Elementary, my dear Naruto
VII. Hinata's blushes
Shikamaru took off at a leisurely pace with Choji walking beside him.
Naruto folded his arms across his chest and glared fiercely as he watched them walk away. It had sounded like Shikamaru suspected something about Naruto and Hinata, but he didn't really know anything. He couldn't know anything. Naruto hadn't been that obvious about his interest in Hinata—had he? He'd barely talked to her down in the icehouse. He'd hardly looked at her. How could Shikamaru know anything? He could suspect, but he couldn't know.
He could simply be teasing Naruto and Hinata because of yesterday. Could Choji have told him about that newlywed mix-up? But when did he have the time? The three of them had been together in the same room since last night. Choji probably forgot all about it. Still, he felt uneasy about what Shikamaru might and might not know. He could be teasing because he thought the situation was funny not because he knew it was too close to the truth. Whatever Shikamaru's reasons, they would make for some uncomfortable verbal slams all during this mission. Just what he needed.
The only positive note was that Hinata had stayed by his side instead of following after Shikamaru and Choji. It could be because she wanted to stay with him, but it was probably from the embarrassment of Shikamaru's last remark. She might have wanted to keep her distance from his sharp tongue. Naruto was more than a little pissed off at Shikamaru for teasing him at Hinata's expense. That was uncalled for. If he'd wanted to pick on Naruto he should have left Hinata out of it. She didn't deserve it. But off-hand he couldn't think of any way to let Shikamaru know he was pissed off without revealing the very thing he didn't want Shikamaru to know. The only thing he could do was make things right with Hinata.
"I'm sorry that you're always embarrassed because of me, Hinata," he was still staring at Shikamaru's back as he apologized. If looks could kill then Shikamaru would feel a sharp pain right between his ribs about now.
"I'm not. Really. It's okay, Naruto," she assured him not liking the look on his face. She didn't want him to be angry with Shikamaru just because she'd been embarrassed. He'd be angry all the time if he took her signs of embarrassment too seriously.
"You always say that, but your face always turns red." He still kept his face turned towards their two team mates getting farther away.
"I can't help it. I blush easily. I always have." Especially where you're concerned, Naruto, she thought.
"I've noticed that. It's kinda cute."
"It is?" Okay, she was blushing again.
"Yeah." He stubbed his toe in the ground still not looking her way. He was amazed to discover that he could have his shy moments, too. Why was it so difficult to say nice things to Hinata? He'd never had any trouble saying this kind of stuff to Sakura. He knew she'd just punch him if she didn't like it (which was usually the case). With Hinata he couldn't tell if she liked it or not. She really did blush all the time so he couldn't be sure when she was upset, angry or just shy.
Hinata didn't know what to say. She wanted to encourage the direction of this conversation—she'd been longing to hear Naruto say anything along those lines for a long time—but not now. Already she could see Shikamaru looking back over his shoulder at them. "Naruto?" She reached out to touch his sleeve to get his attention.
"Yeah." He took her hand and looked down at her. Of course, she was blushing, but she looked him in the eye and not at his feet. That was something she wouldn't have done in the past.
She gave him a shy smile. "You're very nice, Naruto. I wish—I—oh—I think Shikamaru is waiting for us," she finished lamely.
"Let him wait." Naruto quickly dropped her hand, looked up and scowled. He certainly knew how to pick his moments. He couldn't wait for this mission to be over so he could deal with the important stuff in his life. Why had the Hokage thrown them into a mission together so soon after Hinata's return? When this mission was over, he wanted to ask Hinata on a date—somewhere without fellow shinobi watching them and without a stupid mission getting in the way.
"Man, that Shikamaru's really something." He wouldn't say what that something was in the presence of a lady. Instead, he started walking slowly towards the other two waiting in the distance—but very slowly. He meant it when he'd said let him wait.
Hinata felt relieved that Naruto didn't seem as angry as he was before. "He's incredibly smart. I'm really impressed by the way he led us through that investigation. I don't think he needed any of us to come to the conclusions we did. I don't even think he needed my Byakugan to figure things out on his own."
"Yeah, he's smart all right," he said it almost resentfully. He still felt some anger towards Shikamaru, but it was calming down. He was quick to flare, but it didn't last long. He wasn't the type to hold a grudge. "I never realized how smart. It's like he's not the same guy I remember from ninja school. He seemed to fail as many tests as I did back then. I remember Iruka sensei always yelling at a bunch of us together—Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and me, because we wouldn't take his lessons seriously and learn to concentrate. I never had a clue that with Shikamaru it was just laziness not lack of smarts." This wasn't really what he wanted to talk about with Hinata, but with the other two not far enough ahead and watching them to boot, he couldn't risk getting into anything more personal just now. He regretted that they'd seen him holding Hinata's hand. He'd be sure to hear about that tonight.
