What would happen if tremendous luck clashed with itself? Some people would say they would cancel themselves out and neither person would have good luck if pitted against each other, or the good luck would rotate between the two. For Natsumi's case, it was the latter. Evening had fallen and she was still hiding out in Naruto's apartment, still fearful and paranoid but a little more collected than in the morning. Considering she was hiding in one place for half the day while being chased down for capture, that was tremendous luck already. Of course, her luck ended and Naruto's luck kicked in when he randomly decided to head home instead of Ichiraku Ramen to eat.
"My door!" Naruto screamed in horror at the property damage and dashed in. He was surprised when he saw nothing was touched. Drawing a kunai and staying on guard, he stealthily crept around his apartment, trying to find the intruder. When he eventually got to his bedroom, he found a quivering figure hidden underneath his blanket on his bed. "Show yourself, whatever you are!" he demanded.
The blanket was quickly thrown into his face. He instinctively grabbed it, granting the intruder a few seconds to start their escape.
"It's you!" he exclaimed when he saw it was his impostor. She had already opened the window and was about to jump out. He threw his kunai to stop her, managing to snag her hair tie and loosening one of her twintails. She looked back at him with a terrified look on her face before jumping out into the street. "Wait!" he quickly gave chase. He could match what parkour skills she did to try and outrun him, keeping pace but not catching up either. She seemed to realize the futility in a continued run because when she turned a corner into an alley, Naruto saw traces of the white smoke caused by creating a Kage Bunshin. When he turned, he saw two Natsumis running away.
"Oh no, you don't! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he created his own clones and gave chase with them. He doubled back to the alley after a few seconds to check if she tried to use Henge to disguise herself as one of the objects in the alley, lightly kicking every object in sight. It was something he would do if he was in her place. Nothing he kicked puffed into white smoke, meaning she was not using Henge and no longer in the area. So the real her was with her clone. He followed after his clones to chase her for some time until Lee jumped in from somewhere.
"Konoha Senpuu!" he called out one of his techniques, hitting both girls with a single kick in midair. When they both popped, Naruto realized his error. "Oh no! Kage Bunshin!" Lee exclaimed.
"Ahh!" Naruto screamed in frustration. "She tricked me again!"
***Break Line***
Natsumi dropped the hiding cloth after staying absolutely still for five minutes. She had grabbed it from Naruto's bedroom the moment she heard him screaming about his door, fortunately kept in the same drawer as she did in her own room. She was grasping at straws thinking of ways to escape her pursuers while she had been hiding and her great luck was back in her favor again when she found the hiding cloth. Their luck switched again when Naruto scored a lucky hit to one of her hair ties. She would normally be flung into a rage at getting her hair touched or damaged in any way but the fear, panic and hysteria she was suffering under stopped that rage from appearing. Instead, when she saw one of her twintails loosened due to a stray hit, she perceived it as a sign that she was losing touch with whatever she knew. The paranoid sign she believed she saw needlessly fractured her fragile mind further. As she ran, faces turned indistinguishable as she passed them and whenever she spotted anyone looking at her, her paranoia convinced her that they were one of her pursuers.
She dashed into a random alley and curled herself up behind a trashcan. Her hands gripped her head as swear poured endlessly down her face as she tried to get herself under control. Her breaths were erratic, making her pant hard. She needed to get that gone first. She had to regulate her breathing so she would not give herself away. It took her five minutes to do so, though it felt a lot longer to her. With her breathing stabilized, she could think just a little bit more clearly. With everyone in the village out to get her, or so she believed, she could not show herself regularly. Fortunately, she knew what cover she could use. She Henge-d herself into Naruto, knowing that she was being blamed for being his fake.
She stuffed her hands harshly into her pockets and kept her head down as she exited the alley, refusing to look at anyone. She felt her Henge could be discovered at any time. Her paranoia had not decreased at all and she knew she could not stay at one place for long before either Team 8 or Team Guy found her and she had to make a desperate attempt to flee again. It was best for her to be on the move at all times.
"Naruto, you will bump into something if you keep your head down and not look at where you're going," a familiar voice told her.
'Shit! It's Kakashi-sensei!' Natsumi's panic shot up to maximum immediately upon hearing his voice. She knew he was referring to her. She doubted anyone else was walking with their head down like her. She felt her chances of escaping were shot down to almost zero. It would take a miracle for her to escape him. Her only shimmer of hope was that he did not seem to realize she was under a Henge. Risking a glance up, she saw Kakashi in front of her with his usual eye-smile. His hitai-ate was tilted as per normal, making her sigh in relief internally. He had his Sharingan covered, so he did not know it was actually her.
"Y-Yo, Kakashi-sensei!" she greeted him shakily, unable to keep her body from trembling.
