We get a little more info about what's going on

Chapter 26: Say the wrong things the right ways

The morning after capturing the ROOT member, Hinata received a summons while having breakfast with her sister. Hinata quickly made her way to the Hokage Tower, curious. Shino had already delivered their mission report, so she was unsure what this could be about.

Upon arriving, Shikamaru waved her into the Hokage's office where Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were waiting. Kakashi was noticeably absent.

"Even now, he's still like this," Sakura complained after a quick greeting.

"I think he's gotten worse," Naruto added from where he was slumped across Kakashi's desk.

"My ears are burning," Kakashi said as he walked in with Sai, Ino and Ibiki following behind. "Were my cute students saying mean things about me?"

"Yes," Naruto and Sakura deadpanned.

"Mah, you're going to give me a bad reputation," Kakashi said, unconcerned.

Sai tilted his head, confused. "But your tardiness is already well known across Konoha."

Hinata bit back a smile, while Sakura and Naruto cackled.

For his part, Kakashi winced, but recovered quickly. "Ibiki, any progress with the so-called Nara?"

The wording caught Hinata's attention and she glanced around the room taking in the surprised and not so surprised expressions. Sasuke's face was impassive, but Hinata got the sense that this was new information to him.

"So-called? What does that mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, cocking her hip.

It was Shikamaru that answered. "We haven't been able to ID him as a Nara."

Sakura made a face. "He used a Nara clan technique, that wasn't enough to ID him?" she asked incredulously.

Shikamaru's lips formed a grim line. When no response was forthcoming, Sakura turned to Kakashi instead.

"All we can say right now is that we don't have a positive ID," Kakashi said, clearly closing the matter. He gestured at Ibiki.

Ibiki frowned, arms crossed. "He's definitely ROOT. Has the same tactics; can't get anything out of him. We brought in Yamanaka to take a crack at him," he said, gesturing to Ino.

"He's had training to protect his mind. It's either going to take a lot of time or brute force to get information. And if we use brute force, we risk breaking his psyche," Ino explained.

Kakashi looked at Ibiki. "By tactics, you mean…?"

"A seal," Ibiki confirmed. "Looks different from Danzo's. Sai copied them both down side by side." He pulled out a scroll from his pocket and handed it over to Kakashi.

"The Zekka Konzetsu no In disappeared with Danzo's death," Sai reminded them.

Kakashi nodded as he examined the scroll. "Keep working on him. Brute force is off the table, for now."

"For now?!" Naruto blurted out.

There was a tense moment of eye contact between Naruto and Kakashi while the rest of them waited in silence. Finally, Naruto pursed his lips and looked away.

Kakashi turned to look at Sasuke who was leaning against the wall.

Straightening up, Sasuke spoke to the room in an even voice. "Utatane Koharu met with a former ROOT member named Tsuchinoe yesterday. I intercepted Tsuchinoe after their meeting and was able to get some information."

Hinata's eyed darted to Sasuke's chest where he'd been cut the other day. When she looked back up to his face, Sasuke was staring back. After a moment, he pulled his gaze away and continued speaking. "Tsuchinoe is still devoted to Danzo. According to her, there's a faction of traitors calling themselves nae-ROOT following a usurper who falsely claims to be Danzo's successor. To her, Danzo was their one and only leader, but it seems like not all former ROOT members feel the same."

"Any idea on who that usurper could be?" Ibiki asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "She wasn't feeling very talkative."

"And you stand by your assessment that Koharu isn't involved?" Kakashi asked.

Nodding, Sasuke said, "She was likely fishing for information to put herself in a position of power. Didn't want anyone to know she still has former ROOT members in her pocket."

"Sai," Kakashi said, rolling up the scroll. "Based on your knowledge of ROOT, would you be able to put together a list of possible suspects?"

Sai shifted uncomfortably, edging closer to Ino. Hinata knew if they weren't in a professional setting, the two would be touching right now. Ino had always been the clingy type and Sai was happy to receive her physical affection. It had been lovely to see him open up because of her and even now the way they gravitated to each other was obvious to Hinata.

Turning to look at the former Team Seven, Hinata observed their body language. Naruto was situated between his teammates as usual. He and Sakura were at ease with each other, both near Kakashi's desk while Sasuke had distanced himself quite a bit to stand by the wall. Sakura would send sidelong glances in Sasuke's direction to which the Uchiha seemed immune.

"Yes," Sai responded shortly.

"Good. And could you speak to our captive nae-ROOT member?" Kakashi asked.

Sai froze.

Ino stepped in front of her boyfriend protectively. "I don't think —"

"Sai?" Kakashi cut in.

Sai touched Ino's elbow briefly before meeting Kakashi's eyes solemnly and nodding.

"Good," Kakashi repeated. "Ibiki, Ino, take Sai to the interrogation unit."

Once the three of them had left, Kakashi addressed Sakura. "What's Fujiwara's status?"

"He's stable. The extraction on his neck was crudely done. There were plenty of roots left behind and they've already started to grow back. By tomorrow his condition should be good enough for Tsunade-sama and I to perform the procedure to properly remove the white zetsu," Sakura reported.

