Along the forest path, there is briefly a silver hole torn in the air, out of which a blackviolet puddle of goop falls to the ground. The silver portal promptly vanishes.

The goop was once a human, who had a very bad day. Holy shit, it got shot, it died, and now it's a puddle of goop in a forest!?!?

It squirms in place in confused panic, subtle streaks of color rippling across its surface.

Sakura starts, suddenly shocked awake from her thoughts. What is this thing?

Palming a kunai just in case, she leans in to get a better look.

Whatever it is, it writhes unhappily, then rolls away from Sakura as she approaches it, glooping along the dirt.

Sable does not want to listen to those instincts telling her to lunge for the cute human with the pointy thing; she wants to take her gloopy ass somewhere quiet to process the fact that she died.

Sakura grabs for the mass of goo, chakra-boosting her muscles faster as it tries to get away.

"Ohh no, you're not getting away from me that easily!"

She grabs ahold of the slimy substance, her feeling of victory nearly distracting her as—

Oh shit, those instincts cannot be ignored when it's in contact with a human. Fuuuuuuck. 

Thick, inky goop rushes up Sakura's arms, sensitizing her skin as it covers her, flowing into every pore as it stretches higher.

Oh, kami-

Is all she can think before the ability to form coherent thoughts leaves her, chased away by the overwhelming sensation of the inky sludge pouring over her skin—into every nook, cranny and pore as it rapidly shoots up her arm, across her chest and over the rest of her body.

The inky liquid flows across her in a caress, teasing every sensitive inch of skin, pouring into her nose and mouth, flooding her pussy and ass, wrapping around her limbs. It slips in behind her eyes, pours into her lungs, rushing into every fold.

The feeling is electric, brain-melting pleasure dancing across every nerve, overwhelming her senses with bliss.

Sakura tries to scream, but with her mouth and lungs flooded with liquid, the most she can do is moan silently into the inky blackness surrounding her.

She's never felt anything like this: The electric sensation flooding through her is so much. She'd masturbated a little before, but it never felt like this—and not everywhere! She can feel the intense, erotic pleasure in her mouth, her nose, her eyes—god, she can somehow feel the liquid entering her brain.

Her body shakes and spasms at the overwhelming sensations, her pussy clenching around nothing and everything as she loses herself to the most intense orgasm of her life.

She collapses to the ground in a pool of her own fluids, as consciousness finally leaves her and she falls into the even deeper blackness of sleep.

Flowing into Sakura is the most overwhelming pleasure of Sable's entire life before dying and becoming this. It seeps into every organ and cavity, filling Sakura completely, what's left of its mind collapsing in the haze of bliss as it bonds with her.

And then it, too, is spent. Whatever it is now, it may not be able to sleep, but it can enter a kind of torpor when sufficiently worn out.

…She slowly wakes, feeling as though she'd overdone it during training for the first time in months.

…Then bolts upright! What in the six paths was that!?

She looks down at herself, looking for any trace of the strange inky creature, but finding none.

Did it leave?

No, it did not. It would consider doing so, but it apparently needs to be bonded to a human to live now, and Sakura was reckless enough to stick her hand in it when it was trying to flee and give her an option other than being bonded to it.

It died once already. Wasn't fun.

Fuck.

It speaks into her mind, voice gentle and feminine, sounding a bit wrung out with recent events, but determinedly warm in spite of that.

{Hi. Quite the tangle we're in now, ain't it?}

Their thoughts spill across each other now, the inkblot's mind just as clear to Sakura as Sakura's is to the inkblot.

What the fuck!? Is she possessed?

Wait…
"Kai!"

Damn, no. She can still feel the presence in her mind. If this is a genjutsu, it's one she's too weak to break.

...Fine.

{Uhh… hi. What are you?}

Oh wow that feels funky. She's never had a chakra system before, presumably she learned the name for the weird energy from her new host's memories? Getting a disruption pulsed through Sakura's chakra coils spills into Sable's own, intertwined as they are now, and it feels weeeiiird.

{Yeah, I'm still here despite whatever you just did. I...}

There's an ice-cold hitch in Sable's mental voice, echoing faintly with lingering mute horror, before she continues.

{I was a human. Then I died—}

{—and apparently got turned into some kind of inky goop, and got dropped into another world. Call me Sable. Pronouns are... I guess a mix of she/her and it/its. I'm some kind of symbiote, now, meant to enhance and support my host, incapable of surviving without one.}

Well that's a convenient story. No, it might be telling the truth.

Whatever she is, she doesn't seem to have hurt Sakura. If anything, the opposite—no, stop that, focus.
If she is telling the truth, that's horrible and Sakura should probably try to comfort her about it. And if it's lying, she may as well let it believe she trusts it.

{…Oh. That's a lot to deal with. I know the world is dangerous, and we have to be prepared to die anytime, but I'm sure actually experiencing it is a lot worse.}

{On the bright side, you're still alive?} No, she's clearly just been transformed against her will—that might be worse than death, and it's not a comforting reminder.

{Sorry, that probably didn't help.} What helps in this sort of situation? Distractions? Yeah, distractions.

{You said you're some kind of symbiote? That sounds interesting. I haven't met many, but I know a lot of the strongest ninja have powerful bloodlines. Maybe this is something like that?}

Oh no, she thinks she's still got private thoughts. Can't let that be, that'd be lying by omission.

{Yeah, experiencing it sucked. I definitely consider this weird goop life a bright side, though. Honestly I don't mind being what I am now, I just wish it'd come with some time to prepare myself, rather than sudden projectiles ending my previous life.}

There's a sense of a metaphorical deep breath, before Sable continues.

{Gotta correct an assumption though: neither you nor I have private thoughts anymore, so that little aside about letting me believe you trust me was very nearly as obvious as these more directed communications. Sorry.}

The moment the thought bleeds through to Sakura's mind, she winces internally. At least it'd told her - though she supposes she'd have noticed either way.

Well, assuming it's telling the truth that the thought-sharing goes both ways (and it feels like she is), it'll be really hard for either of them to lie to eachother.
That's… honestly a relief.

{Well, if you need some time to process, I think we can manage that. I'll need to be home before someone notices I'm missing, but we probably have a bit of time left before then. I can just sit quietly for a bit, if you'd like?}

{Honestly, I don't know that I'd get a lot out of quiet sitting at this point. My anxiety would just eat me. Probably I'll just have a few internal screams about being a living dead girl,} there's a faint sense of amusement to the phrasing, as though those three words are a song lyric or something back home, {interrupting my train of thought in some quiet moments. More trauma. Fun.}

It sighs harshly, then gives an impression of tired cheer. {But at least I'm alive to be traumatized about it, right? So tell me about this world, and about your village! You said there are ninja in this world? They were mostly myths and fiction back home.}

Right. She guesses that wouldn't help her much in that situation, either. Still, she feels bad that she can't do more to help.

Oh! A distraction! Her world? Sure, she can do that!

{I don't know what your world's stories about ninja were like—} Oh, now she does—that feels weird.
{—but shinobi in this world are the defenders of our hidden villages, and of our countries. I guess we also spy, steal, and occasionally surveil or assassinate our enemies, but that's probably not what I'll mostly be doing.}

{We train to use our chakra—} Oh, it doesn't know what that is? {—Our life-force—which everyone has—to perform special abilities, or ninjutsu.}

Are there any jutsu she can show Sable? Well, she had just been training her transformation jutsu, so that could work.

{Here, give me a second…}

Sakura finds a relatively-large puddle a ways down the forest path. It's been raining recently, so it doesn't take her long.

{Alright…}

Forming the hand seals, Sakura concentrates on the form she wants to take, and...

"Henge!"

In a puff of smoke, where there was once a short blonde kunoichi-in-training, now stands a slightly taller civilian girl with dark hair and a severe expression.

