Hinata dragged her feet all the way through the village, silently casting Neji pathetic glances that pleaded they go somewhere else. Anywhere but there. Anywhere but the apartment of the boy she liked. She was in her nightgown and she hadn't showered or even brushed her hair since the day before. It was like they were homeless, seeking shelter and eating him food like a couple of moochers.
"S-so... th-there's nowhere else we could go?" she asked one more time.
"No, Hinata-sama, not that I know of. It's just Naruto. I don't see what the fuss is about." He cast an irked glance in her direction as they approached the staircase leading toward the second floor of the building where Naruto's apartment sat. He stepped to the side and motioned for her to go up first.
She made an uneasy face and sighed, going up before him, one hand on the stair rail. She moved slowly, despite Neji's prodding for her to hurry. When she was finally planted in front of his door she refused to knock. No. She wouldn't do it. She couldn't stop turning red, her whole body was blushing, she was not knocking on this door. There was even a peep hole. If she knocked then Naruto was going to look through that peep hole and she was going to be the first thing he saw, gross and bubble shaped because that's what peep holes did. They made people look gross and bubbled shaped. And she was already gross. She didn't want a stupid peephole to make it worse.
"Hinata-sama, are you going to knock?" Neji asked.
She looked over at him, eyes huge and worried. "N-no. W-w-would you knock please?" She backed away from the door.
Neji gave an exasperated sigh and lifted his fist, rapping his knuckles lightly on the door.
"I'm coming!" came a muffled shout from inside. There was a crash, followed by a series of heavy stomping that got louder and louder until the door flew open. Naruto leaned into the door frame, looking down while he shook his foot, kicking a piece of trash off his shoe. He looked up again, straightening. "Hey, Neji! What're you doin' here?" He looked over and noticed Hinata. "Hinata-chan, hi-" he stopped, straightening and looking over her disheveled appearance. "It everything alright?"
"Naruto, can we come in?" Neji asked.
He nodded fervently, eyes wide. "O-of course!" He stepped to the side. "Come on in. What's wrong?"
Hinata shuffled in after Neji, casting Naruto a nervous glance, face heating up as soon as their eyes met. She'd just let Neji talk. Neji was good at talking.
Her eyes widened while they entered, looking over the mess littering the room. It wasn't safe to live in such a mess. There were ramen cups everywhere. She doubted he was eating properly. She wondered if she should talk to Sakura about it.
"We'd like to know if we can use your restroom," Neji turned and spoke, gesturing toward her. Hinata's face went red again and she ducked behind her bangs, tugging at her nightgown nervously. "And then," Neji continued. "We have some files that we need to go over. Naruto," he said seriously, eyes darkening. "We came here because it was the only place we could speak in private. Please do not tell anyone that we're here. Please do not ask us any questions."
Concern passed over Naruto's face. "W-well, yeah, sure. But are you guys alright?"
"We're fine," Neji said coolly. "Could you please show Hinata-sama to your restroom?"
"Yeah!" Naruto scrambled past them and marched down the hall. "Just stay right there for a second! Let me clean the place up a little."
Neji watched Naruto slam the bathroom door shut behind him and looked toward Hinata. "The oaf has manners," he remarked dryly.
"He's not an oaf," she whispered, brows furrowing.
Neji didn't respond. He handed her the bag hanging from his grip. "Here are your clothes. There's also a change of bandages in there for the injuries on your feet. I'll look over the files and try to think of something while you're getting cleaned up. Let me know if you think of anything."
She took the bag and peered inside of it. "Y-yes, Neji-nii-san."
Naruto burst back into the hall, pointing back into the restroom. "I-I laid a towel out for you. I tried to scrub the shower out a little bit. I only have one bar of soap so I scraped it a little bit..." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "The hot water is on the left, and you have to fiddle with it a little bit."
Hinata shuffled toward the hall, and Neji prodded her to hurry up. Taking a shower in the bathroom that the boy she liked always took a shower in. She didn't like this. She didn't like it at all. It was verging on inappropriate and horrifically humiliating.
But she still wandered down the hall with her head down. She'd be quick.
Neji tugged the files out from under his shirt and slapped them down on the table in the center of the room, kicking clothes and trash to the side, sitting, and crossing his legs. He flipped open the file on the Uchiha clan and scanned it. He still needed the missing file on Itachi.
He moved for the Hyuga file and flipped it open, looking over the first page. The incident with his father. He knew about that already. He turned the page. A file on the clan elders. The next page was a document about his uncle. The page after that was a file on Hinata, the heiress.
