Chapter 11
Hinata was getting tired as the day wore on and it was only noon. Kakashi had been called to attend a military defense briefing for the day so she was left to represent Konoha at the trade negotiation on her own. After reviewing a particularly tricky paragraph about agriculture, they decided to take a longer break for lunch with a decision to regroup at 1:30 PM.
She headed to the buffet room looking forward to a warm meal. There was always great food here along with a fresh assortment of seafood.
As she was building a plate to snack on she felt a delicate tap at her shoulder. Irrationally she turned around smiling that it might be Kakashi only to find Ariko behind her.
"Oh," Hinata said, taken aback.
"Hello…" said the elegant woman looking at her cooly.
"Hello" Hinata replied starting to feel intimidated again. Ariko was dressed in tight black jeans and a fitted black t-shirt. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, so Hinata had to guess she was either on duty or heading off on a mission.
"What can I help you with, Ariko-san?" she asked hesitantly.
"Do you mind walking with me?".
After a few seconds of misgiving, Hinata nodded and headed out the door with the older woman taking her lunch with her.
After they reached a nearby sitting area Ariko finally spoke. "I just don't understand what is happening... I mean… I talked to Kashi and he explained some of it but I still don't feel like everything adds up".
Hinata grabbed a shrimp to snack on as her mind raced, she was a stress eater. Kakashi had told her it hadn't gone well with Ariko but she hadn't asked him for any details wanting to respect his privacy. She should probably recuse herself from this situation… what if she said the wrong thing?
"A-ano, Ariko-san I don't know much about what happened with you and Kakashi, and I feel that it isn't my place to butt in. I'm sorry".
"Come on Hinata, I am sure you can understand as a woman my desire for answers" ...well Hinata couldn't argue with that. Plus she felt sorry for Ariko, she looked genuinely distressed.
"How much did Kakashi tell you?" she asked after a few seconds of hesitation.
"Well… Kashi told me that you had gone on a mission a few months back and fell in love unexpectedly. What I don't get is… I mean...how old are you?"
"...20" Hinata mumbled.
"Right, you are so far apart in age and dating younger girls has never been his thing. He always pursued women that had their lives established and knew what they wanted. He found young girls to be tiresome and for the love of god, doesn't he have students your age?".
Hinata blushed and nodded as Ariko laid all this out. She snacked on a mushroom tart. Everything Ariko said was true.
"Well... yes it did all happen quite suddenly, we were assigned on a mission together and I suppose the close quarters brought us together. But mostly... I think he proposed to save my reputation". As that left her mouth it was all she could do not to hit her forehead in frustration. That was an idiotic thing to say.
"What?" Ariko asked, shocked.
"Well yes…" now that she had done it, there was no going back so she committed to it. "I think he feels guilty that we've been intimate. I think that's partly why he proposed".
The taller woman gasped and rounded on Hinata, "You can't just rope him into marriage like that Hinata…"
"A-ano I-I'm sorry".
"I had always thought he was averse to marrying, if I had known there was even a chance he would agree to marriage I would have pursued him myself". Ariko finished heatedly and turned to stare out at the mountains. Hinata wisely stayed silent, she had said enough already.
Suddenly the wind seemed to go out of Ariko and she turned to look at Hinata with disappointment, "He's going to get tired of you before too long... that's just how he is. So if I were you, I'd think long and hard about if I wanted to marry that man." She looked at Hinata for a few more seconds in what looked like a forewarning and then stormed off.
Hinata sighed, she had wanted to make things better for Kakashi so that Ariko wouldn't be too upset with him after all this. But she probably shouldn't have said that. And she didn't even pause to think about how Ariko had seconds ago admitted to wanting to marry Kakashi before telling her he wasn't marriage material... Instead she sat there on a bench with her lunch on her lap feeling defeated and continued to eat sadly until she heard a man clearing his throat.
She looked up reluctantly, it never turned out to be a pleasant surprise when people interrupted her. Oh, It was Ryoko.
"Hey stranger, is everything okay?" he asked, looking at her concerned.
She smiled softly at him and nodded. "It's just been a long day".
Ryoko nodded sympathetically and sat down next to her.
"I guess trade negotiations aren't the best backdrop for a romantic vacation?" he said a bit sardonically. She wisely chose to remain silent towards that comment.
"Would you be willing to come visit my ancestral home over the weekend? It's in the mountains. Our family is now situated in the city of course but my grandparents still live in the ancestral land. I am heading there for a visit with my sister over the weekend. It would be an honor to host the future clan head of the Hyuga. Plus I believe our grandparents were good friends" he finished with a smile.
Hinata brightened up considerably at that kind offer. This was an incredibly welcoming gesture to have a prestigious clan invite her to their ancestral village. It would also be very rude to turn him down.
"Plus Hinata-chan, it might give you a good opportunity to observe Kirigakure off the beaten path. The magic of this land really lies in these mountains" he said looking at the jagged hills surrounding them.
"I-I would be honored Ryoko-san." she bowed.
