Getting Her Back

Previous Chapter

I've gone away for a while. I need to think. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'll ring. Hinata. PS. I have the dog.

Naruto stared at the paper, stunned. Gone away? To think? Think? Think about what, for God's sake?

The baby, he thought with a wave of sadness. The baby they couldn't seem to have. Oh, Sunny. A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed it, hard. Where are you? What are you doing? She shouldn't be alone-

The phone rang, and he snatched it up and barked, "Hello?"

"Naruto, it's me. I just got your message. I didn't realize you were coming home yet."

He stabbed a hand through his wet hair. "Where the hell are you?" he snapped, his tone was of uncontained anger rising. "I've been worried sick. I've been out in the rain and the dark, scouring the garden with a torch – I've only just found your note. How come you haven't got the car – and what do you mean, think?"

"I've got another car."

"What? He sat down abruptly, stunned for the second time. "What do you mean you've got another car? That one's almost new!"

"I know. This is mine." Mine. Somehow, something about the word rang alarm bells in his head and he stared at the phone cautiously. "The other one's yours."

The phone cackled and Naruto almost didn't catch what she said.

"Not in the same way." Her voice was tight. She let loose a sigh and then continued, "Anyway, I just want you to know I'm all right. I'll be in touch." She hung up.

The burr of the dialing tone sounded in his ear.

"Hinata? Hinata? Damn you! Don't do this to me!" he yelled, and slammed the phone down, frustrated by his impotence. Where is she? What is she doing?

Thinking.

What the hell did that mean when it was at home?

Naruto phoned her again and bombarded her with text messages, but to no avail. He was met by a relentless silence that nearly drove him crazy. He paced around all evening, throwing together a scratch meal of bacon and eggs and instant noodles– about the only thing he could cook – and channel-hopped for a while, but the television couldn't hold his interest, so he had a hot shower and got ready for bed, but he was wide awake because it was still only five in the evening New York time, so he went into the study and went through some paperwork that was waiting for him.

And all the time, Naruto only saw Hinata's face, a pale, perfect oval framed by that glorious soft, thick, shiny hair the colour of moist peat. Her eyes a deep pool of bright twinkles, but when she was angry, it swirled like hot iron, and when she was aroused, they went a delightful soft mewl. Her mouth would yield to his touch, her lips swelling slightly and becoming rosy from his kisses, and afterwards her smile would be gentle, and mellow, and loving –

Naruto frowned. She hadn't looked like that for a while. It had all lost its spontaneity, and the sparkle seem to have gone out of their relationship. What relationship? Apparently, they didn't have one any more, Naruto thought bitterly, slamming down the report, unread.

Damn her, where was she?

Naruto left the study, prowling around the house, his temper fraying at the edges. He made a drink – just tea, he's had too much alcohol and coffee in the past few days and he was feeling jaded and rough around the edges. If only he could sleep, but there was no way. Between Hinata and the jet lag, he was stuffed. Maybe a long, hot soak in the bath would help.

Naruto went upstairs, and as he turned off the landing light, a chink of light under the attic door caught his eye.

Someone must've left the light on… Hinata, probably, searching for a suitcase. Naruto couldn't help but feel a sting in his heart. He opened the door at the bottom of the narrow little stairs and reached for the switch, but the stream of gold came from further up. He nearly didn't bother, but something prompted him to go up.

There were three rooms up there, cluttered and untouched. The whole floor was filled with a load of old junk, really, things they'd bought and outgrown and the need for, old family things they didn't have the heart to throw out, broken wedding gifts… He hadn't been up here in months – years, probably. He never needed to.

But someone had, because everything had been cleared out of one of the rooms, and it was almost empty. Empty, except for a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet and a telephone – and a dangling flex with a bare, glowing bulb on the end.

Naruto stared around, utterly confused, and slowly crossed to the chair, running his fingers thoughtfully over the back of it. It was his old desk chair, too upright to sit at for long, but ideal for working at the computer. Better than the one he had now, in fact, although not as good looking.

Still, that wasn't everything.

He looked around the room, puzzled. It looked like an empty office after a business had moved out. Odd scraps of paper here and there, barren and lifeless, the heart gone out of it. Naruto sat down and went through the desk drawers, but they were empty. The filing cabinet?

He checked. Also empty.

He checked the bin, but all there was in it was a bit of stamp edging and an old envelope with a frank mark on it – a frank of a firm in Scotland.

Edward Gluich Estate Agents, Inverness.

Estate agents? Why was she corresponding with estate agents? Unless it was a clue to her whereabouts –

Naruto tore the place apart, searching every nook and cranny again, and then pulled the desk out of the wall. Nothing. Then, behind the filing cabinet, he saw a sheet of paper.

His hand won't fit, so he grasped the cabinet and shifted it, then plucked the paper from its hiding place. It was dusty and wrinkled, handwritten, a mass of jottings and calculations of figures. Figures that looked like a turnover of a business. Figures that made him blink.

Hinata's business?

