A birthday present for stormwind13 that I forgot to mirror to FFN. Whoops.

With thanks to theroadkillcafe for alpha-and-beta-reading.

This is technically a sequel to Beware the Advocate, though all you need to know is that Sakura managed to convince Tsunade to save/barricade Sasuke from leaving Konoha.

The sun was a bare pink fuzz when Hinata slipped out of her room. Reverberating through the chilly air were the snaps of fabric, the hiss of flesh meeting flesh in a friendly spar. Hinata slipped into the room next to hers.

"Turn it off," the bundle on the floor mumbled, closing what little gap had been allowed by a child's energetic sleep.

Hinata smiled and whispered, "I'm leaving now."

"Mmkay… be careful…"

Next she approached the main house's courtyard. Her father and Neji were taking it slow, going through motions that were obvious even to Hinata. It occurred to her to activate her Byakugan, so very rarely did she have the opportunity to learn from her father. And this early hours training with him, too, used to belong to Hanabi. It was a happy thing, Hinata told herself. Happy indeed that Neji's wounds were so quickly, if not mended, then staunched, and treated. Even Hinata couldn't miss the slow unburdening of the weight in her father's heart. In all, it was the best possible outcome of such a close brush with tragedy. Happy, indeed; Hinata ought not intrude. She watched. There was no chakra in those juuken moves, but she imagined if there had been, hatred delivered straight to Hiashi's vital points… or Neji's… as it had Hinata's…

Hinata shuddered in horror, or disgust. The motion finally announced her presence. Her father noticed first, and then Neji. She bowed and greeted them in that order.

Her father's eyes were never comfortable on her person, but Hinata was equally used to suppressing her need to fidget. Finally, he nodded. And Neji –

"Please take care of yourself," said Neji, stiff and more perfunctory than anything else. And Hinata knew she had to say something in return, but what was threatening to come out was like coal under her tongue, so in the end she simply nodded.

—

"My brother paid for children," the client chortled after a little less than fifty-six seconds of staring at Kurenai and her team. "Assassins came for him, and he wanted children as my security detail. Oh, what a funny joke."

He was squinting against the soft light of the morning and nearly stumbled face first coming out of the carriage. Though his clothes were well-tailored, they were rather plain, and at the moment in danger of sloping off one shoulder. His hair, too, was a bare concession to the concept of a top knot.

Kurenai smoothly said, "Please be assured, though they are young, my squad is more than capable of protecting you, even with their lives if need be."

"That's rather extreme, ain't it?" the client – Emon, the Hokage's briefing had stated – narrowed his eyes, Hinata feeling his scrutiny in particular. Then he winced – oh, Hinata realised, it wasn't her – and grunted an instruction to the servant by his side, and left them outside to arrange for accommodations (there were none, but Kurenai's team had always planned to set up their own camp) and anything else (also none, they were not contracted to disrupt the client).

Hinata waited with bated breath as Kurenai inspected the camp – she hadn't set it up, being tasked with scouting, but she still felt half-responsible, somehow. Finally, Kurenai nodded. "This seems adequate, Sasuke-kun. Thank you."

And Hinata, trained to see the unconscious movements normally unnoticed, saw that Sasuke remained wary. Kurenai continued as though she didn't notice. Next she arranged a schedule for the team in pairs, one guarding the client and another patrolling the environs. The latter went to Hinata and Kiba. Hinata had a view of their surroundings already thanks to her eyes, but she gladly went with Kiba as they made rounds.

The client's cottage was fairly modest, not bigger than a reasonably-sized house. It seemed to be built entirely with cut wood. A tall fence surrounded them – for protection against wildlife, if not men. It stood alone by a forest besides a horse wagon path that connected two towns. Each was a few hours' horse ride away, or a third of that for shinobi running at full tilt. The horses that the client had used to pull his carriage here were housed in a stable nearby. The same groom that tended to the horses also tended to the client, and also rode to the towns to procure supplies. Hinata found herself hoping the groom was paid even while following his master into a self-imposed exile.

