Characters: Hinata, and the bobsy twins (Ino and Tenten). Various cameos.
Warnings: None
Notes: For the quietest out of the four, this chapter is long. Of course, there's a bit of a treat, I guess if you want to call it that, early on. Sorry, but there isn't too much grilling on Hinata here about her crush on Naruto.
* * * * *
Tension was always part of the Hyuuga compound, especially when it came to it's primary members. It was just something that a person accepted. It was, after all, a part of life.
Hinata didn't often have much to do at home. She prefered to spend it away from the compound. This happened more and more once she was assigned a team. While it wasn't with people she wanted, it did good to make her have social interaction, and she found herself making excuses to spend more and more time with them. It would prove to be the only way to escape her family that made it look like she wasn't escaping. But there would be no escaping for her tonight, she realized. Both of her teammates were gone, as well as her cousin. It was his lack of presence that made the constant tension almost unbearable.
She sighed and stood up. Habitually, she turned and made sure that the blankets didn't look too disturbed. She liked to keep things tidy. It meant that there was less things for people to notice when she was around. The less she was noticed, the better - being noticed didn't usually lead to anything good in her life. In fact, her father rarely spoke to her these days unless it was to scold her about something.
But right now, she wanted to remain completely out of sight. There were often murmurings about her being the subject of "misguided anger", or something. If that was the case, then, currently, there was much opportunity for anger and tension to be "misdirected" towards her. What made things worse was that Neji failed to leave more than a passing comment that he was leaving with Shikamaru.
A passing comment that was given to her.
"Tell your father that I'm leaving."
Hinata just blinked, her eyes moving from her cousin, to the newly appointed Chuunin. Her eyes widened slightly, and she shook her head a bit. "But... You should go tell him yourself." She shocked herself by not stammering, though she did shrink when his eyes fell on her, frigid and demanding.
For a moment, he just stared at her, then, quietly, he simply stated, "I don't have time to get into a discussion with him about this. The more time we dally, the farther away Sasuke gets."
She flicked her gaze over to Naruto at the mention of Sasuke. He was trying not to pace, but he was clearly nervous. Kiba, who was standing next to him, only added to the nervous energy. Luckily, Chouji and Shikamaru countered that energy by remaining calm. It was hard to tell if Shikamaru was even nervous at all. She looked back to Neji, and she sighed, her brows coming together for a moment. She wanted to ask him why it had to be her of all people, but the words never came.
Again, silence was between her and her cousin, interrupted by Shikamaru clearing his throat in a definite hint. Hinata sighed, resigned to the fate she was handed, and took a step back. Neji took the necessary steps to join the group, but he paused just shy of it. "Don't worry too much about me, Hinata-sama." He did something then that she never thought possible, especially directed at her, and without the contempt and pain that tended to be in such an expression.
He smiled.
It was faint, but it was enough to make Hinata feel a little better about things, but at the same time, it made her feel worse. Without any other words, the group departed while Hinata watched. Her hands were clasped at her chest, as she watched that group. For her, nearly everyone there was important to her. Naruto, Kiba... Neji... She chewed her lip then ran to catch up with the group, just close enough to be heard. "Shikamaru-san!"
The group as a whole stopped again, but only the owner of the name turned fully to regard her. He waited with something of an annoyed patience while she took a couple of breaths. Fidgeting for a moment, she regarded them all. "Please... be safe," Her eyes lingered on Neji, who still was regarding her without any contempt, for some reason, then she looked to Kiba. He just flashed her his typical cocky grin, and Akamaru barked his agreement. Everything'll be fine, they had conveyed. Then, feeling the blush creeping to her cheeks, she looked at Naruto. He, too, smiled at her, though, the emotions were mixed. He was scared, angry... and hurt.
"Anything else?" Shikamaru prompted her, though his voice didn't hold the trace of annoyance that seemed to be in his expression.
