Hinata waited nervously in one of the psychiatric wards many rooms.
It was painted in pale, calm pastel colours. Gentle blues washed around the room, and the carpet was soft. There weren't any real sharp corners in the room either. Soft, warm light illuminated the room from smooth lamps.
The furniture was soft and spacious as well. All in all, it was as threatening as a newborn puppy.
Yet the place felt odd to her. Here she really crossed the line from nearly retired to taking on her highest rank mission yet. A mission that even her father had been unable to find disapproval for.
Being specially hand picked by the Hokage herself helped her cause as well.
Still, she was unsure of what she was meant to be doing on this mission. Talking to people was fine, but forced talking was slightly more awkward. She didn't feel comfortable with the concept at all.
She looked over her briefing notes once more, and sighed at the objectives. They were so direct, so unthinking when compared to a human's being. They had to be, but the necessity depressed her.
'Objective 1: Track the psychological progress of the patient
Objective 2: Help patient overcome past psychological stress events
Objective 3: Force patient to relive events to help objective 2, in particular reference to any sealed memories.'
She had looked over the "sealed memories" part a few times, but couldn't find anything in the file. Yet it was very specifically there.
She checked the clock. She had arrived early, but surely that was to be expected. The second hand was ticking closer and closer to the hour. Was he going to be late?
As the second hand hit vertical, there was a very odd knock at the door.
It wasn't exactly loud as such. Nor was it a particular pattern. It was a single, almost quiet knock. It was as it wanted to be heard but only by one person.
It was oddly muffled in that regard. She summoned her courage.
"Come in Naruto."
Naruto got in through the doorway and shut it very quickly. She felt a little bit more relaxed by the fact he was clearly on edge as well. She saw his gaze rapidly flit around the room, taking in everything that was there.
His face was hard to read with his hood up, but she thought he didn't like the room all that much. That said, he did take a second to settle onto a sofa, as if assessing it's comfiness.
She took a seat in a chair a little apart from him. That was a good start. Some good distance, but close enough.
"Naruto-san."
"Hinata-san."
There was a moment of quiet, Naruto removed his hood in a sudden movement. She wondered if he was capable of slow and steady movement.
"How are you Naruto?"
"I am alive, and my new training is proving interesting."
"What is the training?"
"I am to learn chakra flow so as to empower my crossbow bolts with chakra. As of yet I am not sure what effect the chakra will have on the bolts."
Hinata smiled. He at least had something else to focus on instead of just these meetings. Naruto continued.
"Were we not supposed to be working on my psychology in these sessions?"
"A..Ano Naruto-san, in truth I am a little nervous at the prospect of these meetings, and I did wish to know how things were outside of these meetings."
She was surprised to see him blush the tiniest amount.
"I also held thoughts that they would be uncomfortable, which is foolish. These meetings cannot possibly cause me harm unless you decide to attack me. Given that we are both calm, I feel that this is unlikely."
She realised he didn't need subtle treatment to open up. He didn't need careful handling. He just needed a direct, goal oriented approach. She realised why her instructions had been worded in such a manner. It was not a degredation of him as a character, it was merely an understanding from Lady Tsunade of what he was.
She considered her instructions again.
"How have you been feeling recently?"
She saw his body shift posture just a little. It was so fast she barely caught the change in him.
"I regret that emotions are something I do not have a full grasp of yet. It vexes me. So I apologise in advance if I am unable to fully put into words some of the emotions that I have felt."
Hinata nodded. She could interpret as anyone could in this situation.
"Do your best to describe it."
"I have been happy, insomuch as I understand it, with my new training. The sense of purpose is...makes me feel like...feels correct. What is the word for that feeling?"
Hinata thought before realising that instinctual answers were likely to hold more truth than thought out.
"Contentment? Gratified?"
Naruto seemed happier with that.
"Yes, gratified. I find gratification in my work. I had been feeling ungratified with my lack of purpose since being taken off missions."
That much was understandable.
"Anything else?"
"I discovered a new food I enjoy, which made me happy. The food was certainly nicer to eat than my usual diet."
Hinata smiled at the human trait. He had a favourite food. She could press on with this.
"Which food was it?"
"I believe it is called ramen."
She nearly laughed. Nearly.
"I like ramen as well, but cinammon roles are my favourite food. I have a bit of a sweet tooth."
"I like ramen for the range of flavour that is possible, and I can eat more of it than I thought. I have not tried cinammon rolls before."
A slightly guilty thought entered Hinata's head.
"I will bring some to a future session so you can try some."
So she had an alterior motive, Tsunade-sama wouldn't really mind. After all, the Hokage was known for acquiring various bottles of sake when the occaision demanded it. She smiled a little and saw Naruto visibly relax.
A memory of finding his bedraggled body in the forest came back to her.
'I hope you smile this time.'
