Naruto stopped at the hospital briefly to trade shifts with Sai, remaining vigilant outside Ino's room for a brief while so Sai could go home and get changed. The nurse was busy in the room with Ino, trimming her hair to… a short cut, it seemed. He couldn't remember ever seeing Ino with short hair. After less than an hour, Sai relieved him of guard duty, opting to drive around the city. He found a small shop he knew lacked surveillance and purchased a couple of prepaid phones, ensuring he only paid in cash. After returning home from a small nap, he drove out of the city, waiting until he was in a more remote area that still had service before dialling the number of the phone he'd given Sasuke.
It rang, and rang, and rang, eventually going to a generic voicemail. He couldn't risk leaving a message, so he opted to hang up, tossing the phone aside as he smacked the steering wheel in anger. All he could think of was how his best friend could be in trouble, and there was nothing he could do. So far, he'd learned that Sakura was nowhere to be found, which meant that she had to have gone with Sasuke. Naruto couldn't help the anger he felt. Sasuke was finally happy, finally smiling for once in his damned life, and something like this just had to happen.
After arriving back at her place with Neji in tow, Hinata sat down to work, opening her tablet with her keyboard and staring at the screen. She always wanted to write when she got home, but today nothing seemed to be clicking. She stared idly at the screen, scrolling through social media as her mind was whirling with questions. What could her father have to do with anything? Did his involvement mean Hanabi was involved in some way? Was it just a regular business deal, or was her father getting involved in some shady details?
"Hinata? Aren't you going to bed?" After a quick shower, Neji had come out from his room, squeezing his hair dry with a towel as he was dressed in a pair of pyjama pants.
"Oh, um, I was, um... Yeah, I-I probably should," she admitted, hanging her head. "I can't stop thinking about how Father might be involved in all of this. On top of that, I have no access to find anything out, either." Then there was Ino. Hinata's conversation with Sai had sent alarm bells off, and ringing like mad, especially after Neji had informed her about Sasuke and Sakura being framed for something. She had too many questions and not enough answers for what was happening.
"It's probably a good thing you can't. If he is involved in something shady, the less likely you can be tied to it, the better." Neji sat down and started brushing through his long hair. "In fact," he continued with a derisive snort, "He probably left you out of it solely because it was shady work. He knew full well you didn't plagiarize that essay, but he refused to have your back anyway." Neji's words stung, but Hinata knew he was right. Her father hadn't stepped up to defend her when she'd been mistakenly accused of plagiarism for an essay—a major, major problem for her. In public schools, they might have been more willing to listen, but it was never the case in a private school. She'd been promptly expelled, and the friend who'd screwed her over had kept her academic status by openly blaming Hinata.
"I hate that you're right." Hinata sighed and closed her tablet, leaving it to be dealt with in the morning. "At least my holidays are starting tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to write and forget about all of this." Writing would be an excellent way to distract herself from everything that was going on. She could sit in the coffee shop and focus on her books, drink some coffee, and maybe stop at the bookstore. There was also a writing convention that she wanted to check out, with the potential for her to meet other writers while she was there. Networking was going to be a big thing if she ever wanted to get her novel published.
"Oh, right. I forgot you had taken some time off." Neji stifled a yawn. "Oh, yeah, I have the next few days off, too. I forgot about that." For him, the hours he worked meant he struggled to keep track of his days. Sometimes he worked overnight; other times, he worked during the day; he never knew very far in advance what he'd be working, and his shifts were twelve hours or more sometimes. He was hoping at some point they'd move him up from beat cop to detective, but the more he looked at it, the further away the prospects seemed.
"Oh, that sounds like fun. Do you... maybe want to come to the, um, writing convention with me?" Hinata was used to going to events like that on her own, but she would welcome the company if he wanted. If nothing else, it'd be time for them to spend together. Neji was like her brother; the two of them were incredibly close, more so than Hinata was with her sister Hanabi.
"I could," Neji replied with a shrug. "I won't have much else to do while I'm off. Better than sitting around doing nothing." Hinata's face brightened in excitement hearing that. Standing with a stretch, she bid Neji good night and headed to her room, getting ready and crawling into bed to sleep.
