When Hinata next opened her eyes, Kurenai was at her bedside.

"At this rate, I'll go grey before I'm thirty." The woman sighed when she noticed Hinata stirring, and Hinata winced, guilt hitting her like a slap when she remembered her last conversation with her sensei prior to the Kiri mission.

"Sorry, sensei." Hinata whispered, her voice coming out hoarse from a mix of sleep and hours spent crying once Hanabi had fallen asleep the night before. Actually, now that she thought about it, she must've been far more drugged than she'd realised; she hadn't evenfeltHanabi leave.

Kurenai just shook her head and offered her a glass of water, pulling Hinata's bed so she was somewhat more upright and holding the straw so that Hinata could drink without choking.

"How are you feeling?" Kurenai asked once Hinata was done and the glass was back on her bedside, the look in her eyes as her gaze flickered over Hinata's face unreadable in a way it hadn't been for months.

"Good." Hinata replied automatically, then winced at Kurenai's sharp look, taking a moment longer to think about her answer before offering a quieter, far more honest: "Worried."

Hinata knew what Kurenai's frown meant even without the woman having to speak, so she dutifully elaborated, "Hanabi. Neji-nii-san. Father."

Then, a thought struck her, mind flashing back to how long Tsunade had said she'd been unconscious.

"Kiba and Shino-!" she exclaimed, sitting up in alarm, then letting out a whimper when the sudden movement pulled at her burns. "Are they-?"

"They were processed by Intel two days ago." Kurenai cut her off, laying a blissfully cool hand on Hinata's forehead and encouraging her to settle back fully against the bed. "They were attacked on their way back, but they're both fine."

Hinata tensed, but shetrustedKurenai, so instead of giving in to her panic, she only murmured, "What happened?"

"The Elder you travelled with is the worst off." Kurenai carried on, as if not having heard Hinata's question. "She's in the hospital, a few doors down from you."

Not having heard, orpurposefully ignoring, Hinata realised, throwing Kurenai an anxious glance. "Sensei-?"

"I can't tell you more than that." Kurenai admitted, a pained grimace briefly flickering over her face before her expression evened out. She smoothed her hand from Hinata's forehead and into her hair, pushing her fringe away from her face, and Hinata found herself relaxing almost despite herself. "Gen, Rai, and Jiraiya are all fine, too."

Hinata knew she could, and probablyshouldhave left it well alone, but Kurenai- Kurenai hadn't been herself recently, and Hinata was worried. "And you?"

"Me?" Kurenai echoed, and she briefly sounded almost baffled, before she laughed quietly, the sound devoid of any actual humour.

"I sometimes forget how perceptive you are." Kurenai murmured, combing her fingers through Hinata's hair in a motion that was probably only half intended to sootheHinata,and her next words were quieter.

"I've been…keeping busy, I suppose." She confessed, and there was pride in her eyes when she met Hinata's gaze, though also something almostfragile. "As people keep informing me, the three of you are shaping up to be a bunch of little monsters. I've got to make sure I can keep up with you. So, I've been training."

"Keep…up?" Hinata echoed confusedly, hoping her expression didn't fully betray just how nonsensical she found the notion. "Sensei," she began, trying to keep her voice neutral, "you can run circles around us."

"Maybe right now, but for how much longer?" Kurenai shot back, though she didn't sound angry about it, or even resentful. If anything, she sounded…wistful. "I've never been a combat shinobi, Hinata, but the three of you have earned us a secondary combat designation in your first year out of the Academy. If I want to be able to continue going on missions with you, I need to train, diversify."

Hinata took a moment to…assimilate that. She knew that there was a lot more in what Kurenai had just said that deserved her attention, but the one thing that she just couldn't get over was: "…We have a secondary combat designation?"

Because Team Eight in her first life hadneveraccomplished that. Kurenai had never needed to diversify, had stayed a genjutsu mistress for all the missions that she'd ran with Hinata's team, though the frequency of those did dwindle somewhat once all of them made chunin. The notion that Kurenai felt the need to diversify her skillset, that she implied that herteenaged genin teamwas her push to do so, was…both heartening and worrying.

Hinata had known, in the back of her mind, that her team got a lot better a lot quicker in this life. She was pretty sure that while her Kiba and Shino outclassedthisKiba and Shino in Clan techniques, this life's Kiba and Shino would be able to hold their own in a fight with the Kiba and Shino from thewarsimply due to how much wider their skillsets were.

"Hinata." Kurenai sighed, and she sounded a mix of fond and exasperated, and it was only then that Hinata remembered that she'd asked a question. "You just singlehandedly defeated a man who'd already been a seasoned jounin whenIwas still in the Academy. Aburame are terrifying in their own right but then Shino has been adding tai and bukijutsu to his arsenal, and Kiba is an Inuzuka and a buddingpoisonuser." Kurenai paused, then smiled bitterly, though it didn't seem directed at Hinata, or her teammates. "Jiraiya's verbal report has also been…illuminating."

"In what way?" Hinata asked, not liking whatever could've brought that expression onto Kurenai's face and dreading the implication of her team being included in Jiraiya's report beyond the scope of the mission. "Sensei? What are you saying?"

