Desperation

This chapter’s title came from the fact that I misspelled cups as “cubs” at least five times. It really has nothing to do with the story, but it has everything to do with making my fiancé crack up laughing at my strange spelling error.

Desperation

Chapter 5: Cubs (aka Cups)

"And what the hell are the three of you ladies doing in my office?" Tsunade asked. She looked at them a little blearily, her eyes slightly unfocused. An empty sake bottle and cup sat next to a stack of (completed) papers on her desk.

Hinata fidgeted awkwardly. She knew that Godaime-sama was sometimes prone to drinking, but it was rather awkward to see her blatantly doing so at work. Hinata hoped that Tsunade had finished the papers before drinking the bottle of sake. Tsunade seemed a bit drunk.

"It's the evening. I didn't summon you," Tsunade said, as though she were trying to figure out what they were doing there, more than annoyed as Hinata had first thought due to her initial tone.

"We have questions," Sakura piped up.

"About Naruto," Ino clarified.

"Naruto? Is he okay?" Tsunade asked, looking at her sake bottle as though asking the question to the bottle.

"Yes, he's fine. We-"

"He didn't seem fine when he was in here about an hour ago," Tsunade said, looking frustrated as she interrupted Ino.

"He didn't seem fine?" Sakura asked concerned. Hinata couldn’t help but feel distressed. She had seen Naruto that afternoon, and he’d looked rattled to see her.

"Was he sick?" Ino asked, also concerned.

"Doubtful. His coloring was normal and there were no signs of weariness; he’s usually always very healthy. Though when I asked him what was wrong, he didn't say what was the matter. I sent him, Sasuke, Sai, and Yamato out on a mission, and Naruto seemed ruffled. Sasuke kept sending him worried glances. If Sasuke looks worried something is wrong. At first I thought the two might have been fighting. Those two do that from time to time. But, it seemed more like Sasuke was concerned about Naruto and that Naruto wasn't telling him why. Naruto doesn't do things like that. Something is wrong," Tsunade said, looking back at her empty sake bottle as though it held all her answers.

Hinata wasn't prone to drinking, so maybe people who did drink tended to think strange thoughts such as “my sake bottle knows the answers to all my problems.” Or maybe Tsunade was just trying to focus her eyes on something, sorta like Hinata was trying to focus her attention elsewhere as she tried not to think that perhaps Naruto had been flustered because he had seen her after his talk with Sasuke.

"Sasuke was worried?" Hinata asked.

"Did that come from you?" Tsunade asked, as she looked up and looked curiously at Hinata.

"Yes," Hinata said as firmly as she could. She didn't want a guilty conscience breach like earlier where she had then practically broken down on Ino confessing her transgressions. Repeating a scene like that in the Hokage’s office wouldn't have been good. She would play it cool and hope that Naruto hadn't said anything about her. Besides, why would he?

"You don't usually talk very much. And when you do talk it's kinda quiet so it's hard to figure out what it sounds like at normal volume. Sometimes I forget what your voice sounds like," Tsunade said thoughtfully.

Harsh. She wasn’t that quiet…was she?

"Aww, she's just so cute," Ino said, once again reaching out to pinch Hinata's cheek.

Her action was intercepted by Sakura.

"Stop doing that to her for crying out loud!" Sakura said, slapping Ino's hand away before she got a chance to pinch Hinata's cheek.

"But I'm sure Hinata doesn't mind it. She would have said something," Ino said defiantly. Sakura gave her a look that asked, "Are you sure about that?" Hinata decided that she would speak up.

"It is kind of w-weird," she confessed. Ino looked at her thoughtfully and smiled.

"But that’s fine if I do something that’s weird! You said so yourself that Naruto liked weird girls, and he likes me," Ino said brightly.

"You're all weird," Tsunade said as another sake bottle appeared from behind her desk. "Now, tell me what you ladies are doing in my office at quarter till nine. You had questions about Naruto? Does it pertain to why he was acting strangely earlier?"

"We didn't know anything about that. That does seem strange, and I'll have to ask him when he comes back," Ino said. "No, I'm a woman on a mission! I-"

"I didn't assign you any missions," Tsunade said frowning.

"Uh, no. I mean, as in, I'm a woman on a mission," Ino said. Hinata didn't see that this explained anything as she said the exact same thing as before, but apparently Tsunade got it as she nodded. (Or maybe she really hadn't understood the difference but didn’t feel like asking again, but Hinata wasn't going to ask Tsunade if she needed clarification.)

"We want to know about Naruto's past since he's been avoiding answering questions," Hinata said, feeling that someone ought to move this conversation along before they got side tracked yet again.

"I've known him for a long time now, and he really doesn't talk much about his childhood. He only talks about what his current missions are or what he wants to do in the future," Sakura clarified.

"Why haven't you just asked him to elaborate?" Tsunade said as she brought out three more sake cups. "You shouldn't be asking anyone other than Naruto about his past. He has been talked about behind his back too much in his life for me to just give you details like that." Tsunade didn't look at them as she poured out sake into the cups.

"You're right," Hinata said, fiddling with her fingers. Even though she had thought that herself, having Tsunade say it to them made Hinata feel guilty, as though she had somehow let Naruto down by not asking him. Even so, she respected her Hokage all the more for not sharing Naruto’s personal life.

"Have a drink," Tsunade said as she gestured to the cups in front of her.


- - - - - - - - - - - -


Two sake bottles later, Hinata watched as Ino and Sakura laughed at who only knew what. Hinata had finished one cup of sake and had been slowly sipping her second cup.