At the time she hadn't given it any more thought but at this point it was a reasonable line of questioning. Then she remembered his confession about the maid to her. She would be careful with her questioning. There was a line of how blunt she wanted to be.
"How have you dreams been recently?"
He was quiet for some time, but she didn't feel all that awkward about it. She had come to realise that when he was thinking, he was thinking. His mind focused entirely on the thoughtline, irrespective of anything that wasn't life threatening.
"My dreams have generally been calm. I do not picture much most nights, but those that I do the images are peaceful."
She cast her mind back to the report. Dreams were mentioned several times.
"How do they compare to the dreams you had on your mission?"
"Which mission?"
She didn't know what to call it really, and produced the report. She didn't want to voice the name of the mission that had taken him away, even if she had to try and move on.
"This one."
He paused and thought again.
"If you have my report, albeit the book version of it. What do you read into my dreams?"
It was possibly the most human interaction she had had with him for some time. He wasn't outright not answering the question, and he wasn't answering either. He was challenging her, almost like he didn't want to say.
"Your memorable dreams are of three faces."
"Correct."
She would have to dig deeper. She felt a redness start to build in her cheeks as she considered who one of the faces was.
"Can you t-telll me anything more about t-the faces?"
She met his one eyed gaze with her own. he was definitely not telling her everything. Was this him not thinking she was good enough to talk to him? He was acting normally for a human which was abnormal. It was making her nervous and it was showing. She tried to stiffen herself.
After a few long seconds he finally spoke.
"There are three. Two made it hard to sleep and one made sleep easier."
It was certainly more than she had got before. It felt like she was digging the information out of him. It wasn't how she should have been going about it. Then again, being a soft touch wouldn't work either.
She had to be bold but direct, but subtle at the same time. It was a little like him. How did he manage that.
"Was I one of the faces?"
There was silence. His single eye blinked for just a second and she could have sworn it looked away despite his body simply not moving.
"Yes. I memorised your face on the mission to the border where we joined up with team 10."
She remembered the mission. She remembered a fireside scene where she had looked into his eyes as she had spilled out her feelings in a rush she had never experienced before. How different that scene looked in the past compared to now.
She had lost control, she had seen all of him and got an apology. She had started to count him as a friend then.
She realised that she shouldn't have even thought twice about this mission. She should have accepted immediately just to help him as a friend. She had to judge him for something he might not even have done.
He had done it though.
She felt torn for a moment before realising she was blushing a bit and had been quiet for a while.
"Why?"
"Your face was a true picture of that which I did not understand and what I still do not understand. I could see in every line of your face, in your eyes and your lips. I could see how you were feeling something far deeper than anything I could conceive and I memorised it. I memorised it and it represented something mysterious but calm. Something I did not have."
She turned away to regain a little composure. The report had been well written but even then she had never suspected that under his exterior was something inside like that.
He was a poet in a warrior's shell. Still, he was her patient and someone she had to help.
"That's very...deep. Now, your report finishes inside the base, but the mission did not conclude until you were returned to Konoha."
She was taking these words from the Hokage, but they were effective at what she needed.
He was suddenly very quiet. It wasn't just silence it was as if he was killing all sound in the entire room.
"I simply passed out from the feedback due to a shadow clone."
She could tell he was lying. It looked like he was almost physically hurt by it, twisting a little in his chair. She wanted to accept it, to move on and to leave him peaceful.
Could she do continue? Could she continue to twist the knife into him to get to the truth?
"What really happened?"
"I do not know. I have sealed away the memory and run from the pain."
"How?"
He stood, staggering a little. She nearly rose to catch him but he held out a hand to steady himself on the arm of the sofa. He raised the side of his shirt.
At first she only saw his stomach, which looked healthier than before by some distance. Then she saw the huge mass of seals that covered the flesh.
His finger was touching what looked like a small part of a much larger seal.
"The Memory Eating Seal. It works by sealing off the part of the soul that carries the memory."
Hinata found herself shivering as if the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.
She wanted to reach out and brush the skin, but was that a good idea? Would that make things better? Would he react well?
She kept her distance, but he had noticed her shaking.
"Are you cold or scared?"
She had to suppress anger because she knew he wasn't being unkind. She didn't think he could intentionally be unkind.
"Scared."
He gave her a long, lingering look directly into her eyes. She held the gaze steadily, unable to tear herself away.
"I...understand."
He looked at the clock, pulled the hood over his head and left the room suddenly. Hinata unfroze just after he had gone and looked as well.
Exactly one hour had passed.
She sighed and began to make notes on what had happened. He had revealed the source of a major problem and it frightened her badly.
Did her Hokage expect her to break the seal and unleash the memory? That would be terrible to do to another human person, let alone a friend.
A friend?
A/N sorry for the short chapter but this is where things break up nicely. I won't show all the therapy/training session because that would be a bit dull, and hopefully things will get more exciting soon enough.
soon...