Hinata was surprised when the blonde woman got off the elevator with her at her father's floor. The woman was like no one Hinata had ever seen before: long, straight blonde hair, curled eyelashes, long legs, pouty lips. She wore light makeup across her eyes and cheeks, and was dressed in a smart purple tweed-skirt and matching blazer, and chunky, orange heels making her seem taller than she was.
Hinata was even more surprised to watch her walk through her father's doors with a confidence that not even Neji nor Hanabi had. Hinata slowly walked in after her, knocking on the door with light raps.
"Enter," Hiashi said. When she did, she found the blonde already sitting, drinking a cup of tea. When Hinata looked at her, she smiled dazzlingly, and gave a slight wave with a perfectly-manicured hand.
Hinata immediately bowed, "Command," she said, greeting her father. She turned to the blonde awkwardly, "A-and…"
"I'm Blondie," the woman said as she bowed her head back in respectful greeting. Her name suggested her rank, and yet Hinata had never heard of her. "The name is original, I know," she rolled her eyes. "I'll be helping you out on this mission. Besides Prodigy, I will be one of your main and safest contacts. I work closely with this group of people you'll be interacting with, you see. Some of them you might even call my friends."
"I hope not," Hiashi said, grunting.
"You don't run my life," Blondie replied flippantly. "I'm here because I'm visible, that's all."
Hinata held in her surprise at this woman who had the nerve to talk back to Command and face little to no repercussions. She must've been a big deal…Hinata did calculations in her head. She must be related to someone who worked closely with the Hokage––that was the only way she could get away with something like this.
"Hinata," Blondie said, already knowing her name, having been briefed on the assignment. "You can call me Yamanaka, Ino, or Ino-chan if it pleases you. We'll be working together, so there will be plenty of time for us to get comfortable."
"Oh...okay," Hinata said, sliding into the seat across from her father's desk. She'd heard the name before, and she replayed it several times in her head until it clicked. "Oh! You're…you're a model, right?"
Ino brightened considerably, "Yes! I model…I make art…I even style idols on the side! Mostly when I'm bored."
If possible, Hiashi's eye twitched minutely. "You are also an agent under the Hokage's special care…you would do well to remember that."
Ah, Hinata thought. So she worked for the Hokage––not her father. That made sense. No one spoke so loosely around her father, not even his own children.
"That's really just a side-note in my career," Ino rolled her eyes. "But yes. I also do that. My social position makes it easier for me to get tips on high-profile cases. This is one of them."
"Now that introductions are out of the way, we can talk business," Hiashi said, and Hinata could hear the annoyance in his voice. He looked at her then, eyes flickering as he took in her new makeover––the feathery hair, highlights, eyelash extensions and light make up––before nodding, pleased. "Your main objective is to infiltrate the Uchiha Syndicate. More than anything we are placing you there to harvest data. We want to know everything about their operations––how many buildings they own, what their internal structure is like, what types of counterfeit they're pushing, how many people work for them and who to hit hardest, who their contacts at KMP––and onward––are."
KMP. The Konoha Military Police. Let's just say those guys were rarely on the Hokage's side when it came to city-wide actions. They were stuffy and rude. If the Hokage told them to jump they would sit down and wait for orders from somebody else. Hinata could see how this would be stressful for the government––there were theories online about Uchiha involvement in the force, a master puppeteer, but none had been proven true. Yet.
"I believe the theories are true," Hiashi said, voicing Hinata's thoughts, which startled her quite a bit. "This is the second part of the assignment. Once you're inside, it is your duty to identify the Uchiha leaders and cause dissent."
"––in other words," Ino cut in, eyes sharp. "You want her to destabilize the KMP from the inside out?"
"Exactly," Hiashi nodded. "They've already caused distrust among Konoha's citizens with their lies about election fraud. We need them completely cut out from society. We need the public to watch their every move. We need to take the Military Police back. The powers holding this city today are far too imbalanced."
