Kisame watched her walk. He may have figured it out. Hinata never once opened that umbrella. He wasn't sure it could open. His suspicions were furthered by her cousin's instant answer. Was it really just a disguised cane? He itched to ask, but for once, he would keep his mouth shut. It made sense. The way she walked was silted and slow. Her hips moved uncomfortably, and the way she trailed the wall to get to and from her room. She probably has a back condition. Maybe this is the thing no one talked about.

Whatever.

"So, what would you like to eat? I'll buy." Kisame leaned over to look down at her. The height difference made it difficult to hold a normal conversation sometimes.

"I can buy…" Hinata touched the edge of the bag she had brought with her.

"You make me lunch every day for free. I can buy you a late snack." Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Okay." Hinata frowned. Kisame wasn't sure if he should be offended or not. Was it because she thought he couldn't afford it? He wasn't that far in the hole. At least he didn't owe anyone money like Hidan did.

Hinata was too nice to think badly of him for his financial status, so it might have been something else. "So, what do you want to do with the few hours that you are out of your tower?"

Hinata giggled a little at his lame joke and looked up, thinking. "I have no idea. I don't even know what is on this side of the city. I've only seen what is on the way to and from school."

Kisame rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly, nothing I know that I think you would be interested in."

"I wouldn't mind, really," Hinata admitted. "Though I believe we are limited by time." She looked back at the apartment building she could no longer see.

"Well then, how about just raiding a convenience store for snacks and something to entertain ourselves with for a few hours." Kisame let his face twitch when he released 'entertain themselves with' could be taken the wrong way if you thought about what most would be buying at their age for a convenience store after sneaking out. Luckily, Hinata didn't notice his mistake, and he didn't want to think about it anymore.

Hinata giggled in her fingers. "That sounds great, actually."


They settled in the lit park sitting by the fountain, eating sweets and other prepackaged things they picked up. Hinata carefully read the ingredient to make sure anything she picked out was something he would be able to stomach. It was the cutest thing watching her frown in concentration, looking at the back of a package of jellies or chocolates. They picked out a pack of cards, and she giggled as Kisame taught her dumb card tricks and attempted to teach her card games. She wasn't at all as competitive as him, and she looked guilty if she won.

Kisame talked her into an energy drink. Hinata was resistant, contributing to the bad effect of caffeine, though he convinced her with the fact that it was harmless because she was only getting one, and it wasn't like he was offering alcohol.

Though he was sure this entire night was a bad influence on her as he was loading her with sugar and caffeine while they sat in the middle of a public park laughing at how bad she was at cards. She was really cute, covering her face, trying to keep from being too loud.

The entire night went over smoothly until they started to walk home when someone approached them. Now he would have fully expected a drunk or some random thug at this hour, maybe not once they saw him, but still.

What they got was a police officer.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" The officer asked, eyeing Kisame. Kisame winced. He recognized the cop as one of the ones that regularly broke up fights at the bar. Of course, Kisame got in a few as a bouncer. That was his job, but this officer threatened him with his own arrest if he caught him starting the fights.

Hinata's face lost all amusement and all color. "I'm fine." Kisame was surprised at how cold she turned.

"Are you sure? Your voice is shaking." He pointed out.

"She's got a natural stutter." Kisame bit out.

"Do you know this man?" The police officer continued.

"Yes, we are classmates," Hinata told him firmly. "And he's taking me home. I can't be late." She insisted with a tone of offense. Kisame was thrown off by the way she was talking to the authority.

"I could help you home, ma'am." The officer continued, pointing at his park squad car.

"I'm expected to return with Kisame-san." Hinata denied. "Please. I really can't be late."

The cop's face straightened. He looked between the two and gave a stiff nod. "Right, have a safe trip."

For the first time, Hinata didn't bow her head and thank him. She just grabbed his sleeve with a death grip that compelled him to get her as far away from the officer as possible.

They walked in dead silence until they got to her apartment building, where he looked around with no sign of the cop. "What the actual fuck." Kisame growled. "Sorry, mouse." He looked down at her, but her head was down. "Mouse?" He bent nearly in half to look under her bangs to see tears running down her face.

Hinata's eyes slid up to him, and she hiccuped. "How could he imply that!?" She squeaked out. "It's so incredibly rude. There was no indication at all that I was uncomfortable. How could he be that insulting!"

Kisame processed the situation. Hinata wasn't upset that they were stopped by the cop but that it was profiling? He was a massive shark, and he knew he looked way older than he was, but she also looked tiny in comparison. He wasn't all that surprised. However, it didn't make him any less pissed off about it.

"I've had worse," Kisame admitted. Hinata looked at him with those big blank eyes with her heartbreaking in them. God, if she was any more caring and adorable, he was going to actually think someone brought to life a stuffed animal. "Really. I get racist spats. I've been arrested for fights I didn't start. This is nothing new to me. I'm just sorry you were involved."

"That's so unfair!" Hinata whimpered.

"Yeah, but I'm big and blue. What do you expect." Kisame mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. He started on a different topic before she could find more reasons to be sympathetic. "More importantly, did you just stilt a cop? Like proper rude. What was that about?"

Hinata was obviously embarrassed but offered no apology. "He was rude."

"Sorry to say, but he was trying to protect you. As much as I hate cops, that is their job." Kisame said down at her.

"No, he didn't want to protect me. He wanted to frame you badly. I was showing no sign of distress. I was laughing. It shouldn't have been a question. If he was concerned, he could have kept watching to see there was no issue." Hinata was really offended, wasn't she?

"Well, in any case, I'm scared to piss you off. It's the short ones you have to look out for. There isn't a lot of room for the rage to dissipate." Kisame grinned his sharp teeth at her, getting a small giggle. "Let's get you upstairs before your cousin calls for another cop like we need that."


"How did it go?" Itachi raised an eyebrow, one that told him he already knew.

"Fine until we got stopped by that one cop that has it out for me. Don't know if he thought I kidnapped her or tried to smuggle some drunk girl home or what the hell, but it made the mouse cry. Which was fun to explain to her cousin." Kisame explained. "She actually lied to him. She told him she got sugar in her eyes." He paused. "Wait, you know what, that isn't even the damn good part. That little shit told off a cop." Kisame added with a wave of his hand. "Because he insinuated that I was a problem. She did it in her sweet little polite way, but like, that cop looked like she smacked him."

Itachi gave him an annoying amused smile. "Hinata only loses her temper when those she cares for are being insulted. I'm not surprised she stood up for you."

"She's going to get herself in a lot of shit if she thinks she can protect me from the world." Kisame slumped his shoulders, walking into the classroom with the annoying knowledge that Itachi was likely smiling smugly at his back.