But it was a peaceful exile, so far. Kiba felt safe to talk. "Sucks that Shino can't come with us, eh, Akamaru?"

Kiba's partner whined sympathetically. Then Kiba seemed to remember Hinata, and said, "Not that there's anything wrong with you, but you know, that guy isn't even a part of our team, you know? Struttin' around, pouting like we owed him something."

"Kiba-kun," Hinata admonished out of habit. "Hokage-sama must have a reason for assigning Sasuke-kun to Kurenai-sensei."

"Uh-huh. Shikamaru said she did that with all the jounin-sensei. Off-loadin' his training 'cuz she's too busy to babysit." Kiba shrugged. "It's cool. I'll promise not to start stuff unless he starts it first, if you're worried?"

At evening they switched, and it was Hinata and Sasuke standing guard inside the cottage. It was a very modest cottage, with a small bedroom containing a corner for futon, a small desk, and a bookcase that took up the rest of the room. The window looked out to the fence, and beyond it, the forest. The kitchen was also small, and dirt-floored. A fire was crackling in the pit at the centre. A pot of unknown stew and garlic was boiling over the fire, hanging from a metal bar. The kitchen stored the only metallic items in the entire complex. There was a chimney, but Hinata estimated it would be too small for a grown man to climb through.

The client invited them for dinner, but Hinata declined politely, saying Kurenai and Kiba had prepared food for them.

"Do you eat meat, shinobi, or are you like monks? Building your… chakra?" He was watching Hinata even as he spoke to Sasuke. "Ah, but you are shinobi, what's spilling animal blood to you. Even so… Tell me, girl, aren't you a little too young for this?"

Hinata's eyes flicked to catch Sasuke's reaction – a habit, a bad one given they had never interacted before this – but none was forthcoming. Sasuke, too, was waiting for her answer. Hinata said, "T-The Hokage trusted m-me to be a-a part of the team. A-and I swear to complete the mission with my life."

Something stirred in the client's eye, but was gone as he snorted. "Damn, kid, no need to get so intense with me. I feel sorry for you, all right? You two, and that other kid. Nothing interesting is going to happen, and I'll be more sorry if something does happen."

After his modest meal, the client retired to his room, where (Hinata observed this through her Byakugan, as ordered by Kurenai, despite her reservations about his privacy) he was engaged in writing on his desk. And only that. When morning came, he was slow to rise, as a man who had no other responsibility but to his poetry (Hinata had finally overcome her reservations and read through the wall, never more conscious of Sasuke's stare). So by the time the sun was tall he rose, and sometimes he went to the forest accompanied by one of the genin, sometimes he went to stroll the miniature garden in the area. But never into civilisation. It was his groom who went occasionally for supplies and news.

The week passed by in this manner, the client choosing his schedule each day as he saw fit, the shinobi following suit in randomised pairs. Although after Kiba and Sasuke went out on patrols and came back with more scrapes and bruises than tripping into conifers would warrant, Kurenai stopped putting them together. (There were also no conifers in the forest so far that Hinata could see, and Hinata's Byakugan could see very far.)

As a result Hinata spent more time with Sasuke in the following week than they had in their entire childhood together. That was how Hinata found herself alongside Sasuke, accompanying the groom to the southside town. Hinata had learned from Kiba his name was Matsu, and that he was a recent hire. He went into a general store alone while the genin waited outside. Sasuke, Hinata had learned since then, was loathe to disturb a perfectly good silence, the kind they stood in, him leaning on the wall and Hinata out of the way.

Then quite suddenly, Sasuke said, "What came of your cousin?" He wasn't quite facing her, and said it all in a rush, the tips of his ears reddening.

Hinata hesitated before answering. "Um, Neji-niisan is well. T-thank you."

And she thought that was that, and that going by what she knew of him Sasuke would rather pretend the exchange never took place, but his head whipped around. "Well? Even after nearly killing you?"