Hinata swallowed uneasily. This mission was far too big for what she was used to. It was an S-class mission! Those were usually reserved for people like Prodigy and Brave. She'd been undercover before but only for a few days or weeks at a time––not months!
But still, Hinata could see how she was the right choice. Hanabi was too young and not suited for undercover missions, while Hinata had a quiet patience to her that allowed people to trust her slowly over time. Plus, she looked the most like Hizashi, and so she could easily pose as his daughter. He was an incredibly private man, and the public did not know much about his life. If you were to pull up his Wikipedia page, it would tell you only a few things: that he was the CEO of a company, that he lived in Osaka, and that he had a child; no gender was stated.
He stopped talking about Neji years ago, far before he'd even run away.
"Do I make myself clear, Dove?" Hiashi said, looking at her with crystal clear eyes, holding nothing. Hiashi never gave her anything that wasn't a bruise, no warmth, no pride. Nothing.
Hinata hadn't heard what he said, but it didn't matter; she'd been raised to agree with him. "Yes, Command. Understood."
"Good," Hiashi stood, and so Hinata did too. Ino looked up in mild surprise, but she got to her feet slowly, smiling as if someone had just told a joke. "Do not fail me again."
Hinata looked at her shoes––new ones, shiny, patent leather boots. "I won't, Command."
"You are dismissed. The next time you hear from me will be through Prodigy."
Hinata bowed. Beside her, Ino only bent slightly, her eyes flickering from Hinata's lowered head and Hiashi's cold stare. When Hinata lifted up, she caught Ino's eye and blushed.
They left the office together. When they walked into the elevator, Hinata sagged against the back wall feeling fatigue shake her. It had been a long 48 hours.
"I can't believe Command's your dad," Ino said crossly. "That guy fucking sucks, no offense."
"None taken," Hinata said quietly. Ino was right, after all.
-:-
Sasuke had a strict weekday routine that was promptly ruined by his fiancée's 3-hour bathroom regiment. Instead of complaining about it, he took a bird bath in the downstairs half-bathroom after the gym, and resigned himself to an appointment with the office spa during his lunch break.
He'd have to have a talk with her about that, but she was still pretty traumatized by the whole Karin thing and had been obsessively anonymously donating thousands of dollars to Karin's family's funeral GoFundMe––which Sasuke had repeatedly told her was a scam created by a stranger, because the Uzumakis did not need money. Besides, if anyone traced her IP back to his place, it would look bad.
"They can't trace my IP," Sakura said, pouting. "I secured your whole apartment while you were sleeping."
"Whatever," Sasuke had replied. "Just stop donating."
The news this week hadn't been kind to the government. Sasuke heard all about it as his driver flickered through radio channels. In the car, he'd even scrolled through social media to see what the conspiracy theorists were saying––they were always sort of right, and sort of wrong. It seemed that their theories were leaning in the Uchiha's favor: Karin's suicide was a political killing by the Government.
That's exactly what the Uchihas wanted the public to think.
When Sasuke pulled up to the office at 8:45am, the blond idiot was surprisingly already there, leaning on the poor secretary's desk, talking about last night's soccer game. He was excited when Sasuke came in, and followed behind him. Sasuke said nothing until he was sitting down, in his office, at his desk. He folded his hands and looked at his friend.
"I wasn't expecting you to be early, Naruto," Sasuke said. There were piles of papers and sticky notes at his desk––things Karin would have attended to. His phone was lit up in red, blinking lights. Messages.
"You're actually late," Naruto said. He was wearing a suit, no tie. "You've got an 8:30 interview. We showed up at the same time."
"You seem excited," Sasuke deadpanned.
"Umm, yeah! She's hot! Way cuter than Karin––may she rest in peace."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at this. "Fine. What network?"
"Huh?"
"You said I have an interview. What network?"
"No stupid," Naruto rolled his eyes like he was talking to a small child. "This is why you need a fucking assistant, bro. You are interviewing this lady to be your new assistant!"
Sasuke's eyebrows raised as he opened his desktop calendar. "Hm. Already?"