"Are you alright, Naruto? You look very pale and nervous. Did you do something to anger Sakura again?" he asked, noticing the trembling of her body easily.
"Yeah, I think..." she replied.
"Come take a walk with me. I doubt Sakura will hit you while you're with me."
"O-Okay..."
They walked in relative silence except for random giggles from Kakashi as he read his porn novel. Despite knowing he was not the instructor she knew, Natsumi eventually felt at ease around him. They wandered into the training grounds where they first had their Genin test when Kakashi stopped reading and glanced down at her.
"By the way, Naruto," he started. "Since when did you change your pants and wear your hitai-ate like that?"
Confused, Natsumi looked down at herself and paled. In her distressed state at the time she came up with this plan, she had forgotten that Naruto did not wear the same pants Hinata did or wear his hitai-ate around his neck.
"I..." she tried to think of an excuse, her panic returning with full force.
"It's fine if you think it's time for a change in fashion. I won't judge you, Naruto," he said before his voice turned deadly calm. "Or should I say... Natsumi?"
He vanished in a Shunshin to appear behind her, grabbing her arm and twisting it, holding it behind her head. If she was holding a kunai, it would have been pointing at the back of her own head. She let out a short yelp of pain, and that pain was enough to dispel her Henge, revealing her in her disheveled state. Her eyes were wide in terror as they locked eyes. He saw her lower her head forward and leaned back to avoid the backwards headbutt. He was mildly impressed when she managed to reach with her other arm so far behind her back to connect her fingers to form her signature seal.
"Ka... Kage Bunshin no... Jutsu!" she struggled to say as she stretched so hard she felt she almost pulled a muscle. A clone appeared beside her already in a flying kick towards Kakashi who was forced to let her go in order to avoid getting hit and destroy the clone.
"This brings back some memories," Kakashi mused, remembering how Naruto had tricked Zabuza into letting him go. The way she positioned her clone's attack proved to him that she did have the memories of Team 7's first C-Rank mission.
Natsumi stumbled on all fours as she tried to run from him. When she tried to cast the Tajuu Kage Bunshin, she was stopped by a quick knee to her abdomen, sending her into one of the three poles. She collapsed down to its base and as she picked herself up, she saw Kakashi with rope in his hand. She was not letting him tie her up again in the same humiliating way. Discreetly making a half-done Hakke Kuushou in one hand, she recklessly shot her arm forward to launch the vacuum ball. Kakashi sensed more than saw the attack and he jumped out of the way. He was stunned because it was an attack that Naruto did not have. The vacuum ball puckered out before it could reach his original position but he did not know that. He paused for only a second to let his brain register that what Natsumi did was an attack he had seen somewhere before. However, that second was enough for her to send a horde of clones to delay him as she made her escape. The clones never noticed another Kakashi observing from the branches of a nearby tree.
"I suppose this is enough. I don't want to put too much pressure until she has to resort to using the Kyuubi's chakra to continue running," he said, heading back to the village to report to Tsunade on Natsumi's current location. "Keep track and don't lose sight of her, Pakkun. You'll never know if you suddenly followed Naruto's scent instead of hers."
"Got it," the dog sitting next to him starting running after Natsumi.
***Break Line***
She made such a stupid mistake with her Henge and it nearly cost her. Natsumi was just immensely lucky that her half-baked Hakke Kuushou surprised Kakashi just enough for her to create her clones and attempt to beat him down. She knew it would not work but the clones knew they had to buy time for the original to escape. She ran blindly through the forest, trying to create as much distance as she could between her and Kakashi. Instead of being a good thing, her blind dash turned out to be a bad thing. She bumped into a bouncy surface and bounced off, throwing herself onto the ground. She scrambled to pick herself up, thinking she had run yet into another pursuer. She was right, except it was the worst kind of pursuer.
"We finally meet, Naruto's impostor. I've seen Naruto's depiction of you, but you're the real deal, huh?" her pursuer said with sarcastic humor.
"Ero... -Sennin..." she whispered.
"Only Naruto is allowed to call me that, brat," Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in slight anger from atop the huge toad he normally sat on when introducing himself. He dismissed the toad and landed on his feet gracefully. "I'm hauling you in so we can learn what secrets you're hiding from us, and what you've taken from us."
Natsumi's mind broke. It took a miracle just to get away from Kakashi, but from Jiraiya? He was a better and stronger ninja than Kakashi. She could think of nothing she could do to escape from him. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly with no sound coming out.
"Last words? Fine. I guess I can grant you that much at least," he allowed, folding his arms and waited for her.