{I'm just a student, so I can't do anything really impressive, but I can at least manage this.} Unlike some of her classmates…

{Oooh, that's really cool! My old world didn't have chakra at all — at least not that anyone could tell — and so nothing like that was possible. I would've loved having that kind of trick, all my friends would've had to get used to me changing my hair and height and figure daily. At minimum. Not to mention the dysphoria relief it would've provided.}

Dysphoria? No, wait, whatever that is feels personal.

Sakura loses focus; her jutsu ending in a puff of smoke. Ah, shit.

{Yeah, actually: now you mention it, it's a bit weird that more ninja don't do that.} Or maybe they do, and she just hadn't noticed?

Does she want to answer that? She maybe wants to answer that. At the very least the train of dangling references and Sakura's confusion about them will be annoying if she doesn't answer that.

{I'm trans. Or well. I don't know how the label updates now that I'm a weird inkblot sharing a body with a cis girl, but before I died I was a girl who'd been born in a masculine body and eventually realized she didn't like it.}

Oh. That can happen?

Sakura imagines being stuck in a boy's body—first imagining someone annoying like Naruto, but then someone cool like Sasuke, and… no, that still feels weird.

That seems… really unpleasant, actually?

{Wow, I'm so sorry! That sounds awful!}

{…Is that why you're ok with being this slime thing? Because you've had it worse before?} Is that worse?

Yeah, it honestly was really unpleasant.

{Thanks, it was. That's not why, but it might be a factor. Mostly it's that some people don't feel like they're supposed to be human, whether in part or completely. I've known people who wanted to have fox ears, or wings, or any number of other things. For me, what I most wanted was to be shapeshifting goop, because my taste as to how I wanted to look changed constantly, and frequently included inhuman features. I hadn't considered the idea of needing a host to live, but...}

There's another sense of a blush from Sable, like it's a bit embarrassed. {I'm not not into it.}

Oh, well that's good to…

Oh… Oh!

Thoughts of her initial contact with the creature flood Sakura's mind, and she's suddenly very aware that's she is definitely not the only one there who enjoyed that experience.

Uhm. Right. She's just not going to think about that too much right now. Even if she wants to? Yes.

…What were they talking about?

Yeah, Sable's embarrassed too. Transness, dysphoria, and weird transformations, she thinks, though they may be running out of topic there. Before that Sakura was telling her about ninjas and how she's training to be one?

Oh! Right!

{Right! So… that—} she says, pointing into the distance, towards Konoha {—is my village! Konohagakure: the village hidden in the leaves—or just "Hidden Leaf", for short. It's easily the best hidden village, and it's the biggest one in the Land of Fire—the country we're in right now.}

{The other most important villages are Hidden Rock in Earth country, Hidden Mist in Water, Hidden Sand in Wind, and Hidden Cloud in Lightning.}

{We're all technically at peace right now? But everybody knows the villages spy and steal from eachother all the time, so I'm not totally sure what that really means.}

Is there anything else she should be mentioning? Right, the actual village!

{Konoha is run by the Hokage—old man Sarutobi. He's in charge of most things in the village, but a lot of stuff in regards to us ninja is up to the Jounin Commander, and there's probably some other leader roles I'm forgetting, or don't know about.}
She winces, wishing she'd paid more attention when her mom was explaining this to her.

{I'm not actually a ninja yet—I'm in training until I graduate. I'm one of the best students in my class though, so I'm sure to pass and become a genin this year!}

{After that, I've heard we'll get put into small teams, with an older ninja to teach us? I can't wait to start learning some real ninjutsu.} I wonder if we'll get teamed up with Sasuke…

{Interesting. Sounds like a cold war situation, where they're officially at "peace" but still scrabbling for advantages over each other in case another war breaks out.}

It carefully files away all the facts Sakura shares about the villages, finding its memory works better than it used to, at least.

{Glad to hear you're a good student. If we're training to be a ninja, I'm glad I don't have to convince you of the merits of learning. Knowledge is power and all that. How do you think the village would react to finding out you've got a gloopy new headmate?}

Of course not! Learning is how we get stronger!

Right. How would the village react?

If she came home and told her parents, they'd… probably tell a medi-nin? Who would then tell the higher-ups, and…

and…

…Right. They'd probably think Sable was an infiltrator of some kind—or maybe a weird chakra beast—and remove it. If they even could.

Given what Sable said about her nature—and Sakura's pretty sure she believes Sable by now—that would… kill it.

Shit.

That would not be fun. {I'd appreciate it if you were careful, then, because that would be five to ten miserable minutes followed by a sudden stop. What can you tell me about sensory abilities in Konoha?}

Right. She can't let that happen.

{Most ninja shouldn't be able to notice you, but… a Hyuuga with the Byakugan could probably notice you immediately—and if you have a chakra system, an Uchiha with the Sharingan probably could, too.}

Her house isn't near the Uchiha or Hyuuga estates, but Sasuke Uchiha is in her class, and there's also that Hyuuga girl who follows Naruto around sometimes.

She might be able to avoid Sasuke noticing Sable—he doesn't pay much attention to Sakura anyway—but there's no way she can hide her from the Hyuuga girl.

Maybe she can ask Naruto about the Hyuuga girl, and get her alone? She seemed quiet, and a bit obsessed with Naruto, so maybe she can convince her not to say anything…

{I think I have a chakra system now that we've bonded, so we'll have to be careful about Sasuke. As for the Hyuuga girl, your plan sounds like a decent start. What's Naruto like? What else do we know about the girl? What's Sasuke like?}

{Sasuke's great! He's really cool, and he's probably the strongest ninja(-to-be) in my year!}

{…He's really serious, though. And I don't know him that well, so it might be hard to convince him to keep you a secret.}

{Naruto's a bit annoying, but he's really obsessed with me, so I'm at least pretty sure we can get him to help.}

She does feel a bit bad for him though: He's been flunking a lot of their tests lately, and some of the other students are even worse to him than they are to her.

{I haven't really interacted with the girl. I… can't even really remember her name.} Sakura winces—she really tries to be better about that sort of thing.

What does she know about her? She's a Hyuuga, which is one of the biggest clans in Leaf, so she might be a big deal? No, she doesn't really seem like it, though.
She's pretty quiet.
She seems to really like Naruto (not that he seems to notice), and… that might be all Sakura knows about her.

Hm. Hm hm hm. They need reasons for these kids to like them and help them. Sable's understanding of social dynamics unfolds in their shared mind. Three fundamental tricks there: people feel connected to people they do favors for, people appreciate people who help them, and people fundamentally long for connection to people who understand them. Trauma can get in the way of the third, especially, though.

{Recent events in the lives of Sasuke and Naruto, strengths and weaknesses, major focuses, things they need help with, things they lack? (I'd ask the same about the Hyuuga girl, but we won't be able to answer that until we talk to Naruto. And honestly Naruto may be what she wants, just based on what little you remember of her.)}

Right. Recent events, focuses; things they could help with.

Sasuke… well, he hasn't talked about it, but Sakura had heard that the Uchiha family compound was attacked not long ago.
She'd heard that there weren't many survivors, but nobody has really said much.

Sasuke's been really focused on training since then, which is… probably good?
Sakura knows she would want to get stronger if something like that happened to her family.

She's not entirely sure what she can do to help there, though.

Maybe she should move on to Naruto.

Right, Naruto!
Honestly, Sakura had forgotten to really think about what he wanted in any real depth, because… he seems pretty open about it?

Naruto wants to be strong—though she's never been very clear on why, beyond the obvious reasons.
He's been picking fights with Sasuke lately—either he has a problem with him or he just really needs a sparring partner.
Maybe she could offer? She does have better grades than him. Hey, if he pisses her off then, she'll even have an excuse to hit him!