"Drink up! All our cubs are empty, but yours isstillabit full," Ino slurred her words together, indicating that Hinata ought to drink more. Sakura burst out laughing.

"Hahaha...you said cubs! You mean cups...our cups are full – I mean empty. Hahaha, Hinata feeds her cubs but we don't!" Sakura giggled out.

"You two don't handle sake well," Tsunade grumbled as she looked at Ino and Sakura forlornly. "Here I thought I’d finally get some new drinking buddies, but no. No one else wants to drink with me…I need new people to drink with," Tsunade said grumpily. Hinata thought Tsunade might be one of those who got angry or depressed instead of giggly when she drank. Watching the three of them drink, Hinata thought that Ino and Sakura acting insanely happy and giddy was better to what happened to Tsunade when she drank.

Hinata sat quietly, feeling awkward as she looked around at no one. She felt out of place, sitting in the Hokage's Office having a drink. It felt weird. This was the place where missions were assigned, lives were changed. It seemed strange that they were openly drinking there after they had asked personal questions about her beloved Naruto. Or maybe it was just that Hinata was the one out of place. Maybe she was making more of what was going on. Maybe having one cup of sake was not a good idea because she didn't drink and maybe she was one of those who got depressed while drinking.

Another twenty minutes passed, and Hinata felt it was safe to say that she would be able to leave without Ino or Sakura noticing...or caring.

"He was onmy team fiiirst," Sakura said, pointing her finger at Ino, her body swaying slightly.

"He asked me to marry ‘im. He likesme. I don't care whatchu say. You can't have 'em," Ino said, likewise pointing her finger back at Sakura. Hinata slowly stood up, and slowly made her way out of their line of view, feeling beyond awkward, but bowed to the Hokage and began to excuse herself. She was just at the door before being called.

"Hinata."

It was Tsunade that called her. While Hinata had thought she'd been drinking heavily, when Hinata looked up at her golden eyes, they looked much clearer than they had a minute ago.

"You like Naruto, don't you?" Tsunade asked as she walked up to Hinata at the door, a sway in her step. No, she had been drinking heavy. Tsunade just knew how to think clearly when she had to, even in a drunken state.

"Yes," Hinata whispered out quietly. Tsunade leaned close to Hinata, whispering in her ear even though the two other women in the room seemed less than likely to notice them.

"Find out why Naruto asked Ino to marry him, won't you? Something's wrong with this situation. I'm worried about him...and Ino too, but mostly Naruto. And I want to know why he wants to know who you've dated recently."

"What? Tsunade-sama. I-"

"Zz..."

Hinata made a rather puzzled and frustrated expression as she realized Tsunade had actually fallen asleep standing up.

"Tsunade-sama? Tsunade-sama? Hokage-sama?" Hinata tried, wanting to know more about what Naruto had said, but Tsunade gave no response. "I guess I'll...I'll just go now," Hinata said, looking at Tsunade who's eyes were still open despite the snores coming from her mouth.

She looked really creepy.

Hinata slipped out the door and practically ran back to her home. Once she had returned to the safety of her own room, she sat on her bed and put her face in her hand.

That had been...strange.

Hinata shook her head, and took a moment to reassess everything that had happened, starting with the last event that had happened in the Hokage's office.

Tsunade-sama had asked Hinata – not Sakura or Ino – but her to see if she could find out what was going on with Naruto. Perhaps Tsunade-sama had offered the girls sake in order to get their tongues loosened and spilling out secrets. It was a strategy that they were taught after all. When in disguise, when trying to get information out of someone, give them lots to drink because lies were harder to tell when drunk, and they often spoke more truthfully and without fear of retaliation because basic instincts to hide such information were impaired after becoming inebriated.

Still, why had Tsunade asked her to do it? And why, why was Naruto asking Tsunade-sama if she knew whom she had been dating?

A strange flutter in Hinata's heart went off, before she realized that Naruto was probably wondering if Hinata had been cheating on someone. Maybe Naruto had planned to tell her non-existent boyfriend of her deeds.

"Ah. No. That doesn't make any sense," Hinata mumbled to herself. She flung her face into her pillow and cried out her frustration.

- - - - - - - - - - - -


"Hinata."

"Yes please."

"Er...Hinata? Wake up!"

Hinata groaned slightly at the whispering voice telling her to wake up. She had been having a wonderful dream about Naruto coming into her room via her bedroom window. She didn't want to wake up now.

"Hinata, why are you so hard to wake up?"

Hinata's body froze, a sort of cold thrill rushing through her entire being.

That was Naruto's voice.

That was Naruto's voice in her room.

She didn't think she was still dreaming; it felt like she had woken up. Yet why would Naruto come through her window into her bedroom? The answer was simple. He wouldn't.

Even so, she couldn't help but lift her head up from the pillow, slowly turning her face to the side so she could see who was talking.

It was still dark out, probably the middle of the morning. Her head was pounding from the unfamiliar, even if small, amount of alcohol she had consumed. She was definitely not a heavy drinker. Even so, she could make out a very familiar silhouette in her room. Hinata's eyes widened and she gasped as she shot out of bed and scampered to the other end of the room.

"Whoa – whoa, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. It’s me, Naruto. Sorry to bother you now…but…Umm, uh...it's just," Naruto paused (though Hinata hadn't yet activated her byakugan to make sure it was really him) "I think we need to talk."


Next Chapter: Secret Keepers


Hope you liked this chapter! ~ Jelp