She gave him a response in the form of not words, but a broken scream filled with despair and hopelessness. Now driven by fear and panic instead of her determination, tears involuntarily fell from her eyes as she tried to turn and run. Jiraiya immediately reacted and grabbed her tracksuit by the collar and slammed her to the ground. He held her down by the throat with one of his large hands. She clawed and scratched his hand in a struggle to free herself as he used his other hand to lift her tracksuit. He used a bit of chakra to disturb her body's chakra system, causing the seal to show itself on her stomach. Seeing what he was doing, she screamed harder and the Kyuubi's chakra exploded around her.
"Oh no!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he jumped back, his hand he used to hold her down emitting some steam. The Kyuubi's chakra was toxic to the skin. Anyone other than the jailer would be burnt if the chakra came into contact with them. His first course of action was to confirm the existence of the seal and if it was holding the Kyuubi prisoner. He managed to confirm that much but before he could use the same seal Orochimaru did to seal away Naruto's access to the Kyuubi during the Chuunin Exam, she had already called upon it. She must have legitimately thought her life was in danger. Since she knew who he was, it was no surprise to him that she came to that conclusion. But rather than attacking him like he thought she would, she instead performed the signs for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
"Stop!" he shouted at her. It was Naruto who had signed the Toad Contract, not her. Tsunade had him check the contract to make sure if there was an additional name in there and there was not. Natsumi had a real risk of being whisked away to another animal's domain instead of the toad's domain. Instead of being taken away the moment her palm hit the ground, Gamabunta appeared in between Natsumi and Jiraiya.
"What's the problem this time?" Gamabunta rumbled grouchily as he stared down at Jiraiya after looking at his surroundings and seeing no signs of danger. "Don't tell me that brat summoned me just for idle conversation!"
"Which brat?" Jiraiya asked seriously.
"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course it's the brat that you allowed to sign the contract!" he snapped.
"I know it sounds stupid but just answer me. Who summoned you? We have an emergency, just not one related to destruction." Gamabunta got out of his grouchy mood when he sensed the serious atmosphere.
"It's Naruto," he answered.
"Just what is going on?" Jiraiya asked more to himself than the giant toad. "It wasn't Naruto that summoned you, Gamabunta."
"Stop fooling around! You know I can tell who summoned me!" Gamabunta argued.
"I can assure you that it's not Naruto. It's someone who has the exact same chakra as him and has apparently signed the Toad Contract even though the contract itself doesn't show it." Jiraiya jumped on top of Gamabunta's mouth, unrolled the contract and showed it to him.
"What is this!" Gamabunta spotted something very peculiar with the contract. "Hey, Jiraiya! Take a closer look at the contract where Naruto signed his name!"
"This is..." Jiraiya spotted the same anomaly the toad did. In the section where Naruto signed his name, the blood he used to sign his name was shifting, and it spelled the girl's name: Uzumaki Natsumi. After a few seconds, the blood shifted again and rewrote Naruto's name. It kept on shifting between both names over and over again with no end to the loop. This did not happen when he checked the first time, so Natsumi's summoning must have triggered this anomaly. "You can leave, Gamabunta. I didn't expect this to happen at all. We'll settle this from here," he told Gamabunta.
"You'd better! I don't want to be called again by some stranger using Naruto's chakra!" Gamabunta replied before disappearing, letting Jiraiya fall to the ground himself.
"Guess I have to start searching again," he said to himself after landing safely. Natsumi had long since fled the area they were in.
***Break Line***
Natsumi sat down at the base of a tree in a clearing, her face buried in her knees and her hands gripping her head. She let out choked sobs as her tears would not stop falling. She was abandoned in a place where everything looked the same except no-one knew her. There was a boy named Naruto that took her place here. She was now abandoned, where she was alone and considered an enemy by all her friends. She did not want to go through that hell of a childhood again where everybody hated her for some reason that was unknown to her at the time. But this time, rather than being neglected, she was being hunted down. The tears fell harder as she tried and failed to deny the reality she was in. What was the point of trying to delude herself by wishing it was a nightmare and she would wake up soon?
"Have you given up?" she heard Kakashi's voice. She looked up to see Kakashi standing some distance away from her. She also saw Pakkun beside him just before it went away in a puff of white smoke. "You look terrible," he commented like it was the weather. "You wouldn't be like this if you had just allowed yourself to be taken to the Hokage."
"Why should I? Nobody's going to listen to me anyway," she said, her spirit completely broken. Kakashi seemed on-guard and had not approached her.
"You're making things worse for yourself if you won't give yourself up quietly. All the others will gather here eventually," he told her, giving her an opportunity to surrender. She gave no response, only letting her tears trail her face.
"I found her!" Kiba's voice rang out, and from the trees came all the Genins that were searching for her. "Kakashi-sensei!" he acknowledged the Jounin's presence before focusing on Natsumi again.
"You're not getting away this time!" Tenten declared as she positioned herself to throw kunais.
"There's no need to. She won't run again," Kakashi stopped her.
