: investigation :

: to try and get information


"Bye, Hinata! Bye, Naruto! You two better behave!!!" Kiba yelled as he waved enthusiastically at the duo who were waving back with matching smiles whilst Akamaru howled in the same energy.

"-And don't forget to-!" Sakura cut herself off and sighed in defeat "Nevermind... I should've told Hinata instead of Naruto"

"Correct. Why?" Shino said "Because Naruto would not remember all the procedures and information"

"Call me crazy, but..." Sai started "Based on all of the magazines I have borrowed from beautiful... I'm pretty sure that Hinata and dickless are dating"

Both Sakura and Kiba raised a finger and opened their mouths to tell him off, only to stop as they did think about it.

"Come to think of it..." Sakura said as she rubbed her chin "I don't think I can prove you wrong, Sai..."

"Yeah" Kiba nodded "Now that you said it, I noticed Hinata never told me anything about their status... That's technically not lying, right? But it technically is, too... But Hinata wouldn't keep anything from us, right Shino?"

"Knowing Hinata, she won't tell until she's forced" Shino said "Why? Because Hinata does not like attention from mass people, if everyone knows about their status, she would get swarmed and maybe even harassed, that is, she thinks she would be"

"Yeah, and knowing Naruto," Sakura said as she placed a hand on her hip "When Hinata says that, he'd get paranoid and agree almost immediately. But he's also an unstoppable guy, so that may explain their unintentional... PDA, even if they agreed to keep it a secret..."

Sai gave his usual forced smile and said "Would not it only be fair that we, their beloved and most treasured best friends, know if they indeed are dating?"

"What are you saying?" Kiba asked as he gave Sai a judgemental stare "If Hinata doesn't want to tell us, I'm cool with that, I respect! She doesn't want to talk, don't talk"

"Well..." Sakura turned slowly with a mischievous look "We don't need to ask them..."

"Hm..." Kiba then had the same look on his face "Are you suggesting we-"

"Invade their privacy?" Shino asked, Sakura gave him a quirky smile as she clapped her hands together "Y... Yeah?"

Sai then said "Alright, I'm in"


"Now that they're gone..." Shikamaru smirked as he laid down on the couch and put Mirai on his stomach, he bounced her lightly as he said in a cooing tone "We can actually sleep, right, Mirai? Naruto and Hinata are so troublesome, very troublesome..!"

"Don't say that, Shikamaru" Kurenai laughed as she folded tiny clothes, making him yawn and say "Well, I'm right. If Naruto's not here, there's no one screaming around the village, and if Hinata's not here, he won't even have a reason to scream here"

"Well-" "KURENAI-SENSEI!!!!"

"Baba! Tino!" Mirai squealed excitedly as she started slapping Shikamaru's face, making him groan and say "I forgot about Kiba..."

"Oh, Sakura, Sai, you guys are here, too" Kurenai said with a welcoming smile, as if Kiba's entrance was normal. Poor door. "If you four are looking for Hinata and Naruto, they're actually on a mission"

"We know. Actually, sensei, we came here to ask you something..." Sakura said as she scratched her cheek "You see, we wanted to know something about Naruto and Hinata..."

"Really?" Shikamaru groaned as he set down Mirai to crawl over to Shino, "Even when they're out of the village, they're still hot topic? Troublesome..."

"We have come to ask" Shino said as he ignored Mirai who was practically rolling at his feet and slapping his shins, "When Hinata and Naruto came to visit, what did they do?"

Kurenai slanted her eyes, "Are there impostors pretending to be them?" "Nothing out of the ordinary. They acted the same as always, I didn't notice anything off... They still reacted the same to some inside jokes..."

Sai then looked out the window and said "I never came here before, but I must say, Kurenai-sensei, you have a lovely garden"

"Is that new, sensei?" Kiba asked as he looked out, too, Kurenai nodded and said "Yes, actually, Naruto and some of his clones planted those lovely plants three days ago. If I recall right, Hinata said that a side branch Hyūga received those as a part of a thank you from his last mission and decided to give them to the main house"

She giggled and said "Hiashi considered selling them, but Hinata really liked the plants, so Naruto and her managed to convince Hiashi to let them keep it, but Hinata's garden was already full, so they brought it here"

"That's so cute..." Sakura cooed as she held her cheek with a dreamy smile, but then her smile dropped and turned to nervous one, "Wait, Naruto planted those?! Are you sure that those are secured? I don't trust him when it comes to stuff like those"

"Don't you know?" Kurenai asked, surprised, "Naruto likes gardening"

"Since when?" Kiba asked, unable to imagine the loud-mouth blonde actually taking on a calm and time-consuming hobby like gardening, his sensei shrugged and said "I don't know, Hinata only told me"

The four then looked at each other and nodded, Kiba and Sakura sporting successful grins, Sai and Shikamaru with their usual looks.

