Hiashi Hyuuga was many things. Dispassionate, cold, calculating, grounded head of the Main Branch of the noble Hyuuga family and, by extension, head of the entire Hyuuga family. He was also an uncle, brother to one of the bravest men he had ever known, and a father. He honestly wanted the best for his immediate family. The demonstration Hinata had just provided showed him that what was best for his eldest daughter was Naruto Uzumaki. It was an unpleasant thought; the jinchuriki was a pariah and Hinata's non-juuken skills were jeopardizing her already precarious position as his heir. If he overtly supported her relationship with Naruto, and by extension the foreign talents they shared, Hinata would have the caged bird seal within hours.
Not while Hiashi drew breath, she wouldn't! But these skills made Hinata a respectable ninja, formidable for a genin, and there was a thin pride built around that accomplishment. And…and Hiashi could not deny what he had seen. Hinata was different around Uzumaki. That thin pride blossomed into genuine confidence. Her hesitation vanished completely. And…she seemed…happy.
Hiashi thought about what he had seen and heard. Well, there was really only one thing to do about it. He'd have to send word to the right people, and quickly. He smiled slightly. Well, not that quickly. He didn't think there was much chance of being too late.
"For the last time, I don't have any vacancies," the landlord growled. "It doesn't matter how much of your paycheck you're willing to spend."
Naruto frowned. "But you have a sign out that says you have apartments for rent."
"Those are for respectable people!" the man roared. "Now get out!"
Naruto and Naruko grumbled as they left yet another apartment building. "This is getting us nowhere," the girl noted.
"No kidding," Naruto agreed. "I thought the whole point of doing missions was to earn enough money to support ourselves."
Hinata frowned slightly. "I was sure this building would have vacancies, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Naruto said bitterly. "These idiots just can't see past the prisoner."
"Maybe if I didn't join you at the next one?" Naruko asked, flicking her foxy ear meaningfully.
"Nah," Naruto said. "You're with me, Kit, and I ain't letting you go, dattebayo."
Naruko smiled warmly. "Thank you."
Hinata consulted a map of Konoha. She marked off another apartment. "There aren't many left in your price range."
"So I guess we start looking at the tiny ones," Naruto sighed. "Sorry, Kit, guess you aren't getting your own room back."
"We'll manage," Naruko said with forced cheerfulness.
"Maybe I should help ask," Hinata started saying.
"I'm not going to ask you to do that, Hinata," Naruto cut her off. Yes, he wanted her with him. Because he liked her company. If she started throwing around her weight as Hyuuga Main Branch…he didn't like that. It wasn't that he was "the man" or anything, he just didn't like the idea of using her friendship like that. It felt…bad.
"Let's try one more place," Naruko said. "Then we'll start worrying about plan B."
"That'll work," Naruto agreed. "So what's next on the list?"
"Ummm…this one," Naruko said, consulting her list and then pointing to Hinata's map.
Hinata frowned. "That's not far from the Hyuuga estate."
"No it isn't," Naruko agreed. "Your estate is like a magnifying lens on property values, Hinata. Gets really bright in the center, surrounded by a ring of shadows."
"Eh?" Hinata asked, confused.
"Well living near one of the top families in Konoha is prestigious," Naruko started.
"But a little further out that prestige drops off and people don't want to live close to a clan that good at 'seeing underneath the undergarments,'" Naruto finished.
Hinata took a moment to process this change to the old saying. Then she set a new record for mega-blush. "eep."
"Ooooh?" Naruko asked, grinning evilly. "Has our little Hinata-chan been peeking?"
"EEP!"
Naruto decided to ignore the implications, for they were disturbing and made him strangely happy in a way he was absolutely sure he should not tell Hinata's father.
Hiashi looked over the document. "Yes, this will suffice. And they are not to…to…ahchoo."
"Tissue, Hyuuga-sama?"
"Thank you. As I was saying…"
Well, for a somewhat artificially bad part of town, it's a nice enough building, Naruto thought. Quiet, too. The building was fairly small, only two stories tall with two apartments on each floor. One of the top floor apartments was vacant, according to the listing. Two bedrooms, livingroom and kitchen suite, small balcony (a ninja balcony, easily secured against casual intrusion). Better part of town than what he was used to and the rent was in his reach…barely.
The landlord was not what he was expecting. Older gentleman, missing a leg, an old ninja headband wrapped around the stump. The fabric had once been blue, but had soaked up enough blood to permanently stain. Most wounds that bad on ex-ninja that age were from the kyuubi attack; Naruto was used to being attacked by the crippled elderly of Konoha even more than the rest of the population. But he had a somewhat uncertain smile rather than a mask of hatred. "I was wondering if you would come to me, young Naruto."
Naruto frowned. "Is this where you tell me that you don't want me in your building?"
"Oh I hope not. Genin twins finally pulling a steady paycheck? You're about the only market out there that won't bring ANBU with you." He smiled. "Although given your jutsu, I suppose you aren't going to be that easy. Well, do you want to inspect the apartment?"
Naruto blinked. "Uh, yeah!" he enthused.
Hinata frowned. This felt like one of those 'underneath the underneath' things the jonin were always going on about.
"I'll get the keys. My name's Kazuta."
The apartment turned out about as nice as the listing. Sure the paint was a bit faded and one of the windows was stuck, but that was nothing really to complain about. "So," Naruto said at least. "How much is the rent?"
Kazuta named his price.
Naruko choked. "You're kidding!" It was only moderately more than Naruto's old place. Excluding the absolute dives, the number quoted was the cheapest they had found, by as much as half the price of its competitors. "That has to be a joke."
"No joke, missie. Now that doesn't count your water an' such, that you'll need to pay yourself."
"You have to realize that's below the going rate," Naruko argued. "Why the generosity?"
Naruto stared at Naruko in horror. "Don't look a gift apartment in the mouth," he hissed.
"I'd listen to your brother," Kazuta said sagely. "Look, this place isn't earning me money. You two are just genin, and no one else wants to move in. If I don't give you a rent you can afford, then I will continue to not make money off this. Make sense?"
Naruko rolled that over in her head and nodded.
Naruto grinned. "Well, Kazuta, I'd say you have a deal, dattebayo."
Hinata frowned. That didn't seem nearly underneath enough.
Hiashi released the chakra in his eyes and allowed himself a slight smile. Kazuta had kept to the script nicely, and now Uzumaki would be living close enough to Hinata to routinely bolster her confidence, and for Hiashi to spy on them from the privacy of his own home.
All things considered, subsidizing the boy's apartment was a small price to pay for such convenience.
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(Posted Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:15)
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