Chapter 32 - Fū
"Why did I run again!?" Hinata shouted at herself for what seemed to be the hundredth time as she was washing her hair in the shower. "Why did she go and hug me!? She didn't even warn me first!"
She finished washing herself off and got a towel to dry off. She decided she'd take a bath later, but for now she wanted to go visit Kiba and apologize to Shibuki at some point today. She really didn't mean to flip out and yell earlier, she was just frustrated and worried about her teammate.
Hinata got dressed before using the byakugan to check to see if the coast was clear. Was she being absurd to go to such lengths to avoid Fū? Yes, yes she was, but she would apologize for it later assuming she ever figured out how to talk to her.
Upon seeing that Fū wasn't anywhere nearby to ambush her, she jumped out the window and ran towards the clinic. Thankfully, the house Shibuki had set up for them wasn't close to any other residents, but was pretty near to the clinic. It was only a short run to get to where she wanted to go.
Hinata walked up to Kiba's door, hearing muffled voices inside of it talking. She thought for a moment she heard her own name, but she didn't really think anything of it. She just knocked on the door and waited to be allowed entrance.
"Come in." She heard Hayate's voice coming from inside.
Hinata stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. As she entered, all three of her teammates stopped talking and just stared at her with various looks on their face. Shino had an almost apologetic look on his face, Kiba looked extremely happy, and her shishou looked like she told him she didn't want to be his apprentice anymore or something. Hinata immediately knew something was going on, and she didn't like that.
"You're awake! How are you feeling Kiba?" Hinata decided to get to the bottom of those weird looks in a minute. What was most important was that her friend was seemingly off of death's doorstep.
Much better now. Much, much, better now." Kiba said, still grinning at her.
Hinata really didn't know why, but she was afraid of the grin he was giving her. She glanced at Hayate again and saw he was now looking at her like he didn't know her. She turned to Shino and saw him decidedly not meeting her eyes. She started putting two and two together and came up with a horrible theory. 'You didn't. Shino you wouldn't.'
"Why.. uh… Why are you all looking at me so weird?" Hinata asked, glancing again at Shino, before turning to look at her shishou.
"Shino, grab her!" Kiba shouted, suddenly before cringing in pain and coughing from the effort it took to shout with a wounded chest.
Shino moved though, and got to Hinata before she could react, locking her arms behind her and holding her still. Hinata had been in shock and momentarily stared blankly at Kiba's order. It wasn't until she felt Shino holding her arms that she realized what was about to happen.
"Get off of me! Shino you traitor!" Hinata squirmed, trying to get free without actually hurting her friend.
"Will you run?" Shino asked her from behind.
"Like you run from Fū~?" Kiba added, saying Fū's name in a teasing sing-song voice, before cackling and ending up in another coughing fit, holding his chest in pain.
Hinata glared at him. "No I won't run. Happy? Now let go of me."
Shino glanced at Hayate, who nodded, and acquiesced. He let go of Hinata, still standing between her and the door. Hinata sighed and pulled over a chair to sit down in it.
"There. Sitting! Not, running." She said in a huff. "Now what the hell is this about."
"Ohh, Shino just finished telling us an interesting story! I heard that a certain young lady in this room, who happened to tease me before about my inability to talk to women, might just happen to have a very similar problem." Kiba explained, still grinning at her.
"Shino, you… you…" Hinata looked at her friend with a betrayed expression.
"It was unavoidable." Shino simply stated.
"Unavoidable like the kick I'm going to give you later!" Hinata shouted at him.
"It's just so hard to believe." Hayate spoke up, looking at Hinata while holding his chin with one hand, as if studying her. "Her having problems talking to someone."
"It's not my fault…" Hinata mumbled.
"I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that I never realized before." Kiba said seriously. "You never had a problem around Sakura or Ino in the academy, and you're even able to speak to Izumi-san with no issue."
"That's because I was like eight at the time I met them you dolt. Also why the hell would I like Sakura and Ino, all they do is drool over Sasuke. Ino gossips too much and Sakura is… well... Sakura. They aren't my type at all!" Hinata glared at Kiba.
"Oh so Fū is your type then?" Kiba asked, grinning malevolently at her.
"I don't know!" Hinata exclaimed. "She's just cute and my brain stops working when she's.." She stopped talking horrified at her own words, face turning a bright shade of red. 'Why did I tell them that? Why did I even let myself get into this situation!?'
"See?" Shino asked, looking at Kiba. "She freezes up just like that."
Hayate sighed, walking over and putting his hand on Hinata's head. "Relax. They'll stop teasing you now. I'm just shocked you never told me."