Blinking back the tears that were forming watching those close to her leave towards an uncertain future, she said but one thing, something that Shikamaru acknowledged with a simple nod; "Return."
That memory seemed to have happened so long ago. Hinata was unsure what the actual time that passed was, but it was enough to make it seem like forever. Still, no word had made it's way back to the village. No way for anyone to guess what was going on, and those that had an idea were left to try not to assume the worse. Was she assuming the worse? She didn't know. She was just scared, and worried for her friends and family. Unfortunately, all of that worry she was feeling was also felt by the Family. And, out of habit it seemed, that tension was often directed back at her.
But at the moment, she was feeling cooped up in her room. She wanted to feel fresh air on her face. Steeling herself, Hinata turned and left her room, making sure to close the door behind her. There was absolutely no way she was prepared for the walk from where she slept, to the front of the residence. She would have to pass her father, and he still showed severe indication of his displeasure with the message she had given him. But her goal was past him. She wanted to be outside. So, to get to where she wanted to be, she had to face what she feared the most. It was, after all, logical.
Her footsteps were silent as she padded across the floor towards the front of the house. She thougth her attempt to go unnoticed had succeeded, but the moment she reached for the handle of the door, there was the sound of a man clearing his throat behind her.
Having a good idea who it was, Hinata knew that waiting to be prompted with where she was going wasn't the best course of action. "I... I'm going to go outside for a little while." She wanted to continue out the door, not giving the other time to convince her to do otherwise, but she knew that was just asking for trouble. Chewing her lip for just a scant moment, Hinata clasped her hands before her and turned around to face her father. Sometimes, she hated when she was right.
A long moment stretched between them, their conversations never going well whenever they happened. Finally, he spoke. "Where would you go?" Hinata hated the fact he implied that she didn't have any where to be other than home.
"Perhaps to the training grounds. O..or maybe the Ichiraku... or..."
"Alone?"
That statement hurt more than any strike he could summon. Hinata's shoulders rolled slightly, dejected and discouraged from her goal. She gave a meek nod, and simply waited for whatever words he would have for such an apparently futile quest. He was right in what he implied: why go to any place that was meant to be a place of socializing when she had no one to socialize with? But before it could happen, it seemed that a stroke of luck would be in order.
Interrupting their talk (if one could call it that), one of the other members of the clan approached her father. The person spoke in hushed tones, but the way Hiashy narrowed his eyes down at her let her know that this had to do with her. Another moment passed, and with a guesture to indicate Hinata should move, he stepped past her and left through the door she herself had intended to retreat through.
Since the door wasn't closed behind him, Hinata glanced at the messenger before slipping out after her father. He gave no indication that her presence was unwanted as she followed him through the courtyard, wondering who would just stand way out there instead of actually walking to the front of the house.
She didn't share many things with her father, but she did cherish the moments when they happened. Yet, she failed to figure out how a moment of shock, timed almost exactly, would be considered something worth cherishing? Hiashi's own expression returned to one of steely granite within seconds, but Hinata couldn't help but continue to stare at what was waiting for them. Never in her life did she ever think to have other genin, genin that she knew from a distance, at her home. That weren't her teammates, at least.
Hinata figured Tenten might've been here to check on Neji's status, but she couldn't figure out for the life of her why Ino was there. Tenten, upon seeing Hiashi, turned to murmur something to Ino. The blonde just rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and looked elsewhere. The two greeted her father, and it was painfully obvious which one of the two was used to such a formal greeting. Hinata was thankful that her father didn't seemed to take offense at Ino's stiffness in greeting.
"Why are you here?"
Tenten, used to Hiashi's mannerisms, took the harshly toned question in stride. Ino, however, looked like she was going to bark at the man, but held her tongue when she got a warning look from Tenten. Hinata wondered why the look she got from the man himself failed to stop her in her tracks.