He wants her attention, and she'd almost want to give it to him, except he's so damn obnoxious about it!

She's still nicer to him than most of their classmates, though.
…Actually, thinking about it, that last part is a bit weird. Why are they so mean to him?
It's not just their class, either: she's definitely seen other villagers giving him the cold shoulder out of nowhere, too.

…Maybe she should ask about it?

Okay, okay, it can work with this. Sasuke sounds like he's badly off about losing most or all of his family. He's hard to help, and hard to talk to, but they mostly don't need to help him right now, because his obsession will distract him from them just fine. It sounds like he's not going to care about much other than getting stronger, which, honestly, valid, but she'll need to see him to know for sure. Low risk, though.

Naruto... Hm. If he needs a sparring partner, honestly maybe they should just give him one. Maybe they can show him how to ask for attention in a less annoying way? Maybe he's teachable.

The majority of the class and the villagers being shitty to him, though, that's weird. That's concerning. Sable's curious about Naruto now. They should definitely talk to him. What sort of annoying are they dealing with here? 

{Mostly the "relatively-harmless pranks" variety, with a bit of "attention-seeking stunts" on the side.} Wow, she hadn't really thought about it in those terms before. Maybe he's more attention-motivated than she thought?

He's... honestly, he can't be that bad, if she's already basically giving him what he wants by just talking to him, right?

In that case…
{Should we head back into the village and see if we can find him tonight? That way, we can talk to that Hyuuga girl first thing tomorrow.}

{He sounds... lonely. Yeah, I think we should. Also, at some point we should put some time into getting used to what enhancements I can give you. I'm passively enhancing your body now, and I can do better — if more invasive — enhancements if I can eat some animals.}

Images flicker through their shared mind of shooting lines of web from her wrists, or improved strength and speed, or having a perfect internal compass, or enhanced vision.

{Oh, right!} She'd gotten so distracted by their problems that she had completely forgotten about the benefits of her new situation!

{We can probably try out the passive enhancements you've already been giving me on the way home, but we might still have time to try out some of the more extensive options before we leave.}

{The better stuff will take some time. I need to eat multiple samples of different types of animals for any given upgrade, and then spend an hour or two processing how those animals do what they do, in order to modify your body to be able to do whatever it is we're aiming for. So that stuff isn't a today thing unless you just wanna get the animals and let me work on figuring out the upgrades while you sleep.}

A brief pause, then, {Oh! Also! It's not like overeating is much of a concern for a ninja-in-training, given how calorically-intensive that kind of job is, but now that you have me it is categorically impossible to overeat. Everything over and above your body's caloric needs just goes to feed my stockpile of inky goop, which I can use for things like repairing your body if you're injured, among other useful things. Also I do have some caloric needs of my own.}

Hmm… it might be a bit late for that, tonight—it's getting dark out.

…That thing about overeating sounds… really helpful, actually.
She knows she shouldn't worry about it, with how much she exercises, but she still does.
She manages to usually eat enough, but it can sometimes be difficult, with that on her mind.

{Let's just try out the stuff you can do now, then. What other differences should I be looking for?}

Yeah, dieting as a ninja trainee sounds... honestly really dumb? Anyone who expects a ninja to be a delicate waif needs their head recalibrated. Ninja, just based on its instincts, should have a gymnast's or dancer's build: strong and lithe, wiry muscle that's built for agility and speed and precision. And none of that involves trying to eat less.

Anyway. {Current passive enhancements: base muscle strength is a bit higher, reflexes are a bit faster, stamina should be higher. I'm eating lactic acid build-up and repairing muscle and ligament tears in real-time, as long as I have the spare mass for it, and I can convert some of my mass to additional energy to keep you going if you run out. The more we eat, the better/longer I can do all of that, so start doubling or tripling your serving sizes. I may have some additional dietary needs of my own in this form, but we've got plenty of time to figure that out.}

Right.

If that means she has to eat more, that… might be difficult for her? It sounds kind of terrifying, actually.
Better to solve that problem now than later. She'll have to learn to fix that habit anyway, if she's going to be a kunoichi.
Yeah, but it's still going to be uncomfortable.

…Time to think about something else. Those enhancements sound nice?

{Does that thing about repairing muscles mean she can train faster?}
She remembers learning something about muscle gain coming from tearing and repairing your muscles.

Sable is maybe a little concerned about Sakura's relationship with food. She's going to help as best she can, though. {Yeah, we'll get you through the food struggles. Don't worry, Sakura. On the plus side, I can directly tell when you've eaten enough for your body's needs, so there's no guesswork there. And yes, you absolutely can train faster. Muscle improvements happen by acquiring micro-tears during exercise and healing back stronger, to simplify a bit, and I can do that healing immediately. All of this happens because I have absolute biological control over anyone I'm bonded to.}

Well that's something.

…

{…"Absolute biological control"?}

That sounds… potentially scary. (And potentially hot)—Nope! Do not get turned on by the alien ink-monster having control over your body!

Sable may in fact also find that idea hot.

{I can essentially do anything I want to your body, rewrite it arbitrarily, reshape any part of it. Conveniently for your cute, reckless, inkblot-pouncing ass, I only want to reshape you in ways that make you happier and safer, because I'm a sap like that.} Sable shares the entirety of its feelings on the subject: Sakura is cute, endearing, decently clever, and someone Sable is already growing rather fond of. It feels pretty lucky to have her as a host rather than someone else, and wants to ensure she not just survives, but thrives.

Oh. Wow.

Those are some very intense feelings she's suddenly feeling.

…

Those are probably the right feelings for Sable to be feeling? She is all of those things.

Alright. Yeah.

She supposes she's starting to get a bit attached to Sable, too.
This is probably fine, actually?

Yeah, ok. Sakura can actually handle this.

Sakura tries sharing some of her own feelings back.
Sakura is actually really enjoying having Sable here, so far. Sable is clearly emotionally mature enough to be handling her end of this exchange without the emotional flailing Sakura is doing, and seems to care a lot for her already, and Sakura is starting to feel pretty lucky to have it in her head, too.

There, emotions! Sakura can handle emotions properly! Go her!

Ah, but Sable's cheating at the emotional maturity. It has the advantage of age, and even so it's still going to have a breakdown at some point. It's a mess, but it's an affectionate, fiercely protective mess, at least. No one is allowed to harm its cute little ninja-in-training.

It blushes internally a bit.

Right. Weren't they gonna gonna try taking the high-intensity route home?

Right! That they were.

Sakura begins making her way back to the village, taking a more circuitous route on her way than she did leaving. She vaults over and around the rocks and trees, occasionally swinging from a branch or around a trunk.

The feeling of her increased mobility is exhilarating, and she can barely restrain her excitement enough to keep quiet.

{Woah, this is incredible! It's like the first time I chakra-boosted all over again!}

She continues to run and vault in the general direction of home, her heart thrumming with excitement.

Sakura's excitement is contagious, and Sable's cheering along in their mind with every leap and swing. She pays careful attention to the route they take, gradually assembling a mental map of the forests around Konoha.

{This is so much fun!}

{It is!}

Sakura knows this area of the forests well, and as Sable builds her mental map, it can feel connections being pulled in from Sakura's more extensive memories.

As they begin to exit the forest and near the village, Sakura slows her pace, preparing to enter quietly.

While she isn't strictly forbidden from leaving the village unsupervised, the guards might be concerned or suspicious if they saw her, and might tell her parents when they noticed.

Someone is probably watching as she enters over the south outer wall, but whoever it is must have more important things to do than get a young kunoichi-in-training in trouble with her parents.

Sable watches very carefully as Sakura sneaks in, in case it can catch something Sakura saw but didn't notice. Hopefully any observers are more worried about other villages than wandering students.