"I know what you mean. It was always Sasuke and Sakura at the head of the class—never Shikamaru. I would never have guessed that he was the real genius of the class."
"We're not too shabby either. He said we all did a good job investigating that body. So maybe the Fifth was wrong about us. Maybe we all have what it takes to be jônin all along."
"You're right. We all did pretty well down there," Hinata agreed.
Naruto kicked a stone out of the way as they walked along the main street. Now what could he talk about? How he wished they were at the point in their relationship where he could hold her hand and talk to her about anything. He'd waited seven weeks for her to come back from her recuperating vacation so he could talk to her and now he couldn't think of anything that he could say. "So are you warmed up yet?"
"Oh, yes, I am. You must want your jacket back. Thank you for loaning it to me." She swung it off her shoulders and handed it to him.
"That's not why I asked. I just wanted to be sure you were okay. I wasn't very helpful when you really needed it." He took the jacket but didn't put it on immediately.
"No, really, you couldn't have known. If it really bothered me, I could have said something. But a shinobi must learn to endure hardships. I must be treated the same as any other shinobi," she told him determinedly.
"Yeah, but that wasn't a crucial situation. I'm sure if our lives were at stake you would have endured anything."
She flushed with pleasure at his words. She enjoyed this kind of compliment, too. "Do you really think so?"
"You know it. You were trained as well as any of us. I bet you have the scars to prove it."
"Well, yes, some."
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he joked.
"What?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Ah, that didn't come out right. I just meant—we both have a lot of scars to prove we're shinobi—all shinobi do."
"I suppose so." She frowned. "It's not very attractive having a lot of scars, is it?"
"Unh? What? Attractive? What does it mater? Scars are marks of honor. It means you've survived at lot of battles. That's a good thing isn't it?" he asked puzzled. He'd never really noticed the scars on any of the shinobi except maybe Ibiki Morino. That had been a shocking revelation when he'd taken off his head gear at their chûnin exams. It had made Ibiki one of the few sensei he always treated respectfully, maybe because he was always aware of the amount of pain he must have endured in his career.
She flushed. "Of course—but—I mean—you wouldn't want a girlfriend to have a lot of scars, would you? You'd want her to look pretty, wouldn't you?"
He grinned as it suddenly dawned on him what she was getting at. "Sure, I want my girlfriend to look pretty, but the superficial stuff is just part of what makes a girl pretty. On the inside she'd be sweet, courageous, talented—lots of other things that make her better than pretty." Did she realize he was describing her? "To my mind scars won in battle wouldn't detract from her looks. That would just mean she was a good enough shinobi to survive some nasty battles. I'd admire those abilities that made her strong."
She nodded. That made a lot of sense. Still, she was just as glad not to have a lot of ugly scars. She used every ointment and remedy the Fifth recommended to help her wounds heal cleanly and keep her scars as unobtrusive as possible. It was difficult to be feminine and a ninja sometimes. If she were better friends with the kunoichi of her age group, she could ask them how they managed, but she was closest to her usual team mates Kiba and Shino. She couldn't imagine asking them anything of the kind. Maybe she could ask Kurenai, their team leader. She managed to look attractive no matter what.
But there was no more time to pursue this interesting conversation. Despite the snail-like pace Naruto had held them to they'd finally reached the other two waiting outside the inn.
"What took you guys so long? It's lunchtime. I'm hungry," Choji complained. He still had a few snacks in his pocket, but he needed something more filling.
"Did you sneeze, Shikamaru? We were talking about you," Naruto grinned jauntily at him.
"I can guess at the tenor of that conversation," he replied dryly.
"I doubt it. We only had good things to say," Naruto told him not adding that his thoughts had been anything but friendly.
"You surprise me, Naruto. You've matured quite nicely."
"You sound like an old man. Maybe I should call you Grandpa Shikamaru."
"If you do I'll call you Knuckle-head. Isn't that what your sensei calls you?"
"Does not!" At least not to his face. "Where did you hear that? He's always treated me with great respect. "
They argued good-naturedly on their way into the inn. This time Hinata and Choji walked behind, but before they could do more than step inside they were pounced on by the innkeeper. He rushed over to them clasping his hands together.
