Chapter 33 - Punishment
Fū sat rigid in her seat, almost afraid to breathe. 'What do I do now!? He's not saying anything!' She just watched as Shibuki poured himself a glass of sake and took a sip. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something but thought better of it and took another sip.
After about two minutes of silence, Shibuki finally spoke. "Ok. So let me get this straight… Hinata has a crush on you?" He asked, looking over top of his glass at Fū, who was beet red and biting her lip.
Fū nodded nervously.
"And you have a crush on her..?" Shibuki asked to clarify.
Fū thought for a moment, then nodded nervously.
"And Shino has a crush on Kiba..?"
Fū thought for a moment before nodding again. It would be easier for her if she wasn't alone in his judgment. 'I'm sorry Shino! Hopefully you'll never find out about this! Thank you for your sacrifice!'
Shibuki took another sip of his drink. "And you realize that Hinata is from Konoha and you are from Takigakure..?"
Fū nodded again. 'I know that! Not that anyone likes me being here..'
"You're thirteen and Hinata is twelve…" Shibuki sighed. "I guess it is about that age where you start developing feelings like this, but you're still pretty young.."
Fū looked shocked. "Hinata is younger than me!?"
"You didn't know?" Shibuki looked a bit surprised.
Fū looked down at her chest. "No way… That's so unfair.."
Shibuki almost choked on his drink. "Look, what was it you needed my help with?"
"I wanted your advice! What should I do!? She can't be around me with freezing up and runs away whenever I get close to her! I don't know how I'll react when I see her! What if I do something dumb!?" Fu asked in panic.
"Just act like yourself. Don't spend so much time fretting about what to do when you see her. Just go talk to her." Shibuki smiled reassuringly.
"If I could talk to her I wouldn't be here asking for help!" Fū said in frustration.
"Just spend some time getting to know her. I'm sure once she gets over her embarrassment and comes to terms with her own feelings, she won't be so scared. But you should realize that they'll be going back to Konohagakure when Kiba is well enough to travel right?" Shibuki said with a small smile. 'That's right, they'll be leaving soon. This is just a crush, it will pass.'
"She'll be leaving soon.." Fū looked dumbstruck, as if she had just realized that piece of information. 'I didn't even think of that! I knew that they were from a different village but I forgot they had to go back! How can I be so stupid!?'
"She will." Shibuki confirmed. "A few days, a week tops."
Fū stood up and walked over to the door. She wasn't feeling too well all of a sudden. "Thanks.. Shibuki-san.."
After she left, Shibuki frowned. "Shibuki-san..? She never calls me that.."
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Hinata left the bath feeling a bit better after venting and walked out into the living room wearing a fluffy white bathrobe. 'I honestly might just take this thing home with me, it's so soft. They wouldn't mind right? Probably won't even notice.'
She just hummed to herself as she sat down in the armchair across from Shino and Hayate who were both sitting on the couch reading books. Hinata pulled over a foot rest and started painting her toenails.
"You seem to be in a better mood." Shino noted. "Have a good talk with Fū then?"
Hayate looked up from his book to give an incredulous look at Shino. "I thought I said pretend you didn't see anything."
"I thought you meant don't talk to Fū." Shino returned Hayate's look back at him.
"You still have a lot to learn, kid." Hayate said, returning to his book, but keeping half his attention to listen to the conversation.
"What are you talking about?" Hinata looked up at them.
"You.. you didn't speak with Fū when she dropped by..?" Shino asked, gulping.
"When did Fū come by? I didn't see her, no.." Hinata looked a bit worried.
Shino just went back to his book. "Never mind then."
"Shino.. What's going on? You can't just say something like that and not tell me what's going on." Hinata pressed him for info.
Shino sighed. "About an hour ago, Fū ran out of the house in a panic with a bright red face. I mean really red. I figured you confessed to her or something."
"About an hour ago… Oh no. Oh nonono. No. Please tell me you're joking." Hinata looked at Shino in a panic.
"Why would I joke about this?" Shino asked her, looking offended.
"Please tell me you have a sick sense of humor and get satisfaction from seeing me in a panic, and didn't really see her here!" Hinata sat the bottle of nail polish down.
"I'm not lying, Hayate-sensei can back me up." Shino said, looking over to Hayate for help. Hayate just sighed and nodded.