"I'd also like to know that." a new voice spoke up from the door, and Hinata didn't have to turn to know that it was Kagane-san, though the way Kurenai froze at the sound of the other kunoichi's interruption wasworrying."Yuhi. I believe you should leave."

At that, Hinata did jerk her head over to look at her therapist, but the older woman's gaze was on Kurenai, her face expressionless beyond a faint frown of disapproval.

"Are you stalking me?"

Hinata startled at the question, turning back to Kurenai, but her sensei hadn't even turned to face Kagane, her fingers wrapped around the metal railing of Hinata's bed and clenched so hard her knuckles had turned white. Hinata unused as she was to hearing such a sharp, nearly confrontational tone from Kurenai, still nearly jumped at Kagane's reply.

"I have better things to do." Her therapist dismissed idly, but the sharpness in her eyes belied the careless words. "I just had the hospital staff alert me if either you or Uzuki showed up somewhere you shouldn't."

Kurenai's mouth twisted in an expression Hinata had never seen before, something too close to a snarl to be called a scowl and too resigned to be a snarl. Still, she shot back, words acrid; "You don't have the right."

"It just so happens that Hinata is my patient," Kagane began, finally glancing at Hinata, the sharpness in her eyes waning slightly when she met Hinata's gaze. Then, she turned her attention back to Kurenai, and her expression hardened once more, though Hinata could swear that the woman gentled her words slightly, "and she, for some reason,caresabout your and Uzuki's continued wellbeing."

Kagane paused at that, glancing briefly at Hinata, as if giving her the opportunity to deny that assessment, but Hinata shook her head mutely, eyes trained worriedly on the pained grimace that flashed across Kurenai's face.

"And as her therapist," Kagane continued, finally stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind herself, "it is in my best interest to prevent you from doingstupid shitthat could jeopardise that wellbeing."

Hinata startled, jerking her head as much as she could to look at Kagane.

"Kagane-san?" she asked, not liking the implications nor the uncharacteristic crassness of the older kunoichi's words. "What's going on?"

Kagane glanced at her, concern briefly visible in her steely eyes, but she didn't reply, refocusing her attention on Kurenai.

"Yuhi." She called, and her tone left little room for argument. "Leave, or I'll have you thrown out."

If possible, Kurenai's grip tightened even further on Hinata's bed, but then-

-she gave in.

She pried her fingers from the metal and smoothed her other hand through Hinata's hair a final time, managing a half-smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I'll see you when you get released." She told Hinata, then headed for the window, not glancing at Kagane even a single time in the time it took her to forcedit open and jump out.

Wordlessly, Hinata watched as Kagane approached, and she was sure that her confusion was visible on her face because Kagane smiled briefly, the flicker of humour in her eyes dying almost as quickly as it appeared.

"A few days after you left, your sensei came to me to say I should make sure to talk to you when you got back." Kagane answered the silent question, then pinned Hinata with a weighted look. "As she allegedly told you, it is quite literally myjobto be 'burdened' with what you've got going on. Don't try to keep things bottled up like that again, okay, Hinata?"

"Okay, Kagane-san." Hinata murmured, her awareness that it was unlikely to be a promise she'd be able to keep warring with how intimidated she was by Kagane's intensity. "…What did sensei do?"

Kagane sighed, though she finally settled in the same chair Kurenai had abandoned, taking out her notebook from the inner pocket of her jacket, and Hinata already knew this was not going to be ashortconversation.

"Your sensei is a Clanless kunoichi who got to jounin with agenjutsuspecialisation." Kagane finally replied, and despite the ice that had been in her eyes earlier and how unforgiving she'd been when addressing Kurenai, there was grudging respect in her voice. "Some people have forgotten what type of shinobi it takes to accomplish something like that."

Hinata…didn't know how to respond to that.

So she didn't. Kagane had never had a problem with her silences before.

"Here's what I'd like from you today." Kagane began, settling more fully in the chair and pinning Hinata with a measured look. "I'd like you to tell me your experience of the Kiri mission. How you felt, where your head was at, what you think might have contributed to you, ah, how did Jiraiya word it? 'Plucking Ao's eye out like plucking a goldfish from a bucket at the fair'."

Hinata felt her eyes widen, the absurdity of the mental image briefly pushing through her stress and anxiety, and even Kagane's lips twitched. "There's a reason Orochimaru always wrote their mission reports."

Hinata startled, because while Jiraiya's admission that the Sannin and her therapist were of the same generation was fresh in her mind, hearing the woman mentionOrochimaru of the Sanninso casually was still somewhat weird.

"Now, Hinata." Kagane spoke, drawing Hinata's focus back to the present and clicking her pen, notebook open on her thigh. "If you would?"

Natsume listened as Hinata talked, and it seemed that while the girl had been slow to get going, once the words started pouring out, they didn't stop. It was definitely preferable to the Hyuuga refusing to share what was on her mind, but Natsume was growing concerned byjust how muchthe girl had kept to herself.