"Could that 'crude extract' taken by the nae-ROOT members be used to reproduce the white zetsu?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura narrowed her eyes in thought. "It's hard to say," she said finally.

Kakashi nodded. "We'll operate under the assumption that it can. Hinata, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here?"

Hinata nearly jumped. She nodded, resisting the urge to fidget with her sleeves.

"I understand you've been studying fūinjutsu?" Kakashi asked.

Hinata's eyes widened and she shot a glance at Sasuke who only shook his head minutely. "I have," she answered though the question was likely rhetorical.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I have my sources," he said. "I'd like you to take a look at this seal." He held out the scroll Ibiki had brought.

Hinata automatically accepted out of politeness even as she said, "Hokage-sama, I'm hardly an expert. There are other people in Konoha who would be better suited for this. You would be better suited for this."

"Unfortunately, being Hokage makes it difficult to dedicate the amount of time this task would need. And I think you're underestimating yourself, Hinata," Kakashi said. "Besides, we want to limit the number of people aware of this situation. And few people in Konoha would have access to the information you have. Books from the Hyuuga, Uchiha and Jiraiya."

Naruto sat up. "Jiraiya?"

"Jiraiya was a seal master and he left a lot of his notes and materials to you Naruto," Kakashi pointed out.

Hinata blinked, surprised. She knew Jiraiya had left some things for Naruto after his death, but she hadn't been aware of any fūinjutsu related items.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Ah, I guess he did…honestly there were a lot of books and I didn't look at most of them."

There was a pause as they all undoubtedly thought of Jiraiya's more risqué series.

Hands falling to his side, Naruto's expression grew serious. "Kakashi-sensei, when you say you want to limit the number of people who know about this stuff…what do you mean?"

"Naruto, the former ROOT members are already facing a lot of prejudice and suspicion. Some of them have made their way into ANBU proper, but a lot have retired or left Konoha entirely. If people knew someone was trying to resurrect ROOT…it would make things even more difficult for them," Kakashi explained.

"I get that, but…keeping secrets from our comrades...it doesn't feel right." Naruto's lips thinned to a grim line. "I think that a lot of bad things that happened in Konoha could have been avoided if we were more honest."

Kakashi sighed. "Konoha has already failed the ROOT members once by letting them get conscripted into the organization in the first place. The least we can do for them now is to give them some chance at normalcy. And any information we share could make its way back to the nae-ROOT. They likely already have the upper hand and we'd lose any possible advantage."

Naruto dropped his gaze to his feet, frowning. "The unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth," he recited. Lifting his head, his bright blue eyes shone in the light of the room. "Sai told us once that that was ROOT's motto. We can't win if we continue to let them be unseen."

"Naruto, this isn't up for negotiation. The existence of nae-ROOT is top secret right now."

Hinata could tell that it pained Kakashi to make this type of decision. She eyed the curl of Naruto's fists and the stiffness of his shoulders. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath and Hinata was ready for him to keep arguing bullishly, the way he did when he believed in something.

But then Naruto paused and exhaled slowly. With his mouth twisted into a grimace, Naruto gave a rigid nod before storming out of the room.

Without hesitation, Hinata followed. Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru did as well.

Kakashi was a great ninja and there was a reason he was chosen to be the Rokudaime, but everyone knew that it was a stopgap until Naruto was ready to ascend to the position. After everything they'd been through, after how much Naruto had proven himself, it was second nature for the Konoha Twelve to follow him. They believed in him. He was going to be their Hokage.

Naruto made it to the end of a secluded hallway before he stopped, back straight and fists still clenched. Hinata and the others waited in silence.

Finally, Naruto turned around, blue eyes still blazing. "I hate it! I hate that we're doing this! I hate all the secrets and lies!"

It was a testament, Hinata thought, to how much Naruto had grown that he was able to contain his outburst until leaving the room.

Shikamaru snorted. "Welcome to politics."

"I don't know if I agree with Kakashi-sensei, but I see where he's coming from," Sakura reasoned. "It's been difficult for Sai, especially back then. The old ROOT members were angry at him for betraying Danzo and Konoha-nin didn't trust him. We'd be putting them all in a tough position."

"But we stood by him and things got better," Naruto insisted. "When we hide things from each other, that's when mistrust grows."

"It was always going to come back to this. This is what Konoha was built on: secrets and lies," Sasuke said darkly.

Naruto's face shuttered as he stared at the ground.

Hinata bit her lip, turning to look at Sasuke. The corners of his lips were downturned, but that was hardly unusual. It was the rigid line of his shoulders that gave away just how agitated he was. Without much thought she inched closer, their sides pressing lightly together. Turning back to look at the others, Hinata felt Sasuke press back against her with a firmer touch.

"It's hard," Naruto started, voice hoarse with emotion. "Sandaime-jii-chan meant so much to me. He watched out for me. He was one of the few adults who didn't treat me like a monster. So, it's hard to understand the things he did, the decisions he made. Covering up what happened to your family. Disbanding ROOT, but letting Danzo walk free. Sometimes I wonder if he suspected that Danzo didn't stop and just…looked the other way. Because he didn't want to know."