Naruto nodded off in his car at some point, waking up as the sun was shining through the windshield after cresting the horizon. He'd slept for a few hours, but it still wasn't quite enough. Better than nothing, at the very least. He drove back into town, coming to the office and settling in to start his morning paperwork as usual. He repeatedly glanced at the phone he'd bought last night, waiting for anything to come through. Even just a text message would be enough. He needed to know that his friend was okay.
Beyond that... He was worried about Ino. They'd been close work friends for a while, even outside of work, and even involving... well, a few other things once in a while, generally when there was alcohol involved. He liked what they had, and he enjoyed their friendship. He'd yet to hear back from Sai about what was happening at the hospital, but considering the time, he was sure the agent could use some relief on that front.
Hinata woke bright and early the following day, feeling reinvigorated despite the chaotic night she'd had. She knew it was just a farce; she'd only slept a few hours, so her body was energized from nothing more than a short nap. With what energy she had, she knew she'd need to head to the office. Something in her gut was telling her that she needed to see if Ino was there. She wasn't sure what, but something was up, something big. She couldn't explain it, but she had to look into it.
Neji was up and about as she grabbed her things and shoved them into her bag, looking at Hinata with curious suspicion. "What's got you all up and about like this?"
"I'm going to the, um, office," Hinata explained as she was zipping her bag closed. "Something... something just isn't right, Neji. I-I don't know what, but I-I'm worried about Miss Yamanaka." Now that she thought about it, it would be less suspicious if she came to the precinct with someone else in tow. Everyone in the office knew they were related and spent a lot of time together; it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Neji to accompany her while she was picking something up from the office.
"Do you want me to come along?" He quickly picked up on Hinata's train of thought as he was filling his water bottle. "We can head to the convention after. I'm… concerned, too, with what's going on." Hinata guessed that he must have picked up on how much it was bothering her.
"Sure. Let's go." Hinata gave Neji a moment to get dressed and grab his things before they headed to the office.
Packing up whatever paperwork he could, Naruto was on his way back to his car, deep in thought and exhausted. He should have visited Ino in the hospital, but a good nap for the afternoon to relieve Sai for the night seemed like a better idea. As he turned the corner, he bumped right into Hinata, who was on her way into the building. Oh, crap. Here he was going to have to lie to her if she asked anything about Ino. Now that he thought about it… She was supposed to be on holiday. She wasn't even supposed to be at the office!
"Oh, Hinata!" He tried to feign nonchalance, but he also knew that he was a terrible liar in situations like this. It was one thing when they were in an interrogation room, but he always got uncomfortable about lying in a social situation. He hated lying to friends, and this entire situation was that and only that. Neji was with her, too… which was about to make things worse.
"O-oh, Detective Uzumaki!" Hinata was just as startled running into him; he was one of the last people she was expecting to run into, and she always got so flustered around him. She was surprised to see him at the office, or more accurately, leaving the office at this time of day. With what he was carrying, it looked like he was heading home for the day. Staring at him, she could feel her face heating up, cursing how easily flustered she was around boys. She'd always thought he was attractive and cute, though she'd never had the guts to talk to him on anything more than a professional level.
"Forgot somethin' at the office?" Naruto figured starting casual would be his best course of action. Assuming she was there because she forgot something was the most logical answer, right? The less they conversed about Ino or anything to do with the case, the better.
Before Hinata could answer, Neji tapped her on the shoulder, drawing her attention. "Text me what you forgot from your office, and I'll grab it. I'll let you two chat." Hinata read Neji's intention quickly, knowing he was leaving her to try and get some details out of Naruto while he could find what she needed. Nodding, she handed her office keys to him, and he took off, pulling out her phone and quickly texting him the file numbers that she would need. Naruto waited patiently, wishing he hadn't been left alone with Hinata. If she had questions, he would do his best to answer without raising Hinata's suspicions about what was going on. He didn't want to get her involved, if only for her safety.