The second task of the exam, the scrolls in the arena, had started. The Jounin of Konoha were mainly free to relax now. Shikamaru was spending the day with Temari. Lee was out for some youthful, extreme training in the desert, with no reserves of water (it was not the time to take himself easily, just like that). His friends made a point to go look for him and pick him up in case he'd not appear by evening. Sai was testing his (still being worked on) social skills, on the streets of Sunagakure, starting a conversation with each random stranger he passed by. No one knew where Shino had gone. Certain it was he had left in the morning and had said he'd be back by evening. Hinata slept in, waking up after everyone else was gone, so, alone as she was, after breakfast, she took out some paperwork she hadn't even believed she'd even take out the backpack, and got to work.

In fact, she wasn't the only one spending this time working. Naruto, since the very first hours of the morning, had been caught in the conference room of Sunagakure's Kage residence, having to give reports and explain, detail by detail, the problem that had been causing too much distress and suspicions through the five nations not too long ago.

Trying hard to stay awake after having troubles in trying to sleep the night before, Naruto was counting wrinkles on the Tsuchikage's face, his posture and expression giving the impression that he was really attentive, and interested in whatever the old man was saying right then.

"Boy, are you even listening?" the Tsuchikage suddenly addressed him.

"No," Naruto answered frankly after the several seconds it had taken him to realize he was the questioned one. The fact that he was too quiet and obedient must have given him away. But he simply did not care. Nor did he even bother to comment (like every single time) on the fact that he was a grown up man by now, not a 'boy'. He was tired. And he was tired like he'd never been before, no matter the sleepless night. A few hours less of sleep, or no sleep at all, were not a good enough excuse he could take for that lack of energy.

"How dare you treat me with such lack of respect, you young brat…," the Tsuchikage started his rambling.

But not even that mattered. It was the eighth hour spent in that place. They had discussed the same matters again and again, brought up suppositions, and new other suppositions, before getting back to the first ones. The trouble they were facing right then was that the corespondence Hinata had found in Hanabi's desk was not complete. What they deciphered and read gave the idea that a large amount of topics in there had been discussed before. Of course, that could have hinted to conversations face to face, before the corespondence to start.

In order to avoid farther conflicts, the five allies were trying to form the betrayal accusation for the little countries, for the intrigues done behind their back, with the subtle pointing out of their lack of chance in a possible confrontation with them and the offer of a final chance to redeem and have peace (in circumstances chosen by the allies, of course). But they couldn't launch themselves in such a definitive process without having all at hand, without knowing exactly what the accusations was. Hinata had looked anywhere previous papers could have been hidden, but she had doubted from the beginning that they existed and inclined to believe the missing points were spoken facts. From what it seemed, it looked necessary for Inoichi to check Hanabi on the matter, but Hinata avoided that possibility as much as she could. She couldn't think of her little sister being treated in such a manner, no matter what had happened between them.

Naruto knew that well, but, in the meantime, the other Kages were actually intrigued by the fact that a suspect in such an event had not been properly interrogated yet. But he had promised to Hinata that the decisions concerning Hanabi were hers. Still, there was no legitimate reason he could give these people, to explain to these people why such a measure had yet not been taken.

Out of that place, after another half an hour, when Gaara, realizing things were going nowhere, proposed to let it on the line for that day, Naruto entered the first room in the house he and his Jounin had been given, exhausted, just willing to throw himself on a chair, or anything, ignoring even the painful warnings of hunger in his stomach. But the only two chairs of what seemed to be a really small office we occupied, both of them, by Hinata, who was sitting on one, using the second as support for her legs. Sheets of paper on her lap, she was raising lazily the top of the first sheet with her fingers, reading, with a bored expression on her face. Hearing the door being slammed open, she jumped up, leaving the paperwork on the desk.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here," he murmured, frowning at the thought that he'd have to move towards one more door. He walked out before she had the chance to say anything. Then, she heard the nearest door opening, then being closed. Starting to gather the paperwork she had decided to abandon, she saw Naruto walking in once more, pulling one of the two chairs and sitting down heavily. "The next room was a bathroom," he explained himself with a little smile, then looked up at her, realizing just then who he was talking to. "Hinata, aren't you out with the others?"