"Oh my god that's it. I'm done. She heard me talking to myself in the bath. She knows I like her now… Why? Why would she even be here!? How did she know to look for me in the fucking bath!? I came here straight from the clinic, she would have had to come straight here as well if she was here an hour ago!" Hinata shouted in a panic at Shino.
"Kiba told her to look for you there." Shino ratted out his friend instantly in order to take the heat off himself.
"Kiba you traitor." Hinata said through gritted teeth. "I just wanted to enjoy my evening but noooo. Apparently I don't get the luxury of going ten fucking minutes without having a panic attack or being sold out by a teammate!" She glared hatefully at Shino, before standing up and storming off to her room.
"I'm listening to your advice next time." Shino said flatly, turning to look at Hayate.
"Yup." Hayate said, flipping the page of his book.
A few moments later Hinata stormed back into the room fully dressed. "I'm going to have a word with Kiba." She had murder in her eyes as she stomped over to the door.
"Don't hurt him too badly, he's already injured." Hayate reminded her.
Hinata stopped for a moment with her hand on the door handle, before turning around and marching back to her room for a moment before coming back to pick up the bottle of fingernail polish. "Fine." She spat out, before leaving and slamming the door behind her. She left carrying a small bag in her hands. The kind used to carry her personal care products.
"Do you want to go make sure she doesn't kill him?" Hayate looked down at Akamaru who was resting on the couch between him and Shino.
Akamaru just snorted and curled up into a tighter ball.
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Kiba had been sleeping peacefully. His chest was sore and stiff, but the painkillers he was on made him sleepy and gave him strange dreams. He could swear that Hinata was standing over him staring down at him silently for a few moments, before tying his hands and feet to the bed.
He closed his eyes again before opening them quickly and staring hard into the dark room. "Hinata..?" He croaked out, throat dry. He tried to move his arms and legs, but they had in fact been tied down. 'It wasn't a dream. She's here.'
He looked around the room but it was dark and he didn't see anyone. He sniffed the air and was horrified to smell lavender and fresh soap. 'That's Hinata's scent from whenever she's just bathed!'
"Hinata!?" He croaked out a bit more loudly. He was starting to panic. 'Why isn't she saying anything? Why did she tie me to the bed!?'
"Kiba." He heard from the corner of the room. He looked over but there was no one there. It was just an empty room.
"Did you, or did you not.." He heard her voice come from a different position, closer this time. 'Tōton jutsu? She's mastered it!?'
"Tell Fū to look for me in the bath..?" He heard her talking in an extremely calm tone from right next to him. He could smell her. She was right there, but no matter how much he strained his eyes, he couldn't see her.
"N-no! I w-wouldn't! Hinata I swear! Come on, why w-would I tell her t-that! It w-was Shino! That's right it was him!" Kiba stuttered out an excuse that Hinata would have to be stupid to believe.
"So it was Shino?" He heard her ask from the other side of his bed.
"Y-yeah!" He blurted out.
"Kiba." Her voice came from right above him. 'Is she standing on the wall!?' Kiba wanted to cry but he had no tears.
"I knew you were dumb, but I thought you were smarter than this. To actually betray me. Me..?" Kiba heard her whisper in his ear.
"I didn't! Hinata please, you have to believe me!" Kiba panicked, pulling at the ropes, trying to free himself.
"I wouldn't struggle. It will be easier for you that way." Hinata's voice said, coming from the foot of his bed now.
"What are you doing!?" Kiba could feel a cold, tickling feeling on his toes, and smell the sharp scent of acetone. Kiba tried to kick out with his foot, but he couldn't. He was tied too tightly.
Hinata didn't speak anymore. She just worked on his feet first before moving on to his hands.
"Hinata!? Hinata! Stop! Nurse! Nur-MNPH! MNPHH!" He tried shouting for help but felt a balled up piece of cloth get shoved into his mouth.
"Shh Kiba, shhh.. It will all be over soon." Hinata whispered in his ear, before going back to work.
"MNPHH! MNPHHH!" Kiba kept trying to shout, but no help ever came. How could it? Hinata put a genjutsu on the nurses on the way to his room.
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Hinata woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. She walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. It was about half an hour later when Hayate and Shino walked downstairs to the smell of fresh food.
"Oh?" Hayate spoke, walking into the kitchen. "You never cook, what's going on..?" He narrowed his eyes at the food in suspicion.
