Chapter 20

Hinata woke up the next day still in pain but feeling better than yesterday. Typically Kuinochi had special painkillers they could take to lessen their period pains if they needed it, or some even went ahead and suppressed their periods so they didn't have to deal with situations like this during missions, but she hadn't had any of those pills on hand. What Kakashi had provided had been good enough and now that the worst of the cramps was over she should be okay.

She glanced up at the clock surprised that it was so bright outside. Crap, it was 9 AM she had slept in. Hinata jumped into the washroom and took a long hot shower. Afterwards she felt much better. She changed out of her pajamas into a long flannel button up dress that ended just below her knees. It was fashionable enough, but it was mostly loose and comfy. After brushing her hair and doing her morning skin care routine Hinata went to the dining room to work.

Logging into her email she smiled to find that her sister at least seemed to be adapting quickly to the technology. She had a few emails to sift through between Hanabi and her assistant.

Afterwards she jumped on a quick video call with Hanabi to receive an update on clan business. Her father seemed to be diving back into the role of interim clan leader with a lot of enthusiasm so luckily all was taken care of back at home.

Relieved from the call, she spent the rest of the morning reviewing the training records of the Hyuga Shinobi that were currently in the Academy. They had recently developed a Hyuga Internal training and development program. The program was designed to accept the most promising students as protege to learn the secret techniques of the main clan.

There were still a few kinks to iron out with the program especially because some of the elders in the clan held the antiquated belief no one outside of the main branch should know these methods. But what good were these techniques doing to the Hyuga or Konoha if they were only performed by a handful of people, when an entire clan with the ability to do so was underutilized. Okay maybe an entire clan was an exaggeration but she was sure they had more than a handful of users with the necessary chakra controls to master these techniques.

Around noon just as she walked over to the fridge for lunch, Kakashi popped out from his office.

"Oh hey" he called out, heading to the fridge as well.

The events of last night flashed through her head making her a bit self-conscious so she paused by the island. "H-Hey" she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she watched him walk to the fridge.

"Feeling better?" he asked as if nothing of significance had happened.

"Um… yes thank you. I wanted to tell you I really appreciated your help last night. Thank you… for taking care of me" she murmured.

"No problem… like I said it's just the two of us in here. We have to take care of each other". Kakashi opened the fridge door and stuck his head in trying to find something to eat.

"Oh by the way" he called out as he pulled out a pasta salad. She looked at it interested, she didn't remember that being in the fridge before.

"I was…" he trailed off and looked at the pasta too. "Oh Shizune dropped it off".

"Oh… you two seem rather close".

"Yes… well she does kind of run the Kage tower. Without her we would all be lost. Anyway" he continued. "I was thinking I will make you dinner tonight if you are feeling up to eating?"

"Oh" she froze. "That… that sounds lovely. I didn't know you could cook?".

"Well… I've had to learn over the years" he said nonchalantly. "Is there any food you don't like to eat?"

"Umm.. no not really."

"Okay great" he said as he started serving himself lunch.

She smiled having never expected Kakashi to be so self-sufficient. She had assumed he was like most men she knew, who didn't cook or clean. But in fact he was one of the most independent and fastidious men she had ever met. She'd noticed that even during their trip.

Her phone started ringing distracting her. Hinata almost dropped it because the sound startled her so much. She looked up to find Kakashi laughing at her.

"Err... I'm still getting used to that, excuse me... I have to take this" she murmured and walked out to his deck through the sliding doors in his living room.

"Hello?" she answered nervously.

"Hello... Hinata is that you, are you okay? I heard what happened!" said Ryoko in a concerned voice.

Their relationship had been a bit strained lately. When they started dating a year and a half ago it had started out as a friendship. He seemed to like her and her ego had been bruised by Kakashi so she gave him a chance without much forethought. Unfortunately it hadn't taken them too long to find out that they didn't have that spark… or whatever you call it between them. The chemistry was almost nonexistent. In addition, neither of them received much encouragement for their relationship from their clans. Clearly the elders saw the obvious logistical problem that Hinata and Ryoko had been avoiding. Or perhaps in hindsight Ryoko had seen it all along but he had intended for her to give up her role as a clan lead and move to Kirigakure.