"W-well, he, well, he was suffering too, and, and there was no lasting harm, and…" Hinata fidgeted even as Sasuke stared incredulously at her – especially as he judged her with his black Uchiha eyes. But such was the nature of ones like him, she could imagine her grandfather saying. The Uchiha were crooked to the core, and saw the world with sharp but crooked eyes and could never see past the surface.

What must her grandfather make of her minute flare of relief?

Then abruptly, Sasuke shifted again and said, "What's he doing in there?" When Hinata didn't answer to his satisfaction, he said again, a little impatiently, "Your eyes."

"W-we, well, we don't…" Not in the village, not to other Konoha shinobi, and especially not the civilian population of Konoha. But even before Sasuke spoke again she knew how flimsy a defense it was.

"They're civilians. We're on a mission." He shook his head, and said, "Stay here," and went inside.

So Hinata waited and watched. The role of sentinel suited her, anyway. And it gave her ample time to puzzle Sasuke out. Of course, his elder brother did kill his entire clan and spare only Sasuke for some addlepated reasons known only to the Uchiha (this was grandfather again).

A procession of cows strolled by leisurely, and paused suddenly, startling the wagon of clucking weaved baskets behind it as the man pulling it ran face first into cow tail. As the human owners argued, Hinata saw a third man – a samurai, by his tonsure and conspicuous katana – sneak past. Following him more stealthily was a woman wearing a shinobi forehead protector. Engraved on it was the unmistakable musical note of Otogakure.

Hinata wasted no time in coming inside and grabbing Sasuke's attention. He was hidden behind a short display rack, somehow, and the mere sound of her stepping into the store alerted him, though he relaxed just as soon. Hinata noted that he was quickly tense again as she told him of the Oto-nin.

"They didn't see you," he said tersely. There was a fury quickening through his chakra, swirling barely contained within his lithe body that went beyond patriotic rage – it frightened Hinata somewhat. She suggested that they go back quickly and report to Kurenai, and he readily agreed, even volunteered to half-coax, half-drag their charge.

If she'd thought Sasuke's reaction was odd, Kurenai's carefully concealed wariness was even more worrying. They were huddled in their camp, all four of them. To Hinata, she asked, "And the man with them, what did you see of him?"

"I–am not sure they're together…" Sasuke raised his eyebrow at that, not even directed at her, but Hinata flushed and said, "W-well, he has the look of a samurai."

"Not a rounin?" Sasuke asked sharply.

"Oi–" Kiba started, but Kurenai signaled him to let Hinata answer this. So stranded without help, Hinata could only try.

"Um, no, no, he, he could still be but… but I saw… three fireflies. On the pommel."

"What's so important 'bout – Oh! Ooh, the client's sigil, right." Kiba meant their true client, who had advanced cash for their service, who was a samurai and whose auspices said sigil blazoned – and the older, more legitimate half-brother of the man they were currently guarding. Kiba absently scratched Akamaru's chin. "So what do we do now?"

"We will alert Konoha's nearest outpost. There is enough distance between here and Konoha that another team can handle them more adequately. I must remind you all that we are currently engaged." This last Kurenai said because Sasuke had twitched. Unexpected to Hinata, he stood down. "Now, what of the rest of your excursion?"

Sasuke rattled off the list of items that Matsu had bought, and Hinata corroborated that he hadn't brought anything but money at departure and groceries on return – and yes, she had checked with the Byakugan.

Finally, Kurenai stood. "I shall take care of reporting this matter. In the meantime, please return to your assignments."

But the following day, and the next, and the next after that, went as normal. The client went on with his poetry, and when he was stuck to the point of trashing his room, he went for a stroll in the forest, accompanied by the genin. At one point it meant Sasuke and Hinata. The Uchiha took the rear, that their charge may be at the centre of his prodigious hawk sight; Sasuke was also more versatile with his arsenal. Hinata supposed she had the ability to see danger coming from far away to make up for her limited range.