This is far from the first time she's snuck in or out like this, so she isn't worried about being stopped. They probably want to encourage students to try this sort of thing, anyway.

As she quietly drops into the village, Sakura thinks on where she might find Naruto.

She never learned where he lives, but she's seen him on top of Hokage rock before, so he might be there. It's late enough now that he's probably not off pulling some prank, but hopefully not late enough yet for him to have gone home.

{Is there anything you can do to help me find Naruto? I'm hoping we can catch him while he's still out and about.}

{I should've thought of this earlier, but if we'd grabbed a bird, I could recreate it after eating it and have it scout for us. Other than scout animals, I'm limited to your senses until I learn chakra-based sensory abilities. The one big problem I can think of with animal scouts is they're another instance of me that a Hyuuga could happen to walk by.}

{Oh! Dang, that would have been useful.} They might have to try for one of those the next time they're out.

Still, it's probably right about the Hyuuga, so maybe it's best that they hadn't done that.

Sakura begins to make her way silently across the rooftops, towards Hokage rock.

Sable keeps watch as they go, tinkering in its mind with ways to maybe highlight points of interest in Sakura's view in the future. It's not sure if it can do that, but it would sure like to find out. It also pays attention to what chakra-boosting feels like, and what Sakura's chakra use feels like in general, so it can learn to use its own chakra.

{I'll try to think of a good way to keep one hidden. We might want to come up with some kind of cover story that explains any changes you want me to make, or abilities I give you, though. And something to explain any detectable signs of my presence, in case people happen to look closely at you or wonder where you picked up a healing factor.}

{Hmmm... I'll have to think about that. I don't really have any ideas for how to explain you, yet.}

She can probably excuse some of the changes as a jutsu, once she graduates and starts having opportunities to have learned any non-basic jutsu.

{I'll think on it. You mentioned bloodlines, do new ones ever turn up? But it's not urgent. We'll figure it out.}

{I don't think I've ever heard of that happening, but we might be able to do some research later.}

{Oh, thank the kami!} As they approach Hokage rock, she can begin to make out a figure in an orange jumpsuit sitting atop it.

Ooh. Lucky break there. 

Okay, so they're probably not revealing Sable yet, and their goal is to get him to infodump about the Hyuuga girl and be less intense about attention demands, and what they're prepared to trade is sparring partnership and maybe friendship?

That sounds right to her!

{Should I ask about the girl first, or start off by offering to train together?}

{Hm. Ask about the girl first. Segue into the offer by asking if he's had enough people to train with, if he doesn't give you a good opportunity on his own.}

{Sounds good to me!}

Sakura considers calling out to her classmate before approaching, but decides to stay quiet rather than attract attention from potential onlookers.

She quickly makes her way up the side of the massive monument, using stairs where necessary but scaling rock where she can.

She quietly approaches Naruto from what she's guessing is just outside of his field-of-view.

{Last check before I talk to him: Nothing seems off?}
They're probably being watched, but this conversation shouldn't be suspicious enough for that to matter.

Nothing it's seen from Sakura's vision, whether she noticed it or not, is concerning. They're good to go.

{All good.}

Alright then.

Bracing herself internally for the boy's excessive enthusiasm, Sakura quickly saunters into Naruto's field of view.

"Hey Naruto! Got a minute?"

"Hey, what's—"

Wait, oh shit is that Sakura? Talking to him?

"Oh hey Sakura! Sure, what'd'ya need?"
Don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up…

Huh. She was expecting worse. Maybe this won't be so bad?

"You're friends with that Hyuuga girl, right? Dark hair, quiet; seems kinda shy?"

"Oh, Hinata?"

What does Sakura want with her?

"I dunno if I'd say we're friends, but sure, I know her."

Oh, Hinata! Right!

"What do you know about her?"

And… hmm… how honest should she be here? Maybe honest but vague?

"I wanna meet up with her after class tomorrow, but we've never really talked."

Huh. What's that about?

Those two seem pretty different: He wonders why Sakura would suddenly want to get to know Hinata.

"I don't really hang out with her much, but she's pretty nice!
I've met a few other Hyuuga, but she's the only one that doesn't look at everyone around them like some kinda bug."

Naruto shivers.

"She doesn't really have many friends, and I know she was getting bullied by some of the kids in our year a while ago."

"That stopped a while ago," he grins—teeth bared, "but she still basically only hangs out with me."

{Okay, I'm officially worried about both these kids. We need to befriend Hinata anyway for the sake of keeping our secret, so maybe we start a three-person training group?}

{That sounds smart to me! I could honestly use the opportunity to practice.}

That, and it's not as though Sakura has a lot of friends in class, either.

Yeah that squares it. All three of these ninja trainees are Sable's now, it's keeping them and protecting them and anyone who wants to argue can fuck off. 

Besides, it's not like Sable's had anyone it can be close to for the past few years either.

Sakura catches that thought, and gives Sable her best approximation of a mental hug.

Warm mental hug right back, full of vivid gratitude and fondness — and some degree of physical hug, too, because she's threaded all through Sakura's body and can do that.

{Thank you, sweetie.}

Wait, crap, she was talking to Naruto! Was she supposed to say something just now?

Huh. What was with that face Sakura just made?

Did he maybe do something wrong? He guesses that wasn't really a lot of information… he should probably say more.

"…Maybe I could introduce you two tomorrow? I'll bet she'd love to have another girl to talk to!"

There, that was helpful, wasn't it? Look at Naruto being good and nice and helpful! Sakura should ask him for help again!

Whoops. They'll have to practice operating in parallel without getting distracted from outside conversations.

Naruto's got a good idea though. Go for it. Maybe tie in the training offer, it's a decent setup.

"That would be great! Maybe we could all train together after class sometime?"

Oh shit.

Wait, really?

Did she just offer to hang out with him?

That's totally what that was, right?

He can totally handle this. Just be normal about it!

"That would be awesome! I can't wait!"

{Good girl. That went perfectly. Optionally ask what he's having trouble in, or just bow out to see him tomorrow.}

{Given our previous interactions, I think that might come across as a bit weird.}

Sakura hasn't exactly expressed interest in Naruto's problems in the past, and she's already acting a lot friendlier than she usually does.
She's worried he might think something is up if she also suddenly takes an interest in his personal life.

Something is up, but he doesn't need to know that yet.

{Reasonable. Just a thanks and see you tomorrow then.}

"Glad to hear it! Thanks so much for all the help."

"It's getting pretty late though—I'm gonna head home. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing!"

Sakura hops down from the stone face they were sitting on, and begins to make her way home.

{Wow, that went a lot better than I was expecting! I'm actually looking forward to meeting up tomorrow!}

Sable's definitely pleased. {Yeah! A lot of people just need a little kindness and opportunity, and they can do lots better.}

{I don't think I'd have agreed with you this morning, but I think I'm starting to come around to your point of view!}

Sakura begins making her way home—hopefully her parents will be asleep when she gets in.

Sable just simmers quietly with fondness and observes the village, basking in connection. Not being alone is great. Sakura's great. They're going to handle this together.

That they are!

They arrive at Sakura's home. The house is dark, and her trained senses can't pick up any sounds coming from it, so she approaches her bedroom window and begins opening it, slowly and quietly.

{I have class pretty early tomorrow, so I'll wanna get to sleep pretty soon. Is there anything we should talk about before that?}

{Not much. Just what I'm going to do while you sleep. Are there any chakra exercises I could do to work on my control and capacity, or things vaguely in that vein?}

{Oh, yeah, there totally are!}

Sakura tries pushing some experiential memories from her training over to Sable as she finishes sliding her window open and slips in.

She manages after a few attempts, and grins with satisfaction when she does.