"You know how the fan girls are," Naruto whistled. He walked around Sasuke's office, picking up random objects and misplacing them––he did this all the time and it irritated Sasuke to no end. "If I were you and didn't already have a smoking fiancée…"
"What exactly are you insinuating?" Sasuke turned to face his best friend, who began to turn red.
"I'm just saying, I'm just saying," Naruto lifted his hands in fake surrender. "–––you have a really big desk."
"You watch too much porn," Sasuke said with distaste. He grabbed his laptop and went into one of the meeting rooms, leaving his blushing friend in his office to think about what he'd just said.
-:-
"So you're the heiress of…Hyuga Hospitality Corp.?" Sasuke looked down at the file in front of him. The resume was satisfactory, but nothing special. The cover letter was bland and uninspiring. The woman in front of him looked put together, at least a little intelligent, and rich. He didn't understand why she would want this job. She didn't even seem like a fan girl.
"Y-yes sir," she said quietly.
She was his age and was pursuing her second Master's degree. He looked down at her paperwork again. "And you want to be a lawyer?"
"Yes sir," she said. "I'm at the University of Konoha, starting my first year of law school."
"I see that," Sasuke closed the file with a soft thud, unimpressed. "So, why do you want to work for me? You'll be set up with a job after this, you're already in school, and we can only expect you to work part time. It seems like a complete waste of time to me."
She blushed and it unnerved him. Who the hell blushed when asked a simple question?! He studied her with an intensity that clearly made her uncomfortable.
No, she didn't seem like a fan girl, but some of them were rather good actresses. Plus, she had the appearance of an heiress, highlighted hair with perfectly shaped bangs, light, glossy makeup, and a straight, button nose. Her clothing looked high-end, and her hands were outfitted in modest––but expensive––jewelry that he recognized from Sakura's various wishlists. She was manicured. She sat with an unnaturally straight back. Her eyes were focused and bright. She watched him watch her. She was sharp.
No, it was strange. She should aim higher or not shoot at all. She could afford to focus on her studies, and Sasuke had said as much.
He watched her take a deep breath. "With all due respect, Uchiha-san…" she said slowly, quietly, lowering her long eyelashes. "It is up to me to decide whether or not my work is a 'waste of time.' If you find me unworthy, I…I understand; however, I am qualified to work this position. In fact I…"
Sasuke watched her lips tremble. They were small, but plump. Full lips, with office-appropriate peach tint. Nothing like Karin's glaring red. Naruto was right. She was cute. He leaned back, "go on."
"I…came to your office with my application when I heard about the opening. I am…inspired by your work ethic, building y-your career at such a young age. Everyone knows you and Uzumaki-san are already legends within the field. It would be an honor to work with such accomplished young men."
Hmph. So…a fangirl. In a way.
"Is that all?" Sasuke asked, unaffected. He closed his laptop and crossed his legs. He was giving her a hard time, but that's how he ruled out the useless fangirls from the hardworking fangirls.
The woman squared her shoulders, "I want to be a good lawyer. I want to know real work in order to assist my Father in Osaka. This is how I will do that. I want to learn from the best."
Sasuke just looked at her. Yes…very cute. Her hair flew around her shoulders as she spoke. Her eyes shined. He wasn't sure how she could possibly make it as a lawyer, but as an assistant…perhaps.
"Very well, Hyuga Hinata," Sasuke said as he stood. "You'll have my decision midweek. Friday at the latest."
"Thank you, sir," she bent at the waist, her indigo hair flying. Briefly, as Sasuke walked back to his office, he imagined it between his fingers. He wondered how soft it was.
He blamed Naruto.
-:-
"God, I bombed that," Hinata whispered to herself as she stood in the elevator to her new apartment. This would be her first time going, having spent the night before with Ino in a hotel prepping for the interview, while her apartment was being finished. Ino's was under renovation as well––though, for non-spy related reasons; merely aesthetic––plus she delighted in the idea of room service.
