Chapter: 13

Kaori stayed in her dormitory for the next few days, both to recuperate from the extreme makeover of her body and... well, Hachidori's excuse turned out to be a prophecy of some sort,

'Kill me!'

[Negative. If you were to die, then the system would have to look for a new host. That will be a pain in the circuits.]

'You really need to work on your bedside manner.'

Kaori groaned, pulling the thin blanket tighter around her body. The constant, dull throb in her lower abdomen, on top of the aching muscles and all, had made her past two days a blur of pain.

'Did you mess up?'

[Negative. The Bloodline card had to rebuild your entire body because your chakra flow was much different than that of the Uzumaki clan. If you possessed even a minor Kekkei Genkai, then the pain would have been much milder, after all, almost all clans are related one way or the other.] 

She had a feeling that she just heard something important but, suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over her.

*GROAN*

'Fuck!!!'

The door creaked open, and a masked ANBU peeked inside,

"Hey, still under the weather?"

Asked Hachidori in a concerned voice.

Kaori peeked her head out from under the covers, 

"Yeah, feels like a paper bomb just went off in my stomach."

Hachidori chuckled,

"That's specific. Did you try what I told you about?"

Kaori shook her head weakly,

"Couldn't keep it down."

Hachidori sighed, walking in and taking a seat next to her bed,

"Alright, come on. Sit up."

She helped... or rather pulled Kaori out of the blanket and into a sitting position, propping a pillow behind her back,

"Here,"

She took out a thermos from her tool bag, poured a cup of steaming something or the other, and handed it to Kaori,

"This one's got ginger in it, supposed to be good for nausea. Helps every time."

Kaori took a cautious sip and...

*PFFT!*

Spat it out again, the ginger was a bit too strong, and it unsettled her stomach even more.

"Thanks,"

She mumbled,

"But you didn't have to do this."

Hachidori shrugged,

"It works for me all the time. Besides, I can't leave a subordinate suffering alone, now can I? Captain Fukurō would have my head if I let you die of cramps of all things."

For some reason, she had a rather suspicious look in her eyes. She leaned closer to Kaori, her voice dropping to a whisper,

"Now tell me, what really happened to you?"

Kaori felt her eyes twitch at her question and she leaned away from her,

"W-what do you mean? It's just... you know... a bad month, that's all!"

Hachidori shook her head,

"You dropped the transformation jutsu, you know. And as far as I remember, you haven't got red hair."

'Huh?'

[She got you there.]

'WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME ABOUT IT!!!???'

Kaori tried to stammer out a denial, but the look in Hachidori's eyes told her quite clearly that she was not buying whatever Kaori was selling.

'Well, there was no point in lying.'

[You are not allowed to disclose the existence of the system to anyone. If this were to occur, the system would have to take drastic measures to maintain its secrecy.]

'Who said anything about that?'

She had plenty of experience in bullshitting her way out of difficult situations.

'Not a lie, but not the whole truth either!'

[A white lie? Talk about unoriginal.]

Kaori took a deep breath and decided on a plausible story,

"Alright, alright,"

She raised her head in a show of surrender,

"You know, the Sand Jonin business?"

Hachidori raised an eyebrow,

"I was there, what of it?"

Kaori hesitated, well, at least she pretended to hesitate, 

"I kinda... might've... awakened a bloodline or something like that."

Hachidori leaned back against the chair, chuckling slightly,

"You mean a Kekkei Genkai? You awakened one did you?"

Kaori's lips curled up in a weak smile, it was more to mask the look of annoyance in her eyes,

"No, not a Kekkei Genkai per se. More of a bloodline strain really."

While not completely a lie but not the whole truth either, her story seemed to be working on Hachidori. But the ANBU vice-captain seemed to be picking up on the smaller details of the matter,

"You mean like the abilities of the Nara clan? Their shadow style comes under Yin style, not Kekkei Genkai."

She lulled her head from side to side, her voice doubtful,

"Never heard of one that changes hair color though. So, this 'Strand' of yours is why you look and feel like a squashed tomato?"

'This girl! I will kill her!'

[Technically, in a one-on-one fight, she can kill you in under two minutes.]

'Will you cut that out already!'

Kaori winced at the implication. The Hatake clan's swordsmanship was pretty famous for being practical... and brutal,

"Something like that. It gave me one time boost to my chakra and a special sensory ability."

It wasn't a complete lie - more like it was the whole truth of the matter.

Hachidori studied Kaori for a moment, her face, hidden under the mask, giving away no emotions whatsoever.

"I see... and the awakening of the gene strain caused your hair to change color. Is that what you are saying?"

'No, I got my hair dyed. Of course, that's what I am saying!'

Kaori grumbled internally, this Hachidori seemed a bit slow on the uptake.

"Well, yeah. I guess the strain was a bit too powerful for me."

She chuckled to mask her embarrassment. 

Hachidori tilted her head skeptically, her gaze boring into Kaori's head, 

"So a bloodline awakening, huh? Never heard of one that messes with hair color. Although Judging from the color, I'd say you have a bit of Uzumaki in you."

'You'd say, huh?'

Kaori rolled her eyes... internally, any external signs would have betrayed her emotions to any skilled member of the ANBU Black Ops.

"I guessed so too, but my chakra hasn't improved all that much."

She lied again, and this time around, she was sure it wouldn't be caught. 

The 'Mind's Eye of Kagura' wasn't just a simple, straightforward sensory technique. It was a complex combination of multiple chakra manipulation abilities, including the capacity to track chakra over a long distance, perceive chakra activity within the radius, and sense almost all characteristics of the chakra. It also allowed her to perceive fluctuations in a person's chakra, telling if they are trying to use it, lying, or if someone's under a Genjutsu.

Additionally, it allowed one to suppress their chakra levels, which was particularly useful in her case. She was doing the same at the very moment, gradually reducing her chakra levels to 1/4th its total capacity.

Kaori sighed in relief as she felt Hachidori finally accept her patchwork of a lie,

"Well,"

She sighed, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a yawn,

"If you say so, then a bloodline it is. Although, awakening one at your age is pretty unusual."

'Tell me about it, and you haven't heard the half of it.'

Kaori smiled, suppressing a groan. 

Hachidori stood up, brushing off the non-existent speck of dust off of her lap.

"Look, just take it easy alright? And if you can't make it to tomorrow's briefing, I will fill in for ya'."

Still, Kaori couldn't be sure if Hachidori truly believed her, so she pressed on,

"Thank you... so, about the blood test..."

Hachidori, however, cut her off with a sharp laugh,

"You think the ANBU has enough manpower to waste with testing and comparing the blood of almost a thousand Shinobi?"

So... they don't?

"Those tests are for members who had to travel to other lands. As for you, you haven't even been out of the village since blooding have you? So don't worry about that."

Kaori stared wide eyes as Hachidori walked out of the room, leaving her stunned.

'So I have been worried about nothing?'

No! Even if what Hachidori says is true, there's still the fact that almost everyone gives a syringe's worth of blood every month. What are those for?

[Maybe the Aburame clan buys them to feed their mosquitoes?]

'System,'

[Yes?]

'Shut up.'