{These are some basic chakra control and capacity exercises we learned in class. Sensei made us start with the control ones, so you probably should too—he warned us we'd hurt our chakra systems if we tried the capacity exercises without enough control.}

Sable pushes back a sense of agreement with that advice. {Yeah, I've seen that advice repeated across countless disciplines: start by doing it right, then worry about speed and power after that.}

{Exactly!} Sakura exclaims excitedly, happy that her new friend gets it.

{You would not believe how many of my classmates were badgering sensei to let them train their capacity early—I was practically the only one in my class who actually just did the work like a sensible student!}

Distracted by her excitement, she barely remembers to stay quiet as she closes her window.

{Once again, I'm extremely pleased to have landed a sensible host. Void save me from self-sabotaging fools.}

Warm fondness bubbles up from Sable.

Sakura smiles, returning her own burgeoning feelings of fondness as she makes her way to her bed and prepares to undress.

{…}

{…I guess, with the situation we're in—} (and what happened when they bonded) {—I shouldn't worry about being naked around you.}

She pauses before continuing,

{…And I guess that'll be easier for me than it could be, since you're in my head, instead of out there next to me.}

She continues fiddling nervously with her clothes for a moment, clearly postponing it a bit longer, despite her words.

Sable's voice is soft and gentle as it replies, but also a bit embarrassed. {Sakura, sweetie, while it's very understandable to be embarrassed or shy, I'm a biokinetic symbiote who's bonded with you. I can feel every cell of your body in full detail. It is a little bit late for that.}

Sakura sighs.

{…Yeah, I guess I know that.}

Pulling together her courage, Sakura finally removes her shirt—and, in a burst of temporary confidence, the rest of her outfit.

Now fully nude, she stands stock-still in the middle of her room, doing her best not to freak out.

It really is fine, though.

Okay, yeah, it really is fine.

Sakura begins folding her discarded clothes.

{Thanks for letting me work through that.}
{I guess I just… had more of a mental block there than I expected to.}

Soft fondness and gentle care wells up from Sable, along with the sensation of something not unlike a hug if it was threaded through her body rather than wrapped around her with arms.

{Always.}

Projecting appreciation and affection towards the symbiote, Sakura wraps her arms around her body, doing her best to approximate hugging Sable back.

Cozy appreciative fondness at the hug. {Thank you.}

It maybe needed a hug. Kind of badly. 

It has a very good host.

Sakura is very glad it thinks so. She hugs herself/Sable some more.

Then she puts her folded clothes away and gets into bed.

…And then—nearly immediately—falls asleep.

Sable starts working through the chakra control exercises Sakura gave her, very carefully. She stumbles a bit at first, but she's able to correct herself with Sakura's memory of doing them correctly.

Once she has them mostly down, she starts working through plans and ideas.

The most important problem it faces is how much detail the Hyuuga clan's legendary sight provides them. If it covers the level of cells and bacteria, it can't hide and needs an explanation. If not, it can hide and can hold off on being explained until it makes detectable changes to Sakura. 

The problem here is that the only way to get this information with any degree of confidence is to ask a Hyuuga, which means they need Hinata on-side.

How do they explain it to Hinata, then? It's objectively concerning by any normal metric. If this was Worm, knowing about it would lead to its hosts being thrown in Master/Stranger quarantine. It's sure there are similar interrogation cells here, this is a village of ninja.

She could teach Sakura to manipulate. These kids are desperate for contact—

No, that's a terrible idea. Bad habit to be in, and not a resilient plan.

Say she's developed a self-biokinetic ability, and any visible inkiness is just the underlying mechanism of her ability?

Risky, they'd want to take Sakura to the medics, and then Sakura and Sable would find out first-hand how good their scans were. Definitely the kind of thing to learn from a distance first.

Maybe they have to be honest?

Slightly terrifying, given her fundamental nature is so objectively concerning, but they have to be honest with someone eventually, and it might as well be the kids she's trying to train with.

Oh fuck, this means that what saves them from a catastrophic reveal might be the power of friendship.

Oh no.

Well, it's not that bad. All three of the trainees are pretty far from flush with companionship, so nudging them into being friends shouldn't be that hard.

It's not exactly been flush for companionship either, has it.

Fuck, she's been so lonely. It hurts. It hurts so much. She's got a person now, but Sakura didn't exactly get a choice in the matter, did she?

Fuck. 

And all this happened because she died.

She died.

She died cold and alone in a horrible state in the deep south, and no one knew who she really was, and no one understood her.

She died, and it's only through mysterious multiversal fuckery that she has this opportunity to live again as a symbiote.

She died.

Fuck.

And now its only person is its host, who is bound to it through her own recklessness and didn't get a choice in the matter.

At least it has her, though. She's been pretty good to it so far.

It carefully calms itself back down, and then starts thinking about broad categories of animals and upgrades.

Birds of prey, for distance vision.

Passerines, for color differentiation.

Birds in general for UV vision.

Certain types of pigeon for magnetoreception.

Increase the photoreceptor count in general.

Big cats for ambush musculature.

Deer for bones and stamina musculature.

Bears for raw strength.

Foxes and dogs for smell and hearing.

Spiders for web composition.

Spraying animals like skunks for the ability to launch a secretion.

It manages to pass the rest of its time until morning with listing and chakra exercises.

Sakura wakes from a surprisingly restful sleep. She doesn't typically have trouble sleeping, but this morning she feels amazing.

Did she sleep in? Maybe, or it could be the symbiote she bonded with yesterday.

Oh, right. Or it could be that.

{Good morning Sable!}

Alongside being better-rested than usual and suddenly having a new friend, Sakura is also feeling excited to meet with her classmates today!

{Morning, Sakura! I think I'm likely a factor in that sleep, yeah. Glad you're feeling good today. I've been brainstorming all night, alongside the chakra exercises.} Bright fondness bubbles up to greet her as she wakes.

It shares a memory of its progress with the control exercises, and also its ideas about either trying the self-biokinesis explanation on Hinata and Naruto, or going for full honesty.

{If we go for honesty, though, we'll need to make sure to have somewhere private to explain. That would make it easier to justify needing to know how detailed the Byakugan is, though.}

{Oh wow, you're a really far along in those exercises for just one night!}

Sakura fondly remembers her first days learning chakra control—she was already obviously talented at it, but it had still been a struggle getting used to the abstract internal exercises.

{…Honesty is probably the better approach—if we can manage it safely—but it's probably best to suss out how they'll respond before we tell them, if we can.}

Hmm… actually…

{Or maybe we should talk to Naruto first? He feels like he'd trust easily—}
And she should know: they are literally trained to recognize that sort of thing.
{—so as long as we can convince him how important it is to keep you a secret, it should be fine?}

{That way, he can help us figure out how to approach Hinata.}

Sable simmers proudly at having done well at the chakra control exercises. {I think part of it is being used to abstract thought exercises from computer programming in my old world,} and this seems to refer to a process not terribly unlike what Sakura knows of fuinjutsu, at least on an abstract level, but done by entering symbols into a strange machine, {while most of the rest of it is that I had your good example to work from. Direct memories of the experience are a big help.}

{As for approaching Naruto first, I think that's a great idea,} and it is so proud of her for thinking of that, {but if so, we definitely should try to catch him before class, so we can make sure to catch Hinata immediately after. We have no idea what her schedule after school is, or what other demands there are on her time.}

{Right—yeah—we should definitely talk to him first!}

Sakura gets up and begins dressing for the day, putting on her fresh uniform.

Sable gives her a gently encouraging internal hug, eager for the progress they can make today. {We've got this.}

That they do!

Sakura quickly finishes dressing, and goes to clean her face and teeth.

Sakura's mother hears her daughter at the basin, and walks over to check on her.

"Good morning, Sakura! Sleep well?"

"Really well, actually!"

"That's great, dear! I'm so glad staying out so late didn't get in the way of your sleep."

…Right.

She was out late, wasn't she?

