Hinata found herself at a loss for words when she was left alone with Naruto. She knew who he was a little too well; he was the guy known for asking many girls out around the office. Most of the time, if you saw a girl, she'd been asked out by Naruto at one point or another.

Except for Hinata.

Then again, she was sure there was a reason for that. Working as Ino's secretary, they ran into one another frequently, and Hinata was one of the only people who knew about the… unique situation between Detective Uzumaki and Miss Yamanaka. Ino had, in the past, requested that Hinata ensure nobody bothered them in her office, and once the door was locked and she drew the curtains, Hinata learned not to question what was going on in there.

It was the kind of thing she might write in one of her books, though.

"Yeah, I just forgot something in the office. I also wanted to say hello to Miss Yamanaka. I made sweets last week and promised to save her some." Hinata lifted the bag, which had a small container of cinnamon buns inside. She'd intended for them to be a snack for herself and Neji at the convention, but the better her cover was, the less suspicious she'd be. "Have you seen her?"

"Mm… No, I don't think she was in today, sorry." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Last night, she made some kinda stink about taking a day off because she's forgotten what holidays are like, and she said Sai dressed like a stuck-up jerk, and she was determined to change that. I think they went on a shopping trip." It was something Naruto had come up with on the fly and something he hoped was at least somewhat believable. Ino would drag someone out for a shopping trip like that.

"I see." Hinata's brow furrowed in suspicion. That story seemed… too on-the-nose. There was Ino, and then there was exactly Ino, which in itself was nonsensical; Ino outside of a courtroom was flamboyant, impulsive, and did things on the fly, but there was a certain finesse to it. Naruto's description lacked that finesse, and it sent off alarm bells in the bluenette's head. "Well, I should hurry. Neji and I are headed to the writing convention today since he has the day off. Maybe… I'll see you later?" She smiled at Naruto, who gave his goofiest smile back, chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Writing convention, huh? Sounds like fun. Yeah, I'll see ya when you're back from holidays. Have fun!" With her departure, he took off for his car, knowing he needed to talk to Sai promptly about Hinata. Something had to be done about how much she was looking around and how suspicious she was getting. That was twice now she'd asked about Ino, and the lie was only growing bigger.

Naruto had rushed to the hospital once he was freed from his conversation with Hinata, nervous as ever. Hinata was… asking way too many questions, as far as he was concerned. The point was to try and keep her out of what was going on, not get her involved! Yet Sai had managed to do just that by acting sketchy. Damn it, why couldn't he have handled that better? It was becoming more and more challenging to keep Ino's condition on the down-low from everyone around them. He was just glad he didn't have to worry about telling Sasuke and Sakura; he had a feeling Sakura, at least, would have grilled everyone even harder for answers.

As he came in, he nearly ran into Dr. Senju, giving her a sheepish wave. Oh, no. She looked like a woman on a mission, and she was headed straight for Ino's room. He followed behind her, suspicion rising even higher as the blonde doctor walked right into the room.

"Agent Gaka, may I have a word, please?" Naruto met Sai's gaze from behind Tsunade, shrugging his shoulders. He hadn't the faintest clue what Dr. Senju wanted or why.

"Anything you have to talk to him about, you can discuss in front of me." And there was the old Ino that Naruto loved hanging around with; when she wanted something, she could be straightforward as hell about it. Naruto suspected that Sai had talked Ino through everything that had happened and that she was likely still processing what was going on. Nevertheless, Sai seemed just as surprised as Naruto at how blunt Ino was; he wondered if she felt almost too overwhelmed by the situation.

"I don't know if you're in any condition for a conversation like thi-"

"With all due respect, Dr. Senju, it's probably something I need to hear about anyway." Ino met Naruto's gaze, giving him a nod; he could tell she seemed to only vaguely recognize him. Well, that was going to be an awkward conversation, considering their… extracurricular activities. Oh, man, he wasn't going to have to tell Ino about that, was he?! Sheesh, he didn't even want to imagine trying to explain that. He was awkward enough with girls, but explaining why they spent so much time together outside of work? Oh, boy. This was going to be a nightmare.

"All right, then." Dr. Senju beckoned Naruto in, dragging him out of his stupor before closing the door behind him. He saw the way she moved to the opposite side of the bed; she seemed to know that neither boy would put Ino in the line of fire, which meant she was about to ask hard questions and planned to use Ino as a proverbial shield to get the answers she wanted.