When Hinata finally seemed to run out of steam, she sank back against the pillows with an exhausted sigh and Natsume carefully refilled then offered the glass of water that had been on the girl's bedside. Once Hinata busied herself with hydrating her doubtless dry throat, Natsume tried to organise her thoughts on what she'd just heard.

"The assumption that the Mizukage wouldn't give the Byakugan back even if you defeated its owner was a far one to make." she murmured after a few seconds, deciding to start slow, though she noted that Hinata didn't look as reassured by the acknowledgement as she'd expected her to. "But I am concerned by the lengths you went through to get it back."

Hinata blinked, and Natsume didn't have to be a Yamanaka to realise that the girl wasn't following her thought process.

She it, Senju.

"Your acquisition of the stolen Byakugan wasn't the main goal of the mission to Kiri, but a convenient excuse for it." Natsume informed Hinata blandly, carefully tracking Hinata's reaction to the news. She wasn't surprised when the girl froze, her eyes growing wide, her chakra blinking out, clearly and thoroughly suppressed in a move Natsume had no doubt was an unconscious defence mechanism. "Nobody expected the Mizukage to return it, and nobody, with the exception of your sensei and teammates perhaps, actually expected you to succeed in taking it back by force."

Hinata flinched, the words seemingly hitting her like a physical blow.

"T-then why go through with it?" the girl demanded incredulously, and Natsume smiled humourlessly at the mix of confusion and indignation in her voice.

"Because it offered Konoha its first official chance to look within Kirigakure's borders." she replied honestly, watching as the indignation drained out of Hinata as quickly as it had appeared. "And that was too great of an opportunity to let pass by."

Hinata watched her for a few seconds, a frown pulling at her brows as she processed Natsume's bombshell, then she shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Every Village has its spies." Natsume said bluntly, the corner of her lips ticking up at Hinata's startle. "Every so often, we catch another Village's. Sometimes, our own spies are caught. This mission allowed Intel to send spies to snoop around and have a nigh-guarantee that they would come back."

When Hinata just stared, clearly still uncomprehending, Natsume sighed and snapped her fingers. "Think, Hinata. Who did you see, and who did you conspicuouslynotsee during your time in Kiri?"

And she watched as, finally, realisation dawned.

"Genma-san." Hinata choked out.

"And Namiashi." Natsume confirmed.

"They werespying?" Hinata whispered, her earlier confusion replaced by what read to Natsume as genuine, heart-stoppingfear. "What- what if they'd been caught? Would they have been disavowed?"

Natsume blinked. She hadn't…expected that thought process.

"…Most likely." She allowed slowly, then rolled her shoulders and tried for her usual mien. "But they weren't caught, so you don't need to worry."

And Hinata just sat there for a few minutes, silent and still and deep in thought, no doubt going over her experience in Kiri with the new information in mind, and Natsume didn't see the need to hurry her along.

Then, the door to her room opened and a haggard-looking Shiranui burst in a if summoned, his eyes zeroing in on the Hyuuga and softening so obviously that Natsume nearly did a double-take. Hinata, however, brightened, and the change in her expression was almost as jarring as Shiranui's.

"Genma-san!" she greeted, directing a small smile at the man, though it dimmed when she doubtless noted the tension in the brunet's usually lax posture and the frown between his brows. "I-is everything alright?"

"Tell them I taught you." Shiranui ordered, rounding up to Hinata's bedside opposite where Natsume was sitting, and Natsume didn't miss the way his hands were balled into fists in his pockets. "If anyone asks about how you know it. Tell them I taught you."

Hinata blinked, visibly thrown, but whether at the non-sequitur or the urgency in the brunet's voice, Natsume couldn't be sure. Then-

"But- you'd get in trouble."

Natsume tensed, gaze flickering from Hinata's concerned face to Shiranui's stony one, though his expression softened at the girl's obvious concern.

"Maybe." He allowed, pulling a hand from his pocket and laying it gently on the Hyuuga's head. Instead of tensing like Natsume expected, the girl visibly relaxed under the touch, a quiet sigh rattling out of her. "But it's better than the alternative."

Though the line of her shoulders was still loose, Hinata's frown deepened at Shiranui's words.

"I can't do that, Genma-san." she denied, concern, but also a rarely-seen streak of stubbornness in her eyes. "It was my mistake."

"You can, and you should." Shiranui shot back, and though his tone was still conversational, Natsume knew that Hinata wasn't winning this argument. "I can take a slap on the wrist."

Either Hinata realised the same, or the next thing she noticed was of more concern to her than whatever Shiranui did or did not teach her.

"So soon?" she asked, and this time, Natsume found herself thrown, glancing back at Shiranui to try and spot what the girl might be asking after. "Can you tell me?"

A flicker of pain or regret passed through Shiranui's eyes, but he offered Hinata a warm smile and shook his head.

"Plausible deniability, princess." He replied, and now that Natsume was looking, she could see the fuller-than-average pouches and black turtleneck peeking out from underneath the oversized sweater Shiranui had come in with. She watched silently as the man lightly ruffled Hinata's hair and winked teasingly. "Be good for the medics."

