I have 3 things to apologize for:
1.) The amount of time it took for me to post. I have been busy and lost my interest in this story for a while. I'm glad I got it back thought- this is an interesting idea, I think.
2.) The length. It's short as shit. I'm sorry. I just wanted to get this chapter out.
3.) The quality. My writing style has changed so there is a different style at the end. It doesn't flow as well as I would like but we'll have to make do.
Hinata moves about the kitchen, pulling together breakfast for the everyone. Sasuke and Sakura are low on food and money, as neither have high paying jobs. Sakura's a waitress and Sasuke's a bartender, both pulling in about the same amount. Sasuke also swipes money from richer people, but Hinata isn't supposed to know that. She herself is a free-form painter and photographer, which means she doesn't make much either. Neji is a police officer, managing to pull off a transfer to Shizume in the afternoon they were given before they had to get to Shizume. Kiba is a dog trainer, helping all the dogs that would've ended up being put down. It's a fitting job for the Inuzuka and Akamaru seems to happy making new friends and helping them control themselves. Kiba's rather famous in the dog-world for his work and he got called this morning to help out with a dog who bites anyone who comes near. He's setting out a little later in the day, packing for the relatively short travel and waiting impatiently for breakfast. She's not entirely sure what Shino does, her teammate having muttered something about plants before leaving for bed the night before.
Rock Lee is currently unemployed, though he had made a decent sum for being a construction worker for five months. Tenten takes care of older weapons and fixes up anything that is broken. She's looking to start her own weapons' store but she needs quite a bit of money for that so she's waiting until the group is more stable financially. Ino is a teacher, giving the Shinobi a significant boost in money and Shikamaru works as a game designer. Choji is also unemployed but he makes food to send with Ino so that the kids could have a few treats and that the parents could buy more if the kids wanted. Their life is beyond hectic at the moment, but at least they have enough money to live off of. Not that it would be a problem if they didn't; all of them spent a substantial amount of time living in the forest in their previous lives.
Hinata had just put the finishing touches on Kiba's steak and sides when the phone rings. She turns off the burners and wipes off her hands on a nearby towel. She grabs the phone with one hand and the plate of rice balls with another.
"Hello," She says into the phone, "Hinata Uzu- Hyuuga here." She's still not used to not being Hinata Uzumaki in this new world.
"Aunt Hina?" A quiet voice ask. Hinata takes in a sharp breath, her hand tightening on the phone.
"Sarada?" She knows that the kid probably isn't Sarada— they're more likely Sakura or Ino in a henge for some reason. Scepter 4 perhaps? —but the voice brings back so many memories. "Where are you, sweetheart? Is Inojin there with you?"
"We're at Scepter 4. I don't like it here. Can you come to get us?" We've been made. They've seen our abilities. We need assistance. Hinata releases a shaky breath.
"Is it alright if I send Uncle Kiba and Akamaru?" I can't bear to see two of the ones we've lost. There's quiet for a moment.
"Yeah." I understand. Hinata puts the plate down quickly and covers the phone so that the Scepter 4 agents undoubtedly listening in won't hear.
"Kiba! I need you to go get Sarada and Inojin from Scepter 4! Sakura and Ino are worried." She calls up the stairs (because even if she had covered the speaker, you could never be too careful). It takes a few seconds before he replies.
"Of course!" The Inuzuka appears with a swirl of leaves next to her, Akamaru by his side. Hinata smiles weakly at him before shifting to speak into the phone again.
"He'll be there in just a moment. Are you two going to be alright?" Do they suspect anything?
"We'll be ok." No.
~POV Change~
"So you are strains. I knew something felt off about you." Ino glares defiantly at the soldier, tensing for battle. Sakura grabs her shoulder and she shoots the pinkette a questioning look.
"We don't want to fight you but we will if you give us no choice," Sakura says sharply, her chakra nearly visibly as she coils it around her fists. The soldiers don't stand a chance if they fight and Ino knows it. They may be trained well in this universe, but they're hardly chuunin much less ANBU level like the shinobi are. They would be easy pickings if this world condoned killing.
"We're going to have to ask you to come with us." Says the man who had attempted to stab them. Sakura smiles and -Oh shit they're all going to die because Sakura is a demon when she wants to be. Ino holds back a shiver at the deceptively sweet smile and instead focuses on finding the easiest way to escape from the soldiers without getting them in more trouble. A couple of ideas come to mind but she decides to wait until Sakura reveals what she's doing.
"Alright," The pink-haired medic says amiably right as the amount chakra coating her fist spikes from breaking-a-few-bones strong to destroying-a-mountain strong. Ino gives her a sharp, surprised look but the medic's fist is already burying itself into the ground. Plumes of smoke explode from the floor of the cafe, chunks of rock mixed in. The ground under their feet rumbles and Ino automatically sticks herself in place with chakra. Sakura gives the blonde a clear 'follow-my-lead' look and with a puff of smoke, henges into a familiar dark-haired, pale-skinned girl. Ino swallows nervously but copies her superior, henging in the child she knows best; her own. Sakura-as-Sarada sends her an apologetic look before she attaches herself to Ino, screaming in terror. Ino immediately realizes what Sakura's plan is and clutches at her friend, burying her face into the henged girl. They're rolled around a bit roughly and Ino had to consciously force herself not to use chakra to stick herself to one place.
