Chapter -17 "This is business."
Even though Toneri had tickets, Hinata skipped the thanksgiving week benefit concert that marked the opening of The Hyuga Foundation in Konoha. She suspected Kiba would be running interference, and she'd never get close to Hiashi. Sure enough, in the next day's paper she saw a picture of Hiashi, posed with celebrities and barely visible stood Kiba smiling thinly.
The Saturday before Christmas Hinata volunteered to wrap children's presents at The Hyuga Foundation Center or THFC as staffers called it. She just wanted to take a look around, get a feel for the operation before she made a move with the foundation next year.
Hinata thought the facility, housed in five story , former warehouse, smelled of new plastic, sawdust, and fresh paint. Before the volunteers, mostly corporate women in suits and sneakers, got down to ribbon and wrapping paper, the director guided them on a tour, assisted by mildred , an enthusiastic new resident. Rin Nohara was one of the first class of twelve resident families, forty-eight adults and children in all.
The top two floors were divided into two and three-bedroom family suites, with all facilities except kitchens. Run proudly showed off her apartment. "This is about two hundred times better than the shit-hole we were living in…pardon my language." The rooms reminded Hinata of dorms-clean, square, and nondescript. Rin introduced her children, son a preteen and her niece. "And over there, that's my niece, Sumire. My sister's child."
The boy was sprawled in front of the tv, watching anime, but Hinata watched Sumire. She appeared to be about nine years old. She sat on a kitchen chair, separate from the others, sad eyes glued to a schoolbook resting on her snack-tray desk. Rin's voice dropped low. "Such a shame. My sister was the prettiest girl you ever want to see, and not stupid either. She just played herself. Sumire's daddy snapped his fingers and she up and left that child to follow after him. Momma had Sumire up until she was four, but then momma passed, and she's been with me since. I don't know where my sister is, if she's living or dead. Sumire's my little angel, though. Quiet, good grades, I try to get my son to be more like her."
'She doesn't want to be any trouble! Can't you see it?' The group moved on to look at the bedrooms, but Hinata hung back. 'She looks so unhappy.' Without warning Hinata got a flash of herself, silent, defiant, and hurt, sitting alone on her bunk at the group home, reading while the other kids played outside. Nobody who knew Hinata now would recognize that somber little too-wise face, but the image sneaked up on her, and she blinked back unexpected tears. Hinata used to think she was hiding the hurt so no one would know, but Sumire's sorrow was written all over her face, and Hinata realized hers must have been, too.
Hinata sidled over to the girl and spoke softly. "What are you reading?"
Sumire looked up startled. "It's about butterflies."
"You like butterflies?"
"I never saw one for real, only in pictures. I have to do a science report for school, and butterflies reminded me of the ballerinas I saw on TV once. I thought they were pretty."
Sumire had two braids in her head that were unraveling. Hinata wanted to fix them but kept her hands in her pockets. "So, you like butterflies and ballerinas. Do you like school?"
"It's okay." Sumire shrugged. I'm new. I don't know anybody yet."
"I changed schools a lot when I was your age. It's hard, but you'll make new friends."
"I hope so." Sumire was all arms and legs, long and tall.
"Keep up with the old ones, too. Sometimes they're the best." 'I didn't but it's good advice.'
"Say good-bye to the lady now, Sumire. She has to go," Rin said.
Hinata winked. "See ya."
"Bye." Sumire sighed and went back to her book.
One end of the next floor housed the dining room. Each family was assigned to either a round table or to space at one of the long rectangular ones. The director explained that it was each family's responsibility to send a member to set the table and to get the bowls and platters of food. "We want it to feel normal, like a home, because our aim is to transition families from crisis to self-sufficiency as quick and smoothly as possible."
'What's normal about a cafeteria for a hundred people?' But Hinata just oohed and ached with the group over the sparkling, professional kitchen where meals were prepared and classes in food service would be taught. The daycare center occupied the other end of the floor.