"I just feel really relaxed today. I had a great night's sleep!" Hinata smiled at him.
"What did you do to Kiba?" Shino asked her, putting food on his plate.
Hayate stopped dead. "Hinata..? What did you do to Kiba?"
"You can ask him yourself when we go to visit him after breakfast. As long as he's not still crying, that is." She said, smiling sweetly. "Go on, eat up. I made plenty!"
Hayate and Shino exchanged a look before sitting down to eat. Hinata spent the entire time humming a happy tune, while the other two awkwardly ate their food in silence, wondering what the hell she could have done to Kiba. Akamaru didn't give it any mind, as long as he wasn't dead, he figured Hinata could do as she liked.
After breakfast, Hinata even took the time to do all the dishes. When Shino and Hayate asked when they were going to see Kiba, she just told them "Oh, there's no rush.". The duo didn't know exactly how to take that response, so they just sat and waited patiently.
When Hinata was finally ready the group left for the clinic. When they arrived outside Kiba's room, they noticed a sign on the door that read "Do not disturb". Hayate and Shino stared dubiously at Hinata.
"Don't worry, there's still about a few minutes before he needs his medication. The sign was only there to ward off any nosey night-shift nurses that might have wanted to check up on him. I couldn't have that." Hinata giggled, happily walking into the room.
As soon as Hinata walked in, they heard Kiba starting to grunt as if he was trying to say something, but his mouth was covered. Hayate and Shino walked inside and just gaped at what they saw.
Kiba was lying in bed, spread eagle, with his hands and feet tied down. He had a hand towel balled up and shoved in his mouth with a bandage tying it down so he couldn't push it out with his tongue. His finger and toenails were each painted bright pink, his face was also covered in makeup and he had shiny lip gloss on his lips.
Hayate and Shino stared at him in shock, before they noticed the sign that hung above his head on the wall that read "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful". They watched as Kiba flinched when Hinata approached him to remove his gag.
"So Kiba, what was the lesson here?" Hinata asked in a pleasant voice as she removed his gag.
"I'm sorry for selling you out to Fū…" He said in a small, tired voice, looking at Hinata in fear.
"And..?" Hinata smiled at him, untying his ankles first.
"And for trying to pin the blame on Shino…" He mumbled, not looking anyone in the eyes.
"You what!?" Shino asked, looking at him incredulously.
"Oh you should have heard him." Hinata giggled. "Begging me to stop, swearing it was you that sent Fū to look for me. Eventually though his excuses just turned into screams, so I had to gag him."
Hayate looked at Kiba with disappointment in his eyes. "That's low." He said simply, walking over to a chair to sit down.
"He really looks like Tsume-san like this." Shino noted.
"I know right!?" Hinata agreed in excitement. "He really takes after his okaasan!"
"Honestly I was expecting you to do a lot worse." Hayate said, looking over at Hinata.
Hinata felt wronged. "Shishou, I could never actually harm a teammate!". Hinata thought for a moment before continuing. "Although this is only part one of his punishment."
"Hah!?" Kiba looked at her in shock. "W-what do you mean p-part one!?"
"Oh you didn't think this was all did you? No, I have something much worse in store for you, but don't worry, it won't happen until you've completely forgotten about it. It will come when you least expect it." Hinata smiled at him and patted his head.
Kiba looked at her in despair, but Hayate looked a bit impressed. 'Living in constant fear is a punishment in and of itself. But..' "You're not allowed to do anything to him during a mission." Hayate warned her.
"Don't worry, even I have a sense of propriety." Hinata confirmed, much to Kiba's relief.
As they were talking, they heard a knock at the door and two nurses walked in. They saw Kiba and instantly started giggling. "Don't mind us, sorry! We're just here to give Kiba-chan his medicine." They walked over and fed him his pain meds.
Kiba just groaned in defeat when the two nurses left the room, bursting into a fit of laughter in the hallway. Kiba began wiping the makeup off with his sleeve.
"I can't believe you! I worked so hard on that!" Hinata pouted at Kiba, who completely ignored her.
"Alright, alright. I want to talk to you all about our plans." Hayate said, causing his team to give him their attention. "While we're here, I don't intend on wasting any time. I talked to Shibuki-san yesterday, and he's fine with us using one of their training grounds. Kiba, I know you can't physically train right now, but you can still practice your tōton jutsu in bed."
"Yes sir." Kiba looked a bit disappointed.