"I'm sorry.. But how could I tell anyone..?" Hinata deflated, looking at the floor. Kiba and Shino were distraught seeing that she looked like she was about to burst into tears any second now.
"What do you mean?" Hayate asked her in a calm voice, crouching down next to her chair.
"I'm the Hyūga clan heiress.." She said in a quiet voice. She always knew this day would come, she just didn't think it would happen quite like this.
Kiba and Shino exchanged glances. They both understood the pressure that came with being a clan heir and the expectations that were put upon you at birth. They also knew that the Hyūga clan, especially, was steeped in tradition. It was very possible that Hinata was right to be worried about not only her father's reaction, but the clan's as well.
"Hey, I'm your shishou right?" Hayate asked her, rubbing her head. "And you got your team. We're here to back you up, always."
"I.. I'm not worried about them stripping the position of heiress away from me.. " Hinata sniffled out.
"What are you worried about then? I don't think your father would hate you because of this." Hayate asked her, still doing his best to talk in a comforting tone.
"I just don't want them to put a slave seal on me…" Hinata looked terrified at the prospect. She remembered the screams of pain coming from the branch members when she witnessed the ceremony on her third birthday.
"Slave seal?" Shino asked, looking at Kiba, who just shrugged.
Hayate frowned. He knew the branch members got sealed, but he never heard someone refer to it as a 'slave seal'.
"It's a seal all members of the branch clan are forced to get when the new clan heir or heiress turns three… The most well known ability of the seal is to seal off the byakugan upon death, but it also makes it to where it inflicts unbearable pain on the person if they even think about turning against the main branch. You can never defy an order and are required to either marry within the clan, or the person you marry must join the clan." Hinata explained bitterly.
"That's.." Shino trailed off.
"Barbaric." Kiba finished, gritting his teeth.
"It's how they've managed to keep the byakugan solely within the clan for so many years." Hinata said wearily.
"I never realized it worked like that.." Hayate said while grimacing.
"Whatever!" Kiba said angrily. "Just tell them to fuck off with their stupid seal and leave the clan if you have to. You can stay with us, my okaasan definitely won't let them touch you with that seal!"
"It's not that simple." Shino said, shaking his head. "Clan laws are protected and enforced by the laws of Konohagakure and the Daimyō. If she tried to run, she wouldn't just be running from the Hyūga clan, she'd.." He didn't know how to finish that sentence.
"Be branded a traitor of Konohagakure and be listed as a missing-nin." Hinata spat out.
Hayate sucked in a breath of air through his teeth. He wasn't from a clan and honestly didn't know that' show it worked. It made sense though that the Daimyō would guarantee to guard the clan laws in order to secure their loyalty.
"Well.." Hayate spoke slowly, thinking about what to say. "If you're renounced as the clan heiress, the position would go to Hanabi-chan right?"
Hinata nodded her head.
"Then you wouldn't have to worry about a seal until Hanabi's first child is three years old right? That's plenty of time to work towards changing the clan laws." Hayate said with confidence.
"Mn." Hinata nodded, wiping tears away.
"Besides! There's nothing we can't handle together as a team right?" Kiba asked, grinning again.
Hinata let out a weak chuckle at her friend's optimism. 'What had I been so afraid of?'
The group relaxed seeing her smile again. Kiba and Shino shared another look and nodded at each other. They'd protect that smile.
"Alright.. Enough of this mushy shit." Hinata said, looking up. "Kiba you dumbass, what do you think you were doing letting a shitty Amegakure missing-nin almost kill you!?"
"Hah!?" Kiba looked affronted.
"You heard me! Shishou, I think you obviously haven't been pushing Kiba hard enough in our training." Hinata said very seriously to Hayate. 'Think I'd forget about you teasing me? Stupid Kiba. Let's see how you like running laps until you collapse when you're all healed.'
"Maybe she's right, Kiba." Hayate nodded sagely. "I might have been going too easy on you. Obviously you're not as fragile as I thought."
"Hey.. I still might die you know? You're gonna feel really bad later if I die!" Kiba said, clutching his chest.
The morose atmosphere had been broken and the group continued to chat about random things for a while. It was about an hour later when there was a knock at the door.
"Hey! I asked at the desk and they told me you were awake and everyone was in here visiting you! They weren't going to let me in, but I snuck in anyways and I think they might find out soon. So can I come in?" Fū's voice came from outside the door.
Hinata froze up and was just about to say something when Kiba looked her dead in the eye and said "Sure! Come on in! Hinata's here and she really wanted to talk to you about something anyway!"