Down from that were two floors of educational facilities, where the residents and eligible nonresidents, would receive job training, take classes to prepare for GED exams and learn the basics of pulling their lives together. Hinata peeked into the library and was impressed with the workstations, complete with new personal computers.
The tour ended back in the classroom, where stacks of toys and books waited to be wrapped. 'This looks like a great operation.' As first rate as she expected from Hiashi Hyuga, and one she would be honored to support. While the women sang carols and wrapped, the director made it clear they needed volunteers in every capacity, from mentors to fund-raisers. Hinata left her card and told the director that while her schedule was too unpredictable to volunteer regularly, she had other ideas in mind and would be in touch. That night, though , she couldn't stop thinking about Sumire.
The next day, as Hinata bought last-minute Christmas gifts for people at work, she saw a box of lavender stationery with a Butterly on top. She knew it was right for Sumire. 'Nothing big, just a little something.'
Standing in the checkout line, Hinata remembered how glad she had been to get Sakura's letters and home-drawn cards with the taped-on flowers. She would have been completely adrift without Sakura, a friend she could tell her thoughts to when nobody else was listening.
Hinata included stamps when she wrapped the box, and on the card she wrote, "I hope these butterflies help carry your letters to your friends." The next day Hinata messengered the package to the THFC office and figured she'd done her good deed, but at off moments she wondered if Sumire would like her gift, and if the little girl even remembered her.
Christmas Day Hinata treated herself to a week of R & R at a getaway spa. It was last minute decision, but for six months she'd been on a wild ride without a seat belt and figured she'd earned a little paid personal pampering. Besides , between drinks and missed gym sessions, she picked up a few pounds. Hinata took morning walks and enjoyed the scenery. Excessed, mediated, ate low calorie meals and discussed nothing more pressing than the virtues of the seaweed wrap. Alone at the stroke of the New Year, Hinata toasted herself with a celery and apricot splash and flew to Konoha that afternoon ready to this the year that changed her life.
First thing back in the office, Hinata flipped thru her messages. The first one she returned was from the THFC director. The stationery was a big hit.
"Rin said Sumire was so happy. It doesn't take a lot to make most of our kids feel special. A little one-on-one attention does wonders. Now, Sumire wants to know if she can write you. I have your card, but I wouldn't give her the address until I asked."
Hinata hesitated. She felt both honored and nervous about getting involved.
"It would mean so much to her," the director prodded.
Hinata saw Sumire's sad eyes. "Sure, give her the address."
Hinata's yoga and tofu serenity was out the window by midmorning. Sora was waiting in the agency kitchen when she popped in to get ice cubes for her carrot juice.
"What the story with this Naruto Uzumaki? The client had a bee up their butts about him, but his agent keeps blowing me off."
Sora squeezed a lemon wedge into his mug of tea.
"What am I supposed to do?" Naruto wasn't on Hinata's "to do" list for the New Year.
"I heard you grew up with him. Can't you appeal to his neighborhood loyalty, or at least threaten to tell some juicy secrets to TMZ?"
Hinata bristled and banged her cup, leaving an orange puddle on the counter. "Why would you assume that everybody with a little bit of fame has some skeleton they're hiding?" Or a snowy afternoon and a secret Hinata still held sacred.
"Put the high horse back in the corral. You know what I mean. Can't you call him or something? Anything. Just let me get him signed. The bicycle racer's contract is in the house. They decided on this woman volley ball player, who also happens to be a model. Her body's about five miles long and she does incredible things for sweat, but I need Uzumaki signed so I can shoot the damned commercial before spring training."
"I don't have his number. It's not like we're bosom buddies."
"Talk to his agent," Sora pleaded, hands pressed together prayerfully. "The dodgers just signed him. They want another big bat to go after the world series again. Personally, I feel you can never have enough big bats. The deal is worth major money, so maybe he's not interested in the pocket change from our commercial, but you gotta try. The client may scrap the whole campaign if they can't get him, and need I remind you started this."
Hinata abandoned the carrot juice for a ginger ale. "There's gotta be somebody else who finish it."
Except she was voted person most likely to reel in the superstar, and in a few days found herself on a plane headed for Curacao, where Naruto had sailed his yacht.
'Sailed his yacht.' The farther she went into this, the more bizarre it got.
Over the phone his agent Kakashi said Naruto hadn't made up his mind if he would do the spot. "He won't say yes , no , or why, so lots of luck."
Hinata rehearsed her sales pitch on the flight. The product was wholesome. He's get wider name recognition, which could only help him in his primary career as an athlete and in anything he planned to pursue after he hung up his cleats. And the price was negotiable. How could he turn it down? 'This is just business,' she told herself as the cab bounced away from the airport along rutted roads. It was hot, in spite of a constant wind, and sweat ran in thin ribbons down her stomach from bra to panty. 'We don't have to be friends. He's signed on the dotted like for many a stranger.'
At the marina Hinata strolled in to the Neder Cay, where she was supposed to meet Naruto. One wall opened to the sea and the cozy space was cool, dark, and empty, except for the bartender who told her Naruto had gone out on a dive.
"I'm Omoi." Anywhere between twenty-five and fifty, he was golden ad the sun. She loved his Caribbean accent.
"Dammit! We had an appointment." 'And Naruto Uzumaki is star trippin again.' Hinata leaned on the bar, feeling prickly as a porcupine.
"Don't be too mad at him. We were afraid we lost him last week."
"What?" She slid onto the bar stool.
"He took some people out on Brother's Keeper…"
"He calls the boat Brother's Keeper?"
"Yea." Omoi nodded. The currents were devilish, so the party decided not to dive. But Naruto, he musta been feeling like Neptune out for a swim in his ocean. He went down, by himself mind you." Omoi shook his head. His hair was pushed back with a bandana. "Do you dive?"
"No." And she hadn't known Naruto did either.
"Going down by yourself, even on a fair day, is dangerous. Some call it plain foolishness, but he wanted to dive, so he did." Hinata rifled her bag until found her cigarettes. Omoi gave her a light, then put a glass in front of her. "Welcome to Curacao." A few pebble-sized ice cubes floated in a dark rum punch bath.
"Thanks." She didn't want a drink, but she took a sip to be polite. The bittersweet liquid went down cool, but warmed her to her toes. "So, what happened?"
"Time passed and then some. No Naruto. The others got worried when they knew his oxygen should be gone and he hadn't surfaced.."
"He ran out of oxygen?"
"So they put out an S-O-S and rigged a guide wired so a few of them could go down look with getting taken by the currents. They were about ready to commend him to the sharks when a radio message came in. A fishing boat dragged him out of the water almost two kilometer south. On his way to Venezuela, I said."
"Oh Kami!" 'How could he be so stupid?'
"The man is lucky. By all rights he shoulda been chum. Can I get you a refill?"
Hinata had sipped hers nervously as Omoi spoke, and her glass was empty. "Please."
Omoi mixed her drink while Hinata watched a yacht back in toward the pier.
"Don't mind me, but you look formal for the marina." Omoi put down her glass.
"This is business." The coral sheath dress was cooler than a suit, but her pearls felt like a noose and her legs steamed in panty hose. "And I'd rather not be here."
"Thats not what the other women who come to see him say." Omoi raised his eyebrows, excused himself to wait on a new patron.
'The other women!' Hinata took a big swallow. 'Thats probably why he's not here now.' She drank and fumed about how unprofessional it was for Naruto to keep her waiting. 'I'm here to offer him a deal, he's out on a damn pleasure cruise and the bartender thinks I'm one of his hoes!' Suddenly her hose had to go. Hinata headed for the ladies' room and quickly realized her legs were rubber. She held on to the chair backs and well-placed walls until she got there.
'What if he had died?' Hinata pulled down her stockings and chucked them in the trash. 'It's stupid. Just stupid!' She looked in the mirror, blotted the shine off her forehead with her palm, and ran a comb through her hair. 'Wonder if he's with Ms. Newscaster… or Shion.'
Hinata couldn't sit still any longer, so she claimed her drink , left money on the bar for Omoi. She shuffled down the pier, where a party boat had docked.
