Author's Note: I keep finding grammatical errors every time I read my chappies urrrgh. Anyways I have decided to update weekly so I'd have more time to proof-read. I'm usually pretty fast but we shall see what pace I choose. I feel like I'm losing my reviewers L it makes me sad. SAD IS BAD! ….p.s. I've been thinking about putting a little sasusaku in the background plz lemme know what you guys think. ONWARD! CHAAARGE!!.
Disclaimer: The Kyubbi-vessel and his buddies ain't mine.
Chapter 6: Understandings and Agreements
Hinata sat patiently in her office, waiting for Sakura to show up. She had said first thing in the morning so she trusted her. She had told Neji and Hanabi that she was expecting her that morning. So here she was at her desk waiting. The doors to her office creaked open and Neji entered. "Sakura-san is here." he told her as Sakura followed in behind him. Neji looked bothered by something. The medic looked absolutely dreadful. "Good morning Hinata." she said wearily. "Good morning." Hinata nodded puzzled and concerned. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" she inquired. "Ugh…" Sakura sat down and rested her head on her desk. Pink hair blocking her face.
"You don't look well." she shook her head. "I'm fine Hinata, really…it's just…" She was silent for a long moment before speaking up again. "Uchiha-san really gave me a hard time last night that's all." she frowned. Hinata nodded in understanding. "I do not know him as well as you do, but it's plain to see he is very hard to deal with." she admitted. "He's a prick." Neji spat bluntly. Sakura let out a sigh. "Please refrain from such harsh words Neji-kun." Hinata frowned but stated professionally. "No. He's right." Sakura grumbled sitting up. Hinata could now see that her eyes were red-rimmed as well as tired…. As if she'd been crying. "I'd like to get down to business now." she murmured taking out a few books. "Oh, yes. Neji-kun please step out." Hinata smiled apologetically. He raised a brow but did so.
"And don't you dare try to listen at the door!" Sakura called after him warningly. He huffed. The girls were not sure whether it was an amused or insulted huff. "So what do you think is wrong with Juugo?" Hinata inquired. "I'm not completely sure yet, but I have a theory." Sakura admitted rubbing her face. "Enzymes…if we are in fact dealing with enzymes.. Are naturally produced by living cells in the body, usually towards a purpose, like digestion you see…maybe something could be wrong with the cells that make up his chakra channels." she murmured. "They are producing something that makes his nervous system go wacky or something." she added. Hinata was deep in thought. "His chakra channels did not close up completely when I used soft-fist." she shook her head in deep recollection. "Maybe production was just too excessive and the chakra was overflowing." Sakura suggested.
"Maybe if we question Sasuke-san…" Hinata stopped mid-sentence. She did not want to upset her distraught friend even more. Sakura just let out a shaky sigh. "If you think you can get him to talk to you." she waved dismissively. There was a brief moment of silence between them. "D-do..do you mind m-me asking…what exactly happened last night?" she wrung her hands in embarrassment. There go the stutters. Would she always do this when she was uncomfortable? Sakura looked up sharply but softened after a moment. "Maybe later Hinata." she smiled apologetically at the saintly Hyugga girl. Hinata -not being one to push her friends- simply nodded. Emerald eyes smiled gratefully. "What I don't understand is why do his symptoms behave so similarly to a curse-seal?" Hinata rested her chin on her hand thoughtfully. Sakura furrowed her brow. "I don't know.." she trailed.
"Sakura."
"AHH!!" the two girls yelped. "I told you to wait outside!!" Sakura snapped. "Hn." Uchiha Sasuke just shrugged and remained where he stood. They looked around. "How did you even get in here?" she demanded. There was no way he would have gotten past Neji. "The window is open." he blunted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. They sweat-dropped. "You brought him?" Hinata asked. Sakura sighed.
"Yes…but I wanted to prep you guys before he was seen. I don't think Neji is going to be too happy that you scaled Hinata's office walls." she said wearily, massaging her temples. "Hn." he responded once again. "I'm sorry Hinata." she shook her head. "Well this saves…time I suppose." the pearly eyed girl shrugged. Sakura sighed once again. "You were discussing Juugo's similarities with the behavior of the curse-seal." Sasuke suddenly piped up. They stared at him incredulously. "You're cooperating?" Sakura's eyes popped. "Hn. I don't see why not." he shrugged. There was an awkward silence. "Well…talk." the pinkette prompted.
"The answer to that is simple. Juugo is the element responsible for the creation of the curse-seal in the first place." he calmly took a seat and closed his eyes meditatively. The two women stared at him absorbing the tiny piece of information he gave them. "Elaborate please." Hinata nodded. He opened his eyes. "Orochimaru used the enzymes that Juugo produces to imitate his condition in other shinobi." he began. "He studied the mutation of his chakra cells and with Kabuto's assistance, created a means to imitate the mutation in any subject of choice." he informed, closing his eyes once again. "Oh Kami." Sakura breathed. "So…Juugo is the first technical victim of the 'curse seal'." Hinata remarked, looking out the window. "Hn." he responded.