But Hinata wasn't mollified by the joking tone and reached up when Shiranui moved to pull his hand away, wrapping her fingers loosely around his wrist. It spoke to their familiarity that Shiranuilet her, and something in Natsume's chest twisted unpleasantly.

"Be careful, please." Hinata requested, only releasing her hold on Shiranui's wrist when the man met her gaze and nodded.

"Always am." Shiranui murmured back, then turned on his heel and, with a brief nod at Natsume, jumped out of the same window Yuhi had used.

Natsume stared at the window Shiranui had jumped out of, feeling uncomfortably conflicted.

"Kagane-san?" her far-too-perceptive-for-her-own-good patient asked, making Natsume glance back at her. When their gazes met, she saw the concern, clear as day in Hinata's eyes, and Natsume finally understood how the girl managed to soften the sharp edges of seemingly everyone around her. "Is something wrong?"

"I find myself torn." Natsume admitted, seeing as, by asking, Hinata had ensured that theywouldbe having this conversation, whether they wanted to or not.

At Hinata's quiet, inquiring sound, Natsume elaborated.

"Torn between my knowledge that Shiranui is agoodman, as much as any shinobi, particularly one of his calibre, can be called that," she paused, heaving a sigh and meeting Hinata's gaze, making sure the girl understood the severity of the situation, "and my responsibility to you as my patient and a minor under my care."

Hinata seemed to understand the seriousness of the conversation perfectly, going by how she tensed, but the look in her eyes told Natsume that the girl didn't actually know what Natsume was referring to.

So she shot the girl a thin smile and added a gentle, if blunt; "There are very few people you allow that close, Hinata."

It took five seconds for Hinata to process, but when she did, her cheeks flushed so red so quickly that Natsume was briefly worried about the girl fainting.

"G-Genma-san wouldn-never-!" Hinata began, but she didn't seem to be able to make herself finish, trailing off into a quiet, distressed whine thatnearlymade Natsume regret asking.

"I know." She allowed after a beat, hoping to soothe some ruffled feathers now that Hinata's horrified reaction had proven that her earlier worries had been unfounded. "But you also know why I had to ask."

"Yes." Hinata replied, quiet and firm and a touch more soulless than Natsume liked to hear from her. "I…hate that you did, but I understand."

Natsumewishedshe could say she was surprised by Hinata's claim to understand her need to ask. But if there was one thing Natsume was certain of, it was that Hinata's empathy was an inextricable part of her being.

"Hate that I asked," she checked, drawing the girl's embarrassed, subdued gaze onto herself once again, "or hate me?"

And Hinata sighed, whatever negative emotions Natsume's question had inspired leaving her along with the exhale, her expression softening once more.

"You were looking out for me." She murmured, and the certainty in her voice warmed some parts of the heart many in the Village would say Natsume didn't have.

"I was." She confirmed quietly, just as softly, and offered Hinata a tiny nod before she sobered. "And I'm afraid that I must exploit your good faith in me one more time."

She met the girl's gaze and watched as the Hyuuga braced herself for the question, clearly aware that it wouldn't be an easy one.

(She was right.)

"What was Shiranui referring to?"

Hinata's breath shuddered out of her, and she sank back against the pillows, the tension leaving her frame, as if whatever she had braced for was far worse a question than what Natsume had asked.

About a minute, maybe two, went by before Hinata finally spoke.

"On the mission," Hinata whispered, hands wringing the blanket nervously, though her voice was steady, "I used ANBU Code."

"I see." Natsume said neutrally, very carefully not allowing herself to react. Shiranui's earlier vehemence suddenly made much more sense, and the new context only solidified the man's place as one of the few stable, reliable adults in Hinata's life, a fact Natsume had no doubt she'd end up exploiting at some point. "And how did you learn it?"

Hinata glanced up at her, as if surprised at Natsume's easy acceptance of the act, and Natsume took pity.

"You're not an active ANBU." She told the girl with a certainty she could andwouldback, if pressed. "I'd have been consulted if they were thinking of allowing you to try out for the ranks." When Hinata just blinked at her, clearly even more confused, Natsume huffed but obligingly elaborated. "Not everybody is well-suited for the mask."

Hinata hummed in acknowledgement, the only sign that she'd heard Natsume's words before she lapsed into silence again. This time, it took her almost five minutes to reply, and Natsume spent that time watching the girl's body language, comforted when it didn't change when Hinata started speaking.

"I've been having…dreams." She whispered, her eyes on her hands, which had switched to picking at a loose thread in the blanket. "Dreams in which I'm ANBU."

Natsume…couldn't say she'd ever heard of what she thought Hinata might be implying, but the girl stillwasn't lying to her,so she merely asked; "Are you yourself in those dreams?"

"Yes." Hinata admitted, after a brief glance up at Natsume, as if to gauge her reaction. Not that she'd find much, but Natsume understood the instinct. "But…older."

"How much?" Natsume pressed, curiosity more than any professional obligation making her push.

"Not much." Hinata allowed, and at Natsume's hum, added an even quieter, "Early twenties."