"What? Really?" she asked, surprised at the order to stop.
"You did well, everyone," Tsunade entered the clearing with Shizune and Jiraiya. "Well, Natsumi? Are you ready to talk?"
"...Here. You can have this back. I'm never becoming Hokage, am I?" Natsumi replied, removing the crystal necklace from her neck and tossing it to the approaching Tsunade.
"Hey, why does she have that? I thought you said it was one of a kind, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto exclaimed.
"It is, you fool! Now be quiet!" Jiraiya hissed. "We need to get some important questions answered from her."
"We can do this peacefully, or we can drag you back forcefully," Tsunade gave Natsumi a choice, putting the necklace away in her jacket pocket.
"I don't know what you want to know from me when you have someone with you that can answer your questions," she replied, her fractured mind finally allowing her anger to surface. "How about you ask that fake over there," she jabbed an accusing finger towards Naruto who bristled at being pointed out, "those questions! Does it make you happy to know you succeeded, you fake! You stole everything from me! My dreams, my life, my friends! My... best... friend..." Natsumi's anger disappeared as she trailed off. She turned to look at Hinata, and she felt the flood of negative emotions slam into her again. She let out a tortured and anguished wail as she went on her knees and elbows and wept, her tears dripping from her face at a rapid pace.
"You know... It's making me feel really bad for her..." Naruto said, feeling very uncomfortable looking at Natsumi.
"Tsunade-sama, may I have your permission?" Kakashi put a hand on his hitai-ate, about to lift it up.
"Don't go too far," Tsunade allowed him. He lifted up his hitai-ate and crouched in front of the distraught girl.
"Here. Look at me. It's going to be okay," he told her as gently as he could. The moment she looked up at him, he immediately snared her in a genjutsu. From there, he could extract the answers from the girl. Her eyes lost any shine they held, the telltale sign of being under a genjutsu. Her tears were still falling, though. "Alright, let's begin."
***Break Line***
"What's happening in Konoha? Why are the gates closed?" Hinata was surprised when she returned to the village in the late afternoon. She had woken up at the beach where the grill party had taken place and found no-one there. She assumed the rest had returned to Konoha to report their disappearance to Tsunade after the genie threw them into the wormhole.
"Huh? What are you doing outside the village alone? Are you late returning from a mission?" one of the gate guards asked, recognizing Hinata. She hesitantly nodded, unsure of what he was asking. "Be careful," they opened the gates to let her in and quickly closed them again. "Hokage-sama has the village on lockdown and trying to find an infiltrator."
"Do we know what they look like?" Hinata asked, preparing herself mentally to join in the search.
"You won't believe it. The infiltrator thought she could get away by pretending to be Naruto!" he told her, missing her confused blinking. Who was that? She did not know anyone named Naruto. "She has blonde hair styled into twintails, the same orange jacket Naruto wears, and the pants you're wearing right now. I don't know what she's thinking pretending to be him if she's getting the most basic details like his appearance wrong. Still, she must be pretty sneaky to be evading everyone since we detected her this morning. We've had hundreds of Kage Bunshin popping up all over the place, both Naruto's and the girl's."
Hinata's face turned pale-white when she heard the description. She knew that description anywhere. Natsumi was being locked in and chased down because everyone thought she was an infiltrator pretending to be a boy named Naruto with the same ability to spam Kage Bunshin? Why would everyone think that? It soon dawned on her why Natsumi was being treated a criminal.
"Then I will bring you to a dimension where she is a boy."
She remembered the genie's last words before they were thrown here. If that was true, of course everybody would think Natsumi was an infiltrator pretending to be Naruto, who was her except male in this dimension.
"I have to go! Please excuse me!" Hinata hastily excused herself and sped off into the village. She had to find Natsumi fast!
"Good luck finding her!" the guard gave well wishes, not knowing that she was searching for Natsumi for a different reason.
It took her little time to find Natsumi because her Byakugan revealed the chakra of all the Genin teams crowded in one area along with all the Jounin instructors including both of the Sannin and Shizune. The only oddity was spotting two of Natsumi's chakra, one in a girl's body and the other a boy's and her own chakra in a girl that looked exactly like her. As she raced to the location, she saw Kakashi approach Natsumi and her chakra was quickly disturbed. He had put her in a genjutsu. She was in trouble! She had to help her immediately! She had to circle around to get into a defensive position in front of Natsumi but she did not have the time to make the full trip. She had to barrel through some of the Genins there to get to Natsumi in time before she could be affected by the genjutsu too much. It went as smoothly as she hoped it would except Neji had spotted her approaching with his own Byakugan. Fortunately she was too close for him to actually stop her. He did issue a warning to the others who dodged out of the way of her wild charge into their group. She skidded to a stop in front of Natsumi and attacked Kakashi but missed her initial strike because of Neji's warning. Kakashi had leaped back to join his fellow Jounins.