Hinata just opened her mouth wide, staring at her traitor. She turned around and punched Shino in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Shino asked, hurt.
"This is your fault!" Hinata hissed at him through clenched teeth as the door opened and Fū walked in.
Hinata didn't know what was worse, the fact that she was now stuck in a room with her team and Fū at the same time, eyes still a bit red from crying, or that her entire team was now staring directly at her face wanting to see her reaction to Fū being there.
Fū closed the door behind her before turning around. "Hey! Kiba right? I'm glad you're ok! I'm Fū, nice to meet you!" She grinned at Kiba, walking over to stand next to the chair Hinata was sitting in.
Kiba answered her without ever looking away from Hinata's increasingly red face. "That's me. It's nice to meet you too. Thanks for taking care of Hinata by the way, she was just telling me about the new friend she made today!"
Hinata looked mortified. 'Nononono, Kiba what are you saying, please no.'
Fū looked over the moon. "Really!?" She grabbed Hinata's hands. "I was starting to think I said something stupid again! You really need to just stop running away! What was it you wanted to tell me!?"
Kiba watched in absolute shock and glee at the face Hinata was making at that moment in time. Even Hayate's eyes were wide open in shock. Hearing Shino tell them about it was one thing, but seeing it in action? This was Hinata? Their Hinata?
Hinata just stared, petrified, at her hands that were now being held by Fū. Her face looked like a tomato and her mouth was just opening and closing a bit.
Fū looked at Hayate a bit nervously. "Is she okay?"
"Wait." Shino said, leaning in a bit. "She's mumbling something."
The others got quiet and listened to the quiet mumbles of Hinata.
"Hyūga Hinata. Genin of Konohagakure. Registration number 012612. Born 27/12/64. Hyūga Hinata. Genin of Konohagakure. Registration number.." She was repeating to herself over and over again in barely audible voice.
Hayate put a hand on Hinata's head again. "Relax kid, you're not being interrogated."
Hinata glanced up at him and then looked over at Fū who had a strange look on her face, before realizing what she had been mumbling to herself. She saw Kiba trying his best not to laugh and turned even more red.
"Sor.. sorry.." Hinata mumbled out. "I panicked…"
"Pft." Fū snorted out a laugh, before taking another look at the crimson Hinata and laughing even harder. "Hahaha I'm sorry! It's just.. Hahahaha You're so red! You were so cool and confident when you saved me earlier! I didn't expect that you were actually this shy and cute!"
Hinata just stared dumbfounded. "You.. thought I was cool..?" 'Wait. Did she just call me cute!?'
"Yeah!" Fū nodded enthusiastically, before putting on a serious expression and mimicking Hinata's voice to say: "I won't let anyone else hurt you again!" She smiled. "No one's ever said something like that to me before!"
Kiba died laughing and even Hayate felt second-hand embarrassment for his apprentice. Shino just looked away and stared intently at the wall.
"I d-didn't mean a-anything by it! It was j-just the adrenalin and th-then.." Hinata started to stutter out an excuse but Fū decided to ignore her and keep talking.
"And then you proceeded to absolutely kick that kunoichi's ass! Then you cut me down and I thought I was going to fall, but you caught me in your arms!" Fū went on excitedly.
"Well I was afraid you might fall and hurt yourself!" Hinata argued, finding her voice.
Fū ignored her again though, choosing to continue her story. "And then I was like 'Ok Fū! We have to make the badass kunoichi girl our friend!' But you ran away before I could even thank you! And then you kept getting awkward when I was around you! Then you ran away again!"
'This is the greatest day ever!' Kiba thought, looking at Hinata's blushing face.
"I thought at first you hated me, but then you said it was because I was a stranger! But you still ran away again even though you agreed we weren't strangers anymore! So I didn't know what to do, but now I find out you're just incredibly shy!" Fū burst into laughter again.
"I'm not shy! It's just you that I'm like this with!" Hinata froze again. 'What did I just say? Ok, I said I'm not shy. That's fine. Nothing wrong with saying that. Then I said it was just her that I'm like this with. That's not fine. Why would I say that? Why would anyone say that?'
The room seemed to have been frozen in time for Hinata. She considered what she said and ran simulations of where the conversation would go from here. She didn't like any of the outcomes. She carefully weighed all of her options of how to deal with the situation, and came to a conclusion.
Fū stopped laughing and looked a bit taken aback by Hinata's words. Then she was surprised when she suddenly found her hands empty, the door to the room open, and Hinata gone. Then she was even more surprised by the fact that she was still surprised by Hinata suddenly running.