"I suppose that means yes." Sakura remarked dryly. "H..how do you know all of this Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked. "While I was in Sound I had to do thorough background checks of my future team-mates. I had to make plans early on." he explained. "Hm." Sakura leaned back thinking deeply. "So now that we know the basics of Juugo's little problem…perhaps we can think of something to help him." Hinata murmured. "How?" Sasuke inquired. "Well…if the mutation can be produced in others…then maybe it can be reversed." Sakura commented. Hinata's eyes lit up. "We will need to start from square one and study one of the curse-seal victims." she stated. Everyone knew what the universal thought in the room was but no one stated it aloud.
"I will do it." Sasuke stated. "You are aware of the precautions?" Hinata raised a brow warily. The Uchiha responded with a nod. Sakura stared at him. "You want to help anyway?" she breathed. He gave her an unreadable glance before nodding once again. Hinata watched the exchange with interest. After a moment the medic nodded and looked out the open window. She smiled a bit. Hinata cleared her throat. "Well then I guess it's safe to say that Sasuke-san is in on our plan." she stated making sure to sound confident. "Hn." the Uchiha grunted once again.
"When do we start?" Sakura inquired curiously. "As soon as possible." Hinata remarked. "Now." Sasuke demanded.
"Eh?"
"N-nani?"
"I want to start this now." he said sternly. "But…Sasuke we don't know anything yet." Sakura reasoned. "We need to get a feel of your chakra first, and then we have to take samples of chakra cells." Hinata told him. "You can do that?" Sakura asked. "Hai. With Neji as a test subject I managed to do it." she said regrettably. "Thank Kami he's okay." she added. "The Hyugga bastard is too stubborn to die." Sasuke stoically remarked. "Uchiha, stop making remarks like that about our host's family." Sakura scolded. The raven-haired shinobi simply shrugged. "He apologizes Hinata…don't you Sasuke?" she said with a dangerous undertone in her voice. He stared momentarily. "Hn." he folded his arms and looked away. "That means 'yes' in Uchiha speak." she told her serenely.
Hinata nodded awkwardly. "Yes..w-well, we will need to take samples from Juugo's chakra as well. But I am not sure how to go about that." she told her two conspirators. "That is true." Sakura looked at Sasuke. "He hates hospital rooms, and he panics when we mention tests or anything like it." she recalled. "Don't tell him." Sasuke shrugged. "I don't think that would be wise Sasuke-san." Hinata frowned. "Do you have any other alternatives? Unless you'd rather sedate him…like Tsunade." He reminded them coldly. Sakura winced. "That isn't fair." she shook her head. "I hadn't wanted to but…I didn't know how else to calm him down." she sighed guiltily.
"You are unnecessarily upsetting Sakura." Hinata frowned. "What happened was not your fault." she assured her pink-haired friend. "We will just have to go through with it." she sighed. "As long as you don't hurt him you will be fine." Sasuke stated.
"It is a fairly painless process but there will be stinging so I am not sure if he will assume the worst or not." Hinata bit her lip. "He has experienced far worst pain." he assured. "I doubt he'd even feel it after all he's been through." he added. "It might not hurt him but what tools did Kabuto use on him? We might have a problem if what we use is similar." Sakura folded her arms. He shrugged once again. "This is getting us nowhere." Hinata groaned uncharacteristically. There was a knock. "Hinata-sama w-…Uchiha!" Neji hissed. "Oh boy. Neji-kun calm down." Sakura held up her arms stepping in front of Sasuke. The Uchiha simply stepped in front of her. "Is there a problem Hyugga?" he glared. "Cool it guys!" Sakura pleaded. "What is he doing here!?" he white-eyed ANBU demanded pointing at him.
"STOP IT!" Hinata shouted. They all winced at the rare volume of her voice. "There will be ABSOLUTELY NO FIGHTING in this office UNDERSTAND!?" she slammed her hands on her desk. They flinched and backed away. Sakura smiled proudly. "Now…we must-" "Hinata-sama." Neji interrupted stepping forward. "What is it?" she asked. "The Hokage has summoned us." he informed gravely. "What for?" she asked curiously. "It's…the council they heard about the incident at the hospital with…you-know-who." he stated. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged glances. Hinata felt her stomach drop and twist. "We better get going right now." Sakura urged. "Let's go." Hinata prompted in agreement. "I am coming." Sasuke insisted. "You would have no choice anyway." Sakura grabbed him by the arm and proceeded to drag him off. Hinata and Neji ran close behind them. "The council might not approve of his presence." Neji warned. "Sasuke is under my supervision today so if they don't like it they can slice their wrists." Sakura huffed as she ran on.