"Alright! Thanks, sensei!" Kiba yelled as he once again kicked the door to leave, and Sakura followed out excitedly with Sai, and Shino bowing to forgive them.

Kurenai only laughed as she watched Mirai crawl back to the now-asleep Shikamaru.

"Oh yeah! And, sensei?" Sakura asked as she peaked in again "When Hinata comes here alone, what does she do?"

"Kiba and Shino or Shikamaru and Choji always visits with her" Kurenai said "And Naruto always shows up later. She never comes alone, is what I'm trying to say"

"Okay! Thanks for everything, sensei!" Sakura cheered before she left "And you have a lovely daughter!!!"


"How was that any proof that they are dating?" Shino asked as Sakura and Kiba kept patting each other's backs in accomplishment, Sai then said "Yes, Hinata knows that dickless gardens, I, too, don't see how that is any proof"

"You're right..." Sakura said as she returned to her thinking position.

"Sakura!!!"

The four turned and saw Ino waving enthusiastically from her store, they then entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Such an odd match up we have here" She said as the four-man group entered.

"Hey, Ino! Want to help?! We're on a mission to- hmph!" Sakura's suddenly slapped on Kiba's.

"What the hell?!" Kiba hissed in a whisper as he pried off her strong hand, the pinkette then hissed back in a whisper "That's Ino, idiot! If she knows that we know that Naruto and Hinata are dating, then the entire village will know! She's a massive gossip!"

"Oh..." The Inuzuka said, slapping his forehead, "How could I forget that she's the Gossip Queen"

"What are you four whispering about?" Ino asked suspiciously "And Sai-kun, you're an hour late on your shift, you know"

"I'm sorry, but I'm on a very important mission right now" Sai said with his same robotic smile "I can compensate by working extra tomorrow"

"Well, if that's the case, then you're excused. But you could've told me in advance" She said with a sigh, making him nod and say "Next time, for sure"

"Ino, we're conducting an investigation" Shino said, making both Kiba and Sakura almost jump on him before stopping in midair as he continued "Multiple flowershops had been robbed of genus paeonia all across the Land of Fire, we are wondering if there had been a mysterious occurance of such here? Has anyone suspicious bought or eyed those flowers?"

"Ahh, fortunately for me and unfortunately for you guys," Ino said with an apologetic shrug "None of my flowers had been stolen, and I have a keen eye for suspicious people. The only person who's crazy enough to buy expensive wedding flowers like that is Naruto"

"Naruto?" Sakura's interest suddenly peeked, "Why would he buy peonies?"

"Ooooh, genus paeonia, peonie, I get it," Kiba said in realization, snapping his fingers, "Man, mouthful as usual, Shino"

"We forced him to buy and scammed hi-" "We negotiated!" Ino frantically cut off Sai and said "You see, he keeps on bothering the shop, it's only fair that he bought something for once"

"But why would you make him buy one of the most expensive ones?!" The pinkette yelled, making the blonde bump foreheads with her and yell back "I did not! His eyes wandered and landed on'em! He said those were perfect for Hinata!"

It was Kiba's initiative to play peacemaker when they suddenly got important information, "Now, now, ladies. Remember, Sakura, we have a mission, no time to butt heads"

And just like that, the odd duo quickly smiled at each other and bid each other farewell, as if they weren't fighting just split seconds ago.


"Naruto's been buying Hinata some expensive flowers, huh?" Sakura asked "How'd you know to ask for peonies, though?"

"Naruto had waltzed into Hinata's room once, and he brought a very eye-catching bouquet" Shino explained as he adjusted his goggles "I did not know what the flowers were, since I only gave it little thought since Kiba and I were in a hurry to leave. I assumed it were peonies based on the memory of my moment of glimpse"

"Genius, Shino! Genius!" Kiba laughed as he took the taller man into a playful headlock "Doin' chores and buyin' flowers for a girl, who could deny they're more than just friends, huh?!"

"But that doesn't leave the fact that Naruto and Hinata haven't been seen on a date before" Sai said, making the three other ninjas dull down from their high.