"Neither of you have allowed her family to visit her." Crap. "You've asked security to be stepped up around her room beyond what would normally be asked." Double crap. "On top of that, I have agents that I'm telling I cannot speak to or give updates to because of medical confidentiality, and they, too, refuse to tell me anything." Triple crap. Naruto fought to keep a straight face, wishing they weren't having this conversation. They'd hoped the doctors would understand, but not Dr. Senju! This woman was a force to be reckoned with! In some respects, she reminded Naruto of Sakura…

"I need to know what is going on with my patient." Everyone in the room had been stunned into silence by Dr. Senju's ferocity.

"We're not at liberty to say." Sai was just as firm; Naruto was glad he could keep his cool and respond calmly to the situation. Sai was right; they didn't have the luxury to tell Dr. Senju what was happening. The fewer people that got involved in this massive conspiracy, the better. Adding another person to the mix would only serve to complicate things further.

"Tell her." Ino's voice rang out as she looked first to Sai, then to Naruto, staring them both down. "Look… I may not remember either of you, but I remember Dr. Senju. She… was one of Sakura's teachers, and I know we can trust her." So Ino did remember some things, just… only a few things. Recent memories seemed to be what was most challenging for her, though they could hope those memories would return in a short period of time. "The more allies we have handling this, the better, right?" Naruto looked at Sai, feeling uncertain. Ino did have a point; Dr. Senju, right now, was someone they could use as an ally, especially if the other members of ROOT wanted to question Ino about what had happened. If they could convince Dr. Senju to declare that Ino's memory loss was permanent, even if it wasn't…

"Sakura?" Dr, Senju seemed surprised by the mention of the pinkette. "Oh… you're Dr. Haruno's friend?"

"Yes. I'm her friend." Ino was still staring at them, making Naruto infinitely more nervous. "Sakura always talked highly about you and loved working with you. She said you were the best teacher she'd ever had."

Naruto let out a sigh, rubbing his temples. This was beginning to frustrate him. "Listen, Dr. Senju… What we're about to tell you can't leave this room and can't be shared with anyone outside this room, do you understand?" The last thing either of them wanted was to take care of a loose end because it would mean dealing with her in a way that ROOT would be more inclined to. Finding a way to put her in jail, discredit her… or worse. Nevertheless, Sai and Naruto knew they had to trust Ino's judgement right now. She knew Dr. Senju better than either of them.

Silence filled the room, lingering for far too long before the doctor spoke again ."I understand. I… now that I know who my patient is, I suspect it has something to do with my former student." Even Tsunade seemed to pick up on the gravity of the situation, much to Naruto's relief. He figured the older woman must have grown close with Sakura over the time they'd worked together.

Sai started to explain the situation to Dr. Senju, with Naruto assisting as best he could with additional details. When Sai and Naruto finished the explanation, an uncomfortable silence filled the room, hanging over them like a heavy cloud. Dr. Senju was rubbing her temples, brow creased as worry filled her brown eyes the more they explained.

"This is… more than I bargained for," Tsunade admitted. "But I do understand where you all are coming from. I know Sakura very well; she was a good student of mine, and the things you are saying she is accused of… those I can attest are not crimes she would have committed." Tsunade hung her head; the news seemed to be weighing heavily on her. Naruto couldn't blame her for feeling overwhelmed. "And from what I understand, she is one of the only witnesses able to give an account of what happened, correct?"

"I think… even at this point if her memory begins to return, it would be best to err on the side of caution," Sai explained. " I hate to ask you this given your profession, but… is it possible to note her amnesia as more permanent, even if her memory does return?" Naruto was shocked by that question. To ask a doctor to lie about a person's medical status? That was a heavy thing to ask. Even he didn't have the guts to tell Tsunade to do such a thing.

"I… I think, given the delicate nature of this situation, such a decision would be best left to Miss Yamanaka." Naruto looked to Ino after the doctor's statement, wondering what she'd decide. Either option was logical; it was a decision Ino should make, not them, as it would be on her medical history that her memory hadn't returned, even if it started to.

"Yeah. That's fine by me." Naruto could see the conflict in Ino's posture, but she seemed to agree, albeit reluctantly. "Sai, can… can I have my phone?" Naruto took that as his moment to step out, leaving the two of them alone in the room, pulling out his phone and checking. No calls yet, which meant Sasuke had yet to reach out to him. Damn it. This was the time that catching him up to speed would be best.