"There's still about a month and a half until the exams, so I want you all to make sure that you're using your time wisely. Try not to get too distracted while you're here." He looked at Hinata pointedly as she blushed. "I'm going to send Tasū with a message to Konohagakure in order to inform them of our delay. Shino, Hinata; I want you two to go start your training now. Follow Tasū to the training grounds, it will guide you."
"Understood." They both said and left with one of Tasū's moths after Hayate summoned it.
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Fū sat in one of the tall trees that lined the forest that surround the cliffs inside Takigakure. She was watching from a distance as Hinata trained with Shino.
"Do I go and try to talk with her? No.. I probably shouldn't disturb their training. But they're going to be leaving soon! What if.. What if it was just a quick chat? But what if she gets annoyed with me.." Fū mumbled to herself, sighing quietly.
"You can train with them if you'd like." Hayate said from behind Fū, startling the shit out of her.
"Ah!? Hayate-san! When did you get here?" Fū quickly turned around to look at the man.
Hayate smiled at her. "Right around the time you started talking to yourself."
"So you heard me.." Fū sighed. "Are you guys really going to be leaving as soon as Kiba gets better? You can stay here a while longer! I know Shibuki-oniisan wouldn't mind!" Fū told him hopefully.
"This isn't our village, as nice as Shibuki-san is, I know he won't truly relax until we leave." Hayate explained. "Besides, we all have to return to report our missions' success."
Hayate looked at Fū's depressed expression and sighed. "If you want to see her again, I can try talking to Shibuki-san about getting him to let you visit Konoha for the chūnin exams. I can't promise whether he'll agree though."
"Really!?" Fū stood up in excitement. "I was asking for ages to let me participate in them! As soon as I heard about Konoha sending out invitations!"
"Mhm. I'll try." He rubbed her head. "Now why don't you go down and join them. I'll go talk to Shibuki-san now."
"Alright!" Fū excitedly jumped out of the tree rushing over to the duo. "Thanks again, Hayate-san!" She called back, waving at him.
"Good luck kid." Hayate said to himself before turning to go find Shibuki.
Fū ran until she hit the tree line of the clearing Hinata and Shino were training in. When she got close, she took out two kunai and threw them at Hinata, without saying anything. Hinata reacted instantly, pulling out Mikazuki and blocking both kunai as she spun around.
"Who's there!?" Hinata yelled, activating her byakugan. She instantly gaped as she saw Fū charge out the trees. Before Hinata even had time to be embarrassed, two more kunai came flying at her, followed by Fū.
Hinata blocked the second set of kunai and dodged around Fū's punch that was viscously headed straight at Hinata's face. Hinata followed it with a kick at Fū's side, who blocked it with her knee. Hinata, not wanting to actually hurt Fū, put Mikazuki on her back and took a taijutsu stance.
"Hayate-san said I could train with you two! I figured we'd start with a spar!" Fū said, flushed with excitement. "Show me what you got! I want to see how I compare with the girl who saved my life!"
Hinata's expression grew serious. Even if she believed herself to be the better fighter, Fū was still a jinchūriki. She had to take this seriously.
"Come on then!" Hinata shouted, launching a series of attacks.
Shino just continued working on his ninjutsu, watching the spar in amusement. 'Hinata is so much different when she's fighting.' He thought to himself. There wasn't any trace of her bashfulness when she was in combat, even if the one she was fighting was Fū.
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Hayate had found Shibuki and was now speaking to him as they drank tea in Shibuki's house. They exchanged a few pleasantries before Hayate brought up the reason for his visit.
"Shibuki-san, I'm not sure if you're aware of this yet or not, but it seems our two little kunoichis are quite fond of each other." Hayate said over his cup of tea.
"I'm aware. Fū came by to talk yesterday completely flustered. I don't think I helped much though, she left here rather depressed." Shibuki smiled wryly. "I had mentioned to her that you all will be leaving soon, and she didn't take it well."
"Mhm. Well that's something I wanted to talk to you about." Hayate's words caused Shibuki to raise an eyebrow in interest. "How would you feel about bringing Fū-chan to participate in the chūnin exams?"
"I don't know.. She's still young and immature." Shibuki sighed. "I know she wants to go, she's practically begged me non-stop. But the fact is that there are other reasons as well that complicate things.."
"You mean her being a jinchūriki." Hayate stated as a fact.