After she was named the leader of the Hyuga clan their relationship started to fizzle even more. They were both busy running their respective clans and neither seemed to be eager to talk about what would come next. Hinata knew that they could have a very amenable relationship if they were to get married. But was amenable enough to sustain her for a lifetime?

"Oh… yes, I'm fine… I mean yes it's all a bit scary but I feel okay. Everything seems to be okay so far".

"Ah… okay. Well that's a relief. I heard you are quarantining with Kakashi?".

She didn't immediately say anything, the two men seemed to dislike each other quite a bit and right now she didn't have the energy to deal with any jealousy.

"Um yes I am. We were exposed together so they quarantined us together" she said simply.

"You don't need to be stuck with him Hinata, it's ridiculous that they even asked you to. I can move you out of there right now in to a separate location… and I can find someone to keep an eye on you for that time period".

Pay someone was what he meant, Hinata thought absently.

"No… that's okay, we don't know if there are any effects to this powder so I would rather not put anyone else at risk, thank you though " she said softly but there was a note of steel in her voice. "Also... let's be real with each other for a bit Ryoko".

There was silence on the other end. "What are you talking about Hinata".

She sighed dreading what she had to say next, "We both know that this relationship is on it's last legs, why don't we just make things simpler and end it right now".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... you aren't going to move to Konoha right?"

There was silence on the phone again.

"Exactly... I'm not willing to abandon my clan and move to Kirigakure either... I'm sorry"

"Ah I see… " he said, "well I'm glad you are okay. I will be wishing for a speedy recovery, both for you and Kakashi. Good bye Hinata".

They didn't stay on the phone for much longer after that. Once she got off the phone she didn't know what to feel. After all was said and done he had been a friend to her and she mourned for the loss of that friendship, but she hadn't been surprised by how cold their breakup was. That was what their relationship came to be at the end... a business proposition. Hinata stayed outside for five more minutes trying to regain her equilibrium.

"Everything okay?" Kakashi asked as she walked in. He was seated in the dining room table having lunch and reading the paper.

"Ummm… yes, everything is fine. I was talking to Ryoko, he sends his regards"

"Oh… that's nice of him. How are you two doing? I thought I would have been invited to your wedding by now".

"Oh" she laughed. "Things between us aren't quite that serious". She wasn't ready to tell him about the breakup just yet, it hadn't even fully sank in for her yet.

"Why not? I thought you were dating each other." he looked at her speculatively before turning the pages of the paper.

"Well… we haven't really talked about how marriage would work with both of us being clan leaders and being from different countries".

"Oh... well… yes that is tricky... I'm not the biggest fan of him as you well know and I'm biased, so I will recuse myself from giving any advise. Anyway I have to go back to work now, I'll see you later Hinata" Kakashi said as he got up from his chair and put his dishes onto the dishwasher before walking back into the study.

She frowned after him wondering what he meant that he was biased.

Hinata spent some of the afternoon napping again because the cramps came back and because she was a bit sad after her call with Ryoko.

But later in the evening she cheered up after talking to Hanabi and Zima. The 10 year old had been at the main house for some of the lessons Hanabi was giving her, and she got to hear from her sister how the girl was progressing. Zima didn't have any Shinobi powers so they tried very hard to make sure she didn't feel like an outsider amongst the Hyuga. However, Zima seems to be a natural at Taijutsu so she would turn out to be a Hyuga warrior yet, Hinata thought with a smile.

Around 5 PM Hinata had a quick shower and let her hair dry in curls around her. Then she went downstairs dressed in sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt to find Kakashi in the kitchen cooking.

"Hey, can I help?" she asked walking in.

"Umm… actually, no thanks. Why don't you take a seat, relax and keep me company?".

So without further protest she slid into one of the barstools by the island. He seemed to be making a fish dish.

"Where did you learn to cook?".