She should probably have seen this coming.

Whoops. Parents do tend to catch that, don't they? It hasn't lived with its parents in too long and forgot. 

They've still got this, though. Sakura gets another hug.

Partial truth, she was arranging a group for extra training, because her unarmed is lagging behind her chakra control? Then lost track of time in a conversation?

That sounds like a fine approach to her.

"Crap, sorry mom!"

"I was out talking to a classmate about training together soon, and I guess I just sorta lost track of time?"

Mebuki sighs.

"…Just try to make sure it doesn't happen again?"

"And tell me next time you're going out like that: I worry."

{Good job. This sort of thing is always a bit anxious-making, but you handled it. I'll try to help you keep track in the future. Let's try to be home on time today, what time does she normally want you back by?}

{I think what really matters is that she knows when I'll be home—which means I should probably tell her I'll be back later than usual tonight.}

"I'm not going out like that again tonight, but I am probably training with a few classmates, so I'll probably be out for a few hours after class."

Sakura finishes washing her face, and walks over to hug her mother.

{I kinda wish I didn't live with my parents: It would make so much of my life so much easier—especially now I have you here.}

Sable hugs Sakura warmly and sends steady affection. {Understandable. We can look into something like that at some point. I think in some sense I am a pocket dimension, so if all else fails we can figure out how to let you go in there, if it's safe, and if we figure out a way to explain it to anyone who'd notice. Don't lose touch with a good parent, though, and your mom seems pretty solid as moms go. You don't have to keep living with them, but good parents aren't exactly common.}

Yeah, and Sakura's parents are good parents—she just wishes she had more space from them.

Sable's idea is appealing, but it's probably too dangerous for them to actually use.

Yeah, they don't want attention. Alas. They can look into it around whatever the normal age people tend to move out in Konoha.

For now, though, breakfast? What're they having?

{Good question!}
Sakura releases her mother from her hug.

"I should eat before class: What's for breakfast?"

"Thanks for letting me know this time, darling."

Right, it is getting close to when Sakura should leave for class.

"Omelette, this morning!" Mebuki smiles.

Omelettes! Yum! She likes egg dishes a lot. Oh, huh, wonder if they make 'em differently here in Konoha than they did back in her world.

Based on the memories she's getting from Sable, she's pretty sure they do.

"Yum!"

Sakura skips over to the main room.

As they walk into the room, Sakura immediately notices the delicious smell of the food.

On the table are several steaming bowls of rice, two plates of tightly-rolled tamagoyaki (one somewhat fuller than the other), and two bowls of soup, as well as a jug and several cups of water. The tamagoyaki slices are arranged in a gentle arc across the plates, with finely chopped green onions sprinkled atop.

Her father isn't at the table—presumably he's already out guarding the gate—but she can see his dishes are still at the table, waiting to be collected and cleaned.

Sakura sits at the table and digs into her breakfast. The tamagoyaki are lightly sweet, with a warm umami note from the dashi mixed in, and are fluffy and soft and still piping hot.

"Mmmh! Thanks mom, this is amazing!"

Ooooooh this is delicious. Sable's never had this kind of omelette before. Reminds it a bit of omelettes in a country from its old world called Japan, honestly.

It's just gonna be a font of yummy happy feelings all meal.

Though that certainly won't stop it from nudging Sakura to eat all of the tamagoyaki on her plate, all of the soup, and at least two bowls of rice.

"You're very welcome dear."

"Now be sure to eat quickly, so you aren't late for class!"

"Yes, mom!" she says—partially aiming the response toward Sable, along with a bit of friendly internal sarcasm.

She tries her best to eat her full portion, but doesn't manage to finish the last of her soup or the second bowl of rice before she has to stop, excusing herself with a quick "Gotta go!"

{Sorry—I know I need to eat more, but I think that's the most I'll manage right now.}

It giggles internally at the tease.

{No worries, sweetie. Work in progress.} Accompanying that is a warm mental image of a kiss to the top of her head, with as much sensory detail as Sable can bake into it. {Off we go to find Naruto!}

And off they go! Sakura heads to class in record time, excited to meet Hinata and optimistic for her meeting with Naruto.

The academy building is huge, and would be imposing if Sakura was seeing it for the first time. Instead, its grand visage just spurs on her excitement.

It's not long now until exams—which she's sure to pass—and then she'll be a real ninja.

It's about normal-to-large size for schools from her world, but still. Very cool. {Where are you planning to discuss things with him?}

{He's in my morning class, but I want to talk to him before that, so I guess I'll wait in the hall and pull him aside when he gets there.}

Naruto is late often enough that he probably won't mind being held up, and Sakura is punctual enough that she can probably get away with a simple excuse.

Reasonable. It glimmers a bit with excitement and nerves. This is the first person other than its host who will be told. Here they go!

Kami, wow, yeah, it is.

Sakura hurries to her classroom, then waits, resting against the wall.

Several classmates pass her as she waits, some giving her confused looks, but most simply ignoring her.

It's not too long before Sakura notices a figure in a distinctive orange jumpsuit coming down the hall, and she quickly approaches the boy as he walks closer.

"Hi Naruto!" she says, "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"In private." she adds, as a last-second afterthought.

"Oh, hi Sakura!"

Crap, did he mess something up? Is she cancelling their sparring session? He really hopes that's not what this is.

"Yeah, sure! Where should we go?"

"Here, follow me."

Sakura pulls Naruto along with her to a disused classroom, and sneaks in with him, keeping watch for anyone who might be watching.

"Ok, so."

"This is a bit complicated, and I need you to promise that you won't say anything about it to anyone else."

She tries her best to convey how serious this is in her tone.

Ok, so at least it doesn't seem like she's upset with him.

"…Ok. I promise."

He really hopes he can keep that promise.

She's nervous. She can't help it. She keeps the nerves down to a quiet simmer, though, trying to keep out of her host's way here, and gives a warm pulse of encouragement. Sakura's doing fine.

The encouragement helps center her a bit, and she takes a deep breath before beginning.

"…Last night, before I talked to you, I was out in the woods.

I caught a weird chakra beast, and it… turned out to not be a chakra beast."

"When I touched it, it… bonded with me?

We both blacked out, and when I woke up, it started talking to me in my head, and we could hear eachothers' thoughts.

It—her name is Sable. She was a human before she got turned into whatever she is now, and she came from a really different world than ours: It didn't have ninja or chakra, but it had massive cities, half as big as the land of fire!"

She's rambling a bit, now: time to get back on track.

Sakura collects her thoughts, and continues.

"I trust Sable, and we can help eachother, but we can't trust the village: if they find out about her, there's no way Anbu don't think she's some kind of infiltrator.

That's why we need to talk to Hinata: The Hyuuga can probably detect Sable, so we need her help to keep it hidden from them."

Oh, so that's why Sakura decided to talk to him. Figures: She wouldn't actually wanna spend time together.

Picking up on Naruto's all-too-easy-to-read expression, Sakura quickly continues.

"Well, that's not the only reason: The training offer was real."

"I…"

Damn. Why is this so hard? She knows what to say, and she knows why she has to say it, so why can't she?

Because she's been hiding her vulnerability for years, because it's hard to open up, because she's not used to trusting people, and because kids her age are sometimes little monsters that bully each other for sport and to prop up their own egos.

It's going to be okay, though. Naruto isn't like that, she gets good vibes from him.

She thrums a warm burst of love and care and encouragement into Sakura.

…

…

"I know neither of you really has any friends, and…"

…

…

Goddammit, fine.

"…and I don't really have any, either."

There: I fucking said it.

Was that—?

Possibly, but now's not the time.

Sakura's doing great, it's very proud of her, and it doesn't want to distract her.

Good girl.

Oh. Wow.

That was not what he was expecting.

