青い骨の美 - The Beauty of Blue Bones

Chapter 19

Spring
Tuesday—3:25PM

They really should have expected to be summoned to Kakashi's office the next day.

Hinata held the small note in her hand, her face void of any emotion and colour as she reread the short request that was made. Folding the sheet in half, she pushed it into her pocket and resumed her gardening as she thought about a way to get them out of trouble. Of course her father would notice that it was she who had been snooping around his office so late at night, and considering that Naruto and Sasuke had the biggest reserves of energy as opposed to anyone else in the village, their presence would be easy to pick apart too.

Folding her hands on her lap after tending to the final mint plant, she sighed and stared at her home. She's only been living here for four months now; she celebrated her birthday and the new year alone, and she expected to spend the rest of her life that way. Except, something had a completely different plan, which brought two of the most powerful shinobi to her doorstep with seemingly nowhere else to go.

Her own personal issues had now permeated the entire house and caused both Naruto and Sasuke to get in trouble for simply mingling in her affairs. She should have refused their help, she should have listened to the rational side of her that warned her of the trouble up ahead if they tagged along. She didn't want them to have a falling out with Konoha—Sasuke could care less, she understood that, nonetheless, the problem was Naruto. Naruto had strived to gain the acknowledgment of the village, he still wanted to be Hokage. Though, because of her, he would end up on the rocky side of things once again because her father is just a big, fucking...asshole.

Dusting herself free of wet mud, Hinata entered her home with hesitant steps. She could hear the television blasting in the living room, a random action movie playing with its sound effects booming around the house from the surround sound system. Down the hall, the small grunts and pants of training were barely audible, the feeling of static in the air made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Erm..." She shuffled in her spot as she put her raincoat away, as well as her boots. Her hair was matted to her face, rainwater making her skin look dewy. Grabbing the towel that someone had laid out for her, she threw it over her shoulder and peered down the hall. "Sasuke, Naruto, we need to talk."

The volume of the television was lowered, and the lightning energy that coursed through the house came to a stop. Both men took their time to join her in the foyer, observing her with nonchalance [in Sasuke's case] and curiosity.

"What is it, Hinata?" Naruto crossed his arms, leaning against the banister with a small smile on his face. He really did like when the three of them were in the same space; he's long since gotten over the teasing looks Sasuke kept giving him, and the butterflies that formed in his stomach at every instance where she brushed past him or Sasuke got too close. It wasn't that he was ignoring the way his heart raced, it was hard to, he just liked basking in their presence and focusing on them rather than himself.

"Kakashi is asking to see us."

He stood up straighter, his eyes narrowing as he put a cap on his internal musing. "Is it because..."

"It's safe to assume that it is." She nodded, pulling the note out of her pocket and handed it to him while she squeezed more water out of her hair. "My father would be there as well."

"What legal trouble would this get us in?" Naruto passed the note to Sasuke, frowning as he thought about meeting Hiashi. He hasn't really spoken to the man more than once, and that was only indirectly. Knowing that he was responsible for Hinata feeling more comfortable living away from her home didn't really help in calming down his brewing annoyance.