"Through books" he said simply, "I read various cook books and tried out recipes until I mastered them".

"Wow… that's incredible" from time to time she tended to forget that Kakashi had been an orphan as well. She felt her heart squeeze again thinking about how lonely he must have been… and how lonely he still might be. But a conversation from long ago flashed through her mind, one where Kakashi had asked her to butt out of his life and to stop trying to 'fix' his loneliness.

So instead she changed the topic, "So... is this what you do for your girlfriends?".

He laughed at that. "Um… you know very well Hinata that I don't have any girlfriends. But yes I've cooked for women before. But… I used to cook mostly for my friends".

"Oh... like who?"

"I used to cook for Rin and Obito. Now I cook for Guy and sometimes Naruto and the gang too".

"I'm sorry about Rin... and Obito. You said you didn't get to figure out if you loved Rin or not, but it seemed like you cared deeply for her all the same".

"Yes… I miss them. I have a picture in the study if you want to go see" Kakashi said while seasoning the fish.

"You don't mind?"

"Why should I?... you can go ahead"

So she slid out of the chair and walked into his study. This was a room she hadn't seen yet. It was a very straightforward room, with a large desk, a few monitors and with piles of books and files. Situated on his desk was a lone picture frame. She gingerly picked it up and turned it in her hands. After a while she couldn't help but exhale sharply as she absorbed the picture. Her reaction was in both joy and pain.

Featured in the picture was Naruto's dad, Minato… the fourth Hokage. He was bent over his genin team and was ruffling Kakashi and Obitos hair. The boys looked to be serious but still very different from one another.

Kakashi looked annoyed in the picture and Obito seemed to have a bit more of a vibrant personality to him evident through how he dressed. In the middle was Rin… she was pretty, and seemed to be very kind. Rin was smiling at the camera making peace signs with her hands.

She put the picture back down and gripped the desk hard with both her hands. Hinata was feeling oddly upset. Perhaps it was seeing Kakashi as a child and realizing how much loss he had experienced at that age and how much loss was still to come. It just wasn't fair.

She loved him. She realized that now. No matter how it had all started while they were in Kirigakure, she hadn't realized what he meant to her until recently. He would insist that this was a puppy love and that she didn't know what love was. But in fact, Hinata thought she knew a lot more about love than Kakashi did. It was frustrating… so extremely frustrating being in love with a man who didn't even want to give a relationship a chance.

She had been able to put him out of her mind over the last few years, but that was because she had avoided him and stayed busy. If her feelings were just fleeting emotions they should have passed by now. Being around him like this shouldn't have reignited her feelings for him into something bigger and stronger than before. It just wasn't fair.

"Hinata" he called out. "Did you find it".

She quickly wiped the tears running down her face and turned around with a smile on her face.

"Yes… it's so cute. You three looked like a fantastic team" she said as she exited the study.

He turned as she walked out observing her with a frown. Damn his keen intelligence. To keep them both distracted she walked over to the stereo and put some music on.

"We should play truth or dare" he suggested.

"What… why?" she asked, confused.

"Well… we gotta stay entertained in here Hinata, we still have like a week and a bit of isolation to go."

She laughed at this unexpected twist, "Umm... okay, well you go first then, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare". Of course he would pick dare.

"I dare you to put on a woman's dress" she said laughingly after thinking about this a bit.

"Well…. sure after we eat" he smiled taking her by surprise. She hadn't expected him to agree!

With the fish all finished he walked over to the dining room and set everything up. There was soup, fish, rice and some steamed vegetables.

"Wow, this all looks amazing" she smiled at him.

He brought over two glasses of water and they settled down to eat dinner. This was the very first time someone had cooked dinner for Hinata (other than the Hyuga staff). So it was a very special night indeed.

Authors note: sorry for the sexist comments throughout the chapter. I fully acknowledge that cooking and cleaning shouldn't be labeled for certain genders, but this is written from a more traditional perspective/time period where unfortunately certain things were assigned or ascribed to certain genders. But on a plus note, Kakashi is destroying lots of gendered stereotypes :)!