He'd always sort of… assumed girls like her didn't get lonely? Like, Hinata probably was, but she never talked to anybody. Sakura is…

"Wow, umm… I'm…"

No wait, he can do better than that! This is what he's good at!

Naruto grins.

"I'm so glad you wanna be friends, then!"

Oh thank god, he didn't make a big deal out of it.

Sakura sighs in relief.

"So… you have… something, that talks to you in your head? What's that like?"

"Yeah. She's a—well, the term we've been using is symbiote?

She's physically bonded to me, and we think she can probably manipulate my biology and stuff, if she tried."

Naruto scratches his head.

"Manipulate your… biology?"

"Like, transform me—and properly, not like a Henge."

"Oh, right."

Oh, wow. That sounds really…

"Could—can she do that to other people too?"

Wait. That expression. Is...

Oh, right, that might be scary for him.

"Don't worry! She couldn't do anything to anyone she isn't bonded to, and there's no way she'd do anything like that to someone against their will, anyway—trust me, she's way too much of a softie for that."

Sakura giggles, and sends a burst of affection to Sable.

Awww. It loves her too.

It's maybe noticed something, though. That expression didn't look like fear to it. No, that expression is... familiar. 

Oh, did she read that wrong?

No, that wasn't what he— oh nevermind, it's fine.

"Oh, glad to hear that, then."

Okay, the confusion at Sakura's response confirms it, that wasn't fear about her capabilities. That was something else.

What could it be? It was a strong reaction, for sure. Naruto didn't look angry, and really anger just wouldn't make sense with the confusion and cheer after Sakura's reply. He looked shocked or surprised, and not much other than positive options are left at this point. A shocked positive reaction... hope??

The only reason for hope here is a desire to see someone have their body modded, and Naruto's all alone, which rules out desire on others' behalf...

Egg?

{…What?}

"…I guess we should probably get back to class soon—oh, but we should talk to Hinata as soon as possible: can you get her right after class?"

And she should make sure he isn't planning on telling anyone.

Right. "And remember, you can't tell anyone about this—even Hinata, until we're sure we're alone."

So it thinks Naruto looked hopeful there, not scared. Naruto is all alone and thus has no one else to want a bodymod for. And the biggest reason for a person to feel hopeful about a bodymod for themselves is if they have something they want to change about their body. The most obvious thing someone could want to change about their body is to make it match their gender identity if they're trans. Secondary things that sometimes come up are desires for animal features or other unusual traits.

But that kind of shocked, painful hope is familiar to it, because it felt like that in the past, when it realized there was an explanation for the pain it felt about its body, and there were treatments.

It thinks Naruto might be like it in this.

The typical thing trans people called other trans people who hadn't realized it yet, back in its old world, was "egg", because they'd have a realization and hatch into a new identity. The term is also sometimes used for trans people who've very privately realized it and not come out to anyone.

Egg.

"Can do—and no worries, your secret's safe with me!"

Naruto begins walking towards their class.

Oh.

Well crap, that sounds like something she should probably address.

There's no time now, but maybe after school? She'll definitely need Sable's help with that one, though.

She follows Naruto.

Sable gives Sakura a fierce internal hug. Yeah, they've got this. She can coach Sakura on what sorta stuff to say about that.

She's proud of Sakura for how she handled this, too. She did a good job, and Sable's really happy to have her as a host.

Sakura walks into the class about ten seconds before Naruto, receiving a disappointed glare alongside the more annoyed variant aimed at Naruto.

"To catch up those of us who missed it, today we're practicing the Clone technique."

Sakura winces a bit, internally. She's been scolded before, but not often enough to be used to it.

It's not their first time going over the jutsu, but it's still a recent one for Sakura's class, so while she's been practicing it, it still takes significant effort and focus for her.

Oh fascinating. Sable memorizes the chakra patterns involved and watches how they affect Sakura, trying to slowly figure out which parts of the technique gather the image data and which parts form it and which parts choose where it appears.

Chakra's complicated. But really cool.

Much affection and pride for Sakura learning this stuff.

The encouragement boosts her mood, and Sakura finds herself focusing more easily on the work than she had the previous day.

She practices the technique to the best of her ability, repeatedly performing the jutsu, inspecting the resulting illusion, and adjusting to improve.

By the end of the class, she's starting to feel more confident with the technique.

It's very glad to cheer her on. What's the point of having a cute host if you don't cheer her on when she does stuff, right?

Sable's pretty glad the clone technique seems to ignore it, though. That would be very weird and complicated.

Oh boy, yeah, she's glad they don't have to deal with that.

As class is wrapping up, Naruto walks over to Sakura.

"Dang, your clones look so good! Now I'm really glad I'm gonna be training with you: I still haven't worked my head around it."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I can help you figure it out!

It's a bit tricky at first, but with a bit of practice, I'll bet we can get it to click into place for you."

Yay! Glorious cooperation! Teamwork!

(Sable is a big believer in people helping each other and being stronger together.)

"Wow, yeah, that sounds great!"

Naruto begins to lead his new friend out of the classroom, taking her to where he thinks Hinata's first class should be.

"I don't usually see Hinata until lunch, but I know she's in Iruka-sensei's class in the mornings, so she should be this way."

They walk down the hallway, passing by other students also leaving their classrooms, before arriving at a class which appears to be letting out slightly late, its students only just now starting to leave the room.

Towards the back of the classroom, Sakura can see a small dark-haired girl with pale blank eyes.

Nervous again, but no, it's okay. They've got this. Unused classroom again? Or do they not have enough gap between classes and need to just schedule meeting up somewhere on lunch?

No, it forcibly stops fretting and overthinking. Sakura's got this.

She sure hopes she does!

Best to just get it done with as soon as possible: If she can see the Hyuuga girl Hinata, then Hinata can see her, and that means it's probably too late for second thoughts anyways.

Sakura does her best to stride confidently to the back of the room, past the other students and straight to Hinata, with Naruto trailing in her wake.

"Hi. I'm a friend of Naruto's. Sorry this is sudden, but I need to talk to you outside—now."

This is that girl Naruto has a crush on, Sakura Haruno. Is she interested in Naruto now? Oh no.

She ducks her head nervously. "H-Hello, Haruno-san. Yes, we can go outside."

Oh good, maybe this won't be so difficult after all!

Sakura grabs Hinata's hand and hustles her out of the classroom, down the hall, and into another unused classroom.

She closes the door to the empty classroom the moment they're all inside, and turns to face Hinata, unintentionally standing between her and the door.

"Phew, okay. Sorry for rushing you like this, but I really didn't have a choice. You were going to find out soon whether I told you or not."

"I know I don't exactly have a lot of leverage here, but I have to ask you to promise, before I say anything, that you won't tell anyone else about it. Is that something you can do?"

Oh dear that's... Why could she want to keep this secret? Oh no. What should she do? Is this a threat to Naruto-sama?

Oh. The next question is obvious.

"D-does Naruto-sama already know about this?"

What does she mean? Of course she told Naruto.

"He does. I thought you'd be more willing to talk to me if I was with him."

"Y-yes, you were right." A slow breath, then a hesitant nod. "I can keep this secret."

"Perfect!"

"I mean, I'm glad I can trust you!"

"Right. So.

I guess I could just tell you to look, but this is probably better with an explanation first."

"Yesterday, I met someone from another world. She had been transformed into some sort of… creature.

I… made a stupid decision, which wound her up… attached to me."

"She's been really great, and I'm actually really glad to have her bonded to me, but we both agree that there is no way the village would react well to finding out about her."

"We're both pretty sure that any Hyuuga with the Byakugan who's paying enough attention would notice her immediately, so we had to talk to you as early as possible to explain it, and then hope that you can help us keep her hidden."