"Ah, you've finally returned young ninja investigators. I told him to wait. I knew you'd want to talk to him. I thought you'd be back some time ago. The mayor said he took one of you to the icehouse yesterday so I thought you'd be back in no time. I know you all had to see him with your own eyes—but it was obvious the man had been stabbed to death—the healer told us that much from the beginning. What more was there to find out?"
"You'd be surprised," Shikamaru said very softly under his breath. He didn't actually want the man to hear his comment or he'd be in for more troublesome questions.
"Who are you talking about?" Naruto demanded impatiently. This guy really rubbed him the wrong way. Not just from yesterday, but he seemed like a real know-it-all telling them their business.
"Oh, I found him in the market. I knew you'd want to see him. It's Nohara Shibuya. He's the one who found the body. Constable Hayama must have told you that. Didn't he give you all the information he'd gathered on this investigation?"
Shikamaru shrugged. Constable Hayama hadn't been what he would have called informative. His stock response had been You'll find that out for yourself. "I'm sure he must have mentioned it. Yeah, we'll need to speak with Mr. Shibuya. Where is he?"
"We waited for awhile and you didn't return. I had inn business to attend to, so I treated him to the hot springs on your behalf. He's in the garden drinking tea now. I'll show you. Right this way," he eagerly started down the corridor to the garden not waiting to see if they followed him. Since it was in the same direction as their rooms, they would have followed anyway.
"Say, Shikamaru, that innkeeper's short. I think he could be the killer," Naruto whispered behind his hand as they slowly followed the innkeeper.
Shikamaru grinned. "Unfortunately, just because he's annoying doesn't mean he's a killer. Half the people in this village must be shorter than 175 cm. The killer could even be a female. What about his daughter—or did you enjoy her flirting too much to consider her a suspect?"
Naruto scowled. So Choji did tell Shikamaru about their check in experiences. "She's annoying, too. Keep it in the family. She can be his accomplice."
"Personally, if I had to choose someone annoying to be the killer, my vote would be Constable Hayama."
Naruto grinned. "Oh yeah, I didn't like him either."
"Too bad the mayor's too tall."
"Hey, maybe he was sitting down."
"Good thinking. I'll keep him on the suspect list."
"You're not serious."
"As far as I'm concerned—everyone's a suspect until proven innocent," he said darkly.
They came out of the long dark corridor into the sunlight. As they squinted their eyes to adjust from dark to light, Naruto saw a large dark shape spring towards them. Instinctively he stepped in front of Hinata and pulled out a kunai blade. But before he could do anything more, Choji was grabbing the shape which turned out to be a large, friendly black dog.
"Saki, get down!" An old man came hurrying forward. "Sorry about that, young masters and miss. He just loves greeting strangers." He grabbed the dog's collar and pulled him down from licking Choji's face.
"That was so cool—the way you jumped in front of her," Kimi, the innkeeper's daughter suddenly came out of nowhere pointing at Hinata, "and pulled out that knife to protect her! I wish you'd rescue me," she clapped her hands and gushed over Naruto. "You were cool, too, grabbing that dog," she added a little gushing credit for Choji.
"Wow, you ninja sure are ready for anything," her father added. He was easily impressed, too.
Naruto flushed. Ordinarily he would have enjoyed the admiration, but not from them. He really didn't want more attention from two people who had embarrassed him in the past and looked likely to continue to do so in the future. He just knew Shikamaru would have something to add later.
"Nohara, these are the young ninja investigators I was telling you about. I don't remember their names from check in. They never formally introduced themselves to me. Young ninja investigators, this is Nohara Shibuya. He and his dog found the dead man on the way into the village over a week ago. Last Wednesday, wouldn't you say, Nohara?"
The old man nodded. "That's right. It took me by such surprise I forgot to do my marketing that day."
"I'm Naruto. This is Hinata, Shikamaru and Choji." He tucked his kunai back in his pack glad that he hadn't accidentally killed the old man's dog, but it had been touch and go when he'd thought Hinata was threatened. He patted the dog on the head to show there were no hard feelings and received a big wet lick on the hand in return.
"Nice to meet you. The whole village has been talking about you all morning. This is the most excitement we've had since the circus came through the village. Remember that Kazuhiko? They only come through every five years."
Naruto scowled. He'd heard that one before. It wasn't any more flattering the second time around.
"We'll need to talk to this man alone," Shikamaru interrupted the pleasantries to get down to business.
"I know everything he knows," the innkeeper announced unwilling to leave the proceedings. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned comfortably against the wall as if he were settling in.
"All facets of this investigation must remain confidential." Shikamaru insisted bluntly.
