Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
It would be easy to crumble.
To sit and cry and lament at the unfairness of life.
In the past, she hates to admit, she probably would have done just that. Not so much out of self-pity, but out of the fear that she wasn't capable or valuable. She'd allowed herself to be brushed aside and under so many times in her life, and she knows that in some ways, she still does, but this isn't really about her, it's about Naruto, and when it came to him-she was anything but willing to be brushed aside.
So when the first officer she speaks to seems reluctant to take (much less believe) her statement, she doesn't back down. She demands a new one. She gets a new officer, a woman, that actually takes her statement, but also helps her phrase it in a way that sounds more assured and not simply a reaction to her boyfriend (fiance) being jailed. Officer Nohara gives her a sympathetic look and words of encouragement before she leaves. It makes Hinata a little more sure about her actions.
Once she finishes giving her statement, she regroups with Shikamaru. He doesn't have much in terms of new information, but he did successfully prevent the 'resisting' charge from being added to the complaint. Hours later they are told Naruto's bail hearing will be tomorrow. Shikamaru seems unsurprised by the news, and in fact, takes it well.
"It'll give me time to prepare for some probable eventualities," he explains to Hinata. "And for you and I to visit the scene."
She doesn't want to go back there. At all.
The idea of it makes her skin crawl and her breath quicken, but again, it's not about her-it's for Naruto-so she nods.
The others are sent home, with assurances from Hinata that she will call them with any news as soon as she has some. Iruka gives her his cell and insists that no time is a bad time for her to call. She hugs him and thanks him for looking after Naruto.
Naruto's always had 'friends', because he's wonderful and amazing, but he's never had a family. She looks at Ino and Sai and Iruka and even Shikamaru and wishes that Naruto could see them-even here in the weird fluorescent precinct lights-all looking a bit worn and weary. His ragtag family, rallied to his defense. Ready to fight for him.
Fight and win, she mentally amends.
The alleyway is even more disgusting in the daylight.
Her eyes stray to the pavement, to the very spot that Naruto had been pinned, his face planted on the ground as men she didn't know held him down-hurting him. She can hear the thud of the baton against his back. What if…
She shakes her head, closing her eyes, but that's even worse, because now her imagination is in overdrive and she can see the blood, hear Naruto's pained grunts.
"You okay?" Shikamaru's voice pulls her from her thoughts.
Hinata blinks a few times. "Yeah," she whispers. Then firmer, "Yes." She tugs her coat a bit tighter, but steps forward. "We, uhm, we came over here from the other sidewalk." She points to where she and Naruto had been standing when the woman had called out for help.
Shikamaru's eyes follow her finger. "Near that shop, over there?"
She nods. "Yes."
Shikamaru's gaze becomes speculative, straying towards the front window and the overhang. "You think they have security?" he asks, but it's not really a question, as he's already walking across.
Hinata's heart thumps. Yes. Yes they did. She remembers Naruto telling her. Maybe...maybe they had cameras? She hurries after Shikamaru.
It only takes a few minutes for the shop owner to be convinced to show them his digital footage. Shikamaru watches the scene with a cool detachment, while Hinata can barely look. The footage is dim, but not so bad that faces are unrecognizable. It's actually pretty easy to pick everyone out.
She watches the footage, tense, and biting her lip.
"Holy shit," Shikamaru breathes when Naruto erupts from the ground-wrecking everyone in that alley. In the aftermath of the video (as the shop owner Mr. Chen) makes them a copy, Hinata has to excuse herself. She rushes outside and promptly vomits into a nearby trash can.
Watching that scene again only confirmed the worst thoughts in her mind. She had come so close to losing him.
To those thugs.
To himself.
She exhales a ragged cough and straightens, wiping her mouth. Now was not the time to flake, though, so she pushes the fear back down to nestle in her gut. She'd deal with it later.
When she rejoins Shikamaru, he's on his phone. After a few minutes, he hangs up. "Conferring with another lawyer," he tells her. "We should probably prepare for an insane bail amount and the possibility that if released they will want a responsible party overseeing him."
"Whatever the bail is, I'll pay it," she says quietly.
"I don't think you understand how high it could go-"
She sighs, heavy. "I don't think you understand how little that matters to me." She still feels dirty-using that money. But she will. "And I'll sign whatever forms…" she sounds tired, even to her own ears.
Shikamaru looks at her pale face and cocks his head. "I think it's time we get you to that doctor now."
"I'm fine." They need to fill out those forms.
"Well, you look like shit," he counters. "Besides, we'll need the report. So let's go."
Her wrist was fractured. Hairline and stable, so she was given a padded wrist brace. Her throat was bruised and sore, but nothing substantial. All in all she was "Very lucky" the doctor said.
They write her a prescription for pain medication that she doesn't fill.
She's not sure how they would react to her medications, plus...if Naruto was going to be staying with her… She shakes her head.
He was different now.
Still.
She'd rather not have them there.
She picks up Argus from Kiba and gives him a very brief rundown of what was going on. He tells her that if she needs him or Shino, to just say the word. Back at her place she fills out the forms that Shikamaru had given her. She reads and re-reads them until her eyes go unfocused.
Argus sits at her side, head on her lap. She rubs his ears between paragraphs, taking comfort in his silent presence. Wearily, she rubs her eyes. It's late and she needs to sleep. Naruto's bail hearing is in the morning. She already moved some of her stuff around to make room and stopped by the store to get some extra food. Shikamaru seemed pretty confident that it was going to be a monitored release. "At least until I get all of this to the prosecutor's office and they work through the conflicting stories," he had told her.
Hinata spends the night awake. Staring at the ceiling.
Everytime she shuts her eyes she sees that alley.
Or the hallway and Naruto being tased.
So she lays awake.
They tried to hurt him.
They were still hurting him-trying to take him away from her.
She rubs the ring on her hand, contemplating Shikamaru's words. If Naruto had indeed made some powerful enemies, then they were soon going to realize that he had some powerful friends. He wasn't alone anymore. And if she had her way, he never would be again.
She wasn't that scared little mouse of a girl that hid from the world anymore.
She was a genius of perseverance.
She was the future Mrs. Uzumaki.
With that thought in mind, she finally closed her eyes and slept.