Ino was an enigma to Hinata, but that was the least of her concerns. She pressed her key-fob into the electronic slot and pressed the button––17––God she was going to be so high up! The doors began to close, until a hand sliced through the middle, and they flew open.
Hinata watched in muted agony as a tall man with silver hair stepped in. He was wearing a mask over his mouth and nose and was dressed in business-casual attire like her. He went to press a button, but retracted his hand when he noticed it was already glowing red.
Ah, Hinata sighed. My new neighbor.
"I'm sure whatever it was, it wasn't that bad," he said to her suddenly, and she jumped, surprised that he would speak to her. His eye crinkled down at her kindly as the elevator jolted forward.
She didn't know he'd heard that! "Ah…um…thank you, sir," she said.
He nodded towards the number as the elevator inched up. God it was slow. "I see we're going to be neighbors. I haven't seen you before. I'm Hatake Kakashi."
"Ah," Hinata outstretched her hand quickly, folding the man's larger hand into hers. He had a firm grip, and his dark eyes were calculating as he looked her over. It was an expensive building, after all, he probably did expensive work. "I'm––I'm Hyuga Hinata. I'm new to the city––from Osaka."
"Osaka, ah, wonderful place," her new neighbor said. "I'll have to ask you for recommendations next time I go, eh?"
Hinata nodded and dropped into a bow, internally sweating––another thing she'll have to research beforehand. "Of course, Hatake-san, I'd be happy to assist."
"How cute," Kakashi seemed coo, his eyes crinkling again. The elevator dinged, saving Hinata from further humiliation. "Well, enjoy Konoha! I'm right down the hall if you need anything, neighbor."
He stepped out of sight before Hinata could convince herself to say 'thank you,' though she wasn't feeling very grateful. She turned down the hallway until she found apartment #717, and unlocked the door with a large silver key.
The apartment was beautiful. It was way fancier than her old one, and higher up as well. The entire north end of it was made of glass windows. Her jaw dropped as she made her way in––luxury furniture in the living room, a stainless steel kitchen with beautiful wicker stools, in-unit washing and drying, and her own bedroom––all to herself. For years, she'd lived alone in a cramped studio apartment on a shittier side of town and now all this was hers.
As she was running her hand alongside the pristine granite countertop, she heard a noise.
Hinata immediately dropped low behind the counter and reached into the waistband of her pants before registering that she hadn't gone to the interview armed––there was security at the building Sasuke's office was in and she didn't want to set off any alarms prematurely. Now, she knew that there was no metal detector, so she'd be fine––but it was too late for that. She wasn't armed and she hadn't yet hidden any weapons in her new home.
She looked for kitchen knives, slowly opening the drawers until she found a sharp edge and grabbed it. There were footsteps coming from behind the living room, an area of which she had not discovered.
"Calm down," a familiar voice says. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."
Hinata peaked her head over the counter at the sound of her cousin. Neji was leaning against the back of a luxurious-looking cream colored sofa, dressed in all black workout gear. His arm was still casted and slung close to his abdomen. A broken arm meant he couldn't take missions for a while, and so he would be her handler.
It was going to be a pain in the ass for them both.
Hinata said nothing. She sat her purse on the counter and opened the fridge, inspecting. She bit the inside of her cheek annoying; it was completely empty. She'd have to go grocery shopping later.
"How did the interview go?"
"Well. I guess," Hinata replied. "I-I did my best. He didn't seem to understand why an heiress would want to work a job as an assistant."
"It's your job to make him understand," Neji said flatly.
"I know," Hinata replied quietly, into the thin air of the apartment. She floated towards the window, pressing the pads of her fingers against the glass as if testing it. This building was taller than Sakura's, even so, Sakura had the top floor: the penthouse. The differences in wealth were interesting to Hinata. While she was sure her father had money––they lived in a manor with servants for God's Sake––material things had never mattered to the Hyugas. Their status lay in their skill. She'd never wanted for an object, but affection? Love? That was a different question altogether.
"When do you hear back?"
"Mid-week, Friday at the latest," Hinata turned to Neji, surprised when she found irritation in his gaze. "What happens if he doesn't hire me?"