Fū just sat down in the chair Hinata had been sitting in. 'It's just me she's like that with? What the hell is that supposed to mean!? So she's not bad with strangers?'
"Hey.." Fū looked up at the others. "Is Hinata not normally shy?"
Kiba, trying to control his laughter and grimacing in pain from his chest, choked out: "No. *cough* no she's not."
Hayate glared at him. He was going to have words with Kiba later about what team loyalty meant.
'So she's normally fine with strangers? So it is just me she's not good around? The hell did I do!? You think you can just run after leaving me with that!?' Fū stood up, a serious look on her face. "Where do you think she ran off to!?"
Of course it was Kiba that sold his teammate out. "Depends. If she's sad or angry it will be somewhere high up. If she's embarrassed, she's probably going to take an hour-long bubble bath to try and forget."
Hayate just glared at the boy again.
"Thanks Kiba!" Fū said, sprinting out the room.
"She's going to kill you for that you know." Shino said, looking at Kiba in sympathy.
"What? You came in here and informed us that not only is she gay, she's also bad at talking to girls." Kiba looked offended.
"That's different." Hayate said with a serious look. "Shino sold her out to her team. You just sold her out to the person she has a crush on. She's going to kill you for that. I won't stop her either."
Kiba's face contorted in anxiety when he realized what he just did. "She.. she won't be that angry.. right?"
Akamaru, who had woken up a bit after Fū had entered and started talking loudly, stood up and hopped onto Hayate's shoulder, making his stance clear. 'I don't want to be near you when Hinata gets her hands on you.'
"Enjoy the rest of your time." Hayate patted his foot before leaving the clinic room.
"Try to get some sleep Kiba." Shino said following after Hayate.
"Guys.. Guys!?" Kiba called after them, but they were gone. He just laid back down on his pillows and tried not to think about what might happen.
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Just as Kiba predicted, Hinata was in fact about to take a bubble bath and forget about her problems. She rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, turning on the bath and pouring enough soap in there to make sure it was overflowing with bubbles by the time it was ready for her to get in.
She managed to maintain her composure long enough to take off her clothes and fold them up neatly, putting them in the basket. When that was done, she just paced around the bathroom naked, lost in her own thoughts as the tub filled.
'Maybe it isn't so bad? Maybe she didn't hear me? Maybe she won't think anything of it? She doesn't seem the type to dwell on things, but then again maybe she is? I don't know her that well. Why am I even freaking out over her like this? This isn't like you Hinata!'
She stopped her pacing and stared at her face in the mirror. 'She said she thought you were cool! And cute… But she said cool! Why are you acting like this!? This isn't cool!' "Agghh!" She screamed in frustration.
Fū arrived outside of the bathroom of the house Hinata and the others were staying in. 'Okay! I can hear the tub running! Kiba was right! Go Kiba! I just have to ask her why I'm different and why she doesn't like being around me.. She shouldn't know I'm a jinchūriki.. But what if she found out!? She might have noticed how the others are afraid of me and stay far away! Oh my god did Shibuki tell her!? No he probably wouldn't have.. But what if he did!?'
Fū was pacing in front of the door when she heard a scream on the other side. She was about to check to see if Hinata was hurt, but stopped with her hand on the door handle when she heard Hinata's voice.
"Stupid, dumb, cute Fū! Why can't I just tell her I think she's cute!? Why can't I just be fucking normal for one stupid moment! Why does my brain stop working when I see her!? What the fuck brain!?" Hinata angrily yelled at herself in the mirror.
She turned around and walked over to the bath, getting in the water and sinking down into the bubbles. "Bunch of fucking bullshit is what it is! And who do they think they are telling me not to run away!? What do they know!? It's not my fault I panic!"
Fū stood at the door in shock. 'What was that? Did she just call me cute?' Fū knew it was rude, but she leaned her head against the door to hear better. She was a kunoichi after all and eavesdropping was something they did, or so she reasoned to herself.
Hinata swatted the bubbles around as she talked to herself, as if to take her pent up frustration out on them. 'I'm only twelve for crying out loud! I'm too young to be worrying about relationships! We aren't even from the same village! Stupid hormones! Stupid Hinata! Stupid Fū!'
"Stupid crush!" Hinata yelled out, slapping the water, before sinking down into it.
Fū opened her mouth dumbly and took a step back. 'Crush? On who? Me!? Oh my god she has a crush on me!?' She stood there for a second in shock before letting out a little shriek in surprise. "Ehh!?" She covered her mouth, eyes wide, before sprinting away.
