Only after I blurted that out that I consider it might not be the smartest of choices to say that in front of the Hokage, a Uchiha Hokage.
Shisui's big, expressive eyes bore into my soul.
Tsunade didn't seem to give a shit. "The hell you mean?"
I scratched my cheek. "I think Orochimaru implanted Uchiha's eyes when he took mine away."
Shisui pointed to my black eye. "Is that a mutated Sharingan?"
I shook my head. Better explain things, at least the basics of it.
"Byakugan, Sharingan, Rinnegan. Those are the three greatest dojutsu." I got nods from both. "Many think Rinnegan is nothing more than a legend, but it exists." I pointed at my black eye.
"Is that…?"
I shook my head again. "It's not a full Rinnegan, no. But what most don't know is that Rinnegan kekkei genkai doesn't show up naturally. Under very specific circumstances, a sharingan may evolve into a rinnegan."
In the palm of my hand, the black chakra receiver material flowed out into the form of a black kunai. It was still strange being able to do this, but not knowing how the process actually worked.
Once the kunai was finished, I placed it on the table and slid it toward the Hokage.
He took it, eyes turning red, inspecting the material.
Tsunade didn't seem distracted by my antics, though. "And what are these specific circumstances?"
"I'm not comfortable sharing," I said.
"And how do you know that?"
I grinned at the old-teenager across from me, pointed at my black eye. Finally, I had an excellent excuse to tell a few secrets without having to risk an exorcism.
Teen-Tsunade scowled, crossed her arms. She was cute as heck, shame I already had Ino, though.
Shisui waved the black kunai around, drawing attention to himself. "And what is this?"
"I don't know the material's name. I call it black receivers, which do what the name implies. It acts like a transmitter for my chakra across long distances."
"What else?" Tsunade asked.
I extended my hand to Shisui. After a few moments of consideration, he placed the kunai on it. I pushed my hand up and grabbed his. The hokage could have dodged, I'm sure, but he let me do it.
Concentrating, I pulled the tiniest bit of chakra from his hand. Then I let go.
Shisui's eyes had turned red again, but he wasn't looking at me; he was staring at his hand.
After a while, he spoke. "Chakra absorption."
I shrugged. "That's what's keeping genjutsu from working on me," I said, since there was no point in denying it anymore. "Ever since I woke up in that lab, any chakra that tries to enter my body gets absorbed. I always thought it was something that Orochimaru did." I gave them a lopsided smile. "In a way, it was, even if not what he had planned."
Conversation died down after that, aside from one last topic from Tsunade.
"You need training and focus," she said, pointing a finger at me. "You're trying to learn a hundred things at once, and mastering none."
"What Tsunade means to say," Shisui interjected, "is that you could benefit from a teacher."
Giddy bubbliness crawled from the tip of my toes, into my stomach, and toward my chest. I kept my face placid, made sure I wasn't vibrating in my seat. By Tsunade's strange looks and Shisui's veiled smile, I might have failed.
"And…?"
Shisui nodded. "There are three shinobi who would be a match for your skill set and are willing to take you as an apprentice."
The suspense was killing me. "Those are…?"
"You need to decide where to focus your training." The Hokage pointed at Tsunade. "Tsunade can help with taijutsu, medical jutsu, control, and fuinjutsu."
Ohmygawd! Freaking Tsunade as my teacher?
"Or you can train with me," Shisui said. "We would focus on ninjutsu and perfecting your style using shushin and your kuro raikou jutsu."
Gah, lessons from Shisui, they're playing with my heart.
"Or you could perfect your mokuton, water, and earth jutsu with Yamato, now that it isn't as taxing for you anymore."
Dayum. Yamato wasn't as legendary a shinobi as the other two, but he was still massively powerful and uniquely suitable to help me with mokuton.
I was tempted. I really wanted to train with all three.
"Can't I—" I started, but Tsunade interrupted me.
"It would be best for you to focus on a single aspect for now. There's nothing that prevents you from learning more later, but you need to stand on your own with everything you're carrying around."
Huh, I guess the princess knew I knew stuff, too.
"You don't have to decide now," Shisui said. "Take your time to consider. Talk with your friends if that helps you."
I left the tower soon after, mind buzzing with possibilities. It was only when I was out and already engaged on the highway that I remembered I wanted to ask other things, too.
One of the things I wanted to know was about Secretary-chan. Her breakdown worried me, but would it be an invasion of privacy to ask the privacy-invading shinobi for intel on my friend? I wanted to help her, but I didn't even know where she lived. If it wasn't in the tower, I did not know where to find her. At all.
The other was about Mom. Counting the time I was in a coma, it had been more than a year since I last saw her. Mom said she would visit again and hadn't, in an entire year. I knew it because I asked Ino, and no Hyuga approached me while I was konked out.
That left only one conclusion: something bad had happened.
Still, maybe this was for the better. Not something bad happening to Mom, but forgetting to ask Shisui. It was time I stopped being so passive and dependent on others.
I almost died; I wanted to live a good, carefree ninja life without bothering anyone, but that wasn't going to stop me from finding out what happened to Mom.
And so, I decided that I was going to invade the Hyuga compound and find out what happened to Mom. But that would need planning and time to prepare. I wasn't about to be reckless because I was worried. I could also ask Ino for advice. We were partners now, girlfriends even!
A bubbly giggle escaped me.
Yes, that would do. I was going on a date with her tomorrow. I could talk about it there if we had time to talk.
That line of thought left my ears burning and cheeks rosy. Damn, I was hopeless, wasn't I? Still, I needed to talk with the Yamanaka Matriarch. It was good that Inoichi gave us his approval, but I didn't want Ino picking a fight with her mother if that could be avoided. Another thing to discuss with Ino on tomorrow's date. If we had time!
My steps took me toward the commercial district, where I used the last of my currently available money to buy ingredients. Prices had skyrocketed in the past year. It costs about twice as much to buy the ingredients. Dang it, this damn war.
A lot more poor now, but with ingredients for an entire night of baking, I returned to the apartment.
I landed in front of the door, and before I could open it, it banged open. A flustered Karin stood there, looking at me with wide eyes. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes rumpled and slightly wrinkled.
I didn't need to look inside to know what was going on. There were two other chakra signatures in the apartment. Ones that even though I hadn't memorized how they felt, but it was easy to deduce who they were.
I grinned. "Need a few minutes?"
Karin nodded, her face going even redder.
I handed her my shopping bags. "Put these in the kitchen for me?"
Still silent, she took them.
"I'll be back in an hour," I said, turning away. Before I left, I threw one more line over my shoulder. "No strange fluids on the bed, please. It's also mine."
Karin squealed in horror. "Hinata-chan!"
Grinning, I left her to her amorous adventures and made a beeline for the market district again. It was cheeky, sure, but I had gifts to buy for Best Girl Ino.