Chapter 4: Homecoming, Slow going
Hinata paced nervously as she worried about Kiba. He had been seriously injured by Hidan and had passed out after being attacked. She had gabbed him and rushed him to the hospital meanwhile Shino had restrained Hidan and watched him being placed back in his cell. Hours had passed since the doctor had rushed Kiba into his office. Several nurses had rushed into the room an hour or so ago but none of them had been very forthcoming about the condition of her comrade. The clock chimed eight as Shino returned from his adventure to find food. He had joined Hinata in the waiting room three hours ago and as usual he had been silent and somewhat awkward, yet it had still been comforting just to have him there.
When he had first arrived he had taken a seat not knowing what else he should do. After two hours he had started fidgeting like a bored child so she had asked him to find them some food since it was past dinner and they had no idea when Kiba would be released or when they might be given some sort of news. He had accepted the request and set off to find something edible. Shuffling to Hinata silently he handed her a bag of assorted food and returned to his seat sharing his food with some of his bug friends. Hinata graciously accepted the food and started snacking on some ramen. Her eyes were starting to grow heavy as she bore a hole into the door of the office wishing desperately to know what was going on with her teammate. Hinata and Shino jumped as the door to the office swung open. The nurses flocked out of the room first followed by the doctor, then finally Kiba came out. Hinata stifled a gasp as she took in the sight of her teammate. Kiba's right eye was covered in bandages and his cheek in stitches. Hinata shrugged off her surprise as she greeted Kiba. He may look like hell but he was still her friend. The trio made small talk as they made their way towards the hotel. Kiba would be staying at the hotel for the remainder of the mission to rest and recuperate. She and Shino had agreed to meet early tomorrow to redetermine their strategy. For now the three of them would return to the hotel and rest. Tomorrow would be an early day for Shino and herself which meant they would have to make tonight an early night. Saying their farewells the three of them went to their separate rooms where sleep quickly enveloped them.
Lying in her bed Hinata waited for sleep to envelope her once again. She had awoken from a loud crash outside at three am and had quickly scurried to check what the noise was. As soon as her fears had subsided she had retired to her bed again only to wait sleeplessly until the morning. She couldn't help thinking about Kiba and what had happened to him. If Shino or herself weren't careful the same, or worse could happen. After an hour of lying in her bed pondering 'what ifs' she decided she would spend her sleepless night doing something better than just worrying. She hopped out of bed and scurried over to her suitcase. She quickly rummaged through it until she found her bingo book, a scroll and a brush. Once she found what she was looking for she sat down and started studying the bingo book. She studied the two criminals; Hidan and Kakuzu. She also studied the criminals who were suspected of being in the Akatsuki.
As she studied she made notes in her scroll tomorrow she would be completely prepared for whatever was thrown at her. Hinata continued studying for the next three hours retaining all the information she could. As the clock struck seven Hinata arose from her spot on the floor stretching her muscles and popping her bones as she made her way towards the shower. She quickly turned the dial towards hot as she walked into the shower. She scrubbed the sleep away from her eyes as she let the warm water slide down her lithe body. The hot water De-tangled her hair and relaxed her soar muscles. She finished scrubbing her body and stepped out of the shower. It was already 7:30 and she still had time to kill until she would have to meet with Shino. She dried her body and quickly got dressed. She then grabbed her scroll of notes and her bingo book along with a few other necessities and began meandering her way downstairs.
As she reached the downstairs restaurant of the hotel she grabbed some complimentary coffee and scoped out a table for them to sit at. Once seated she began sipping at her coffee and reviewing her notes. Coffee had never tasted good to Hinata but her lack of sleep and yesterdays surprises had assured her she would be needing some this morning. Studying her bingo book she stared long and hard at the little info they had on Kakuzu. Today they would interrogate Kakuzu. They chose Kakuzu in hoped he would be less violent and partly because they didn't want a repeat of yesterday and Hidan would undoubtedly give them a replay. She heard the chair adjacent to her scrape along the floor and she looked up to find Shino seated in front of her. Hinata smiled at him as he uttered a g'morning and put her bingo book down next to her. It was time to start talking about how to deal with today's mission
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters of it Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto