Chapter 10
The next day was Wednesday. After a similarly tiring day of long meetings, Hinata and Kakashi walked into their room at around 6 PM. They didn't have much time before heading to Hirohito-sama's house for dinner. So they quickly changed into formal clothing and met with their escorts for the evening.
When they arrived at the compound Hinata was stunned. It was a grand and beautiful house. It was similar to the Hyuga compound in terms of size and sprawl but this house had a lot more of a modern feel to it than hers. The Anbu had been tasked with sneaking in during the event and exploring the study and bedrooms in this house for clues, while Hinata and Kakashi were to keep an eye on the Daimyo and his family.
"This is what happens when your family operates at the edge of respectability," Kakashi said in a voice much harsher than she had ever heard from him.
"What do you mean?" she said glancing at the opulent receiving area with a spiral staircase and a beautiful chandelier. The floor was imported marble.
"The Hirohito family is one of the five main families in Kirigakure. The five families have lineages that go way back. They are the most influential people in this country, but the Hirohito family in particular have a less than stellar reputation. If there is anything suspicious going on here, you can bet that they either have a hand in it or they are leading it". Hinata gave Kakashi a small nod that she understood and they walked into the lavish ballroom where the party was situated.
It seemed that the Hirohito family had an appreciation for Italian architecture as the ballroom was built in that style. The room had high ceilings (not as high as french architecture of course) and the ball room was equipped with lavish venetian glass chandeliers. There was a beautiful mosaic fresco along the ceiling and the room had delicate stylistic design flares all throughout. The ballroom was thankfully well lit and already filled with people.
After making small talk with a few dignitaries Hinata grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter and moved out of the ball room into an outside veranda. Because of the open doors of the ballroom she had a clear view into the room from where she was standing. The natural mist of the country shrouded the outside, every night here had a mystic quality to it. Inside the ballroom they seemed to have some sort of ventilation system to keep the worst of the mist away, and the natural body heat from the crowd made the house a comfortable temperature.
There were many important men here tonight, Kakashi being one of them.
Kakashi had been cornered soon after entering the room by a group of young lords who wanted to get to know him better. She didn't know what it was about him, perhaps it was his confidence or his mysterious air. But he didn't try to be popular... it seemed to come effortless to him. Both in terms of his male peers and the female attention he got. It hadn't escaped Hinata that women threw coveted glances at Kakashi all the time. She had noticed it at the opening night gala but she had also noted it throughout the trade conferences.
Even though he was engaged now, he still seemed to get attention from women without even trying. Perhaps people saw him as a challenge. No wonder he was so exhausted by people.
With Kakashi occupied this left Hinata all alone for the moment. She fell back and scanned the room trying to find the Daimyo. It was important that she kept an eye on him tonight but… preferably from a distance she thought uneasily. She was able to enjoy about 10 minutes of peace and quiet before she heard steps behind her.
"Hinata, what are you doing here alone… without your fiance?" came the voice of the man she had been simultaneously hoping to avoid and also hoping to manufacture a run in with.
"A-ano Hirohito-sama, good evening." she bowed, "Kakashi is speaking to a few of the lords so I decide to enjoy some wine, it's been a long day" she giggled holding up the glass hoping that she sounded simple enough for him to view her as non-threatening.
"He should know better than to leave a young woman like you alone," the Daimyo said in a low voice getting closer to her. He was a predatory person, she could see that intuitively. Luckily she could render this man motionless within a second if she wanted so she didn't feel particularly threatened now that she knew what kind of person he was. It was funny how powerful men tended to forget that there was women out there who were in fact stronger than them.
She happened to see a scroll in the inside pocket of his yukata when he leaned in towards her. So she forced herself to act demurely and look down in shyness while the Daimyo continued to get closer and closer to her. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, it was early in the evening but he seemed to be deep into his cups already.
When he was an appropriate distance away she placed her hands on to his lapels and pleaded with wide eyes trying to look appropriately scared. "Please, Hirohito-sama, w-what are you doing?" she blinked in fake confusion and licked her lips quickly for good measure.
While he was distracted by her face, her fingers imperceptibly snuck inside his yukata to pull the scroll out, tucking it inside her Kimono sleeve efficiently while she quickly turned and ran with fake tears streaming down her cheeks.
Hinata reached the ladies restroom and securely tucked the scroll inside her Kimono.
Not bad she thought staring at herself in the mirror. Where had that acting come from? She sniffled and wiped the tears from her face fixing her makeup. She activated her Byakugan and noticed that the Daimyo was now busy with a large group of men and they seemed to be walking towards some kind of gaming room. Perhaps she wasn't as terrible at this as she had anticipated she would be.
When she walked out of the restroom a few minutes later, she saw Kakashi monopolized by a different audience this time. The Daimyo's wife seemed to be talking his head off. When he spotted her he gestured in relief and excused himself to walk over.
"Any progress?" he whispered.
"I got a scroll from the Daimyo" Hinata whispered back.
He looked stunned for a second "how did you manage that?".
"Don't worry about it" she replied simply.
Kakashi blinked at her and moved his hand to scratch his head in that perplexed way he had, while his eyes crinkled. She smiled back at him and the rest of the evening passed by in a haze as they ate dinner and excused themselves around 11 PM due to their work obligations. They had tried to appear carefree but they had both been on edge the entire night since they had the scroll in their possession.
When they finally returned back to their suite, they took long showers and then settled into the living room with steaming cups of coffee.
It was abundantly clear as they looked over the message that it was written in code. "Can you break the code with that?" Hinata asked, while Kakashi walked over to the small writing desk along with the scroll.
"I'm going to try, it's interesting that this correspondence has the symbol we found the other day on it" he murmured while running his thumb over the circle with the swirl pattern and line across it. "This all seems interrelated… and the fact that this letter is written in code leads me to think there is a strong chance this is the key to breaking that code."
"Do you think he will know it was us?" Hinata asked with a shiver.
"That depends…" he said looking at her pointedly, "How did you get this?".
"Well… he found me alone in the outside veranda of the ballroom and started getting close to me. I put my hand on his chest to push him away but stole the letter before doing that… but I have a feeling once he realizes it's gone he's going to put two and two together".
Kakashi looked thoughtful. "He might… unless he has more than one encounter like that as the night goes on. My bet knowing Hirohito-sama is that he will, so we shouldn't be his primary suspects right off the bat. If anything I'd bet there would be a more reasonable explanation he would arrive at as to how he lost the message before he thinks of us. So we should be okay for a bit at least."
That's true she reflected and calmed down while she observed Kakashi working. He was maskless and his brows were furrowed as he bent over the scrolls. So handsome she thought with a smile and that was the last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep tucked in the large sofa. When she woke the next morning she was in their bed, but Kakashi was not beside her.
Hinata got up trying to clear her groggy head when the man in question emerged from the bathroom.
"Get up sleepy head, we have a long day ahead," he drawled.
"Hmm" Hinata murmured while she tried to situate herself. After pouring herself a cup of coffee she asked, "Did you break the code?".
Kakashi looked at her mischievously, and nodded looking entirely too satisfied with himself.
"I haven't pulled an all nighter like that in a while but it was worth it! I cracked the code. Luckily the Anbu checked in with me last night. They had found a few similar correspondence at Hirohito-sama's house. They of course copied it instead of stealing it, but once I had a few of these letters it was a piece of cake breaking the code". He was drying his hair as he spoke and without a shirt on he looked entirely too attractive. She did her best not to get distracted and instead jumped from the bed wanting to congratulate him. He downplayed how difficult it had been to break the code, but Hinata knew this wasn't something just anyone could do. It required patience, attention to detail and a decent amount of intelligence.
"Wow!" She walked over to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her welcoming the gesture and she stayed tucked under his chin for a few minutes trying not to be too excited about how he was shirtless.
"Good job, Kakashi-taichou" she said, pulling back and giving him a kiss on the corner of his mouth. He looked bemused at her while she headed to the washroom to have a shower.
"You can let me know what it said after".
"Or I can brief you inside the shower" he yelled back, while she threw an exasperated look over her shoulder.
Kakashi was fully dressed going over notes for the day when Hinata exited the washroom in her underwear with a towel wrapped around her.
"Alright tell me what's up" she said while picking up her outfit for the day. She started by slipping on a pencil skirt under her towel.
"Well according to the correspondence I found, they are supposed to attack the leaders…" he trailed off thoughtfully getting distracted by her thighs as she wiggled into her skirt. "Um the Leaders Council of Kirigakure when the trade agreements are wrapped up. It seems like they have enough financing and support to orchestrate a large scale rebellion".
"That's horrible" she gasped.
Hinata dropped the towel and turned her back to him while she slipped on a cream tank top. He stopped talking of course to observe her lean back in the daylight. It was smooth and had toned muscles. Despite himself he felt his breath hitch in his chest momentarily.
"Yes…" he coughed picking up the conversation a few seconds too late, "Hinata we may have to stay an extra few days after the negotiations wrap up under the guise of a vacation, but you should be prepared for things to go dicey".
"Noted" she nodded while adjusting her outfit and turned around. He paused what he was doing to admire her (he was a straight man after all). She dug through the closet for something to go with the tank top. She first slipped on a blazer and turned in front of the mirror. "Too serious?" she asked while slipping off the blazer and pulling a larger cardigan on instead.
"Is this better?" she asked twirling in front of the mirror. Kakashi didn't know much about women's fashion but the cardigan did look nice, and it looked more comfortable so he agreed that it was better and a few minutes later they finally headed out for the day.