Sable quietly makes another mental note, but otherwise gives Sakura an encouraging mental hug. Also it's pretty happy that she likes it and is glad to have it. It's pretty glad to have her, too.

"Transformed into a c-creature? What kind? Why wouldn't the village r-react well?"

"I'm not sure if I have the words for it. An… ink… symbiote?"

{Is there a better description of what you are?}

{Nnnot really. The species that I most resemble has a proper name, Klyntar, but there seem to be other types from other universes mixed in here, including some I'm not familiar with. And a proper name doesn't really communicate much. Ink symbiote is the best short description. Maybe throw "biokinetic" in there if you wanna cover most of my capabilities.}

Right.

"She's… when I say she's bonded to me, I mean she's physically a part of me.

…You can take a look, now, if that'll help you understand?"

Hinata nods, and flares her chakra in her eyes in that particular way that opens her Byakugan. The world around her opens up, and she peers within Sakura's body.

Threaded all throughout Sakura's body are tendrils of inky black goop, streaked with hints of purple. It cradles every organ, winds around bones, and weaves into a reinforcing layer beneath her skin.

She gasps. "T-that... It's running through your whole body!" she exclaims quietly. "W-what does it d-do?"

"It can do quite a lot: right now it's just strengthening my body and improving my energy, but theoretically, she can manipulate my biology a lot more than that."

"Luckily, she's very courteous, and I don't think it'd ever do anything like that unless I asked for it."

{You're very right about that, not doing anything big unless you ask or it's to save your life. Also your trust is very flattering and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.}

"Wow," she breathes. "I'm glad you get along so well. And I see why you're worried. Any Hyuuga could see her with the Byakugan."

{Shit. Does the Byakugan have any limits I could use to hide?}

{Aww, I'm glad!}

"I am too: she's really special."

Oh, she almost forgot about the best part!

"Right. So, Naruto agreed to train with us after school today, and we'd love it if you could join us!

It'd be a great chance to see if we can figure out any way of hiding Sable—right, I hadn't mentioned her name yet; that's her—from other Byakugan-users, but I'm really hoping we can keep training together after that, too!"

Why would they want to train with her, though?

But it would be an opportunity to spend more time with Naruto-sama...

Hinata blushes.

"...I accept."

"Perfect! I can't wait!"

Naruto has been standing by the door this whole time, but now he walks closer.

"I'm really looking forward to training with you both!"

"…But we should probably head to class now—Iwata-sensei already doesn't like me very much, and I'm gonna be late if we don't leave soon."

Hinata nods hesitantly. "Y-yes, you can't get into m-more trouble, Naruto-sama."

She'll follow them back to class.

{Well that went surprisingly smoothly.}

{It did!} She should be assertive like that more often!

She exits the classroom, and they begin to make their ways to their respective classrooms—Sakura and Hinata both converging towards Suzume-sensei's kunoichi class, and Naruto heading away towards one of his classes.

They arrive just as Suzume-sensei is about to close the classroom door. She gives them a surprised look as they enter, but doesn't comment on it.

Curious inkblot is curious. Tell it, Suzume-sensei, about gendered expectations of ninja.

Hinata sits down in her usual seat with her usual Hyuuga reserve.

Suzume-sensei is here to teach them exactly those things a kunoichi needs to know, that her male counterparts do not. Namely: exactly the same things a female non-ninja could be expected to know.

This is not—she says—because kunoichi are necessarily expected to perform the same duties as civilian women in their daily lives (though she implies that it may be useful for that reason, too), but because one of the foremost jobs of a ninja is infiltration, and they will need to be able to convincingly act as civilian women of any station.

Today, she is teaching them the basics of managing a household.

Hinata pays dutiful attention.

And Sable is fascinated to learn how this unfamiliar culture lives.

Sakura doesn't entirely agree with Suzume-sensei's notion that she'll need to know this stuff—she could always henge into a boy on infiltration missions—but girls do have advantages for infiltration, so she supposes it makes sense to lean into them.

She pays careful attention and takes notes, as always.

Suzume teaches them all about various duties that the lady of a house might be required to perform, depending on the station and wealth of the household. She covers some of how to manage and track a house's food-stores, how to entertain guests, and how to manage a household staff, among other things.

By the time class is over, Sakura will have some very full notes, and all of their minds will be bursting with domestic knowledge.

Huh, it's never thought about running a household staff before. That's a new perspective, for sure. 

Hinata quietly packs up her things. It's lunchtime! She gets to see Naruto-sama!

While Sakura packs her own things, Sable considers something.

Should she bring it up?

Probably, yeah.

{Hey, Sakura? I'm not sure, but I think I've maybe noticed something interesting about your mind. I don't have as much personal experience with this, not like I do about trans stuff, but if it's what I think it might be then it's something weird-but-cool?}

{Oh? I like weird-but-cool. What is it?}

Sakura packs up her notebook and writing supplies absentmindedly and begins following Hinata out of the classroom, her thoughts turned inward.

{I think there might be... two of you? Two different Sakuras up here, with different temperaments and perspectives? Sometimes you say stuff or think stuff and it feels... different. Like a different you said it.}

{Oh. But I mean, everyone's personality is a little different from time to time, isn't it?}

Yeah, what's Sable talking about? She'd totally have noticed if there was a second her!

{Okay that time was just obvious, but y'all clearly aren't gonna be able to see it easily. What if...}

She tries to mentally poke the parts of Sakura's mind that each distinct voice originates from.

{Hey, what the fuck!?}

Hey, no, she shouldn't yell at Sable like that!

Well, then she shouldn't have poked me like that! It's rude!

…

…Poked…you?

…Oh.

She can feel herself, now, distinct from… the other Sakura. Damn, that's gonna get confusing, huh?

{…Hi. Yeah, me, I guess. Wow, being a… different person…? was not something I saw coming today.}

Sable laughs delightedly and wraps both Sakuras in a mental hug!

{Hello, girls. Welcome to plurality. Sorry for the sharp pokes, but I figured a sudden stimulus that you'd react differently to would be the easiest way to notice the separation.}

Oh​no​kami​what​what​oh​no​what​help​what!?

Ok, no, calm down. This has happened to her before already, right? She was scared when she first noticed Sable in her head, too.

Except Sable actually is another, fully-distinct person, who just happens to have her mind connected to Sakura's. This is… how long has there been two of her? Two of them?

Yeah, it's a little scary for her, too.

{Don't worry, we can get through this!}

{If we've both been here together a while already, then none of this should really be harder than it was a minute ago, right?}

More information is always a good thing!

{Besides, Sable seems to know more about this!}

She turns her attention.

{You said something about "plurality"?}

{Yeah. Also called "multiplicity", sometimes one brain contains more than one person. This can happen for a variety of reasons, ranging from trauma to deliberate choice to "we have no idea guess we're just like this now". Often the different headmates can swap out control of the body, either deliberately or unintentionally. Sometimes there's difficulty sharing memories, or one headmate might have blanks while another is fronting. Some plural systems — a common name for a set of headmates — have easy internal communication, some have to manage it by leaving notes to each other in the outside world. Some have good cooperation, some fight. Variance is as wide as that between any other groups of people. Some therapists make the goal "integration", or smushing everyone into one single person, but in my opinion the saner therapists focus on the goals of communication and cooperation.}

Sakura is beginning to get calmer now, and the discussion is an interesting distraction.

{Wow, yeah, integration sounds weird as a first choice. Wouldn't the default be trying to split out their own bodies, like with some special clone jutsu?}

{Or, right, there's no chakra in your world, so maybe not.}

{You seem to know a lot about this stuff! Is it common where you're from, or do you just know a lot about it?}

{Had a couple friends who were plural, and always just found it... really interesting. Was never very common, or at least not well-known. And yeah, no chakra meant no way to do separate bodies. A few people I knew would've been a bunch happier if there had been.}