"This is most unexpected," said the Hokage. "I want this equipment studied. ANBU will have to do it, but I want oversight from others not IN ANBU."
Hiashi nodded once and responded so quietly one had to be practically bumping shoulders to overhear. "You don't want Root to have a free reign."
"Not only 'no' but 'hell no'," responded Sarutobi in the same hushed tone.
"So what do we do?" asked Hiashi in a more normal tone. "Her eyes do not possess the Byakugan, but clearly she can see. I cannot relent and let her back into the clan without some official reason to do so."
"I am not going to order you to do so," said Sarutobi. "No. Let her remain with Naruto. They're both too young for anything untoward to happen. By the time they've gotten a bit older, we'll know more. The medic-nin looking over her have reported that the transformation will require some time to stabilize. We'll just put it out that this has been a very unlucky time for young Hinata and that the three foreign nin who did this were working for who they were working for. Some of the equipment was damaged when it caught fire, and figuring out how it was done and how it can be cured remain concerns for the future."
"Ah, that would work," said Hiashi, before directing her next question towards the ceiling. "Does that work for you, Hinata?"
"Nyipe!" said a catgirl clinging to the ceiling.
Thud!
"Considering her fever and current condition, that was actually fairly impressive," allowed Hiashi Hyuga.
"Never able to praise them when they're actually able to hear anything, are you?" asked the Hokage.
Hiashi shrugged in reply. He was the tough clan head of a ninja village. Strict disciplinarian was in the job description as far as he could tell. "What about those three spies?"
"They died before anything could be determined," said Sarutobi. "Some sort of poisoned senbon."
"So," said Hiashi. "There are still spies or agents within the village. Yes, we shall definitely be keeping an eye on Hinata and Naruto." He smiled briefly. "That sounds like an excellent excuse, doesn't it?"
"Huh," said Naruto, as he tried to take care of Hinata. It was all so odd. And yet-
One of the weird things occurring now is that while he was still considered 'unapproachable' or something, there were now occasional smiles (quickly hidden) sent in his direction.
A couple of stores had lowered their prices a little bit, one saying that the special tax was temporarily lifted or something.
Naruto took the little cloth off of Hinata's forehead, rinsed it out, and put it in his refrigerator. He took the other cloth off the shelf and put it on Hinata's forehead and checked the medical scrolls he'd been given.
Yeah, he understood that some people viewed Hinata a bit differently. He understood that the Hokage wanted Hinata where she wouldn't constantly be poked and prodded. It still felt odd that she was sick and not in the hospital.
According to this scroll, at some point he needed to wipe the sweat off of her. Which meant...
Oh man. Good thing she was unconscious.
He did it though. One thing he'd learned - you were a ninja - you did what you had to do. Whatever it took, you got the mission done. Right?
When he'd finally finished, using up four towels to do it, he checked and found two spurts of blood had come out of Hinata's nose.
"AGHHH! She's dying! Nosebleed, nosebleed, where's the section on nosebleeds?!"
Hinata woke up, feeling refreshed and strangely buoyant and energetic.
When she realized that she was in Naruto's bed, and that Naruto had fallen asleep in a chair sitting next to the bed, she blushed and twiddled her fingers and the feeling of buoyancy actually increased.
Some of the dreams she'd had, well, they weren't quite what they might be in a few years.
It wasn't long though before her stomach made its unhappiness known. Apparently the rice gruel that Naruto had spoonfed her yesterday did not have a lot of staying power.
A fresh blush occurred. Though she had felt enormously weak and lost yesterday, and she HAD slept a lot, she'd been conscious for a lot of it.
Now she'd have to see about getting herself a PROPER meal. Honestly, you'd think Naruto lived entirely on different varieties of ramen.
"She's a monster!" said the fishmonger.
"How so?" asked the ANBU member being accosted by a shopkeeper.
"She grabbed a large fish right off of the top of the stack!" said the fishmonger.
"And?" asked the ANBU member.
"She grabbed it up in her MOUTH and ran off with it," said the fishmonger.
"Ah, and she didn't pay?" prompted the ANBU member, who was still wondering why bother HIM with it.
"Uhm, well, actually, she did toss me a bit of change," muttered the fishmonger.
"Oh. So what exactly was the problem?" asked the ANBU member.
"A young girl jumps up, grabs a fish in her mouth, and runs off on all fours, and you don't have a problem with it?" asked the fishmonger.
"Not as much as I do with someone who goes calling a victim of several reprehensible crimes a monster because she survived all of it, no," admitted the ANBU member. "Do you want me to let Lord Hyuga know that you are harassing someone formerly of his clan?"
"Ung," said the fishmonger, suddenly aware of several looks directed his way from the gathering crowd. A fair number of which were not even remotely sympathetic. "Never mind."
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(Posted Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:08)
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