Taking a deep breath, Tenten addressed the older man. "We were wondering if it would be alright if Hinata could come with us to the hospital. We're going to be visiting my teammate, Rock Lee, who just had surgery." The request was delivered in a calm, respectful tone. Hinata was then sure that Tenten was making herself to be the designated speaker here. Likely to keep Ino from saying something she shouldn't. It was something Hinata was curious about. Sure, Ino was often brash, but would she really mouth off to someone like her father, unprovoked?
Still, she was hopeful about the request. She glanced up to her father, to try to read his expression, to anticipate how he was going to handle it. His face gave nothing away, and she was no where near as good as Neji was at reading body language.
"Why?" was all Hiashi said.
Before Tenten could put forth an answer, Ino was the one who spoke. "We figured it'd be a good idea, considering things." Hiashi turned and arched an eyebrow at Ino. Tenten had looked tense, but she was relaxing when Ino's voice was relatively level, and polite. Hinata was again curious why Tenten was on edge about it all. Still, Ino continued, without being prompted, "Sometimes it's good for people who're going through the same things to do something together. I'm sure you know about the mission the guys are on, so I shouldn't have to go into that. We all got teammates there. The waiting'll go by faster if we did it together."
Hinata couldn't hide the expression of surprise at hearing that. That was it? It seemed so trivial, to come all the way out here for her, but looking at Ino, and the way Tenten's expression seemed to confirm the other's words, Hinata saw that the stated purpose was genuine. A smile tugged at her lips. She felt almost... special. But what about her father? She wanted to watch him, but she didn't want to appear as if she was pleading with him to let her go.
He responded with more questions. Something about what else would the girls would do, when would he expect Hinata back, and despite the veiled threats if they didn't return Hinata by the curfew he would later set, both girls answered each of his queries succinctly, and without skipping a beat. Ino, of course, was showing that her patience with the interrogation was thinning, and towards the end, it was Tenten who was doing most of the talking. Hinata figured that Ino decided to remain silent once more.
But by some stroke of luck, she was allowed to go. Oh, her father certainly didn't say anything of the sort, since he was acting as if she wasn't there anymore, but with the way he had stated the time of curfew again, and then left, Hinata figured she was free to go.
Ino waited until she was certain the man was back in the house, "Geeze. Let's get out of here before he decides to drill us on why his underwear's so tight."
* * * * *
For the most part, Hinata was content listening to the other girls talk. They didn't go straight to the hospital, as Ino got a craving for something sweet, and treated them all to ice cream. Hinata didn't take part in the conversation, just ate, and listened. Tenten was slightly different than when she had seen her with Neji, or in the exams. She seemed almost relaxed. Ino seemed as if she was going to explode with nervous energy. The two spent the ice cream trip trading stories about their teams. Ino kept nudging Hinata to join in, but she just blushed and returned to her ice cream each time. Ino was certainly a... loud... personality, and Hinata felt intimidated by it. Strangely enough, Ino didn't press.
Hinata wondered, as they walked towards the hospital, if that was how Sakura felt when she was first friended by Ino. Intimidated. Sakura was said to have been shier than Hinata then. And she was constantly teased. Then she caught the eye of Ino, and the rest, as they say, was history. Ino certainly tried her best to make Hinata feel included in this, but Hinata wasn't sure what to do.
Especially since the topic, again, fell on boys. And not in the teammate sense.
"But don't you think he could at least get a wax, though?"
"I think his brows are part of his charm."
"They're not doing a good job of attracting Sakura."
"Whoa, we've been down there before."
"Okay, you're right, Tenten."
"I am...?"
"His brows... her forehead... they're made for each other."
"I-Ino.... that's not very nice." Hinata stopped in her walk and blinked a bit, surprised she even spoke. Immediately a blush began to spread along her cheeks, and she looked elsewhere.
Ino's smile was smug, and she exchanged a glance with Tenten, before she reached out and poked Hinata in the shoulder. "It's called friendly teasing, Hinata. Good friends do that to each other."
