Hinata reached the foot of the mountain the next morning, close to noon. Karin hadn't regained consciousness just yet, and Hinata managed to book them a room in a small inn. She flopped Karin on the bed and stripped most of her clothes off just so she could wipe her down with warm water and a cloth. She didn't seem to be running a fever, which was a good thing.
Hinata sighed and plopped down beside her. Her muscles ached from packing Karin all the way through the forest. She watched Karin sleep and monitored her through the day until dinner. It would only be a matter of hours before Sasuke and the others descended from the mountain. They would be expecting to see the girls waiting at the large wooden gate.
..
Hinata soaked another cloth and replaced the one already on Karin's forehead. Hinata covered her up and tucked her in before heading to the bath to wash off. Her mind was racing and she just needed a nice hot soak to relax her troubles.
The bath was already prepared since it was a 24 hour luxury for the hotel. The amount she spent on the room was something Sasuke could gripe at her for later..
She sunk down into the steaming, clear water and wrapped a warm towel around her head. This traveling business was no joke, but she would still take it over sitting back in the Leaf. She smiled knowing that because of her actions Neji had more of a chance of marrying whomever he chose to as well. Not only that, but she felt this entire experience had been renewing for her. She was able to breathe and travel freely and grow to whatever lengths she chose. She wasn't being pressured to marry anyone and she got to spend her time with Karin, whom she considered a good friend at this point.
She fought back the worry that threatened to come to surface. She did her best to convince herself that Sasuke and the others were alright and that whatever had caused the prior incident was taken care of. Her relaxation was cut short when she heard a familiar voice on the other side of the hot bath, in the men's section.
"When do you think the girls will get here?"
"I told you they are already here, I can sense Karin's chakra from a mile away."
The voices belonged to Jugo and Suigetsu. It seemed they were just on the other side of the bamboo wall. Hinata's eye twitched. Why was she even worried in the first place?
"I would like it if you two would shut up so I can enjoy this bath." Hinata rolled her eyes at the sound of Sasuke's irritated voice.
"Is it rude not to invite them to the bath? I mean we were supposed to wait at the foot of the mountain.."
"If you wanted to stand there all night, you're more than welcome to go back, Suigetsu." Sasuke practically hissed out. Hinata quietly swam over to the bamboo wall and pressed her ear against it. She took note of the structure of the thin wall, as it cut off just a few inches below the surface of the water. Someone could easily swim underneath it. From what she could tell she was closest to Sasuke.
"I really didn't expect to see that weird blonde kid running around, you know the one that says he knew you forever ago?" Suigetsu stated, a little unsure of himself.
"Hn." Naruto was there? Hinata's brain was scrambling about looking for answers. Had they upset him by making off with the scroll? Was that what he came for? Was he trying to kill Sasuke?
"I gotta say, I didn't expect him to be our ally in that fight." Jugo added on.
Ally? Hinata leaned against the thin wall to maybe hear them better. "Maybe we should go get the girls, they might be worried.." Suigetsu stated, obviously in fear of Karin's wrath.
"Do what you want." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and leaned on the other side of the wall. "I can't sense Hinata's chakra.." Jugo added to the conversation. "Does that mean she's hiding?"
"Karin must have forgot to conceal her own chakra again, she can never do anything right." Suigetsu groaned and climbed out of the bath. "Come on, Jugo, lets go find them really quick." Jugo followed Suigetsu, both only having towels wrapped around their waists. Hinata relaxed against the wall once she heard the men's bath door close. How could they just walk around half naked? They didn't even take time to put clothes on from what she could tell.
She felt a hand on her thigh and froze completely. Sasuke had reached under the thin bamboo wall and latched onto her leg. "Get what you came for?"
"Let go."
"Eavesdropping is rude."
"Let go, Sasuke."
"I don't think you're in any position to be giving orders."
"Sasuke, you're dangerously close to-" Her largest momentary concern became reality when the back of his hand graced that oh so intimate nether region between her thighs. She tried to warn him. He jerked his hand back in response, "What the-?!"
"I tried to tell you, you pervert! What did you expect?! I'm in a bath!"
"It wasn't on purpose!"
"Sure!" She covered herself and waltzed out of the women's bath. "Are all Uchiha this perverted?! I told you to let go in the first place!" Her face was crimson red in utter shock and embarrassment. She slipped a robe on and left the bath while slamming the door behind her. She passed Karin on the way up to their room and she looked as though she had just emerged from a thousand years of sleep.
"Hina-?"
"Go bath." Was all Hinata said as she power walked by her. Her embarrassment was turning into anger. She couldn't believe the audacity of that man! And what place of business separates two baths with a thin bamboo wall in the first place?!
As it had turned out, the guys had booked the room right next to them and around nine that night they came over to see if the girls wanted to go out and eat. As much as Hinata didn't want to look at Sasuke, she needed to tell him about the men who attacked them in the forest. Karin nudged her and she reluctantly agreed that they would accompany them.