It takes a bit for the ground to settle and Ino can tell she'll have bruises later if she doesn't already. After waiting a few seconds to make sure it's completely calm, Ino and Sakura uncurl from each other. Sakura has tears gathering in her eyes and she's sniffling. Ino, on the other hand, is trying to stay brave but tears prickle at her eyes anyway. It's the perfect lie, especially in this universe where the ability to change your appearance into that of another isn't a well-known ability. Ino stumbles to her feet, helping Sakura up as well. Her friend immediately latches onto her side and Ino holds her protectively as her eyes dart around.
"Kids…?" Sakura makes a half-surprised, half-terrified sound and re-attaches herself to Ino- who glares at the Scepter 4 clan member with a mix of fear and anxiousness.
"Who are you? Why are we here?!" Ino asks, a bit desperately, "What do you want with us?!" A second Scepter 4 clan member joins the first and they stare down at the transformed ninja in confusion. They talk quietly among themselves and, with the careful use of chakra, Ino catches enough of their conversation to figure out that they think Ino and Sakura switched places with two random kids. The more people-person Scepter 4 member turns back to Ino and Sakura and makes his way down into the pit. The shinobi move away from him a little but stay mostly still. The man kneels in front of them in an attempt to look less threatening and smiles.
"Hey. My name is Dōmyōji Andy. I'm an officer of Scepter 4. Would you mind coming back to our base so we can find your parents?" Ino and Sakura exchange worried glances before Sakura nods hesitantly. Andy smiles warmly and holds his hand out for them.
"Let's get you out of here, yeah?"
_-Timeskip-_
"Can you tell me your names?" Andy asks, sitting in the chair next to Ino. Sakura shakes her head.
"Mom told us not to talk to strangers." Sakura insists, pressing herself back in the comfy chair so she could curl up in a ball.
"Well... I'm not a stranger, am I? You know my name." Andy pushes, "And anyway, we can't get find your parents without your last name." Ino squints at him before smirking.
"Give Sakura a phone and she can call home!" She says triumphantly. Andy glances back at another agent who had been listening in before smiling at them. He pulls out a pair of pencils and two blank sheets of paper and slides them over to the shinobi.
"Why don't you draw while you wait?" He asks. They pull the papers closer to themselves and do what any child of their (supposed) age would do; they start scribbling. Well, not quite scribbles. They look more like messy sketches, but it works. Sakura is drawing the typical kid drawing- a drawing of her family. She makes sure to include Akamaru and to leave out Ino and herself. Ino, however, appears to be drawing some sort battle scene. Or something. It's not much later that Andy comes back, bringing along a phone and the one that had originally attacked them.
"Hello again- I brought a phone and a friend." Here the man makes an oddly Uchiha-sounding sound. Ino doesn't reply and Sakura takes it upon herself to wave shyly. Andy gives her the phone and Ino finally looks up, watching curiously as Sakura taps in the number. She's undoubtedly memorizing it for later use. When the phone starts ringing, Andy takes it back and puts it in the middle of the table on speaker.
"Hello, Hinata Uzu- Hyuuga here." The entire group of four catches the slight mistake and Sakura grimaces internally. She can relate with Hinata- she herself accidentally uses the last name 'Uchiha' every now and then.
"Aunt Hina?" She says, a bit quietly. She's gotta keep her shy facade up. However, she can't but feel bad for the pain she'll probably drag Hinata through. The former Hyuuga had raised Sarada just as much as Sakura herself had and Hinata's always been more emotional than most shinobi.
"Sarada?" Sakura winces internally at the slight shudder in Hinata's voice. The Scepter 4 officers probably didn't catch it- hopefully. "Where are you, sweetheart? Is Inojin there with you?" Sakura glances at Ino out of the corner of her eye, breathing a silent sigh of relief. Hinata had caught onto the plan.
"We're at Scepter 4. I don't like it here. Can you come to get us?" Sakura says, her words coded. Though not by much. Andy gets an offended look when she says she doesn't like Scepter 4 but smooths it over when the other one shoots him a look.
"Is it alright if I send Uncle Kiba and Akamaru?"
"Yeah." I understand. There's quiet for a second- filled with static before indistinguishable words are yelled on the other end. It doesn't take very long for Hinata to return to the phone.
"He'll be there in just a moment. Are you two going to be alright?" Sakura and Ino share a look before glancing at the two officers. Deeming them not-dangerous, at least not to them, Sakura flicks to the other meaning of the question- do they know anything? She thinks back to what the officers know about them and judges it inconsequential.
"We'll be ok."