Today the client brought nothing but the clothes on his back (Hinata had checked with the Byakugan, which by now she had accepted as a necessary evil). He walked leisurely, leaping on rocks, marveling at ordinary tree leaves, and chasing rustled grass after spooked woodland critters long gone. Every so often his lips would move breathlessly in verses – nonsense when Hinata thought about them, but she could easily imagine it as music to her ears. Hinata, more than any of the other shinobi, was familiar with every verse that came out of the client's pen. When it made sense it was tame: birds, flowers… and horses. Harmless content, all. Harmless man in all, if occasionally acted as though he wandered out of one of his tanka. How much longer – how much more proof do they need, she wondered.

Through clothes, skin, flesh, leaves, wood, and space she saw Sasuke utterly focused on his task, and thought: he wouldn't hesitate. Naruto would never stop to vacillate on what he thought was right. And maybe Sasuke, too. But it would be convenient if Sasuke could be his usual tactless self not just with Hinata.

But then it was the client himself who saved her. "So this must be like coming home for you kids. Hidden in leaves, literally? No? If you told me you'd have to kill me?" (Hinata empathically shook her head, but the client didn't seem to notice.) "Siblings, then. Is that a secret, too? Well, that's all right, I'll just talk about mine. One does get a tad maudlin' when left to one's own devices… We used to traipse the forest together, my brother and I. Hunting for chicks fallen off their nests, if you'd believe it. That brother of mine, he'd commit seppuku before admitting it, but he does have a soft side. After all, he sought me, the son of a mistress. Hm, would you children even understand the significance of that? But oh, they say the past is another country, and we are all, of course, no longer children. Take notes, children, of the ruins power and wealth wreak in pursuit thereof."

"Um," Hinata said. She didn't need the Byakugan's penetrating insight to see the intensity of his pain, writ plain on every surface of his body. Or the nostalgia, even brighter and very scalding.

The client laughed. "Don't despair. After all, he paid for elite shinobi protection for little old me; all hope is not lost yet. Never you mind. As I said, with age comes maudlin'."

It was then that Hinata saw them. In truth, she saw them too late – Neji would have seen them entering the edge of the forest. But Hinata just had enough time to signal to Sasuke before the Oto-nin came crashing in. Though he might have seen them earlier somehow – a forerunner tripped into an electrically-charged wire as he tried to flank the client. Another tried to attack Hinata from under earth; her, she had seen coming. Don't think, just spin. The kunoichi's kunai bounced off Hinata's Kaiten, but the Oto-nin then sank deeper. Not quite out of sight, circling like a hungry shark –

The client screamed, and Hinata took her focus off her adversary. That was a mistake – Sasuke had engaged the samurai that was in the process of kidnapping the client – and the shark, seeing an opportunity, burst out in an eruption of gravel and rock. Kaiten! a part of her wanted, but the other, stronger part chose to dive out of the way. She saw the kunai graze her arm even as she felt the sting; and Sasuke dancing around the samurai's katana; the confusion as to who he should hide behind; the Oto kunoichi once again sinking into earth.

Repeating the pattern. And with each iteration Hinata would be drawn further from the client. Hinata knew what to do; she did what she did best. She listed to the side, and shrunk in on herself, painting a (hopefully) vulnerable prey. And so once again her adversary returned from the depths with vengeance. And this time Hinata was ready. The centrifugal force of the Kaiten denied the enemy kunoichi entry even as it carved the ground and canceled her doton, and left her crumpled within the shallow crater around Hinata. On the other part of the battlefield, Sasuke had managed to disarm the samurai somehow and was taunting him with his own weapon.

Just like that, they had won. Hinata had won without Kurenai, Kiba, or Shino's assistance – without even Sasuke's assistance. She stood, stunned, until Sasuke shifted closer as though he was afraid to catch whatever was afflicting her. "You okay?" he asked gruffly.

"Um, yes, t-thank you… for asking…"

Sasuke just shrugged. By this time they had spent too much time together in silence that Hinata couldn't see it as anything other than awkwardness. Then he raised his voice, though not at her. "Oi, stop right there."