Hinata had vented to her about the...incident.. in the bath when Karin had returned from her own soak. She didn't see Sasuke as a pervert and agreed it was probably just an accident. She told her to just ask him about it and relax a little, he might even apologize. Hinata didn't see that happening.
They all ended up at a nice, small, restaurant a few minutes away from the hotel. It was an outdoor special so they could enjoy the fresh air while they were being served food. It wasn't too bad and Hinata seemed to like it decently. Once the food was served and everyone had ate a little over half of it, Sasuke spoke up. "So what happened?"
Without even thinking Hinata reacted immediately by going on defense, "Don't make it sound like it was my fault, you're the one that grabbed my thigh-!"
"I mean with Karin. What happened to Karin?" Sasuke interrupted her before she could spout anymore in front of everyone. "O-oh." Hinata cleared her throat and Suigetsu exchanged a look with Jugo. "Well, we were setting up camp for the night and as I was gathering firewood I guess these guys showed up. They sucked most of Karin's chakra from her body with just one of his hands, kind of like a vacuum. I managed to chase them off but I recognized one man in particular from the mountain. I'm not really sure why they came after Karin.."
"Because she's an Uzumaki. Karin has special healing abilities and if he sucked her chakra out like you say then I know exactly who he is. We ran into him up on the mountain. He has his own independent agenda and probably thought her chakra would be somehow beneficial."
"What kind of agenda?"
"Yeah, I don't want some weirdo going around using my chakra." Karin chimed in.
Sasuke shrugged and took a drink of sake. He swallowed and licked his bottom lip, "Dunno, that's not my problem though. Just be happy you're alive. He's the kind of guy that leaves his victims dead. If Hinata hadn't showed up when she did you wouldn't be here." Hinata eyed him suspiciously. "If it's not your problem then whose problem is it?"
"Naruto's."
"Yeah, speaking of that blond brat, I never imagined he would show up like he did up there. We really owe him one for saving our asses." Suigetsu folded his arms, almost embarrassed of his confession.
"Naruto was up there?" Hinata looked into Sasuke's dark eyes and he hesitantly nodded. "Sure, he's always into things he doesn't need to be in."
"Why?" Sasuke took another drink, "Who knows, Hinata? That's just how he's always been."
"Well I know that but why was he up on the mountain?" Hinata clarified when she felt as if Sasuke was trying to avoid answering the question. He shrugged but gave her a look that said it was meant to be a discussion for later. Hinata sighed and continued eating.
On the way back to the hotel Suigetsu was staggering around a bit. He had drank a little too much back at the restaurant. "Oi, Karin, why don't you sleep wishmee' tonight?" He slurred his words as he draped himself over her shoulders. "You smell like liquor and stank, get off."
Jugo shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. "Where's our next move, Sasuke?"
"We follow the trail out of here for two days then we make our own path to Kiri."
"Kiri? In Water Country?"
"That's the idea. We'll lay low and replenish our resources until the boats come back. Then we stop at Nagi Island and from there our destination is O'uzu." Jugo nodded and asked no more questions. Hinata was left out in the field wondering how in the world these guys could just go along with whatever Sasuke said no questions asked? Did they trust him that much or did they just not care about their own lives? She certainly didn't agree with them, "Well why are we making all of these stops?"
"I have to meet people at each one of them."
Hinata folded her arms behind her back and pursed her lips cutely, yet annoyingly. "Who're you meeting?" Sasuke glanced down at her, clearly not amused as she stared up at him and batted her long eyelashes. "Do I know them?" He was quiet for a while before he forced out a simple response, "Yes." Hinata smiled, momentarily forgetting about the anger she had toward him. Momentarily..
The sun was beginning to set on the day and the group was heading back to their respective rooms. As they walked, Hinata hung to the far left of the group and found herself watching as the setting sun fell on the opposite side of Sasuke. The red and gold hues of light outlined his face and it was as if she were staring at some sort of painting or piece of art. His dark onyx eyes weren't so dark, but instead were pools of gray . Almost a smoke gray with the light reflecting in them.
Have you ever been caught staring at someone? Hinata has, only that person was more than usually Naruto and that was long before they had even started dating. This time she was caught staring at someone she'd never expected to speak anymore than a full sentence to throughout her entire life.
It was just a glance from him, perhaps not even an intentional glance, but he still caught her. At first he was a little bit puzzled and looked to the other side of him before looking back, probably looking to see if anyone was around him. He had a difficult time believing she was really looking at him like that. Hinata turned her head, but didn't blush or get flustered. She just tried to pretend it was unintentional when they made eye contact.
Sasuke smiled, more like a grin than anything actually. However, he didn't say anything to bring attention to her, his goal wasn't to embarrass her. He wanted to compare the look in her eyes to a familiar one he had seen before, while she admired Naruto from behind a nearby tree, but he couldn't because this look seemed a little different to him. He shook his head and the usual scowl returned to his face. Why would Hinata ever look at him like that? He must have been seeing things or maybe even hallucinating.