"Please back away, Kakashi-sensei. I won't allow you to harm Natsumi-chan!" she declared with complete determination, her Byakugan flaring furiously. "Kai," she reached out behind her to place a hand on Natsumi's shoulder without looking away from everyone in front and to the sides of her and dispelled the genjutsu placed on her. A small gasp of breath signaled a successful dispelling.
"Another me...?" she heard the Hinata of this dimension utter in shock.
"She doesn't seem to be a fake. It's like a Kage Bunshin of yours, Hinata-sama. But you do not possess such a jutsu," Neji inspected her with his Byakugan.
"I assure you I am very real, Neji-nii-san," Hinata replied. "I am just not the Hinata that everyone here knows."
"What do you mean?"
Before she could answer his inquiry, her Byakugan saw Natsumi lashing out blindly with a kick to the mid-section from behind her which she deftly avoided.
"Get away from me, you fake! Don't you dare use Hinata-chan's image to get close to me!" Natsumi snarled, her eyes showing pure fury despite the tears falling from them.
"Stop, Natsumi-chan! It's me, Hinata! I'm the one you know!" Hinata pleaded to no avail.
"You're lying! Kakashi-sensei gave you that information after Tsunade-baa-chan told him to put me under a genjutsu!" she refused to listen. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know Hinata-chan can't use the Kage Bunshin! You're a clone of the fake over there using Henge!" Before anyone could make a move, Natsumi had already made a clone and it was clear to everyone there what they were about to do. Before anyone could move to stop her, a Rasengan was already in her hand and ready to be slammed into anything that attracted her ire.
"Natsumi-chan, please! Is there anything I can do to convince you that I'm the Hinata you have known since we were children?"
"What's the point of that? Kakashi-sensei already told you everything! What can you tell me otherwise? That we took baths together? That you helped me with taijutsu? That I tried to kill Ero-Sennin after I summoned the Toad Boss? That we went on a mission to bring back Tsunade baa-chan?"
"What are you babbling about!" Naruto screamed in frustration. "I never did any of those things you said. Why in the world would I take a bath together with Hinata? I'm a boy and she's a girl! She never helped me with my taijutsu, either. I never even tried to kill Ero-Sennin after I summoned the Toad Boss! And, I went alone with Ero-Sennin to bring back Tsunade-baa-chan!"
"What?" Both Natsumi and the Hinata she knew stared at Naruto in disbelief.
"Is that right, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya.
"That's right. When I made Naruto summon Gamabunta, he didn't try to even remotely attack me. And when I went to search for Tsunade, I brought only him along," Jiraiya supported Naruto.
"As Hokage, I will give you my word that only Jiraiya and Naruto came to bring me back to Konoha to be the Fifth Hokage," Tsunade added.
"But that's not-" Hinata tried to say before Natsumi shot past her.
"LIARS!" Natsumi yelled as she swung the Rasengan towards Kakashi who was the closest to her.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in fear for his instructor despite Kakashi steering clear of the deadly attack. "Why you!" he made his own clone to form his own Rasengan. As he charged towards Natsumi, the Hinata he did not know stood in his path. "Move aside!" he told her as he screeched to a halt to avoid hurting her. She was not his target and he did not want to hurt her. Instead of heeding his words, she swung her right palm directly towards the Rasengan. "Hey, don't touch that! You'll blow your whole hand off!" he warned her. She stopped her hand just shy from actually touching the ball of chakra and held it there for just a second. Everyone including Natsumi paused to look at what was happening in front of them. With the other Hinata's appearance, nobody was sure if they should fight or not because it was clear she was trying to diffuse the situation by trying to calm Natsumi down. Plus, none of them wanted to see a hand exploding into pieces via inserting said hand into a volatile jutsu.
"I won't let you harm Natsumi-chan, not as long as I am standing!" the Hinata he did not know declared with absolute conviction and in a move that shocked everyone there, swiped the Rasengan clean from Naruto's hand and held it in her own.
"My Rasengan...!" Naruto could only mutter in shock as he stared at his stolen jutsu in her hand.
"It got stolen right from his hand!" Shizune exclaimed out loud the thought that was in everyone's mind. Natsumi was so shocked her Rasengan dissipated from her hand from the loss of focus.
"I... I... No! No, I don't believe you...!" Natsumi's anger had dissipated and was replaced by denial, seeing how she was shaking her head frantically. The Hinata that was defending her had to be fake! It was all an act!
"Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama gave you their word that they weren't lying, didn't they? If you cannot bring yourself to believe them, then at least trust this display," the 'fake' Hinata said as she willed away the stolen jutsu. "Please, listen to me. Produce the chakra necessary for the Rasengan." Natsumi did so and as expected, the visible chakra was incredibly unstable, both from her state of mind and her poor chakra control. "If I am a clone of that boy with the same ability to perform the Rasengan, I will not be able to form it with a single hand. If I am a clone of the other me there, I will not be able to even do the jutsu according to Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama." She hovered a hand above the unstable chakra, her other hand in clear sight of Natsumi. Slowly, the unstable chakra in Natsumi's hand morphed into the trademark sphere shape as it spun randomly and the shell came next. Slowly, Hinata extracted the completed Rasengan from her hand and held it in her own, claiming ownership of the jutsu. "There's only one person you know who can work with your chakra like this, don't you? The only person who you can share the Rasengan with?" she asked as she willed the Rasengan to disappear.
Natsumi fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Hinata's stomach and pulled her in hard with a desperate grip. She let out a heart-breaking wail as she cried her heart out, burying her face into Hinata's jacket as the tears poured out.
"I'm here, Natsumi-chan. I'm here. You're not alone anymore..." Hinata stroked Natsumi's disheveled hair soothingly as she whispered words of comfort. She turned to look at Tsunade who kept a neutral look on her face at the scene in front of her. "Tsunade-sama, please, forgive her," Hinata begged. "We'll turn ourselves in over to you. I will explain everything."
"Try anything and I'll throw the both of you in prison. Follow me," Tsunade told her sternly as she turned to leave, leaving no room for any sort of argument.
"I thank you for your mercy," she bowed her head in gratitude. "Let's go, Natsumi-chan. I won't leave you. I'll stay by your side for as long as you want. We have to move now," she told Natsumi. The distraught blonde hesitantly unwrapped her arms and had to be helped up just to stand. She had stopped her vocal crying but her tears still kept falling as she wrapped her arms around Hinata's own and leaning heavily on her.
Everyone walked in silence as they followed Tsunade back to the her office where she dismissed the Genins but asked Kakashi and Kurenai to watch over the two strays in the lobby with instructions to get an explanation from them as to why they were here. They were selected because of their supposed relationship to each stray Genin. The only reason she was not present was because she wanted a professional report from the Jounins. It was easier to sort the information from their report than from the ramblings from a Genin's mouth.
"Isn't it about time you tell us your story as to how you got here?" Kurenai started the interrogation. The other Hinata and Natsumi were seated on the sofa with latter curled up timidly with her head laying on Hinata's lap. Hinata was stroking her hair continuously to reinforce Natsumi's currently fragile state of mind, reminding her through physical touch that she was there with her.
"Kurenai-sensei... Can I call you that?" Hinata asked. Kurenai nodded, allowing her to call her such. Kakashi nodded as well, showing he did not mind as well. "This whole situation... This huge misunderstanding... Everything is all my fault," Hinata sounded crushed and completely miserable.
"Why is that so?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye narrowing in attention.
"If I wasn't so slow and hesitant, the genie wouldn't have turned my silly fantasy into a reality for us..."
"Genie?" Kurenai repeated in surprise. What does a fictional being in story books have anything to do with their situation?
"Wait a second, Kurenai. I think I know what she's referring to," Kakashi said. "I didn't have enough time to look through Natsumi's memories before you came charging in but I believe I have the gist of it. Does this genie have anything to do with a grill party that I organized for all the Genin teams at a beach?"
"Y-Yes, that's it..." Hinata was surprised that he immediately got the scenario correct on the first guess.
"Kakashi, surely you don't believe genies exist," Kurenai was skeptical.
"I didn't, until a genie that Naruto found granted me some loose change for a vending machine," Kakashi replied. "They are very real. Besides, I believe in the existence of different dimensions." He put a hand over his covered eye in remembrance for a few seconds before he focused his attention on Hinata again. "You're telling me that didn't happen with you?"
"No. I threatened to break the genie bottle but it threw me and Natsumi-chan into a hole it created in the air and we ended up here at different times. It forcefully read my mind and deemed this Konoha suitable as a place for my fantasy," Hinata answered.
"And that fantasy of yours is?"
"Natsumi-chan and I are best friends. Somewhere in my heart, I must have wondered about what our relationship would be like if Natsumi-chan had been... a boy."
"We can understand that. Don't we, Kurenai?" Kakashi asked his fellow Jounin in a suggestive tone.
"Unfortunately, I do," Kurenai admitted. "But Hinata..."
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei?"
"Assuming I believe that you and Natsumi came from a dimension where Naruto is a girl, your relationship with Naruto is not even close to what you share with her."
"W-What?" Hinata looked shocked at that. Surely their friendship could not be that different just because one of them was a different gender?
"The Hinata I know and Naruto are only friends at the broadest terms. Calling them good acquaintances is more accurate. The closest relationship they have with each other is a one-sided crush on her side."
