The man was reviewing the pictures his agent had sent him. He smirked; a face that would have otherwise be considered handsome twisting in an obscure, almost insane smirk. He swiped left to review them again. Hiashi, the Hyuuga patriarch, arguing in public with his twin brother. The man could tell the difference between them because of the youngest brother, Hizashi's shorter hair. Their faces looked stiff, but Hizashi's expression was more confident. More… challenging.

Was he the one hiding his little pet?

The man settled his phone on the table, his hands resting flat on his desk, a frown disfiguring once again his features.

He'd met her when she was just thirteen and he twenty-two, and she had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He had been so close to having her the first time he'd approached her, back then, and she had escaped him.

Then, after his elaborate plan with the Byakugan had come through, the man had swooped in as a savior, and expected his prize served on a silver platter.

His fingers ticked in annoyance.

She had escaped him once again.

"Sir?" said a female voice.

He raised his eyes to the door, his expression blank again, a tall, gangly woman standing at the doorframe.

His secretary turned to the waiting room of his office before swiftly facing him again. "It's Hyuuga Hanabi, sir."

The man let out a soft smirk. "Let her in."

"What I don't understand-," grunted Naruto, as he carried in the last crate for the midnight re-stocking of the convenience store, holding the phone between his right shoulder and his cheek "-is why's such a big deal or what." He sighed, leaving the crate on the floor and beginning to stack the ramen on the shelves.

"Naruto! Information like this is very delicate! I can't even-!"

He scowled. "Not that!" Naruto sighed. "What I'm saying is why don't they just investigate!" He rose, taking the now-empty crate to the counter. "You know, we could just give a call to Gaara and explain that Hinata didn't do it."

Naruto heard Sakura snort. "Well how come I didn't think of that before! You're a genius!"

"Hey!" Naruto put his phone between his shoulder and face and took another crate.

"Look, right now not even Temari can talk to the king. She's been put on some sort of quarantine because she refused to stop using her electronics."

"Temari as in Gaara's sister? But she's his sister!" Naruto started filling in the fridge with soft drinks, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming in.

"Yes… well…"

"This sucks."

"Look, at least this way Shikamaru can do his own research into all that and not be blocked by the royal politics."

Naruto pouted as an answer.

"How's Hinata doing?"

"Good!" he hummed, thoughtful. "She looks sad sometimes but she's determinedly looking for a job right now."

"A job? But she told me she didn't need one"

Naruto laughed. "Yeah! I think she's done with me, and probably trying to move out," he sulked.

"Any girl would get tired if they had to live with your ass for that long!" mocked Sakura, good-naturedly. "You are cleaning your mess right?"

Naruto frowned. "Hey! You're in a mean mood today!"

Sakura sighed. "Sorry; finals. More specifically, biochemistry final tomorrow."

"Yeah. That's why I'm not going to University like you, nerd."

She laughed. "I thought it was because of the tuition? Or International Relations school dream is no more?"

He scowled. "Ouch."

"Right. Well, that will teach you not to mess with me when I've had two hours of sleep in a week!"

"Yeah, yeah, I was roasted, whatever!" Naruto smiled. "Anyway, gotta go, we're about to close up for our shift."

"Let me know about what you find on Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

Hinata was watering the feverfew again, taking care not to drown the plant, that sat in the balcony. It was slowly becoming Hinata's favorite place in the apartment, and she'd be sad to go, but she felt she had intruded on Naruto-kun's privacy for far too long.

She leaned on the railing and looked to the horizon. The sun was setting, hiding under the mountains. She had missed this.

All she could see in Wave was mist and sea. Coming back to Konoha had been such a relief! Like coming back to the last place she'd been happy in.

On the background, the TV kept going. She'd just let it run as background noise.

"-…The young girl, missing since yesterday morning was last seen…- …. embroiled in the scandal."

'How terrible,' mused Hinata 'for that girl's family.'

She hoped they could find her.

A ping and a vibration in her pocket. "Oh!" She smiled when she saw the sender. It was Naruto-kun.

'Hinata, isn't this your sister?' and a link to an internet blog.

'Hyuuga heirs disappearing faster than lighting.

After a long and fruitless search for the Hyuuga IT mogul Hyuuga Hiashi's eldest daughter (Hyuuga Hinata), who vanished from her school dorm almost three months ago, the younger Hyuuga heiress (Hyuuga Hanabi), a child prodigy of only 13, went missing after her driver dropped her off at a suspicious location yesterday morning.

Despite the early action taken both by police and Hyuuga's company (which specializes on IT security) there are still no leads, and the young Hyuuga's last-seen location was deemed as misleading as well due to it being a quite concurred public place. We wonder whether she will be found safe and sound, considering her young age.

The Hyuugas, who had not had a stain against their or their company's reputation until then, were tangled in a scandal when one of the main coders of the Byakugan, an upcoming and highly coveted anti-hacking product, leaked sensitive information over a certain polemic bill that was being voted upon by the Royal Council of Suna, proving that the un-hackable program could be fooled and throwing the Sunian Royalty into chaos. This lead to Hyuuga being fired and the first daughter's disappearance.

Odd timing, we'd like to say.'

It seems a long set of misfortunes were set upon the family since the creation of the Byakugan. We shall report on new developments on the disappearance using the hashtag #findtheHyuugas.

Suscribe for more news.'

Hinata's smile disappeared.

So... what did you think? I'm sorry again it took so long, but I just came back from living abroad and it took some time to get used to everything here again. I hope you've all had a good new year and that this year is much better than last!

Now i'll get to answering guest's reviews.

Guest chapter 10 . Dec 29, 2016

I hope you update soon! 3

-A literally like, guest's review! I'm sorry it took almost a month! now that i'm more used to living here i will have more time.

Take care everyone!