Shino, Akamaru, and Hayate had just walked up to the house when they saw Fū sprint past them with her face a bright shade of red.
"Should we ask?" Shino looked at Hayate.
"No, pretend you didn't see anything." Hayate said, sharing his wisdom with the boy.
Shino just nodded and walked into the house.
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Fū raced away from the house in a panic. 'What do I do now!? What am I supposed to say to her when I see her again? I'm not prepared for this! Why would she like me? No one likes me! Wait, no! Shibuki likes me! Maybe he'll know what to do!'
She ran towards Shibuki's house at the base of the giant tree. She was there often enough that she didn't even knock. She just barged in and found him in his kitchen eating his dinner.
Shibuki looked up at the girl that just showed up in his kitchen doorway. She was panting, her face was bright red, and she looked to be in a panic.
"Fū-chan? Is everything al-" He started to ask but was instantly interrupted.
"Shibuki-oniisan! What do you do when a girl has a crush on you!?" Fū shouted at him, causing him to choke on his words in surprise.
"*cough* Hah!? *cough cough*" He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. "What!?"
Fū ran over and pulled a chair up next to him, sitting with the back of the chair to her chest. She just stared at him intensely as she reiterated. "What. Do you do. When a girl. Has a crush on you!?"
"What are you talking about? Who has a crush?" Shibuki was confused. 'What the hell is going on now?'
Fū was about to say something but then stopped. 'Do I tell him Hinata has a crush on me? It should be ok right? But what if he gets mad or makes me stop seeing her? I wouldn't like that. I want to see her again. She's strong, and cool, and pretty, an- Wait. Do I have a crush on her too!? I don't know! I need Shibuki's help but I can't tell him!'
Shibuki saw Fū lost in her own thoughts. He watched as she would open her mouth like she was about to say something, but then close it like she thought better of it. Normally it would have been a welcome change to see her thinking before speaking, but this was just weird.
"Fū-chan? Is everything ok?" Shibuki asked, trying to coax her into speaking.
Fū looked like she was about to choke, holding back her words had never been something she was good at. She talked a lot, and talked fast. It was just another reason most people didn't like her. This was weird. For once in her life she realized she didn't know what she wanted to say.
"Take a deep breath, and gather your words." Shibuki said, trying again.
'Okay. I can do that. Deep breaths. Okay.. I'm just going to tell him that what I said before was a mistake. That I misspoke. I'll just tell him that Shino has a crush on Kiba, and Kiba asked for my help. Perfect. I can do this.' She took another deep breath before speaking.
"Okay so I was impressed when Hinata saved me because she was cool and came to my rescue and then I fell but I didn't get hurt because she caught me and I thought that was cool too but then she ran and I thought she hated me so I asked Shino and he said she didn't hate me so then I tried to become her friend but then she told me she was shy and then she ran away again so I eventually found her at the clinic and Kiba is awake now by the way and then I held her hands oh my god why did I hold her hands? Am I stupid? No wonder she ran away again.. But then I followed her again because Kiba said she likes high places if she's upset or baths if she's embarrassed and her face was red so I figured it was that she was embarrassed so I went back to their house to talk to her but she was already in the bath and I heard her talking to herself and she called me cute! Me! Cute! Can you believe it!? Then she said she had a crush on me, only she didn't tell me, she was still talking to herself but I overheard. I then got embarrassed and ran here to ask you for help but then I thought about it and realized I might have a crush on her too and I decided to instead tell you Shino likes Kiba and FUCK!"
Fū said everything at a rapid pace in only one breath, before cursing and covering her mouth. 'That was exactly the opposite of what you were supposed to say! Stupid Fū!'
Shibuki just gaped at her. He had practice at deciphering Fū speech, but this was on a whole new level. He only caught about half of what she said. He looked at the girl that was now staring at him in horror and sighed.
Shibuki stood up, walked over to a cupboard, opened it, and pulled out a bottle of sake. He needed a drink if he was going to deal with this shit. It had been too long of a day.
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A/N: Only one chapter today guys, sorry! I actually have shit I have to do this afternoon. I had a really fun time writing the previous chapter and this chapter, so I hope you get a smile from it as well. Sorry if it seems like it has been two chapters without real 'plot progression', but like I said in my profile, I'm going through Hinata's life so I'm not in any rush to get through the story! Chapters might slow down a bit as we get towards the chūnin exams though, I need to make sure I have everything that I want to happen planned out!
Love you all! Thank you so much for reading!