"Kakashi-san is also invited of course if he is available" Ryoko said cryptically as he stood up with a smile. "Well I better get going" he said looking at his watch "but I will pick you up Saturday at 6 AM? We should be back by Sunday evening". He said as he started walking off with a wave. Hinata waved back at him with a nod that she would be ready.
As she stood up to head back to the summit she noticed a little girl walking around. She was grubby looking and had on ripped old clothes. She was very skinny almost like she hadn't had anything to eat in a while. Curiously Hinata got closer to her, wanting to see what she was doing here.
"Hello there… can I help you?" she called out and the girl turned to look at her guiltily.
"Can I help you?" she repeated and the girl fervently shook her head now trying to run away.
"Wait hold on a second", she took a few quick steps and stood in front of the girl.
"Can you understand me?", after a few seconds of indecision the girl nodded.
"Where's your mom?" Hinata asked gently.
"She's … dead" said the little girl, sounding like she wanted to cry.
"A-are you lost?" and the girl nodded yes. "What's your name?" Hinata asked gently but the girl looked silently at her. "Okay hold on, stay right here and I will get someone to help you." Hinata said before running to a nearby guard.
"Hi there, my name is Hyuga Hinata, I am here from Konohagakure and I found this little girl who seemed to need some help. I have to get back to the trade summits but can you please help her?". The guard looked curiously behind her and moved to go forward but then stopped once he saw the child.
"Miss… that is a child from an exiled caste, the mutts… or the lowest class here. We can't help them" The man finished looking at the child disgustedly.
"What…" she said looking at this innocent kid. How could they penalize a child for something they were born into. "A-ano… is there really no one that can help?"
"If I call the police she will be rounded up with the rest of them and thrown back into the slums where they came from, hold on Miss I will get the phone now" the guard turned.
"No! No," she said alarmed. "Um… actually I will help her myself".
The guard turned to give her a weird look but stayed silent with a sinister smile on his face. She didn't linger to ponder what that meant. There was still enough time left before her next meeting plus she couldn't just leave this girl like that. The guard gave her directions on how to get to the slums and it seemed like a manageable distance.
Hinata went to the girl and told her that she would walk her home. "Are you hungry?" Hinata asked the girl and the girl nodded yes.
They stopped at a small convenience store to buy a sandwich and a drink. After giving the girl a chance to eat, they walked hand in hand along a back alley pathway until they found a break in the thick wall that protected the city, the slums were supposed to be situated in the outskirts not too far from there. The girl clutched her hand tightly as they walked and continued to look up at her solemnly.
It didn't take long to get to the slums, but what she saw shocked her.
It truly seemed to be a lawless place with trash piled up everywhere. Sanitation seemed to be close to non existent from what she could see. There were some buildings scattered around with windows and doors all broken. The walls of buildings she could see were littered with graffiti. To top it off the people around looked to be beggars or mercenaries.
As they passed, more than one man casted looks their way. Hinata swallowed nervously and kept her gaze straight, not engaging with anyone. How could there be so many mercenaries here? This seemed like a disproportionately high number. She had thought you needed to go deeper into the mountains to find these criminals, but the underground crime syndicates seem to be thriving here as well. She adjusted her cardigan self consciously and tightened her grip on the girl's hand.
"Does this seem familiar to you?" she whispered and the girl nodded while nervously hiding behind her legs.
"Can you take me to where you live?" she asked and the girl nodded again. They walked down a series of small pathways and along a row of collapsed buildings until they came across what seemed to be an orphanage. There were many other children inside so the girl immediately ran to her friends when she spotted them.
Thankfully there was an adult in there as well. As Hinata entered the room, the woman turned around in surprise. She looked to be in her mid 40's.
"Are...are you the caretaker of the children?" Hinata asked carefully.
"An-Ano who are you?" the woman gasped. She clearly looked stressed and overworked. From the looks of the building they were lacking resourcing and funding to operate this business… whatever it was.
"I'm Hinata, that little girl was lost and I walked her back here" she said pointing at the girl.
"Oh Zima, how many times do I have to tell you not to wander off? It won't be good if you are found in the city" the woman muttered scolding at the girl. The woman's bluster seemed to be borne out of fear more than anything else. "But… what are you doing here… you are not supposed to be in here.. with us?" she said turning to look at Hinata again.
"Um.. I wanted to make sure that Zima" Hinata said emphatically smiling at the girl "got back home alright".
"Home…?" the woman questioned, "what home… this hospital?".
"This is a hospital?" Hinata wondered aloud, ignoring the woman's other question. She didn't think it would do much good to question the only roof Zima thought of as a home in front of the girl.
"Yeah... not like the hospitals that you people have. But the sick come here and I try my best to help out where I can".
"Ah I see" Hinata smiled while her heart broke understanding the socio-economic disparity of this country. She was too afraid to ask if the woman had any medical training.
"Well now that Zima is home… I will get going" she nodded politely at the other woman and turned to leave feeling like she wanted to cry. She waved goodbye to Zima and the little girl ran to give her a hug before Hinata departed. She felt awful that there was not more she could do to help.
She managed to wait until she was out of the slums until the tears started rolling down her face. How could the Mizukage allow this to go on?