"And when did you first start having those dreams?" Natsume inquired, and at that, Hinata shrunk back against the pillows, as if chastened.

"J-just before Graduation."

"I see." Natsume didn't, but Hinata didn't need to know that. More importantly, however- "And the reason you never said anything about them?"

"I-I thought they were just dreams." Hinata said, and Natsume noted her increased stutter, though its presence only confirmed that Hinata was telling her the truth.

"Until you realised that you knew things you have never learnt?" Natsume prodded, and Hinata's startle was more pronounced now, prompting Natsume to shoot her a flat look as she explained; "You knew advanced Chunin Sign before anybody ever offered you a book on thebasics."

Hinata blinked, opening her mouth a few times before finally, a baffled- "Y-you never said anything-?" slipped out, making Natsume huff a quiet laugh.

"What would I have said?" she asked bluntly, twirling her pen before snapping her notebook shut and tucking it back into her jacket. "We will have to talk about these dreams of yours at some point."

Hinata sighed, but she seemed more resigned than scared now, a notion only proven by her almost grumbled, "I was worried you'd say that."

And Natsume felt herself soften the barest amount, pushing to her feet and daring to lay a light hand on Hinata's blanket-covered shin.

"You're not in trouble, child." She soothed, watching as the words made the last of the tension that had clung to Hinata's frame evaporate without a trace. Then, she turned on her heel and headed for the door, making a note to ask Hinata's attending to send her to Psych once the girl was officially discharged. She also had to stop by the Hokage tower and drop a note with the Senju Princess about Hinata's dreams, hoping that the woman would pass it to her idiot teammate before the man got another stupid idea in his quest for answers, like trying to findNatsume,for example.

Right as her hand landed on the doorknob, however, she was stopped by a determined-

"K-Kagane-san!"

She half-turned, raising an eyebrow at the bedbound Hyuuga, baffled when the girl broke out into a teary-eyed but genuine smile, whispering a soft; "…Thank you." that Natsume had no idea what to do with.

So she met Hinata's gaze and offered her as close to a smile as her lips knew how to shape and a quiet, "Get some rest."

Then, she left.

Over the next two days, Hinata mostly dozed, though she did get a visit from Kiba and Shino both days, and she was glad that it was not just her who breathed easier upon seeing with her own eyes that her teammates were alright.

The one person whose visit she had not anticipated, however, wasNaruto.

"Hi Hinata!" Naruto chirped once one of Hinata's day nurses let him in, and Hinata offered the woman a tiny nod when she caught the wordless question the nurse directed at her over Naruto's shoulder. She didn't know what the blond was doing in her room, but he wasn't anunwelcomepresence, and she would rather not perpetuate whatever prejudices remained against Naruto.

The nurse nodded, shot her a tight smile and directed a final, brief glance at Naruto's bright grin, then left Hinata's room and closed the door behind her.

"Naruto-san." Hinata greeted cautiously, not sure what to expect but not wanting to sound rude. "What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke told me you've been here a few weeks already but woke up recently, so I just, uh, thought I'd, um, bring flowers?" Naruto replied, and though he'd started upbeat, he finished by nearly trailing off into a question, suddenly looking almostembarrassed."I mean, you and Kiba an' Shino did it for Sakura and Ino when they were in the hospital, so I just thought-!"

"That's very kind of you." Hinata cut him off before he could work himself into a panic, smiling gently. "There should be a vase on the windowsill."

Naruto rushed off to locate the vase, and as Hinata watched him bustle around the room and arrange the flowers – only really succeeding in knocking off some petals, his motions far too rough, but Hinata was endeared nonetheless – she asked; "How have you been?"

"Busy!" Naruto grinned at her over his shoulder, then wandered back towards the chair at her bedside, though he only leant against it, instead of sitting down. "Well, not as busy as Sasuke or Sakura, but 'm learning a lot!"

"Oh?" Hinata hummed, curious about how Team Seven's alternate trajectory was going.

"Yeah! Raido-san somehow still has new stuff to teach me about traps, and then I've been working with some of his friends on Water and Wind techniques, since apparently those are my main elements!" Naruto explained, his enthusiasm infectious, and Hinata found her smile growing in spite of herself.

"How is that going?" she prompted, genuinely curious.

"Great! They're really good with explaining the chakra stuff and they never make me read any stupid scrolls!" he huffed, then pointed an accusative finger in Hinata's face. "But I know what you're doing! You did the same thing when I came to visit you in T !"

Hinata blinked, startled, not sure what had prompted the change in tone. "Um- whatamI doing?"

"You're making me talk about- well,me!" Naruto exclaimed, floundering only slightly towards the end, but Hinata thought she understood what he was getting at.

Especially since hewasn't wrong.

But then, Naruto surprised her, crossing his arms over his chest and jutting his chin out. "Tell me something aboutyouthis time!"

"Me?" Hinata blinked, baffled. "I'm in the hospital, Naruto-san."

