Shinobi Isekai!

M'Lady

Hanako had a problem.

Over the course of her years as Hanako Hatake, very rarely had she felt the need to interfere with canon. Naruto was an exception she'd made gladly, and convincing Kakashi to take Sasuke under his reluctant wing—and, eventually, into their home—had been a no brainer. Children were children were children. There was no way she could just stand aside and watch as children suffered needlessly. It was easy to dismiss her unease when she saw Sasuke's smile or heard Naruto refer to her as his friend. There was no power in this world—or her old one—that could shame her for her interference there.

However...

The Chunin Exams were an entirely different animal.

If she took them, would anything change? There were a bunch of other teams that hadn't made it in canon, so maybe hers could be one? Ugh, but to fail in the first two rounds was a little...But, if she made it to the preliminaries, would she throw everything off? Would someone from canon lose their spot? Was the random selection truly random?

And Gaara! Sabaku no Gaara—Gaara of the Sand? Which would he use?—was in the same box as Naruto and Sasuke in her mind. Part of her current mission was to escort him and his team back to the village, and she fully intended to treat him with the kindness and respect due to any thinking, feeling being.

No matter how scary he might end up being.

She sighed.

"Eh, Hatake-chan? Are you alright?"

Hanako plastered a smile on her face and turned to Watanabe Yua, their noble client. "Sorry, Watanabe-san. I was lost in my thoughts."

A conspiratorial glint entered the older girl's brown eyes. "Thinking about your boyfriend?"

Not this again. Even Momiji looked exasperated from her place in the noblewoman's lap, ears hanging low on her head. The carriage hit a bump, almost sending the little dog to the floor.

"Neji-san is not my boyfriend, Watanabe-san," she said for the umpteenth time. "We are just friends."

"Mhm, sure you are."

Sigh.

"You shinobi sure are lucky," the teenager whined, running her fingers through Momiji's fur. "It must be nice to be able to choose for yourself."

Hanako took in the girl's forlorn expression. She was travelling to the Land of Wind for what was likely an arranged marriage. Although Hanako was technically nobility herself, that particular hardship was one she knew she would never have to face—Kakashi was too kind and the Hatake too inconsequential.

Still, that didn't mean Hanako was completely free to make her own choices. She'd long ago resolved to serve the Hatake as best she could. She was the heir, after all, so the clan's well being was her responsibility. Maybe it was because she was 'foreign'—the simplest way to put it—but she just couldn't bring herself to act selfishly. She knew without being told how the Hatake had suffered, and she had made it her goal to right those wrongs.

She chose her words carefully. "You are nobility. As such, you have been afforded certain freedoms and defaulted certain others. It's the price you must pay for your authority."

Watanabe huffed. "I know that. It's why I agreed to this in the first place. My people are counting on this alliance going through, so I must make sure it does. It's just," she looked out the carriage window. "Once I do this, they won't be my people anymore, will they?"

Ah.

"I think I understand," Hanako said gently. "You are allowed to be afraid, Watanabe-san, and you're allowed to mourn your loss of agency. You're going to live somewhere strange, in the company of strangers. Have you ever met your fiancé? Do you know what kind of man he is?"