Tenten gave a nod here, confirming it, but Hinata still wasn't too sure. It wasn't nice to talk about people like that. She fidgeted slightly and chewed her lip. "I... I don't know. It just doesn't sound very nice." She paused, and then hesitantly asked, "Be-besides... you and Sakura aren't friends anymore."
"Hm." Ino paused and then shrugged, "We are. She's just stubborn. Something stupid came between us--"
"Something stupid's still between you," Tenten interjected, then whistled slightly and looked away when Ino shot her a look.
"... As I was saying, something stupid came between us, and we're still getting over it."
"Sasuke," Hinata stated. Everyone liked Sasuke. Well, save for her. So, it was frequent that friends would fight over him. She didn't understand it, really, but it was something that happened, so, she didn't really dispute it. "I... I wish that hadn't have happened."
Ino just shrugged. "Sasuke's old news. I just wish she'd realize it."
The way that Ino didn't continue along that converstion, as well as her annoyed expression about it, Hinata got the distinct feeling that she didn't want to talk about Sasuke anymore. She figured that was fine. She didn't want to talk about anything that would make people upset. Ino lifted her arms then threw her hands on her hips. "Man, boys are so... idiotic."
Tenten rolled her eyes, and she shook her head. "Is that all you think about, Ino?"
Ino just grinned, then looked at Hinata, "C'mon, what do you think, Hinata? I need a second opinion."
Hinata froze and stared at her classmate. She wasn't serious, was she? The nervous tapping of her fingers returned. "I... I wouldn't know," she answered, a blush tinging her cheeks.
She realized, immediately, that was the wrong thing to do. Ino regarded her suddenly as if she was some tiny bird facing a cat who was in a very playful mood. Tenten also caught this look and she tossed her hands on her hips. "Ino..." came the warning.
Ino ignored it. "Oh, really now." She grinned and nudged Hinata with an elbow. "And what about all of this with a certain blue-eyed boy, hmm?"
"I wouldn't know," Hinata insisted, though the blush got worse. She barely heard Tenten berate Ino for teasing her, and Ino giving her defense over the pounding of her heart.
Ino's giggle broke through, though, and despite not wanting to, Hinata glanced up. "C'mon. It's pretty obvious, you know. I think it's cute, really." She ducked a swing from Tenten then. "What? It is!"
"About as cute as you're being right now."
Despite the attention being on her (yet, not really as Ino and Tenten were reduced, again, to tossing comments back and forth), Hinata felt herself smile a bit. Perhaps this was what it was like to actually just "hang out" with people. For no reason. Other girls, even. It wasn't a priviledge she'd had given to her before, considering she wasn't one to attract attention, or want it. But, still, it made her remarkably nervous, and she tried to withdraw again from the pair.
She tapped her fingers together for a moment, then sighed. She glanced to the horizon, where the boys had headeded. For some reason, a chill ran down her spine, and she began to feel a faint sense of dread. She tried to shrug it off, but she couldn't. Chewing her lip, she regarded the other two.
Hinata's pause didn't go unnoticed, apparently. "You okay?" Tenten asked, turning to regard the Hyuuga girl.
She wondered how to answer that, and then she simply nodded. "I'm fine." Again, she glanced towards the horizon, before she sighed once more. "I... would you mind if I took my leave? I just..." She had this urge to watch for them.
Ino and Tenten exchanged looks for a moment, before Ino answered. "Sure. S'fine." She took a moment to think before she offered her a smile. "We'll check up on you when we head back, okay?"
Tenten gave HInata a smile as well and nodded her agreement with Ino.
After a moment, Hinata returned their smiles, bid them farewell, then walked away. She thought about returning home, though she'd only been gone for maybe an hour or so, but she decided against it. Instead, she made her way to the front gate of the village, and found somewhere where she could sit and watch the forest beyond. If something did happen soon, she would be one of the first ones to have any knowledge of it, and she hoped that the feeling of dread she was feeling was only nerves, and no indication something had gone wrong.