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but you'll probably have to befriend that Haruno woman."
When Hinata didn't say anything, and Neji didn't prod any further, they moved on. Neji laid out on the kitchen table a dozen or so burner phones. "Destroy them after each use," he instructed. "They're for emergencies. Only contact me if it is of the utmost importance. There's only one phone number in there, and it's mine."
"How will you contact me?
"Almost always in person," Neji said.
Hinata sighed. As if this assignment wasn't hard enough, now she'll be having drop-in visits from her beloved cousin.
"That could get dangerous," she said. "What if I have guests?"
"I'm good enough to go unnoticed."
Hinata thought about that, then nodded. Yes. She'd be installing cameras to make sure he wouldn't be snooping around while she was at work or in class. She didn't trust him. He didn't trust her.
"Sure," Hinata said. Then she gestured to the rest of the apartment. "Weapons? Gear?"
Neji went down the hall and she followed. When he smiled, it was genuine, and she knew she'd gotten the lion's share. He showed her through the bedroom––large, expansive, with a California king bed and a view of the ocean over the heads of buildings––the master bathroom––white tile, heated flooring, a jacuzzi tub, and pressurized shower––until they finally came to the attached walk-in closet. The closet was already full, unlike her refrigerator. Hinata glanced at the tags as they passed through: Chanel, Givenchy, Lululemon, Prada. They were setting her up like a proper heiress.
"Did the Hokage pay for all of this?" Hinata questioned, thinking about the Black credit card and Kiba's concern when he had found out about it. She picked up a Prade handbag that likely cost triple the amount she'd spend on groceries in a month.
Neji looked at her like she was stupid, "the government paid for your assignment, yes. But it's not like your father couldn't afford this."
Hinata didn't comment on the fact that she didn't exactly know what her father could afford. It concerned her greatly that she hadn't made any of these considerations prior to this mission. Had she lived in a cramped studio apartment just to torture herself? No one had told her there was any other way.
She was painfully naïve. This revelation hit her uncomfortably in the chest, like she'd been punched by her own newfound knowledge.
At the back of the closet, Neji lifted a shoe box, revealing a small red button. Hinata watched him push it, then move a rack of clothing out of the way. The wall split open, revealing a glowing panel. Hinata understood instantly; she placed her hand against the panel and watched technology scan it. It felt warm, but there was a sharp prickle too. She didn't react until she saw that the scan was complete. When she took her hand away, her index finger had a single drop of blood.
"The hand scan is merely perfunctory. The blood draw is what gets the doors to open," Neji said. Hinata blinked as she watched the wall lift up towards the ceiling, a small, dark room revealing itself to them. Hinata stepped inside after Neji, watching as he pressed a button and the wall to her closet came back down, closing her in.
The room was small––only a few feet large, but the walls were covered in weapons: semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shot guns, and knives. Various car keys, the vehicles in which Hinata assumed, were hidden around the neighborhood. Helmets and gloves. Various spy gear to take with her when she was expecting to do some extra snooping. There was even a computer attached to the wall, where she could upload any intelligence she found and send it to Command.
"Welcome to the Toy Chest," Neji said, smiling wryly. "Use it wisely. I'll see you at the same time next week to check on your progress."
When Neji finally left, Hinata sat on the couch, in awe of it all. She thought about her new target, Uchiha Sasuke, and how he'd interviewed her with such disinterest it made her heart sink into her stomach. His eyes were razor sharp and dark as ravens. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing and saying. He was confident, put together, and an expert in his field.
Hinata sighed, looking around all of her new, pretty things. She knew that it was all temporary, but still some parts of it tugged at some corner of her heart. She never knew that she could have anything like this.
And then: a text from Ino.
Meet at the Sarutobi Monument at 5. Wear a cute business-cas dress. We're goin' to the rally, bestie!
Hinata groaned and got to her feet. She returned to the closet, looking in agony at all of the designer clothes, not having the slightest clue what to wear.
A fair day's wage for a fair day's work.