When they first got together, Hinata would lay awake and watch Naruto sleep.

She would count the measured rise and fall of his chest.

She would listen to the steady drum of his heart.

Just to reassure herself that he was still there. Still fighting.

And he did.

He woke up every day to fight the same demons that tried to take him down and made him so tired.

Every day.

He fought.

So, while the long hours of night stretched before him and he was at his most vulnerable, she watched. She guarded.

She sometimes wondered if it made any difference at all. She liked to think it did. After a few weeks she noticed his breathing was deeper. His heart steadier.

She liked to think he knew that she was watching over him.

That she always would.

"What do you mean, a log?" Hinata asks, adjusting her blinds to prevent the morning light from slanting across her eyes. She's tired from the night before. Her fight with Kiba had been emotionally draining, but her time with Naruto had worn her out in other-more pleasant-ways.

Thinking about it caused her face to ignite and her thoughts to skitter, so she was having a hard time following Neji's conversation.

"I mean, a log. A record of accounts," he repeats, sounding just this side of exasperated. It's early for her, it's predawn for him. "I want you to write down every incident that has occurred since Naruto's arrest until now. Every time you spotted someone strange at your apartment, or at work, on the street, or grocery store-every time."

Hinata took a breath. "I think that's a little paranoid," she says, quietly, tapping her desk. "I mean, there's no way I can know everyone, so if I list all the people I don't know-"

"That's not what I told you to do, so stop being obtuse." She hears him shift. "You know what to look for, Hinata. You took a defense class, plus you're smart. If you question it, log it. Log the phone calls, the pictures, the notes, all of it. Email me your log every day."

Hinata takes another breath. She's just now starting to get her anxiousness under control and now she's supposed to be actively looking for trouble? Intentionally paranoid? It's not like she's been turning a blind eye to it, it's just that she's really rather not let it get to her. And if she's trying to make a note of it...then, yeah...it's going to get to her. "Is that really necessary…?" She knows the answer, but she asks anyway.

"Hinata." Neji sounds less 'this side' and more 'definitely' exasperated now.

"I mean, it's all just to scare me right? Into, I don't know, into stopping. To stop trying to get Naruto released? It's about him, not me."

"Yes, it is," Neji agrees readily. "And right now, with all the information we've gathered, all I can say is that Naruto managed to piss off the wrong people. Dangerous people, Hinata." He waits a beat and she hears him sigh. "Are you sure you've told me everything? Is there anything that could have happened that you don't know? That Naruto hasn't told you." Neji pauses for another moment, before he pushes. "Is there a chance this is drug related?"

"What?" Hinata sits up straighter. "No, Neji. No. Nothing like that. Naruto...he's not like that, and besides, he's clean. He's been clean for a long time."

"He wasn't doped for his fight?"

Hinata inhales a sharp breath, simultaneously offended on Naruto's behalf, and confused. "You think he cheated?"

"Did he?"

"No!"

"You know that for sure?"

"Yes."

"You were there?"

Hinata nods, her lips thinning. "Yes," she says, voice tight. "I was at the fight."

"In his locker room? At weigh in? The whole time? Were you with him when he showered or took a piss?"

"What, no...Neji, that's just...no." She exhales a steadying breath. "Neji, no. He wouldn't. He didn't!"

"Calm down. I'm just covering every angle that I can think of. What about his coach?"

Hinata shifts in her seat. "What about him?"

"You think he may have helped Naruto along? Maybe without Naruto knowing?"

She swallows. Was it possible? Could Jiraiya be the reason for the whole mess? She didn't want to believe that, but it wasn't like he had even called to check on Naruto, and Shikamaru had tried several times to reach him at the gym, but was always told he was 'unreachable', so...maybe?

Even if he was involved, that didn't mean he had drugged Naruto. She had seen Naruto train. She knew his speed. He had won that fight fair and square. "I can't give you anything more than the truth, and what I know. And I know Naruto. And, and I know...I know what Naruto looks like strung out, okay. He wasn't."It's painful to recall that she does know what Naruto looks like high. What he looks like after a bender. What he sounds like. She knows him-at his worst and at his best. He wasn't doped.

She tells Neji as much.

"All right," he relents. "But it's still not a bad idea to look into the coach." Hinata can hear paper shuffling. Notes, most likely. "Didn't you, uh, say that this Yahiko character brought up the coach? Something like: 'The old man ain't around to protect you anymore'."

"I think so," Hinata confirms. "I mean, I can't be sure that's who he was talking about, but it makes the most sense. But, I don't know." She bites her lip, feeling dejected. She feels like she's being absolutely no help. Like they're all still running in circles, chasing tails and dead-end leads.

"Finding a motive would sure make this make a lot more sense."

"I thought you said it could just be a grudge."

"That was before I went digging. From what I'm gathering these people have been looked into by a number of agencies, and right now the DEA is sniffing after them, and yet they've managed to slip loose every time? Something isn't adding up here, Hinata. They're not a group of random thugs. They're too organized."

Her throat tightens. She runs her free hand over her desk-top, grounding herself to prevent a spike in her anxiety. "And they're after Naruto."

"Apparently."

She feels a little like crying. Naruto, who's only ever known struggle-who finally found a passion-only to have that yanked away from him and is now stuck in her tiny living room because fate loves to screw him over? It wasn't fair. She just wants him to be happy.

"Why?" she whispers, although she's not expecting an actual answer.

"The coach is a good place to start pressing. I'll make some calls. In the meantime, you-start that log. And stay safe." There's an edge to Neji's voice. "You're too close to this."

"I will." She pauses, considering. "Uhm, can you make an excuse? For Hanabi to stay with you. For a little longer? I just…I don't want her involved."

Neji gives her an affirmative answer before hanging up. Shikamaru is his next call, and they will make a plan. She's supposed to sit tight and try to look like a worried girlfriend.

Well, check.

She was.

Maybe not about Naruto going to jail, but worried even so. What were these people after?

Why was he a target?

Was it even about him?

Grabbing her keys, she pushes to her feet. It's early yet. Her first meeting isn't for a couple of hours. She has time to run an errand. They need answers. Which means finding Jiraiya.

She has no idea where that perverted old toad has hidden himself, but she's going to kick over as many rocks as she can to flush him out. 'Unreachable' her ass. She'd reach him all right and strangle him with his frayed grey hair. But not before he explained just what the hell he had gotten Naruto mixed up in.

Someone had to know where he was, right?