"It's beyond embarrassing for me and for whoever else is dragged in!" Hinata's voice got higher. "You can not keep sneaking blind dates into my schedule!"
Kisame stood to the side, trying to mind his own business, but he didn't know if he was hiding his amusement well. The usually calm, quiet, collected, polite to a fault Hinata losing her temper to the point of raising her voice at what he had originally thought was her father but turned out to be her uncle was entertaining, to say the least.
This was the opposite of how she was with her father.
"You are almost thirty." Hizashi started. "I just don't want you putting your whole life into your career and then end up alone."
Hinata pressed a finger to her temple, knowing that she wasn't getting through to him. "I am not interested in finding a partner at the moment. There are too many fires to be put out to be focusing on my love life."
"There will always be a fire to put out. That is why I think blind dates are a wonderful way for you to meet potential matches. They fit into your schedule. You know they are looking for a relationship as well. You can negotiate boundaries and what you want in a relationship up front." Hizashi listed.
"Uncle." Hinata took a moment to reel back her temper. "I do not like the idea of a romantic relationship being a business contract."
Wasn't this something that rich people did all the time? Arranged marriages? Convince relationships for company mergers? Kisame wasn't saying that was a good thing, but maybe he could see why Hizashi thought this was something he could push.
Was it stupid? Yeah. Did Kisame see why some high-level business type would think this is normal? Unfortunately, yes.
Hizashi sat back in his chair. "I just want one of you kids to have a family before it's too late."
"Neji-san's getting married this year." Hinata waved her hand out.
Hizashi pouted. "He won't be having children."
Hinata shook her head. "You don't know that. He has options. Though I doubt he will take any of them if you keep pushing."
Hizashi looked off to the side. "And with Hanabi coming back from school…" Oh, yeah. Kisame knew Hinata had a sister, but he hadn't heard much about her.
"Do not start pressuring her when she gets back," Hinata warned firmly.
Hizashi sighed in defeat. For now. "I would love to continue this, but I have a meeting."
Hinata gave him a look but got up and bowed her head, politely changing her tone. "Please consider what I said."
Kisame followed her out. "Why is he pushing you if his son is getting married?"
Hinata turned to him as she waited for the elevator. "My uncle has settled into a part of his life where he suddenly loves the idea of grandchildren, but with Neji-san marrying a man, I believe he thinks that option is close, so he has moved on to me."
Kisame didn't even know Neji was getting married, let alone to whom. "Have I met them?"
"Yeah. Lee-san." The one who she had him contact to see up his job.
They stepped into the elevator. "… Wait. That carefree ball of energy and the grumpy little shit that is constantly complaining about everything?" Okay, maybe he should talk about her cousin like that.
Hinata giggled at his reaction. "That's most people's reaction. They balance each other out, well."
Despite the angry crowd that was outside the head building. Hisashi ordered her to stop avoiding the lobby. He didn't give a reason, but Hinata was sure it had something to do with not looking like cowards.
Hinata held her head high as she was meant to as she walked past the protesters held back by only a thin rope warning them where the property line was. They shouted at her as she walked by, and she felt their words in her chest.
This wasn't to prove they weren't cowards. This was to punish her for not fixing the problem yet. Her father wanted to incentivize her to find a way to make them stop, even if it was his fault they were out here in the first place.
Hinata flinched as she caught something flying at her out of the corner of her eye. She ducked her head and felt completely engulfed as Kisame shielded her from a full to-go cup that was thrown their way as a man shouted from behind the line.
She was ushered away before she could see him, or security grabbed him.
Once inside, Kisame stepped back and shook his head. "Ugh, it smells sweet." He jerked off his suit jacket.
It was his job to put himself in the way, but she still felt bad that he was taking her hits. Hinata pulled a handkerchief out of her purse and handed it to him while she turned to find his whole back covered in a dark liquid that had soaked through. The back of his neck was quickly turning purple from irritation from whatever it was. "What even is this?"
"I think it's coffee." Kisame rubbed his hair and neck dry.
Hinata touched it. It felt warm. "Was it hot?"
"Yeah. It's fine now." Kisame pulled his sticky shirt away from himself. He was soaked through in scalding coffee. This was not fine.
"Take this off." Hinata tugged on his sleeve.
"I'll change before we leave. I have spear clothes in the car." Kisame nodded his head toward the door.
She hated when he didn't just listen to her. "No. I want to make sure you don't have any burns."
Kisame put his hand up. "I'm fine."
"Kisame-san." Hinata huffed in frustration. "Just tell me if it hurt."
Kisame paused, looking down at her. "Alright. It burned." He admitted.
"I am going to cancel my next meeting, and I will have someone get your clothes and a first aid kit." Hinata pushed him toward the bathroom. "Go take the wet clothes off, at least."
Kisame settled down on the couch in her office as Hinata brought in a first aid kit and a bag from a local convenience store. "I had someone pick up some burn cream, so I didn't have to fuss with packets."
"It doesn't hurt that bad." Kisame lied. He could still feel it, but he had been burned with a cigarette. This was nothing.
Hinata closed the blinds and sat down beside him to pull open the packaging on the bottle of cream. "I can see your skin is irritated." She pointed to the back of his neck.
Yeah, being splashed with scalding coffee didn't feel great, but he would be fine.
Hinata set the trash aside. "Let me see your back."
"I'm not…" Kisame started.
"You can either let me put this on it, or if you're not comfortable with me, we can go to the hospital, and a nurse can do it," Hinata told him flatly, but her stern tone faltered.
Kisame paused to actually look at her and realized Hinata's calm mask wasn't hiding the worry in her eyes. She was shaken up, and he was pushing her concern aside. She was trying to deal with being attacked again the same way she dealt with the first time. Dealing with the damage to not think about what caused it.
Kisame unbuttoned his shirt and put it aside to let her see his back. Though he wasn't sure it was going to make her feel any better.
Hinata said nothing about the old scars that she would usually question as she dabbed the cream on the blotches where the scalding coffee had seeped through his clothes too quickly. She took measured breaths as she applied. He kept from looking at her because he was sure she was struggling to keep herself together.
He didn't think about how something like this would affect her, but maybe he was a little too used to having a beer or a chair thrown at him.
But this wasn't thrown at him. This was thrown at her. He just took the hit.
"What is this cloud tattoo for?" Hinata wondered as she paused to squeeze more ointment out.
Kisame looked over his shoulder. The tattoos didn't help that whole 'Yakuza' look. "Old group I used to hang out with." That… really didn't help the Yakuza look either.
"It looks familiar." Hinata hummed.
Kisame could only hope that she had never met half of the people who had one to match. He couldn't even imagine Hinata and Hidan in the same room with each other. "I doubt you've met any of them. I don't think you would be happy to meet any of them."
"I was happy to meet you." Hinata countered.
Kisame ducked his head to hide the heat that came to his face. She just said shit like that without blinking an eye.
"I like this scaled one." Hinata placed a single tap on his shoulder to the scales that came up over his shoulder and down his arm. "Shark scales?"
"Yeah," Kisame confirmed. "Most people don't know that sharks have scales."
Hinata nodded. "Maybe because your skin is smooth." She closed the ointment and cleaned her hands. "Let that sit for a little while before putting your shirt on." She stood up and pointed out the door. "I am going to ask someone to find out what happened to the man who threw it."
"To press charges?" Kisame wondered.
Hinata shook her head. "I want to talk to him."