"No..." Hinata could not believe they were that far apart. She could believe that she had developed a crush, but to hardly be called friends? Something was very wrong.
"Naruto finds you, or rather the you that we know, weird as well," Kakashi added.
"But... There can't be that much of a difference! I'm sure that I should be almost exactly the same as the me that is in this dimension. The only difference should be that Natsumi-chan is Naruto-kun in this dimension. We should have the same history as ourselves here," Hinata had a hard time accepting what was being told to her. "But then, what Naruto-kun said before..."
"You don't have the exact same history. The events are the same, but the people involved and what happened during those events between Naruto and Natsumi are different." Kakashi straightened his back from his slouched position, that simple action making the atmosphere tenser than it was before. "Am I right to say the grill party was the last thing that happened to you before the genie threw you to this dimension?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata answered.
"Then we might have a few problems."
"Why is that?"
"Because it's been roughly two months since I organized that grill party."
"Eh?" Hinata was understandably shocked by that information.
"Well, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle as long as the both of you don't ask questions about the time difference between our dimensions and what events took place during that period."
"I understand, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata agreed to obey his instructions.
"Now then, let's have you tell us about yourselves for starters. Most of the information should match because if it doesn't, that just makes the both of you out to be liars and suspicious enough to throw in prison, you know?" Kakashi gave them his eye-smile but no-one was fooled by his friendly act. One wrong piece of information from her could land the Genins straight to the T&I Division. Hinata gulped audibly, trying to swallow her sudden nervousness away. "Just tell us your likes, dislikes, hobbies and your dreams. We know your names already."
Hinata instinctively turned her eyes to Kurenai, silently pleading for help with just eye contact. She soon realized that it was not the Jounin instructor she knew and broke eye contact to look down at Natsumi who was still unresponsive for some sense of moral support. Her resolve strengthened the moment she saw how broken her best friend currently was and looked back at Kakashi with a brave look on her face. Kurenai silently chalked her initial timid reaction down as similar to her Hinata, so it was a plus for them.
"My likes are red bean soup and cinnamon rolls. I dislike seafood dishes, particularly those with crab and shrimp. My hobbies are pressing flowers and spending time with Natsumi-chan." She had a gentle look as she glanced at Natsumi for a brief moment. "My dream for the future is to stand by Natsumi-chan's side when she becomes Hokage."
Kakashi glanced at Kurenai who nodded. The Hinata she knew had the same likes and dislikes except she used different words to describe her dislikes. While she never mentioned disliking seafood dishes, she did have a huge aversion to crabs and shrimps. That was close enough to be labeled safe. One of her unsaid hobbies was running off to watch Naruto in secret when she had free time so she was secretly spending time with him, thus making their hobbies match. Her dreams for the future was different though. While left unsaid due to sheer embarrassment, her Hinata dreamed of one day being close enough to Naruto for him to notice her and hopefully return her feelings. This Hinata had already established such a strong relationship with Natsumi and her dream laid in line with Natsumi's own, but it was hard to label as suspicious. If they considered the simple 'what-if' scenario that their Hinata was already in a relationship with Naruto, it was easy to guess that she would want to stay by his side if he achieved his dream of being Hokage.
"Natsumi, it's your turn," Kakashi told the still unresponsive Natsumi. It took a little bit of gentle encouragement and reassurance from Hinata that she finally deigned to sit up on her own. She rubbed her eyes roughly with her sleeve to wipe away any lingering tears and proceeded to stare at him. It was not palpable but the Jounins could detect the hostility in her stare.
"Natsumi-chan, answer him, please," Hinata said, cupping a hand over Natsumi's own. The silence stretched a little too long for her liking and figured Natsumi was still too shaken by their new reality. Natsumi glanced at her for a second before taking a deep breath and letting out an exaggerated exhale, letting her hostile feelings for the 'fakes' in front of her bleed away. The Jounins raised their eyebrows at how easily Hinata convinced her friend to drop her hostilities for them. Kakashi could easily tell anyone who asked that reigning in Naruto's temper was no easy task since he lost it quite easily. From what he had heard from Tsunade, she had acted exactly like Naruto did until Tsunade dropped pretenses.
"My likes are ramen of all sorts, especially Ichiraku ramen. Recently, I think red bean soup is becoming one of my favorite desserts ever since Hinata-chan introduced them to me. I swear she eats them as much as I eat Ichiraku ramen," Natsumi started, casually tossing verbal embers at Hinata's expense.
"I-I do not...!" Hinata protested, her face blushing slightly in embarrassment as she denied Natsumi's claim. Kurenai was pleasantly surprised at her reaction. The Hinata she knew usually wilted whenever someone made fun of her and just took it with her head lowered which always worsened her mood. This was just proof that what this Hinata said about their relationship was true.