Hinata's expression of distress was shared by Sakura and Shikamaru. They all had fond memories of the Sandaime. It was hard to reconcile the kind old man with some of his actions as Hokage. Hinata clasped her hands to her chest. She didn't understand it either.

"I made a promise to change that and I meant it," Naruto said. He was looking directly at Sasuke now. "I don't want to keep repeating the same mistakes. I won't let us hide from the truth because it's easier than facing it."

Sasuke was silent as he returned Naruto's gaze evenly. Finally, he sighed and looked away. "You're not Hokage yet."

"We can talk to Kakashi-sensei! And if that doesn't work, we can beat some sense into him! I think we can probably take him by now and —"

"Okay before this turns too treasonous," Shikamaru interrupted, "I do think Hokage -sama's plan is our best course of action." At Naruto's betrayed look, he added, "For now. Our priority needs to be dismantling nae-ROOT. Their specialty is infiltration and information gathering, so we need to play our cards close to our chests. And if we let it slip that someone's going around stealing hiden, people will be quick to close ranks which might make investigating more difficult."

Naruto seemed to settle at that, but Hinata hesitated.

"Is that really okay, Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked softly, thinking of the supposed heritage of the only known nae-ROOT member.

Shikamaru sent her a half-smile. "My family's already been informed. Age-wise, he should be a match for one of our clan members orphaned during the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen and presumed dead with no body. But my mom insists it isn't him, ergo no positive ID. Hokage-sama has already sworn any information retrieved about his use of my clan's hiden will be shared and we're not going to be spreading this around."

Hinata's clasped hands loosened, feeling reassured knowing that Kakashi had immediately notified the Nara clan. A quick glance out of the corner of her eyes caught the flash of surprise on Sasuke's face.

"So that's what you meant by stealing hiden. Well now that that's settled, I need to head back to the hospital." Sakura looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep, undoubtedly because of the state Fujiwara was in last night.

"Since he's here, I'm going to try to force Hokage-sama to sign some forms," Shikamaru said.

The two of them left and Hinata was about to give her own farewell, but stopped at the sound of her name.

"Hinata-chan, can we meet up later tonight?"

Looking up at Naruto's face, Hinata swallowed nervously. She could still feel Sasuke at her side and though she was tempted, she refrained from looking his way. Still, his presence was a welcome buffer.

Naruto, for his part, paid no mind to Sasuke. His eyes were locked on Hinata. When she didn't respond, he expounded. "To check out Jiraiya's books? Like Kakashi-sensei said."

Hinata's lips parted in a silent 'oh' and blood rushed to her cheeks. "Of course! For the mission." She nodded furiously.

Naruto's lips quirked in a fond grin. "Great! Meet me at the entrance later?"

"Mm." Hinata nodded again.

There was a moment where Naruto hesitated, hands hanging in the air. Then he simply stuffed them into his pockets and left with a loud goodbye.

It took a few seconds for Hinata to recover from the admittedly innocuous encounter. When she turned, Sasuke was waiting. The expression on his face was different from how he normally looked at her, an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes that he blinked away as if it were never there.

Feeling a little out of sorts, Hinata clumsily fell into step with him, walking down the halls of the Hokage Tower.

"Are you going home?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, I need to sort through my notes and prepare." Hinata wanted to practice a few more complex seals.

"Let's go then."

After bidding goodbye to Sasuke and greeting the Hyuuga guards, Hinata came across her sister near the compound gates. Hanabi was dressed in her training clothes and clearly on her way out.

"Hanabi, I thought your sensei gave you the day off?"

Hanabi scoffed, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "Like I really needed to recover from D-rank missions. We're all meeting up at the training grounds even without sensei. More importantly, was that Uchiha Sasuke dropping you off again?"

"Hanabi, you shouldn't use your byakugan for trivial things."

"You sound like chichiue. You know, I think he's walked you home more than your boyfriend ever did."

"Kiba-kun and Shino-kun do that as well," Hinata protested.

"You're right. They also walked you home more than Naruto."

Hinata blinked.

"Well, I'm off, see you later onee-sama!" Hanabi left in a whirlwind of energy.

Shaking her head lightly, Hinata made her way to the Head House. Neji was doing katas in the private courtyard, the picture of grace in a backdrop of white snow. Pausing to watch for a few moments, Hinata ended up taking a detour to join him. Once they were done, they headed in doors to warm up with a cup of tea before parting ways, Neji to practice calligraphy and Hinata to her rooms.

Hinata had sealed away most of her more sensitive materials using a modified storage seal of her own creation. She unsealed her books and scrolls and began reviewing and sketching out seals in the privacy of her bedroom. Hours passed before she knew it and Hinata only noticed because of the fading sunlight. Packing up her things, she stopped by the kitchens and threw together three bento boxes.

Her first stop was the hospital.

Hanabi's being sassy!

We're circling back to NaruHina to tie up some loose ends and because who doesn't love a bit of drama?

Thanks to everyone who's still reading◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜Reading your reviews always gives me a little boost of energy

MVH