The samurai – the client's retainer; she could see the three fireflies on the pommel of his katana – glowered at him, moving to cover his master with his body. He must not have been much older than the client, and only the armour made him bigger. His voice belie it all, though. "You shall not have him, you treacherous knaves!"

"Uh-huh," said Sasuke, shouldering the blunt side of the katana. It seemed to puff up the samurai more than his casual dismissal.

Still pale and trembling, the client said, "Will someone please tell me what's going on? Yasumasa? Why are you here, Yasumasa? Does my lord brother want me – but why were you with these…" he gestured offhandedly at the unconscious Oto-nin.

The samurai's jaw clacked quite noticeably. He hadn't once taken his eyes off Sasuke – or rather, the dear katana in his hand. "Your lord brother, Emon-sama, hired these, these rogues to dispose of you! Quietly, in the middle of nowhere, as though you were a defective chattel!"

"U-um," Hinata said, though no one listened.

"My lord brother? Surely you jest, Yasumasa. To be sure, we have had our differences, but to suggest he would do something so drastic…and these are children."

"Um," Hinata tried again, at the same time that Yasumasa replied, "But these child assassins are the most devious of all, Emon-sama. Surely you have wondered why, considering the soldiers at his disposal – "

Sasuke cleared his throat loudly. The two men started, even Yasumasa. "Look, she's been trying to say something."

The client recovered first. "Aye. Well, go on, girl. Tell this fanciful fool it was all my brother's brilliant jest."

"Um," Hinata began, wringing the hem of her jacket. When it became clear that had been the extent of Sasuke's intervention, she forced the words out. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Our mission is to watch over you in case of, in case of treasonous intent, and… and…"

She looked down as his smile dropped, as understanding dawned. But there was no escaping a Hyuuga's sight, and Hinata hated it a little for it. "And then you'd deal with me as you saw fit. Ah! That part makes sense. But involving children! Tell me that was not also my brother's idea."

So rueful and resigned was he that Hinata actually paused and considered the question literally. "Um…"

Sasuke was faster. "We're shinobi," he said bluntly, as though discussing the weather.

Kiba's loud voice announced his and Kurenai's arrival. The latter took one look at the unconscious Oto-nin, the indignant and inwardly quavering Yasumasa, and their dejected client, then finally at Hinata and Sasuke. "Looks like you managed to fend off their ambush, as well. Good job, Hinata and Sasuke." She turned to the samurai. "May I assume this daring rescue was your idea?"

He puffed up, but the client called him off firmly. To Kurenai, he said, "Yasumasa is only my most loyal retainer. If not out of compassion, then please consider, for expedience's sake, to spare him."

The samurai let out a bear cry, which Kurenai ignored. "You seem resigned to your fate, Emon-sama," she said evenly, "without knowing what it is."

An affected shrug. Hinata noticed, because down below his toes were curled as though bracing against pain. "Had I not known I had lost my life already… Lo, the shinobi have made their entrance; my brother must have made up his mind to have hired you. I only ask that you spare dear Yasumasa."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Kurenai said, sounding genuinely regretful. "For out of loyalty to you, Yasumasa-san has employed Konoha's enemy and smuggled them inside Fire Country's borders. I'm afraid that's not an offense Konoha can easily overlook – and the daimyou would agree. Perforce his actions must reflect on you as his master. But Sasuke disagrees, I see."

If Sasuke was surprised at being called out, he didn't show it. His eyes were flinty, the colour of sunset. Both ignored Yasumasa's foul-mouthed sputtering. "The retainer is stupid, but he did it without his knowledge. And the contract doesn't specify assassination as an outcome."

Kurenai smiled at him patiently. Hinata had seen this often, usually before a well-meaning relative did what they thought was best for her, her mumbled objections be damned. Kiba said, "What's this all about? Don't tell me you actually cared!"

Knowing Kiba, he had meant it as a taunt, but he must have struck true, for Sasuke bristled but didn't answer. Could it be, the haughty and talented Uchiha Sasuke of all people understood? Remembering his unexpected sympathy for her, Hinata supposed he might. This confidence jolted Hinata into acting. "K-Kiba-kun! And Sensei!"