"That's because you eat them one by one throughout the day while I eat my ramen all at once," Natsumi replied, the tense atmosphere turning into a relaxing one as the two friends interacted, making even the Jounins a little less tense. "Anyway, I also really enjoy Hinata-chan's homemade lunches! They're delicious! Hey, hey, Kurenai-sensei. Did you know Hinata-chan is an amazing cook?"
"That is worthy of praise, Hinata," Kurenai gave her an approving smile.
"Thank you very much, Kurenai-sensei. It's easy to cook for Natsumi-chan. She has the taste of a child. She's fine with a lot of things as long as there aren't any vegetables," Hinata said absentmindedly, looking distracted by something. "Do I really eat that much red bean soup...?" she whispered to herself but everyone heard her. They wisely chose to ignore it so she would not stop herself. The Jounins watched with amusement as she counted down with her fingers before abruptly pausing and her face suddenly exploding into full redness from a sudden realization.
"And of course, my favorite person in the whole world is Hyuuga Hinata-chan!" Natsumi exclaimed proudly, looping her arm over Hinata's shoulders and pulling her close. Hinata let out a small squeak at the sudden action but allowed a small smile even as their cheeks were pressed against each other. The redness of her face slowly receded as she quietly enjoyed the affection Natsumi was giving her.
"What about your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams?" Kakashi asked, not wanting Natsumi to get carried away, a trait he could see she shared with Naruto.
"I hate the three minutes you have to wait for cup ramen to boil after adding hot water to it and anyone who hurts Hinata-chan. My hobby is spending time with Hinata-chan whenever I can! And my dream is..." Natsumi's smile disappeared when she remembered just what situation they were in. "My dream is to be a Hokage greater than all the previous Hokages, but that's not going to happen now, is it? Not with that fake running around, having stolen everything from me except for Hinata-chan."
"Naruto's not a fake of yours, Natsumi. He's just you in this dimension," Kakashi corrected her. "You heard everything we've said since we started this interrogation. You two were brought here by the genie that selfishly granted Hinata's fantasy."
"It's all my fault, Natsumi-chan..." Hinata blamed herself with immense guilt lacing every word as she lowered her head in shame.
"No, it's not. Even I have crazy fantasies, like wondering what it would be like if I was your blood sister like Hanabi," Natsumi refused to let her blame herself. "But more than that..." Natsumi stared at the two Jounins with a heavy gaze. "Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei."
"What is it?" Kakashi allowed her to speak her mind.
"Just what the hell do you mean Hinata-chan and me in this dimension aren't friends?"
Kakashi and Kurenai glanced at each other, an unspoken message passed between them. What reason could they give to the two outsiders that would justify the gap in between their counterparts in this dimension?
***End Of Chapter***
Out of desperation, Natsumi performs the Kuchiyose and succeeds despite not being in her own dimension. This messes with the Toad Contract because both counterparts have the exact same chakra. Any summoned toads will also be fooled into thinking Naruto summoned them instead of Natsumi.
Because of the same chakra issue, Hinata has no problem influencing Naruto's chakra to work with her own chakra since she has worked with Natsumi's chakra before, so she is perfectly capable of taking the Rasengan away from either of them with a little bit of effort. This obviously doesn't apply to the Hinata in the original dimension.
Hinata and Natsumi both learn that their relationship is very different in the original dimension. Hinata is very shocked by this, while Natsumi...
Well, if you consider the personality of Naruto/Natsumi, it's not going to turn out anything like Hinata's reaction to the news. If anything, she'll throw a huge fuss over it. Remember that both Naruto and Natsumi take their bonds with their friends extremely seriously, so don't expect Natsumi to be all friendly towards Naruto with this information in hand. Note that this is not a missing link between Naruto and Hinata. Natsumi just assumes it is. They do have a link but it is one of his weaker friendship links among the Genins.
But don't forget this assumption also holds true for Naruto. Remember which friendship had been compromised on Natsumi's side because she had a very strong bond with Hinata? That's right. It's Sakura. He definitely won't be happy to find out that Natsumi and Sakura have such a weak friendship between them. If he finds it hard to imagine a female version of himself being close friends with Hinata, how do you think Natsumi will feel about him being so close to Sakura albeit being one-sided on his side, especially since she heard Kakashi calling Sakura out as a bully? The lecturing Sakura received from Kakashi about bullying doesn't happen in the original dimension, so there definitely will be misunderstandings.
So what exactly will happen once Natsumi crosses paths with Naruto? And how will the people in the original dimension react to Natsumi and Hinata once they learn about their circumstances? Find out in the next chapter!
I look forward to getting more readers who like this story! Do Follow/Favorite/Review this story, and big thanks to those who are kind enough to do so!