him.
"Shino," I said as a way of greeting.
"Hinata," he said back, then turned to Ino. "Yamanaka."
Ino planted her hands on her hips. "Really?" she asked.
Shino just looked on, saying nothing.
Ino rolled her eyes. "Ino is fine," she said.
Shino nodded. "Ino."
I pointed to the badger on my shoulder. "This is Kumoko."
Shino gave a polite bow to the she-devil. "Welcome, Kumoko."
Kumoko sniffed the air. "You smell strange," she said.
Shino nodded. "Pheromones," that was all he said.
There was a beat of silence, then Shino turned. "Please, come inside. My father is waiting."
Inside, paths laid with flat stone and moss, curving around meticulously kept gardens, led toward the deeper buildings. Lanterns flanked the path, and I remembered being here last time for dinner: the dim amber glow making the place look surreal.
My perception had improved since last time, and it wasn't hard to sense small blips of chakra flying around. Blips I couldn't see. I held back a shudder. I was glad I wasn't part of the clan. Dealing with insects wasn't for me.
We followed Shino until the path opened into a wide, silent courtyard garden. Flat stones formed a central platform ringed by shallow water, where lily pads floated and dragonflies lazed. At the far end stood a low-roofed meeting pavilion, open on all sides, its floor lined with clean tatami mats and simple cushions arranged in a perfect circle. Shibi was already there waiting for us.