Doing what? Maybe she was working as a homefinder? Hence the letter from the estate agents. No, she'd never earn that much.

Naruto glanced at the back of the desk, and there, suspended halfway down the back of it, hanging by a corner, was a yellow sticky note. He peeled it off, and sat down on the desk, thoughtfully.

Edward Gluich, it read, and a number, and jotted below were the words 'Little Guthrie'.

A house? Had she for God's sake bought a house in Inverness?

With what?

He looked down at the figures again, and shook his head slowly. With that maybe. With her apparently very healthy income. Unless she was renting.

He looked at his watch. Ten minutes past midnight. Almost nine hours to kill before he could reasonably ring the estate agents and find out what the hell was going on. If they'll tell me, of course, Naruto thought ruefully, which was by no means a foregone conclusion. He'd have to play the guileless, rather daffy husband, and just see how much he could get out of them. He'd play it by ear.

Unless, of course, he made a personal visit. Naruto glanced at his watch again. He wouldn't sleep, not a chance.

He took the little yellow note and the envelope and the calculations, flicked off the lights and went into his room, tipping his suitcase out ruthlessly on the bed and repacking. He'd need wash things, a towel perhaps, and thick, warm clothes. Nothing too formal, and nothing much. He didn't intend to be there for long.

He left the house before twelve-thirty. He needed to see her, and he needed to see her now.

Naruto hit the almost deserted A1 within minutes, and headed north, reaching the outskirts of Edinburgh and stopped briefly for a late breakfast, stocking up on enough coffee to keep him awake. He made it to Inverness by one.

He parked the car in a multi-storey and asked someone the way to the estate agents, then wound his way through the streets until he found it.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the window as he entered the office. He looked shattered, his eyes red-rimmed, his mouth a grim line. Good grief! If I didn't lighten up, they'd think I'm an axe-murderer! Naruto forced his shoulders to relax as he pushed the door open and went in.

The office as almost deserted save for a young woman who sported a missing earring and tired eyes. She looked up and gave him a friendly smile. "Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?"

Naruto chanced a glance at the name plate on her desk: Nemoto Shizune

Naruto dropped into the chair opposite her and treated her to his most persuasive confused-little-boy grin. "I hope so. I've driven all they way here from London to join my wife, and I can't find the directions she left me. They must have fallen out of the car door pocket when I stopped for breakfast." He rubbed his hands with a forlorn expression on his face. "She's just acquired a property from you – at least, I hope it was you. Your name rings a bell. I hope I won't have to trawl round all the agents." He dragged a hand through his hair and tried to look as if everything was against him. Not hard, under the circumstances.

"What was the name, sir?" she asked him, and his heart thumped with anticipation.

"Uzumaki. She moved very recently – the last couple of days. I feel such an idiot for losing the directions – I'll blame it on the jet lag. I've just got back from New York," he explained with a rueful smile, hoping she'd feel sorry for him. Naruto should seriously consider acting as a side-job.

Or not. Shizune was shaking her head. "Uzumaki – that doesn't ring a bell, sir, I'm sorry."

He thought rapidly. "How about her maiden name? She sometimes uses it for business," he lied wildly. "Hyuuga Hinata. I think the property's called Little something."

Shizune's face cleared. "Oh, yes, of course, Ms. Hyuuga. I picked up the keys of Little Guthrie yesterday morning. I couldn't forget her – she had a dog with her, a real teddy bear." Naruto could hardly keep his face straight when he heard Shizune called Akamaru a 'real teddy bear'. Kiba gave them his dog before they took off for England. The 50-pound white retriever was nothing of a docile pet. Akamaru used to cause mayhem whenever he was not taken for a run, and I don't mean the healthy jog you do every morning. Used to? Naruto bit his tongue; he pulled awry face.

"That's right – Akamaru – our white-golden retriever. He's a bit friendly, I'm afraid." Charming to the ladies, just like Kiba, I bet.

Shizune laughed good-naturedly, mellowing, and Naruto realized with grim satisfaction that she was falling for his charm. Just give me the directions, he thought desperately, before someone with more sense of client confidentiality emerges from the woodwork and everything grinds to a halt.

"No problem, Mr. Uzumaki," she said with a smile. He felt relief course through him. "I think we've still got a copy of the details we prepared, they'll have the directions on. Here. It's a lovely property – really cosy. I hope you find it all right there." She handed him a set of details from the filing cabinet and smiled again. Naruto could've hugged her right there.

"You're a lifesaver," he told her earnestly. He smiled again, treating her to the full wattage, and she went pink and dimpled again. The phone rang, and with an apologetic smile she turned to answer it. It was a cue for him to leave.

Naruto read the directions, located it on his road atlas and pulled out of the car park. Just one more hour, he thought.

Thanks to all you lovely people who reads it (continued to do so) and reviewed :)

Miss Smarticle, jenniebennie, Angst, animegirl007, Hatake Megumi, LovedLess231, HiN4-cH4n, winterkaguya and also those who've alerted my story.

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