"Well, yeah, but what about before the hospital? You were in Kiri, weren't you?" he replied, completely unaffected. When he noticed her surprise at the fact he knew about her mission, Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I was with Sasuke-teme when Kiba an' Shino came into Intel."

Ah.

"Yes," Hinata confirmed, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in her stomach at the reminder that she still hadn't been told what, exactly, had happened when her teammates were attacked on their way back, "we were in Kiri."

"Did you like it?" Naruto asked bluntly, leaning forward, and Hinata heart twinged at the childlike curiosity in his eyes. "We've never been inside another Village!"

"I…I liked the Village." Hinata replied carefully, honestly, then offered Naruto a ghost of a smile. "But I also had a friend showing me around, so I got to see places I probably would've missed otherwise."

"A friend?" Naruto parroted, tilting his head. "A Kiri friend?"

"Yes." Hinata murmured, relieved at the lack of judgement in the blond's voice. "I met him at the Exams in Kumo."

"That's so cool." Naruto breathed, then sat back against the hospital chair, pulling out what looked like a loop of thick ninja wire from his pocket and beginning to twist it between his fingers. "The next Chunin Exams are in Iwa – do you maybe, uh, have any tips?"

"We…haven't had the best experiences with Iwa-nin." Hinata managed, biting the inside of her cheek to ground herself and not let the flashback take over. "I'm sorry, Naruto-san."

"No, no, don't worry!" Naruto hastened to reassure her, fingers twisting through an impressively elaborate cat's cradle as he shot her a grin. "I'll just have to trainextrahard."

It was in moments like these that Hinata admired Naruto's optimism, something which she had always lacked. Then, Jiraiya's words rang through her mind, his request for how she could pay him back for giving her a way to free her clansmen, and she latched onto the idea before she lost her courage.

"Ah, Naruto-san?" she called quietly, drawing Naruto's attention back onto herself and nearly losing her courage at the open trust in his eyes. "Do you…do you know fuinjutsu?"

"Fuinjutsu?" Naruto echoed, a frown twisting his brow as he raised a shoulder in a half shrug. "We did some calligraphy with Iruka-sensei a few times, and Sakura blew up a big rock with hers, but I wouldn't say Iknow-itknow it." he paused for a second, then shot her a confused look. "Why?"

"I could…teach you, if you'd like." Hinata replied, barely managing to force the words out past her suddenly tight throat.

"Youknow fuinjutsu?" Naruto demanded, though he sounded more surprised than incredulous.

"I know enough to teach the basics." Hinata explained, trying to regain some of her composure.

"Like, explosive tags, and stuff?" Naruto checked, and Hinata stifled a smile.

"I could teach you how to make explosive tags, smoke and poison bombs, and storage scrolls." She confirmed, and she was barely finished speaking when Naruto jumped up, throwing his cat's cradle onto the floor in favour of clapping his hands excitedly.

"Yes!" he cheered, grabbing the metal rail of Hinata's bed and using it to jump up and down. "Yes, please!"

Hinata laughed quietly, gesturing for Naruto to sit down once he calmed down, then offered the one warning she thought the offer required: "It's a lot of calligraphy."

"Iruka said I had good proportions but just needed to be neater." Naruto announced, puffing his chest out proudly, then throwing her a grin. "So I don't mind!"

"I'm glad." Hinata replied, smiling softly at the sight. "Could you send a clone to get us some paper, a pencil, two brushes, and an inkwell?"

"On it!"

Kakashi stood in the corridor, staring into the hospital room through the crack in the door, feeling a million different things at once.

"How long have they been at it?" he asked idly, grateful for the silencing tag Stag had had the foresight to activate between them.

"Six hours and counting." The ANBU replied lightly, and Kakashi suddenly understood why the ANBU guard around the Hyuuga's room had thought to send for him, even if the summon had been 'non-urgent'. "With about five trips to the forest to test the tags."

Kakashi blinked, shooting the agent an incredulous look. "She's letting him blow them up already?"

"Only the fifth one blew up." Stag offered with a careless shrug, and though Kakashi hadn't had the opportunity to work with the agent himself, he was glad thatsomeonewas upholding his legacy of being flippant to authority, even in the mask. "The previous four she sent him to test, she got him to describe exactly what happened and try to figure out what went wrong."

Kakashi stared, his brain processing the words even as his mouth was already opening with a: "Naruto doesn't have the theoretical background to do that."

"Except for the fact that all they've done since he sat down is trigger mechanisms." Stag replied, and he sounded a mix of entertained and incredulous. "Smoke bombs, poison bombs, explosive tags. He might not know fuinjutsu, but he sure as hell does know trigger mechanisms by now."

Trigger mechanisms, Kakashi mused. He nevergotfuinjutsu as instinctively as Kushina, or learned to use them as intuitively as Minato, but he'd sat through enough of the couple's excited rambling about the art to know that trigger mechanisms were far frombeginner friendlydesigns.

...But they usually had some of the most visible results, not to mention their practical applications. When teaching someone who struggled to sit still, much less slog through complicated theory scrolls, choosing something that not onlyblew up,but could be modified practically on the fly once you got the basics down was-

-well.

It wasgenius.