He sighed impatiently and flipped all the way to the back, stopping when one page caught his attention. Possible Actions Taken in Case of Clan Incited Governmental Agitation. His heart dropped into his stomach, but he read on. Clan is being kept under strict surveillance as a result of authoritative suspicion. If any course of action is taken by the Hyuga clan toward Konohagakure the following steps must be implemented immediately: Both the clan head and leader behind rebellious actions must be disposed of, clan heir and/or heiress will be detained and questioned - if he/she is judged untrustworthy to set the clan back to peace then he/she will be deemed a threat to the village and disposed of - , if the whole of the clan cannot be set to peace then it, in its entirety, will be terminated and/or forced out of Konohagakure for the sake of the rest of the village and its citizens. The Hyuga clan will be routinely observed by the ANBU BlackOps and at any sign on incident extreme measures will be taken.
Neji put a hand over his mouth, suddenly feeling lightheaded. They were being watched. His entire clan. Both he and Hinata. If anything happened and Hinata couldn't promise to fix it she'd be sent away, or worse.
"Neji-nii-san, I'm finished."
He looked up and closed the file quickly at Hinata's quiet voice calling from down the hall. She brushed her hair over her shoulder while she walked, freshly dressed. Her feet were rebandaged, but she was walking fine so he didn't worry much over her injuries.
"Hinata-chan, what happened to your feet?" Naruto asked, sprawled out on his bed lazily.
She looked down at her toes and then over at him, cheeks flushing. "Ah... w-well I...," she looked to her cousin, eyes huge.
"No questions, Naruto," Neji repeated dully.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Right. Right." He yawned and went back to staring at the ceiling pointlessly.
"Hinata-sama," Neji started, getting her attention and motioning her to sit beside him. "We still need this missing file," he opened the Uchiha's file and pointed to the "classified" stamp over Itachi's photograph. "We'll see what the Uchiha may have in common with us. It might help us figure out what to do next. You're father is pretending he doesn't know where we're at right now so we can move around a little more freely. It won't be as hard."
"W-wait you heard what Father said?"
He nodded. "I saw the whole thing. He no doubt knew I was nearby when he spoke to you." He leaned back and closed the files. "Alright, now we have to figure out how to get that file out of the vault."
Hinata's eyes widened. "W-we're sneaking in?" she whispered.
"You two aren't doing anything illegal are you? Neji if you get me in trouble, I'll get you back. I'm already on the ropes here, I don't want to be taken in for harboring a criminal." Naruto sat up and propped himself on his elbows.
"Naruto, since when are you trying to stay out of trouble?" Neji asked snidely. "And why on earth would Hinata-sama and I be criminals?"
"I didn't say Hinata-hime. I said you. Always being secretive and acting like you're better than everyone else. What are you up to anyway and why did you drag her into it?"
Hinata set a hand on Neji's arm before he spoke and cast an apologetic look in Naruto's direction. "I'm s-sorry, Naruto-kun, but it's fairly... c-c-complicated."
Naruto frowned for a moment and then shrugged, flopping over on his mattress. "Alright then."
Neji's face was a mask of irritation. "I told you he was an oaf!" he hissed quietly.
"He's not an oaf, Neji-nii-san!" she defended. She tapped the files on the table. "Now what was it you had planned?" she attempted to guide him back to the matter at hand.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "We'll have to sneak into the Hokage's office tonight," he said lowly. "We don't have the time to wait until later. We find the combination and then move to the vault above it. That file has to be in there somewhere and I think it would aid us greatly."
She fidgeted uncomfortably. "I-I don't like the sound of breaking and entering," she said quietly.
"Hinata-sama," Neji yanked open their clan's file and turned to the page he had just read. He tapped the heading of the document pointedly. "If we don't figure out what to do, without causing a widespread panic, our entire clan could very well be slaughtered. They are watching us."
Her breath caught in her throat as she leaned to read the document. She heaved a deep sigh through her nostrils, pulse thudding in her head. Her hands shook and she hid them in her lap, giving a silent nod. "Alright," she whispered hoarsely. "I'll do it."
Neji put a hand over hers. "We're going to do this. We're going to be okay."
She didn't answer. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she'd burst into tears. She looked towards Naruto's back. It looked as if he had fallen asleep. "W-well then," she finally forced out. "I s-supposed we should get some rest so that we can be ready for tonight." She looked around for a place to rest and then resigned herself to folding her arms on the table and laying her head down.
Neji got to his feet and glanced toward Naruto, reaching and ripping the blanket off of him. When Naruto rolled over and started to protest he held a finger to his lips, tucking the blanket around his younger cousin who had already dozed off.