……………
"Execution is necessary." a member of the council stated stubbornly. "It was a fluke." Tsunade explained. "We have reached complications that need more looking into that is all." she told them. "He is too dangerous to be worth all of this trouble!" another shouted. "I would appreciate it if this could wait until my apprentice has arrived." she stated. There was grumbling. "You have questionable teaching skills if she is still not here." the first council man commented. Tsunade glared.
"My apprentice is fulfilling her duties with the Uchiha boy. She will be here shortly." she informed curtly. He scoffed. "The Uchiha boy should be dead as well." he blunted. A few murmurs of disagreement were heard among the council. "DON'T YOU DARE RAISE THREATS TO THE TEME YOU OLD FART!" Naruto who was sitting among the witnesses roared. "Quiet!" Tsunade bellowed. "This is not the discussion at hand!" Kakashi pulled Naruto back into his seat. Suddenly the doors busted open. "We're here shisou! Sorry for not coming quicker." Sakura panted out of breath. Hinata and Neji jogged in after her. Uchiha Sasuke seemed undaunted by the run. "Go sit over there." Sakura pointed to where Naruto sat. People stared in shock that the young Uchiha was here.
"Hyugga-san. You have made it." the Hokage nodded to her. Hinata nodded in return. "Now that everyone is accounted for, can we get to confirming subject D's execution?" a council man asked.
"No!" Hinata and Sakura said at once.
All eyes were on them now. "We feel that we can eliminate the problem." Hinata said confidently. "We allowed you to run your test. He is too dangerous and that is the end of our discussion." another member piped up. "He has not hurt anybody yet." Sakura commented. "'Yet' you say." he answered wryly. She huffed folding her arms. "I've had enough!" Naruto stood up and walked toward the front shocking the crowd. Kakashi at first was compelled to stop him but something told him to let him do this. "You are going to let Hinata-chan, and Sakura-chan, help Juugo." he ordered. "How dare you-"
"NO!" He shouted. "Don't even try! You officially announced that Sakura-chan and the bacchan could perform TESTS! As is more than one, and you gave them three weeks to make progress not two days!" He informed. There was silence. Tsunade smiled proudly. "Well said Naruto." she complimented. He cornered them there. "Those were your orders." she smirked. "I don't think you can go back on your word in front of all these people, can you?" she inquired. There was a silence as the elders whispered amongst themselves. "Very well." the head council man conceded. Naruto smiled triumphantly and gave Sakura, Hinata, and Neji a thumbs up.
Sasuke smirked from where he sat. Who knew the dobe was capable? Kakashi's singled visible eye was shining with a grin. As he made his way over and sat down Sasuke spoke. "It looks like you have a use after all." he murmured. "Shove it, teme." he answered through a toothy grin and a cheery tone. "Hn." he scoffed.
"I would like to request that we are allowed to take Juugo from his cell anytime necessary." Hinata stated professionally. "Granted." Tsunade said smugly. "And we will need Sasuke." Sakura added in. "Also granted." she added. There were a few gasps. "Uchiha Sasuke is the ultimate defense against Juugo's outbursts." Tsunade snapped shutting them up. "It's settled then." Sakura smiled happily. "We have three weeks to make progress." she turned to Hinata. She smiled at Naruto in a way that meant 'you are so getting glomped later'. Hinata felt an immense sense of relief and thanked Kami that she hadn't fainted in front of the council.
The worst was over for now. She looked at Neji who offered a subtle smirk. She smiled softly to herself. Now the real work would begin. With the help of Sakura and Sasuke hopefully they could reverse Juugo's mutation. "Meeting is adjourned." Tsunade's voice broke into her thoughts. After the initial relief had passed, an anxiety took over. She refused to fail. Sakura hugged her enthusiastically. "Let's get down to business Hinata-chan!" she giddily cheered. Sasuke came up behind them with Naruto waving happily. True to her word Sakura pounced on her knuckle-headed friend.
"I love you Naruto-kun!!" she squeezed. "S-saku..chan…air..air." he wheezed. "Sakura are you planning on killing the dobe before he can become the next Hokage?" Sasuke remarked. Sakura dropped Naruto apologetically. "She would probably be doing the village a favor." Sai said boredly, drawing in his sketch book. "Hey watch it!!" Naruto pointed at him. Hinata smiled fondly. "Come with us Hinata!! We're gonna celebrate at-
"Not Ichiraku again." Sasuke remarked. "Let's go somewhere else." Sai agreed. "Is this emo's gang up on Naruto day or something?" Naruto huffed. Sakura laughed. "Maybe some variety would do us good Naruto-kun." she patted his shoulder. "Aww not you too Sakura." he whined. "Ano..I agree." Hinata nodded. With that the group was off.
Author's Note: Ugh I'm tired of sitting at this computer. My eyes are burning lol xD. Anywayz Review Please!!! To Lawloburst: Yes Sakura truly is a bad *****. Poor poor Sasuke...he knows he likes it xD. Secretly. I'm glad you like it so far.