She squinted in the white bright sunlight, unable to make out more than the silhouette of the man walking toward her.
"Oh Shit! Kakashi told me I was meeting some woman named Mitarashi, but I didn't think it could be you!" The outline of damp swim briefs darkened Naruto's Khaki shorts, his swirling orange shirt flapped open in the breeze.
"You must be used to people hanging around until you're good and ready to show up." Something about Naruto standing there was a red flag, and Hinata felt like El Toro.
"Are you usually this nasty to people you're supposed to be trying to impress?"
Naruto folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head toward the drink in Hinatas other hand. "It looks like I missed cocktail hour."
"Listen, Naruto, let's get this over with."
He paused, "Aw-ite. We can talk aboard my boat." Hinata followed him down the pier.
"I heard what happened to you last week. Are you crazy or just plain stupid?" The rum was like truth serum. What Hinata had been trying not to think, slipped out of her mouth.
"I'm crazy? How much did you drink? Omoi didn't tell you it make folks lose their minds, did he?" Naruto laughed, which only stoked her fire. They walked and argued until he stopped at a sleek, double-decker fiberglass beauty. "Take you shoes off."
"What?"
"You can't climb the ladder in heels." Naruto smirked.
"What's so funny?"
"Life…Are you gonna get on, or are gonna stand here and run your mouth?"
Hinata sucked her teeth and walked out of her heels, leaving them on the dock.
"Fuckin shoes!" Her dress was too narrow to step out onto the ladder, so she had to hike it a bit up her thighs and reluctantly let Naruto steady her arm as she climbed aboard.
"We can talk in the galley." 'Seems like I've been arguing with this woman off and on my whole life.' Naruto led her through the floating living room, furnished with forest green upholstered banquettes and brass and glass cocktail tables. The galley had a laminated oak table and she slide onto the bench while he went to the stove. "You want coffee?"
"Whatever. What I want to know is, why you left me that way?… In Seattle? It was rude, Naruto. And mean. I never thought you'd be like that. You may be famous…"
Naruto waved a white dish towel. "Peace! Damn woman! You going let me answer?"
She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him sternly, if somewhat crosseyed.
He unlatched the cupboard and got a tin of coffee. "From April to October it's important to be famous; after that it's a hassle. That's why I come here, for some privacy."
"Yeah, I bet."
"Anyway, I musta been preoccupied the day I ran into you. It was a surprise ya' know. In the airports and places like that, I'm on my guard. People do some crazy stuff."
"Uh-huh." The boat rocked in the water, churning the rum in Hinata's belly. She put her head down on her arms, but when she closed her eyes she felt the table spin. "Naruto… I feel sick."
"You need some air." He helped her to one of the banquettes, and she stretched out.
The salty breeze eased the bubbling in her guys. 'Please. Please don't let me be sick…'
The lapping of water slowly came into her consciousness. Hinata fingered the blanket tucked under her chin. 'Who covered me up?'
She wiped a hand across her cheek and felt the sticky track where the drool had seeped from the corner of her mouth. When she opened her eyes, the sky was a hazy purple. 'Where am I?' Then she remembered and bolted up.
"I thought Omoi's punch put you down for the count." Naruto looked up from the maps scattered in front of him on the coffee table.
Hinata felt like her brains had liquefied. "I'm so embarrassed. I don't know where to begin apologizing. My behavior was.. unprofessional." She licked her fingertip and tried, discreetly, to remove the dried spit trail from her face. 'I must look like shit.'
He put his feet up on the table. "Now do you want coffee?" Naruto finally let a grin cross his lips.
"I've made a complete fool of myself; I should go." She stood and realized she was barefoot. "Where are my shoes?"
"You mean the ones you left on the pier?"
"Damn," She muttered.
"Aren't you at least gonna tell about this commercial?"
"You still wanna hear this?"
"That's why you flew down here, isn't it?"
"Point me to a bathroom, and then we can talk."
"This is a boat. It's called the head, and it's up toward the bow on the starboard side."