And still when she had their undivided (and not unkind) attention, she faltered. But Naruto would never falter, she thought. And at least one man's life depended on her. "S-sorry… but the client…h-he wouldn't want us to kill his brother… because he's innocent. E-Emon-sama still cared for his brother, he would never send assassins after him."

"Is that what this is about?" the client said. "Those assassins? With what money, eh? Oh, my poor brother, my poor, paranoid brother. Shinobi-san, if I may appeal to your compassion and allow me to live a little longer, that I may straighten whatever misguided notions that snake Goto has whispered into my brother's ear, I would be forever indebted to you."

Kurenai only raised her eyebrow, so Hinata pushed on. "A-and, please let me remind you that the contract asked us to evaluate whether Emon-sama harboured the client ill will, and, and seeing as he does not, we would only fail the mission if we…"

"Execute him here and now," Sasuke supplied helpfully, "for an unrelated, idiotic action taken by his retainer."

The other eyebrow went up. "Getting along too well, I see," Kurenai said after a too long moment. "Do you have anything to add, Kiba?"

Kiba started. "Wha – no – I mean, you were never going to kill him, anyway."

His simple conviction exposed Hinata's lack thereof, but it was Sasuke whom Kiba was looking down his stubby nose on.

Kurenai shook her head ruefully. "Be that as it may, there is still the matter of the retainer. Though I suppose you would argue that too is the province of our client." Hinata had the feeling she was supposed to nod, so she did. Kurenai sighed – for show. "Very well. Then we shall escort you back to his lordship's residence, per the contract. And that includes you, Yasumasa-dono."

Sasuke, Hinata thought, looked as though he'd found a colourful toad under his pillow, but his stoic facade returned but a moment later. Together the genin hauled the unconscious Oto-nin to be rounded up by the Konoha-nin stationed in the nearby outpost.

"Seriously, though, what was that?" Kiba grunted under the weight of his load. Neither he nor Sasuke would accept her offer of help. But Shino would have, Hinata thought, missing her other teammate suddenly and acutely. Maybe because when it was Shino there was no danger of a fight truly breaking. In this case, their chosen venue precluded further verbal sparring.

Then it was escorting the client's carriage to his noble family's residence. Kurenai had the genin rotate positions between watching within the carriage with the client and his samurai, and the driver, and patrolling around the carriage. Kiba thought it was more for Sasuke's benefit than any true concerns for safety. ("Our team is known as the best for field missions, you know? …okay, maybe just Kurenai-sensei.") But Hinata didn't mind terribly. When it was her turn inside, Yasumasa seemed to have reverted to typical samurai reticence, and the client was silent. But it was a contented silence.

On her last turn before they arrived at their destination, he suddenly broke that silence. "I don't know why you did it, but thank you all the same."

"Um, I have an… not exactly an older brother… but an older cousin," Hinata said before she could be too horrified of her temerity.

The client made a noise of understanding and gave encouraging words, but fortunately didn't pry further. So Hinata was left to ponder alone as the carriage rattled along the road, and finally came to a halt. There was an escort waiting, an older samurai whom the client assured Hinata was here for his protection. Hinata watched as the little procession disappeared into the city.

"That's it?" Kiba asked. "Shouldn't we go with him, you know, since we apparently care if he's alive or not?"

Kurenai shook her head. "Hinata's recommendation was excellent because it took into account the client's wishes. But shinobi must also take care not to become too invested in a mission."

"Even if it's critical to the village?" Sasuke said quietly.

"Then we'd be having a different conversation. But that discernment, too, is something you'll need to learn."

And later, in the Hokage's office, reporting under the Hokage's gimlet eyes, Hinata started wondering if she should have learned that sooner. It was not the first time she'd had a debriefing with the Hokage as a team, but the only other time hadn't put her front and center. And the Hokage, though a woman, and disarmingly beautiful at that –

"I see. You are a very kind girl, aren't you, Hyuuga Hinata."