Then something clicked.

Kiba smirked and said "This calls for lunch"


"Ah! Look who's here, father!" Ayame said with a welcoming smile "It's Naruto's and Hinata's friends!"

"Oh wow, odd to see you four here without those two" Teuchi laughed "What'ya kids having?"

"A bowl of Hinata's usual for each one of us, old man" Kiba said with a confident smirk, and Sakura butted in and said "And some anko dumplings" "Whatever, those too" The brunette groaned.

"It will be there in a jiffy" Ayame said as she and her father left for the kitchen.

Sai was confused, "Naruto's favorite eatery? Why are we here?"

"Elementary, my dear Sai" Kiba said as he smirked "If Hinata and that smelly bastard truly are dating, then it would only be natural if Hinata has a usual order here. The old man and his daughter knew exactly what the usual is, strengthening my point! And if my guess is right, then-!!!"

"Orders up, guys!" Ayame cheered as she placed four bowls before them.

"HOLY SHIT! I'M RIGHT!!!" Kiba screamed "I'M A FUCKIN' ORACLE!!!"

Sakura and Sai raised their eyebrows and looked down at the orders, only to gasp and yell in surprise "PORK CHASYU MISO RAMEN!!!"

"That's right" Ayame said with one finger raised "Hinata-sama's favorite ramen!"

"So if both Naruto and Hinata share the same usual orders, then..." Sakura muttered, but as a good detective she is, asked one more question, "Neh! Do Naruto and Hinata always come here?! All three meals? Often?!"

"Oh, no" Ayame said "They come here often for a visit, but they don't order as often as Naruto before. They more oftenly share bento boxes at Senju park, sometimes even stop by the bakery down the street or the shiruko shop two stores over. But we're still Naruto most often go-to dinner stop! Hinata-sama almost always eats dinner at home"

And that proves it.

If Ayame and Teuchi knew Naruto's and Hinata's schedules by heart, the very people who sees Naruto almost everyday, then that means that the two had been together very very often.

Teuchi could only awkwardly chuckle as he watched the four-cell group of misfits do an overdramatic four-way handshake as they happily congratulated each other, something about cracking one of Konoha's most guarded secrets.


And that was the moment that Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Sai were most certain that Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Hinata were most definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, dating.

Sorry to break it to them, though. They're completely wrong. But it's not like they can hear me, though. I'm the narrator! Not a character in the story who can talk to them!


Two days after their 'discovery', the same group of four reformed at Kurenai's backyard, sat in a gloomy circle that Kiba called 'Guilty Party Cult Circle'.

"How do we break it to them?" Sakura asked "They'd probably hate us... poking our noses in like that?"

"Yeah? Who's idea was it?" Kiba asked, making the pinkette point at Shino and say "I blame you, Shino. You're the most rational out of all four of us, you should've stopped us!"

"I do not see why I am part of the Guilty Party Cult Circle" Sai said "I feel no remorse over invading the privacy of our best friends whom views us as their most reliable and trusted friends. I am glad that I know something that I could blackmail Naruto with"

"Terrible choice of words, Sai" Sakura sighed.

"Alright, what about this" Kiba said as he clapped his hands together "We come clean with an apology, and act casual about it so that they won't be upset and swear to secrecy! I mean, that worked out when Shino and I found out about Hinata's secret"

"It is only the most logical solution" Shino said with an approving nod "But I shall stand my ground that I am only dragged into this by Kiba"

"Hey!" Kiba barked.

Kurenai laughed softly as she and Choji watched from the window.

"Those guys have gone crazy... Mendokusē" Shikamaru groaned on the floor, his face covered in doodles as Mirai gnawed one of Choji's candy bars, "Probably chanting matras to keep them sane from all of the idiocy that Naruto had been dragging Hinata into"

"Well, they've been running around the village since the day Naruto and Hinata left, asking what sorts of strange things they had been doing" Choji said with a nervous chuckle "So it's possible"

Akamaru ran to Mirai's rescue when she almost landed face first into the ground while crawling off of Shikamaru's stomach, making the baby baffled at her own discovery, turning her head from the man and the dog, "Kamawu?! Kamawu?! Kyaahahaha!!!"

Sakura, back to her responsible old self, looked up at the sun's position to check the time before sitting up, dusting the back of her skirt, "Well, I better get going. I still have more preparations to do with Ino for the new center we've been working on"

"Fine, fine" Kiba said, letting the pinkette leave.