The smile on his face fell into an unhappy sulk. "I know everything the mayor and constable know, too. I'm a member of the village council. We all examined the body and made the decision to send for investigators together," he protested.
His daughter added her own unhappy sound of protest. Her father must have made her privy to everything he knew, too. Shikamaru wasn't at all happy with that notion.
"I still have to insist that this investigation remain confidential until we conclude it. Any information we uncover remains our property until we deem it proper to release it. The investigation will only be hampered if everyone knows every detail. The killer of this man may still be around. He may even be a resident of this village. If he knows all the details, he'll be able to thwart our investigation," Shikamaru explained sternly and patiently.
""No one in this village would kill anyone! I can't believe you'd even consider it! I think you're barking up the wrong tree there. We haven't had a suspicious death in this village for a hundred years."
"Then you won't mind if we continue our investigation to prove you correct?"
He drew himself up haughtily. "Very well, young ninja investigators, you're the experts. I have no choice but to allow you to continue any way you see fit. You won't accuse me of interfering. I'll leave Nohara in your hands—but we expect results! Come Kimi." He wasn't happy about it, but he took his daughter by the arm and left them alone with the old man.
He looked wistfully after his host. "There's really not much I can tell you, young master."
"That's all right. Just tell us what happened. Hinata, you might want to take notes."
He held up his hand to stop the old man from speaking again until Hinata was ready. Then he withdrew his hand and nodded his head.
The old man rubbed his chin. "Well, it was like this. Saki and I were walking to the village to do some marketing. I usually come into the village once or twice a month to replenish my supplies. Sometimes I come in just for the company. Saki's a great companion, but sometimes I like to hear a voice other than my own, you know?"
He nodded. "You live alone?"
"Sorta. It's just Saki and me so I can't say I really live alone."
"Where's your home?'
"I live in a small hut about 2 km outside the village."
"What do you do?"
"You mean for a living? I prospect. I have a little claim on the land around my hut. I've been on that claim for almost 40 years now."
"What sort of mine is it?"
"A little of this and a little of that. Mostly gold, but I've sometimes found precious and semi-precious stones. My best find was a chunk of emerald. I don't know how big the stone turned out, but I made a pretty penny on the rough chunk. But that was a long time ago."
"Wow, gold!" Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought. Though finding an emerald wouldn't be half bad either.
"Is it profitable?"
"Well, I do turn a small profit, but nothing to get excited about. Mostly my finds pay for food, clothing and tools when I need 'em."
"What kind of risk do you find living alone?"
He scratched his head. "Nobody's ever tried to rob me if that's what you mean. Kazuhiko's right when he says nobody in this village is a killer. Nobody's a thief either. This is a nice little village."
"How did you find the man?"
"He was just lying on the side of the road. Even without Saki, I could hardly miss him."
"Did you touch him?"
"I only checked to see if he was alive. He almost looked like he was sleeping."
"What did you do next?"
"I found him after my half-way point. There's a tree stump that I sit and rest on if I need to. I hurried into the village to report him to the constable."
"You just left him there? You didn't move him?"
"Nope. I thought it best not to once I realized he was dead."
"When you brought the constable back with you had the body been disturbed in your absence?"
"Not that I could tell. It looked pretty much the same to me."
"You didn't recognize the man you found—you've never seen him before?"
He shook his head. "Well, it was kinda hard to tell. His face was all messed up, but he didn't look familiar to me. I know most of the folks in this village. He didn't look like any of 'em."
"I see," Shikamaru studied the man thoughtfully. He was old and hardy looking, but Shikamaru didn't think he could move a body—at least not very far. He seemed honest in his responses. His face was open and friendly. "I think that covers all the questions I have unless my colleagues have anything to add?" They all shook their heads. Shikamaru seemed to have covered anything they could think of. "Why don't you show us where you found the body?"
"Okay, young master. I've finished my shopping. I've been ready to head home. I only stopped by because Kazuhiko insisted. It wouldn't have been hard to find me when you wanted to." He drew forward a small wheeled cart loaded with bags of groceries. He reached for his walking stick lying across the top.
"Shikamaru, what about lunch?" Choji demanded looking longing at the food he saw in the cart. He'd waited most patiently for this interview to end. He thought he'd been most forbearing.
"Mr. Shibuya, would you care to have lunch with us? We can walk with you to where you found the body afterwards."
"That's very nice of you. I wouldn't mind if I do," he beamed his acceptance.
"Are you happy now, Choji?"
His stomach growled loudly and he rubbed it. "Not yet, but I will be. Let's hurry to the restaurant."