– also had a disarming voice. The Hokage's presence seemed to fill her chair and loomed over Hinata in a way the previous Hokage's hadn't. But it didn't seem to affect Sasuke.

"You'd known that, of course. That's why you assigned the mission to this team," he said, rather too casually for one speaking to one's supreme commander. One fist was clenched, hidden from view within a pocket, though.

The Hokage snorted, resting her chin on her hand. "Ho, that's humble of you. Ignore that little voice wondering if it was meant to be a lesson for you."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "So then –"

"So then I assign missions to those whom I believe could complete them. So then don't undermine the goodwill engendered by Kurenai's glowing recommendation. You three learned to work with a comrade you've never worked with before, on a mid-term, boring surveillance mission; and apparently a little lateral thinking." The Hokage added, "And I got you out of my hair for a month. Now get out of here and find someone who's happy to see your mug. Oh, and good job, everyone."

"Hokage-sama is not truly angry," Kurenai whispered to Hinata just before they parted (Kiba had run off earlier, having been accosted by his sister). "She is merely of the persuasion that certain people only speak certain languages." After a few more platitudes to both Hinata and Sasuke, she too departed, leaving the two of them slowly exiting the Hokage Tower. They were not quite alone, but… Hinata thought there were no other chances. And if it had been Naruto…

"Um, Sasuke-kun, a-a question, please." He paused, but didn't look at her. But of course, he didn't look at anyone without a good reason, usually. Steeling herself, Hinata said, "Back then, back then with the client, if he had – I don't think he would have, but – or maybe would you – um, not that you're blood – "

"Just say it," Sasuke said.

" – would-you've-killed-the-older-brother?"

Sasuke frowned at first, and Hinata started fretting inside if she had been too presumptuous, but then he said, "He started it."

"Ah." Hinata felt herself wilting. "B-but, no one died, and – "

"Older brothers are supposed to protect their younger siblings."

That, unfortunately, resonated with Hinata enough that she couldn't muster any half-hearted arguments against it. She let it lay bare between them like a rope awkwardly tethering Sasuke to her. "Um, thank you."

Now he looked at her quizzically. "Well… since no one died… and it was a misunderstanding… suppose reconciliation's possible. If you – I mean, the client did want it." He frowned. "And if the brother wanted it. But people do change. Or something."

"Ah, Sasuke-kun! And Hinata!" It was not Sakura's arrival, so much as the tell-tale flush creeping down Sasuke's neck and the posture somewhere in between at attention and a cool show, that broke their conversation. Sakura, for her part, seemed to hold back a bit.

Then Sasuke lifted a hand, and said, "Yo," and Sakura smiled bright as the sun.

"Well, you're back and you seem fine, and I probably have Hinata here to thank for that. Thank you, Hinata!" To Hinata's great embarrassment, Sakura bowed to her.

"Oi, why are you thanking her…"

"Because you can be reckless!" Hinata watched in fascination as Sakura's sharp index finger jabbed at his arm. The Sakura she had remembered from her Academy days would never have done that. Not even as recently as a couple of months ago, during the Chuunin Exam. And Sasuke himself would never have greeted a girl first, let alone take her teasing. People do change.

The sun was only beginning to set when Team Kurenai had arrived back. Hinata entered the Hyuuga compound bathed in vermillion light. No one greeted her on the way inside. She felt… quite nothing, coming back. Home was home, after all.

Coming closer to her father's house, she heard the sounds of sparring. Hinata was quite certain if she activated her Byakugan she would see her father and Neji sparring in the yard. Hinata dawdled for a bit. She wasn't quite ready… but maybe she didn't have to be just yet. And after all, people do change. So she turned to the house, and carefully slipped into the main room. Hanabi was there, sitting and scowling at a desk.

"Ow," she complained when Hinata turned on the lights, but then she realised it was Hinata. "You're back!"

Hinata returned the bear hug. "I'm home."