And after a few moments passed, during dinner...

"Sarutobi-san! Sarutobi-san!"

Kiba almost flinched in surprise, making the baby food from the small spoon fly to the person across from him, which is Sai, "Whoops, sorry, man"

Kurenai placed her chopsticks down and went to open the front door.

All four of the shinobi fell silent as they used their well-trained ears to listen-in.

"Yes?" Kurenai asked, seeing a Jònin at her doorstep, the man then said "News about Hyūga Hinata, ma'am. You are her guardian, yes?"

"What happened?" The woman asked with worry evident in her voice.

With the mention of their precious teammate's voice, Kiba and Shino quickly stood and joined their master at the doorstep, Akamaru in tow.

Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai shared worried glances at each other, "Naruto's with her"

"Hyūga Hinata have witnessed a very serious crime scene during her mission with her client" The Jònin informed "She have discovered, along with her client, Uzumaki Naruto, that the village they were meant to go to had been a victim of a village-wide mass murder with no survivors"

Kiba felt his breath get caught in his throat.

"She also had encountered a high ranking criminal who escaped before being sent to Blood Prison, whom admitted to be the one responsible" The Jònin said with no information to hold back "Hyūga Hinata herself took the initiative to take his life. As a minor, still, she is to go through interrogation to see if any of the things she saw or the actions she made affected her mental stability"

"I see" Kurenai said, "And Naruto?"

"Hyūga Hinata took full responsibility" He said "Uzumaki Naruto will not go through interrogation for it was not deemed necessary"

"Very well, thank you for telling us as soon as possible" The woman said, letting the other Jònin leave.

With the close of the door, Kiba sighed and said "Man, every time we get blood on our hands... Lucky for Shino and me, we're already eighteen, we don't have to go through that anymore"

"Hinata never dealt well with taking a life" Shino said with sadness in his tone, Kurenai sighed and said "Boys, it's okay. We'll just have to make her feel better"


So when days passed, and Naruto and Hinata's journey home came;

"Heyyyy, Hinata! Naruto! You guys are back!" Sakura cheerfully greeted as she welcomed the two from the gates, she scratched her cheek with an apologetic look and said "Look, we're sorry for snooping, but we really got curious, and now the entire village knows about your- Huh?"

The pinkette was shocked as the shorter bluenette wordlessly passed her.

"Hey hey hey, Hinata! Mahhh, I know that face" Kiba said with sympathy, Shino put his hand on her head and rubbed her hair gently, the Inuzuka grinned and said "Don't'cha worry, we got the news a while back, and the description you sent matched a man who was sentenced to death in Blood Prison but escaped before gettin' there. Come on! We're headin' to Kurenai-sensei's to celebrate your mission success! She's bakin' cake!"

"What?" Hinata giggled as he slung an arm around her shoulder and lead her and Shino away with Akamaru tailing behind, "But Kiba-kun, the mission was to deliver the scroll, not bounty hunting"

"No. Your mission was a success, why?" Shino started "Because yours is an escorting mission, and you successfully defended your client"

Sakura was confused, making Sai raise a brow at her and ask "Have you not heard?"

"What happened?" She asked, he faked a smile and said "Hinata killed a man in front of Naruto"

"Oh..." The pinkette said as she sympathetically looked at her dull teammate, head hung low as he looked at the ground with a heavy frown, "What happened, Naruto?"

"We got into a fight..." Naruto admitted, his voice barely above a whisper, Sakura gave him an understanding smile and said "It's normal for a strong kunoichi like Hinata to do that, a Hyūga at that. But... I'm sorry you had to see-"

"No" He cut off, desperate blue eyes looking into her green ones, he looked miserable, "Sakura-chan, you don't understand! We got into a fight!"

"Oh"


Yep! It's still the author!

I decided that maybe I should add a light-hearted chapter with a different type of NaruHina shenanigans before we head back and continue down to the darkest low that this book took so far.

And also because I wanted to add more texture to this book's main characters' best friends by showing their curious and adventurous sides who still has a hint of child-like wonder to their steps.

So with a little twist this time, it's Sakura, Sai, Shino, and Kiba who does the running around!

Also, I added a small scene near the end to explain how the rest of Team 8 and Sai knew about the occurance of last chapter and Sakura didn't.

Anyway! Sorry for the roller coaster of emotions, but the ride's not over yet!

Off to NaruHina's first major argument!

-OrenjiRabenda