"You know!?" Shibuki looked shocked. He had been guarding this secret with his life and he thought he had been doing a good job of it.
"Hinata mentioned Fū was leaking a strange red chakra when she was being tormented by the kunoichi from Ame. That's the chakra from a bijū." Hayate said, studying Shibuki's reaction.
Shibuki sighed, looking defeated. He knew Hayate would have to report this to the Hokage, and now that Hayate knew the entrance to Takigakure, it was a very real possibility that Konoha could attack.
Hayate knew what Shibuki was thinking. Hayate would be worried about the same thing in his position, and the truth was, as much as Hayate wouldn't want to attack Takigakure, there was a distinct chance that the temptation of a jinchūriki would be too great. It was in fact very likely that Konoha would send a squad to infiltrate and take Fū away. Hayate might even be assigned to lead the team because of his previous experience with the girl and information from staying here.
"Shibuki-san, I'll be frank." Hayate said, causing the man to look up at him. "I already sent a report back to the Hokage about everything that happened. It will still be some time before he decides on what course of action to take, however."
Hayate was breaking several rules by telling the man this, but he assumed that Shibuki had already come to this conclusion, so he was trying his best to build up trust between them. Shibuki just listened in silence as Hayate continued.
"Neither of us want to see our villages at war. I quite like you, and both I and my team are extremely fond of Fū. Especially Hinata, as you know. If we want to avoid the worst outcome, it would be best if you and Fū show up to the chūnin exams. She can participate and visit her new friends, and you'll be able to speak with the Hokage and come to terms." Hayate gave him a steady look.
Shibuki sighed again, staring into his cup of tea as he thought over his options. He wanted to avoid a war. It was simply a fact that they wouldn't be able to fend off Konoha now that they knew the entrance to the village, and Takigakure didn't have any close allies that they could turn to for help.
Kumo and Iwa might be willing to help in order to keep another bijū out of Konoha's hands, but their demands in exchange would be equally as great. There would also be no way of knowing that they wouldn't backstab Takigakure.
"Fine. I'll use this month to make preparations for the talk with the Hokage and Fū and I both will show up for the chūnin exams." He eventually decided. "Please don't tell Fū about the details of this. I don't want her to know that she could possibly be the reason for a war."
"I won't. You have my word." Hayate nodded. "I'll also inform the Hokage of your decision and do my best to make sure he waits until you arrive to speak your piece before coming to any decision."
"Very well then.." Shibuki said, setting down his tea cup. "Then if you have no other business for me, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I have work to do."
Hayate nodded, standing up. "Then I'll leave it to you. We should be leaving in two days." Hayate mentioned as he walked to the door.
"Very well." Shibuki sighed once more as the door closed behind Hayate. He walked over to a window and looked out at his village. "It seems I let you down, otousan…"
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Hinata and Fū finished their spar, breathing heavily, but grinning at each other. Just as Hinata expected, Fū was a force to be reckoned with. It's likely that if Suien hadn't been there to help capture her, she could have dealt with the chūnin herself.
Fū wasn't a match in terms of skill when it came to taijutsu, but she was tenacious and could take blows that would normally knock an opponent off guard. She would also choose to take a hit in order to exchange blows with Hinata. This left both of them sore and covered with bruises, but they were still grinning at each other.
"Pfftt." Hinata tried to hold it back, but she just burst out laughing as she looked at Fū who had grass in her hair and was covered in dirt and bruises. Fū soon started laughing as well, both of them collapsing on their back next to each other, staring up at the sky.
"I need to apologize Fū." Hinata said after she had calmed down. "I shouldn't have kept running from you, it was rude and silly."
"It's ok! Really! I.. I understand why you did it.." Fū said, blushing a little. "I just hope we can be friends now and hang out. You're going to be leaving soon and I don't…" She trailed off, her voice getting a bit sad towards the end of her sentence.
"Me too." Hinata said, knowing what Fū was going to say. "Let's just have fun together while I'm here! Besides, I'm sure we'll see each other again!" Hinata turned her head and gave Fū a smile.
"Alright! We're going swimming after training is over! Then I'm going to show you the best shops around town! Oh! And we're definitely going to get dinner out in town!" Fū shouted excitedly, turning on her side to look at Hinata. The both of them had finally gotten over their embarrassment, choosing instead to spend their time having fun instead of worrying about silly things like crushes.