"Alright, thanks, Stag." Kakashi managed, then turned away from the door and stepped out of the range of the standard-issue silencing tag. He started walking off, but he wasn't surprised when the agent called after him-

"You gonna stop them?"

"No." Kakashi replied, turning briefly to shoot the agent his most bullshit eye-smile. "I'm gonna hunt down Jiraiya."

Because Kakashi had a feeling that the Toad Sage was somehow behind this. And if his hunch was right, then he was going to makesurethat teaching Naruto fuinjutsu – putting almost infinite explosive-creating capacity into the hands ofKushina'sflesh and blood, at that – would come back to bite Jiraiya in theass.

"Hinata's in the hospital."

Shikamaru twitched where he was lying on the sofa, shooting his dad an odd look. "…And?"

"You're bored, are you not?" Shikaku asked, pressing a kiss to Yoshino's cheek and dropping some folders on the dining table. "Go visit your friend."

"I'm onmedical leave." Shikamaru pointed out, his sense of balance still wonky after his team's brush with a genjutsu-utilising team from Sound.

"And you're bored. Those two things are not mutually exclusive." Shikaku shot back with a dismissive wave, jerking his chin at their game shelf. "Take the shogi board and grab some flowers on your way; I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Shikamaru pushed himself into a sitting position, giving a moment for the room to stop spinning, then pinned his dad with a searching look. "What's your angle?"

Shikaku snorted, then directed an unamused eyebrow Shikamaru's way.

"Myangleis that I want my son to spend time with people his age, brat." He huffed, and his earlier mirth was nowhere to be seen. "Now go while I'm still asking nicely."

Shikamaru rolled off the sofa, dodging the pen his dad half-heartedly threw his way and stumbled to his feet, grumbling the whole way. "Alright, going, I'mgoing, god."

An hour later found him being led into Hinata's hospital room, the nurse slipping out and closing the door behind herself, leaving him in the room with the bedbound Hyuuga.

"Hinata, hey." he greeted quietly, drawing the girl's attention from whatever she was writing as he ambled over to the windowsill and added his bouquet to the slightly-wilting flowers already in the vase.

"Hello, Shikamaru." Hinata greeted, and if Shikamaru was reading her tone right, she was pleasantly surprised to see him. "How have you been?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Shikamaru asked as he turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets and fighting the nausea that followed the too-fast turn. Damn that vertigo genjutsu to seven hells.

"I've been on medical leave for the last three days. Can't train, can't really domuch, honestly, and I need to be monitored at all times." He grouched, heading over to the chair conveniently placed at Hinata's bedside, tilting his head when Hinata huffed quietly, a sound he knew passed for laughter for the girl. "Something funny?"

"Just surprised you miss training." Hinata replied, an amused glint in her eyes even as her face remained mostly expressionless, and Shikamaru snorted, amused despite himself.

"Oh,ha ha." he drawled sarcastically, picking up the pencil that had rolled off the bed and onto the floor and poking Hinata's leg with the eraser. "I'm working on something, and I don't like stopping midway through a project."

At Hinata's curious hum, he handed her the pencil and rolled his shoulders, wondering whether he was ready to talk about what he'd been working on. "You inspired the project, actually. When you found me in the forest, that time."

"Oh?" Hinata's voice sounded as if she was comparably torn regarding their time in the Nara forest as him, and the thought gave Shikamaru the push he needed to continue.

"Yeah. When I tweak it some more and you're discharged, I'd like to run it by you." he told her, only belatedly realising how much time had passed since they'd last sparred when he remembered theothertime he'd said much the same thing. "How'd you land yourself here this time?"

Hinata sighed, some of her earlier amusement fading, and gestured at the clipboard tied to the foot of her bed, the implication clear.

"You sure?" Shikamaru checked, remembering Hinata's reaction to the first time he'd found her in the hospital and chose to sate his curiosity without her permission. At Hinata's nod, he leaned over to grab the clipboard and scanned over it quickly, blanching at what he found. "Explosive tag at close range? How the hell are you so-?"

-normal-looking,he nearly said, but bit his tongue at the last moment. Yes, Hinata's face was fine, but most of her body was covered by the hospital blanket, so Shikamaru realised that he actually couldn't besure.

"Tsunade-sama has been working on my scarring almost daily." Hinata answered the unspoken question, but she was still smiling, so Shikamaru didn't think she was going to hold his near-misstep against him. Still-

"'Almost'?"

"Too frequent cell regeneration can sometimes cause cancerous cells to develop." Hinata explained calmly, then, at Shikamaru's stunned, disbelieving look, she blushed and muttered a quiet, "K-Kiba's studying to be a medic."

"So is Sasuke, but you don't see Naruto quoting medical textbooks." Shikamaru pointed out, genuinely unsure how Hinata didn't get why he was surprised.

But instead of taking the comment in stride, or explaining further, Hinata blinked, visibly thrown. "Sasuke-san is interested in becoming a medic?"

Shikamaru nearly rolled his eyes at that, though he was simultaneously reassured by the fact that, unlike Ino and Kiba, Hinata didn't seem to care about gossip,even ifit involved their old classmates.