"Aye, Aye." Hinata found the head, sped herself in the mirror. She looked like a shipwreck, and her mouth tasted like bilge water. 'I've never done anything this stupid. Not even close.' But when ever Naruto was involved the world seemed upside down and backwards. She wanted a smoke to settle her nerves, but she remembered he hated cigarettes. 'What did I say to him before ? What am I going to tell them at the office?'
When she got back, coffee was waiting, and her shoes were next to her seat.
"You can save the sales pitch. Kakashi explained the offer, and there's nothing wrong with it. I just don't know if it's what I wanna do."
"Why?" Hinata dumped a sugar cube in the mug of coffee.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like it's too much."
"What's too much?"
"I've been lucky. I got way more than I deserve."
"What does that mean? You work hard, and you're one of the best at what you do. You should be proud of yourself."
"Proud. Yeah, right."
"I'm serious. The team owners must believe you're worth what they pay you. If you don't need the money from the commercial, give it to charity. It's what a few sports figures do. Create a foundation. The client's going to pay somebody. It might as well be you. The product's not addictive, doesn't cause cancer or hurt anybody."
Naruto stared at her, into the night. "I guess."
Neither spoke for a while. "So, what do you do for fun when you're not trying to be shark bait?" She had said all she was going to about business.
He brightened, and the dimples appeared on cheek. "Yeah, you had a lot to say about my diving, but I do a little a this and that. Ride horses, water ski, race powerboats.."
"Don't you do anything slow?"
"No time. Which reminds me, I do have an engagement this evening."
"What's her name?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but it still came out testy.
"It's confidential."
"Fine." 'Why should I care?' Hinata gathered her things.
"And I still don't know about this endorsement thing. I'll think about it. ya'know"
"Okay. And, Naruto…" She rested both hands on his shoulders and shoots off a tingle she didn't expect. "Be careful, will you?"
"Aw-ite."
By the time Hinata got to the agency. Naruto had agreed to the deal. There were a few details to be ironed out, but there was no mention of Hinata's unusual negotiating style.
Waiting in her stack of mail was a lavender envelope with butterflies on front. The address, written in carefully rounded script, slanted up toward on corner. From the "Dear Miss Hinata Mitarashi, the nicest and prettiest lady I ever met." To the "Very, very, very, very, truly yours," the letter tugged at an unfamiliar place in Hinata's heart. Sumire said she had written two of her friends and one already wrote back, which made her feel happy. She hoped to see Hinata again, but if not, she would always remember her. That night, curled up in bed, Hinata wrote back, and she wondered whether Rin would mind it if Hinata took Sumire out sometime, maybe to see some real butterflies and ballerinas.
OSA timed the debut of Naruto's Sports Quencher spot, a high-speed high-energy sweatiest, to coincide with his debut as a Los Angeles dodger. Life-size cutouts of Naruto appeared in stores across the country. The preliminary sales figures showed significant movement against the competition, and Hinata got an appreciative nod for her role in bringing the pieces together.
And the first two quarter that Hinata had been in her new job, production costs showed a significant decline. Kakuzu gave her a glowing review, and Hinata figured it was a good time to bring up her pet project, the pro bono ads for THFC. Kakuzu asked for figures, which she had on his desk by the next morning and in a few days he gave her the green light.
Hinata wasted no time contacting THFC director. She was over the moon and put Hinata in contact with the board so the idea could be discussed at their next meeting. Hinata had already started preparing a presentation about OSA and what they hoped to do for THFC when she got the word that the foundation was not interested in public service ads at this time. And Hinata smelled a skunk or better yet wet dog.
AN: I have up to 25 chapters completed already just reviewing them. There will be 30 chapters in total. Once I post chapter 25 it may be a while for the remaining 5. Worked on this since 2017. Sorry to the reader that commented they were going to stop reading cause they didn't like Hinata's ooc personality. I'm trying to show eventual growth once lessons are learned. But thanks for reading up to now. Thank you to everyone else for staying on board with this story. Next chapter goes back to Sakura.