"I slept in," she said, leaving the paperwork on a corner of the desk and sitting on the other chair, right in front of him.

"Sounds awesome for someone who slept little," he replied, leaning against the back of the chair, his arms crossed at the back of his head.

"How was the meeting?"

"Long…," he answered with a yawn and a little smile.

"Besides that."

"Boring…"

"Fascinating," she smiled, amused, "And what have they talked about?"

"I have no idea…" He yawned again, scratching the back of his head, and closed his eyes.

"Now, why are you so tired when you seem to have been sleeping during the entire meeting?" she crossed her legs under her, catching her hair in a ponytail with a desk rubber band.

"Indeed, indeed," he said, his smile wider, acting as if not listening to her on purpose.

"I see," she raised her eyebrows, and then suddenly sat up. Sensing the movement, he opened one eye. "I suppose you're not even hungry," she said, matter-of-factly, picking up her work and moving towards the door. Hunger noises from his stomach, loud and clear in the sudden silence, left no room for any answer, remembering him the lack of sleep was not his only problem.

"Hinata-chan, I want food, too!" he cried like a little child.

"I don't think so!" she shouted from out the office.

"Damn," he cursed, yet not willing to get up from there, no matter what. He had a vague idea about sending the emergency call to his Jounin, but telling a group of worried comrades, asking what the emergency was, that he only wanted to be fed seemed to not be the best move. But he had not longer to think the alternatives, because he fell asleep quickly.

He awakened with a flinch at the sound of the door being slammed open, his eyes going blurry for a short while due to the sudden movement. So he stood still for a few seconds, waiting for his view to get back to normal. Just as soon as his view cleared, he could see packages being put on the desk.

"Sorry for waking you up, but you were hungry anyways, weren't you?" she said, sitting on her chair, starting to unpack the food containers. "I know they're trying to make us feel at home, preparing our kind of food, but I wanted to try some of their traditional meals, too. And, as the others are out for the rest of the day, as I've been said, I didn't ask them to cook only for the two of us. Instead, I went and bought some deliciously looking food from the markets."

The food did look wonderful, but Naruto's attention was caught by Hinata's behavior. She was talking cheerfully about the food and about what she'd seen through the village. It surprised him, seeing this sudden change, from deeply thoughtful, as she had been just the days before, to cheerful and talkative. It reminded him of the day he had found her in his desk, when she'd been drinking too much coffee. He almost asked her if she also picked up some coffee on the way – like, 4-5 coffee or so, most likely – but restrained that in time.

He let her talk, and she talked about what she'd seen, about her students, and even about what the paperwork she had brought along contained. Even though she was so much more talkative, it was surprising that her speech was cursive, each word clearly punctuated, her ideas clear, nothing like his kind of hasty, hard to comprehend kind of rambling.

So far, he had been the one to talk, while she'd reply short, from time to time, but the change was welcome. Her speech was fluent and interesting, her voice soft, but catchy. He liked listening to her, even though she wasn't talking about anything truly important. He would have listened to her all day long, but right after they finished eating, a ninja of the Sand knocked, bringing a message from Konoha.

"Did it come with a hawk messenger?" Naruto asked him in an official, businesslike tone.

"Konoha's fastest, hai," the man nodded, adding, "It is addressed to Miss Hyuuga Hinata."

They were both surprised by the detail, but none said a thing. She took the letter and the ninja left. Opening it quickly, she read it hastily, but with caution, sinking in the important details.

"An intruder in the Hyuuga District," she said in a serious tone, nothing of the cheerfulness from before present anymore, not in her speech, not on her face. "Not caught. Not identified. Somehow, he managed to knock down all the ones supervising and, no doubt about it, visited my sister," she said thoughtfully, passing the letter to Naruto.

"But do you notice a detail quite interesting?" Naruto asked after a quick reading.

"What is it?"

"From what it seems, it means 'knocked unconscious', not 'killed', not even 'injured'," he pointed out, used to reading between the lines, from the many missions placements. "Why go so soft? Are they just trying to just not make themselves guilty of more murders, if it's who we think it is? Or are we missing something?"