I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
Where the hell is she? The pale-eyed young jounin growled to himself as he scanned the street. Neji had been sent out to search for Hinata by her father at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. He almost told the older man to go look for himself, but some instinct of self-preservation kicked in through the haze of his hang-over. In honor of Lee and Hanabi, he and Tenten had gotten drunk at the festival the night before. Of course, that was not an acceptable excuse for his uncle, so here he was, out searching for his wayward cousin.
He was into the third hour of his search, and was beginning to become worried about the young woman, which only added to his irritation. He had already been to all the places he could think of that she usually hung out at: the training grounds, the waterfall, the Aburame compound, the Inuzuka compound, and the hospital. He had even checked the flower shop and Sakura's house just to be careful. Using his Byakugan to randomly check houses was against the rules of both the Hyuuga clan and the village. He thought about going back to her teammates and asking them for help tracking her, but he hated asking them for favors. Although Hinata had forgiven him for trying to kill her at the exams, her overprotective teammates had not. They took every opportunity to nettle him about the incident, and went out of their way to be unhelpful during any joint missions they were assigned to. Hmm, Kakashi owes me a favor, maybe I can get him to use those ninja hounds of his…
He traveled quickly to the silver haired man's apartment and decided to scan the interior to see if he was home. Kakashi had proved to be highly elusive lately, probably because he was wary that Neji was going to collect on the favor he owed him. Even though it was against the rules, Neji had occasionally scanned people's houses to check and see if they were home. He had no intention of scanning every villager's house to find Hinata, however. He considered it much more efficient to call in the favor Kakashi owed him, it would save him both time and chakra. Also he would not have to worry about getting caught invading people's privacy.
He activated his Byakugan and was surprised to see that the Copy Ninja was in bed with a female. Wait, I recognize that chakra pattern! Lady Hinata! The enraged young man busted down the door and ran into the apartment. He was meet at the bedroom door by Kakashi, and before the man could even open his mouth, Neji had slammed a chakra enhanced fist into his chest. The silver haired man flew across the room, slamming into the wall beside the bed. This noise woke up Hinata, who instinctively rose up into a defensive position on the bed. She looked around in panic and then surprise as she took in her surroundings.
"Niisan?" she asked in confusion. She then noticed Kakashi who was cautiously rising to his feet. Hinata looked around the room and then down at herself. She blushed as she realized that not only was she dressed in men's clothing, but she was also apparently standing in Kakashi's bed. Her eyes whipped to meet first Neji's accusing gaze, and then Kakashi's more rueful one.
"Kakashi-san?" she whispered. She remembered being really upset and then going to the memorial stone to look at Hanabi's name, but she didn't remember anything after that. She blushed a fiery red as her eyes met Kakashi's and she silently asked the silver-haired man what had happened between them. His face flushed as he realized what both cousins were thinking.
"It is not what you think-nothing happened! I found you passed out in front of the memorial stone. You were wet and had a head injury, so I brought you here, since it was getting ready to storm, and we were too far away from the Hyuuga compound." He told her quickly.
"That doesn't explain why you didn't take her to the hospital, Hatake." Neji said angrily. Kakashi hesitated, he didn't want to go into why he felt he owed it to the young woman to take care of her. Also, they might consider it strange that he knew of her intense dislike of hospitals. After all, he really wasn't supposed to have that much personal knowledge of her.
The longer it took for Kakashi to answer, the madder Neji got. He was assuming the worst based off of the older ninja's reputation, and he knew that his younger cousin was very vulnerable right now. Hanabi's death had hit her hard, especially since her father had made the comment that he wished she had died instead of Hanabi. It would be child's play for the handsome man to lure in Hinata under the pretense of comforting her. He transferred his gaze to her, trying to see if she showed any signs of guilt.
Hinata lowered her face rather than look at the accusation in her cousin's eyes. She twisted the hem of the oversized shirt she was wearing as they waited for Kakashi's answer. She didn't feel any different, except for a headache. Surely she would feel sore, wouldn't she? She reached up and touched the spot on her forehead that hurt. There was a lump there, which she automatically healed without thinking about it.
"Well about that you see…" Kakashi said as he lifted his hand to rub his neck sheepishly. Neji glared at the man, and walked towards him purposefully. He was shocked when Hinata jumped in front of him, placing her hands on his chest to restrain him.
"Niisan, I believe Kakashi-san. I don't feel any different…" she broke off blushing a deep red. He starred down into her face, and was reassured by the look of innocence that was in her eyes. For the first time since realizing that his cousin was sleeping in Kakashi's bed, he relaxed slightly.
"Fine- I believe you. I still think that it is suspicious that Hatake did not seek professional medical help, or at the very least, sleep on his couch instead of in the bed with you…." he pinned Kakashi down with a hard look, and was satisfied to see a slight look of shame fleetingly cross the older man's face.
"We are leaving- where are your clothes?" he asked.
" I hung them up in the bathroom." Kakashi told him. Neji strode into the bathroom and came out with a disgusted look on his face.
"They are still soaked, there is no way you can wear them home. We'll just have to return to the compound and hope that no one notices. I can tell you right now that your father was the one that sent me out, so you will have to explain yourself when we arrive. I am sure that he will be waiting." He informed her sternly. Kakashi found himself frowning over the look of fear that flashed across her face at the mention of her father. He knew from random comments that Kurenai made that Hinata did not have a happy home, but for her to show that level of fear disturbed him.
"Stay away from my cousin." Neji growled at him as he turned to leave the apartment. Hinata followed him to the door, and paused to put on her sandals. She turned back to face Kakashi. She bowed to him, then starred into his eyes for a few seconds, a combination of gratitude, compassion, and understanding in the depths of her gaze. After giving him a small smile, she ran after her cousin.
In that second, the Copy Ninja became aware of two things. First, she knew that he had figured out who she was, and had kept quiet to preserve his dignity. And secondly, his admiration and gratitude had turned into love. Wonderful, what in the hell am I supposed to do now?