"Sakura has the chakra control for it, but not the temperament, and between her poisons and Naruto'sNaruto-ness, Sasuke says they need someone who knows med-ninjutsu, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be Hatake." Shikamaru explained, smiling crookedly when Hinata's wide-eyed surprise morphed into reluctant amusement. "Plus, Mitarashi turns Sasuke into a pincushion every time they spar, so…"

But then, Hinata's amused gaze turned almost contemplative, and she studied Shikamaru wordlessly, making him fight the urge to fidget.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" he grouched, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "We've ran a few missions together since the Invasion. And since he's mostly gotten his head out of his ass, Sasuke isn'thorrendousto be around, I guess."

Hinata laughed quietly, "High praise."

"You're laughing at me." Shikamaru complained, though there was no heat in the words. "I come here with gifts and knowledge of the outside world, and you're laughing at me."

"S-sorry, Shikamaru." Hinata got out between giggles, raising a hand to cover her mouth, but Shikamaru shook his head.

"Don't be. You're usually far too serious, this is better." He replied, and Hinata's smile dimmed almost immediately, the expression in her eyes turning pensive, and Shikamaru stilled. "What did I say now?"

"It's not anything you said, Shikamaru," Hinata reassured, though even her voice sounded far-away, "you just…reminded me of something important I need to do."

"Something I can help with?" Shikamaru asked, then shrugged at Hinata's surprised look. "Dad called me out for loitering around the house. I guess I'm bored."

"I- there's something I need to find, something that was last in my Father's possession. I don't know if he had it with him when he-" when it didn't seem like Hinata was able to get the rest of the words out, Shikamaru waved her off, and Hinata swallowed, then carried on, "Or it could be at the Compound, in his study, or…or in my room."

"Has anyone checked what he had on him when he was brought into the hospital?" Shikamaru inquired, and Hinata shook her head. "I could do that. Write me a permission slip, and I can go right now."

Hinata stared at him, eyes wide as if Shikamaru's offer was something shocking.

"…You'd do that?" she asked finally, her voice as quiet and tentative as it had been in the Academy and Shikamaru realised with a start that hehated it.

"Just said I would." He shrugged, trying to brush off the wide-eyed wonder in Hinata's eyes by reaching over and grabbing a sheaf of paper from the bedside table which he handed it to Hinata with a raised eyebrow. "So, permission slip?"

An hour later saw Shikamaru slipping back into Hinata's room, grumpy and empty-handed.

"No scroll matching your description was found on him when he was brought in." he announced, falling back into the chair at Hinata's bedside and accepting the bag of dried fruit and nuts she held out to him. "Compound next?"

Hinata sighed and began putting away what had clearly been a late lunch, a frown pulling at her brows. "Yes."

Shikamaru arched an eyebrow, shaking out a few nuts onto the palm of his hand as he pointed out, "You don't sound optimistic."

"I am unlikely to be discharged soon, and this is important." Hinata explained, smoothing her blanket out once the tray table was put away and finally raising her gaze to meet Shikamaru's. "I was hoping to ask Yugao-san for help, but I haven't seen her since I got here, and this would be…this would be bad, if she was caught."

"Caught sneaking onto a Clan Compound, with the Clan heir's permission, you mean?" Shikamaru checked, and Hinata twitched at the callout but nodded, a wryly amused look in her eyes.

Shikamaru hummed, thinking over their options. The fact that Hinata's first thought had been recruiting anANBUto break into her Compound didn't fill him with much hope, but…

"Do you still have that scroll you borrowed from my dad?" he asked, a tentative plan forming in his mind. At Hinata's nod, he added, "Where?"

"B-bookshelf in my bedroom." Hinata replied, confusion writ clear on her face.

"Alright." Shikamaru huffed, pushing himself to his feet and throwing the now-empty bag into the trashcan by the bed to hide the few seconds he needed to catch his balance. "Gimme a few minutes."

He was back in the room an hour later, the form he'd needed in hand, and he snorted at the bemused look Hinata shot him when he handed it over.

"I know we're ninja, but not everything has to be done with sneaking and subterfuge." He told her bluntly, gesturing at the form. "It's the D-Rank retrieval mission template."

When Hinata's bemused look morphed into a confused one, Shikamaru elaborated.

"I want to claim back a scroll that I had lent to you. You write and pay for a mission, specify it'll be me doing it, since I made the request to get the scroll back, write that you give me permission to enter your room and your Father's study since you're not sure where the scroll is anymore, and done." He explained, shoving his hands into his pockets and shrugging for good measure. "I go, I grab my Clan's scroll, and I can grab yours, too, if I find it."

But instead of replying, Hinata just continued to stare, her mouth slightly agape, eyes shining with a look Shikamaru was hesitant to name.

"…What?" he demanded when almost two minutes passed with the girl juststaring, "You said it's . So stop looking at me like that and write the damn brief."

Finally,miraculously, Hinata closed her mouth and moved to do just that.

(That tearful look of wonder never once left her eyes, however)