I lay on the cold floor with nothing but a flimsy towel to protect my modesty. Shizune and Jiraiya paced around me, tracing symbols in black ink. An hour had passed, and they didn't seem close to finishing.
Did I really have to be here for the creation of the seal outer framework?
Shisui had left some time ago. The Ero-sennin had insisted Ino leave too, but thanks to all gods, Best Girl Ino refused to abandon me alone with them.
"Who taught you fuinjutsu?" Jiraiya asked while drawing symbols closer to my head.
"The Old Man gave me primers," I said, still feeling conflicted about the lack of pain when speaking. "But it wasn't until Orochimaru's that I understood."
"And the storage?"
From my place on the ground, I shrugged.
"Seemed the logical thing to do, just connecting wires."
"The training seals," he said. "What gave you the idea?"
I grinned despite myself. Opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. I was about to say Rock Lee, but I hadn't 'known' the Beautiful Green Beast then. Or maybe that wasn't his question. I mulled it over, decided on another approach.
"I was tired of remaking the seals each time I wanted to increase the weights."
That was safe enough, wasn't it?
"Done," Shizune announced somewhere to my right. I saw her wipe sweat from her brow, smearing a streak of black ink across her forehead. If she noticed, she didn't care.
"I'll be done in a moment," Jiraiya answered to my left.
The moment of quiet was only disturbed by the rustling noises of the ink brush.
Jiraiya walked closer, used the brush to retouch a few of the lines crossing my body. He gave one last look, nodded.
"Done," he said.
Shizune approached, gave one last glance at the seal, nodded. She walked opposite Jiraiya, crouched and placed both hands on the ground. On the other side, Jiraiya did the same.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan," I heard him say. "This is going to hurt, just a bit."
I didn't have time to say anything. I felt the chakra building. There was blinding pain. I heard screaming. Mine or Ino's, I couldn't say.
I opened my eyes. Light green walls, sterile smell, white curtains over the windows, a small cupboard by the side of the bed. This time, there was no jar with flowers or basket full of fruits on the cupboard.
There was a chair by the bed, and Ino sat there. A worried Ino on the chair.
"Oh," I said, a bit dumbly. Sat up. "Hi?"
"How are you feeling?" Her hand took mine, squeezed.
I stopped to think about her question, inspected my body. For one, most of the pain was gone. There was still a smidgen left, but nothing like it was before.
"Most of the pain is gone," I said.
Ino nodded, wiped away a stray tear. I pulled her in a hug.
"How long was I out?" I asked, looking at the window.
"Just a couple of hours."
The hug lasted a moment longer before I released Ino. My clothes and bracelets were folded and piled by the side of the bed. I pulled the sheets away, got up, got dressed.
This time, I noticed that Ino didn't leave the room while I put on my clothes. She did look away. There was a bit of pink on her neck. Cute.
Ino's voice wavered. "What are we going to do, Hinata-chan?"
Now that I was calmer, more collected, and not in pain, plans formed in my mind. I knew what I had to do.
"We'll talk outside," I said to Ino. The look on her face told me she understood my reason. She gave me a nod.
After dressing, I dragged Ino with me and we left the hospital. There was a bit of a commotion before I left, some of the nurses wanted me to stay at least for the rest of the day, but my time was too limited to waste an entire day woolgathering and doing nothing.
I led Ino back to training field three. Once there, I cast my chakra senses around; only when I sensed no one nearby did I sit down.
Ino sat by my side but didn't say anything.
"First is the Hyuga," I said in a low voice. "I don't know what they want with me, but I don't think it's pleasant."
Ino schooled her face. Gave me a severe nod.
"After that, the council."
"Do you have a plan already?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. I'll know once I talk with Sasuke's mom tomorrow."
"Do you think they'll help?"
"Shisui hinted so," I said.
"I talked to Dad," Ino said, looking toward her home. "He'll help you. Nara Shikaku will too, but he isn't sure about the Akimichi clan."
"After the council, I'll ask Shisui to send me on a mission to find Tsunade."
"The legendary healer?"
"The slug princess, yes."
"What if he doesn't send you on that mission?"
I shrugged. Cast my senses about again. Lowered my voice. "If it's between obeying orders or trying to save my life…" I left the rest unsaid. But Ino was smart.
Her face turned serious. She nodded. "I'll come with you." There was no doubt or hesitation in her voice.
Time waited for no one. Hours blurred while I hung—trained with Ino, baked more of my essential supplies, prepped for the Uchiha dinner, picked new clothes, and ordered a new shinobi outfit. I still had plenty to do, but dinner time had arrived.
Between all that, I found time to craft another set of weight seals. It was a gift for Hanabi. It was naive of me to hope things would work with the clan, but I guess that was what dreams were for.
I encrypted these using the same method I used with the storage seals from the lab. I wasn't about to let the Hyuga profit from my efforts when things went to shit.
But again, time waited for no one.
Somehow, Karin had talked me into dressing in a white kimono. She tried to adorn my head in some strange hairdo, but short hair and a vigorous denial ended that disaster. But no amount of scowling saved me from her treating me like a dress-up doll. She even applied makeup!
The giggles she let out when she thought I wasn't looking told me she was up to something. I just didn't know what yet.
By my side was Naruto. To no one surprise, he wore another one of his orange jumpers. The brat kept sneaking glances my way.
I wanted to slap the silly out of him.
It took a few minutes more until Sasuke arrived. Kakashi-sensei was nowhere to be found. Maybe he wasn't coming? Thankfully, I wasn't the only one dressed up for the event. Sasuke had also opted out of his usual blue shirt and white shorts to wear what looked like a traditional kimono.
A vein throbbed on my face. Karin's motives now plain to see. I heard giggles from inside the apartment. There would be retribution. Terrible, terrible retribution.
"Yo, Sasuke!" Naruto greeted the newcomer. "What's up with that fancy robe?"
Sasuke looked somewhat uncomfortable, but he smirked nonetheless. "Don't you have anything else to wear? What, you're afraid people won't see you if it's not orange?"
Light bickering ensued, but it brought a smile to my face. It was nice to see Naruto have a friend who wasn't obsessed with another man.
"Hello, Hinata-chan," Sasuke said, giving me a slight bow. Was that a bit of pink on his cheeks? "You look good."
"Hello Sasuke-kun." I nodded back. "You look good too." I answered in kind, and immediately regretted it.
There was this moment of silence where no one said anything. Naruto looked between me and Sasuke, scratched his head.
God, please kill me now and end the awkwardness.
"Kakashi-sensei isn't coming?" Naruto asked.
I shrugged, happy for a distraction. "I invited him; no idea if he'll come," I said.
Naruto turned to me. "No more writing board?"
My smile soured somewhat before I grinned wider.
"Ero-sennin helped me with that."
"Ehh? How?"
Sasuke didn't seem keen on wasting time, however. "Should we wait?"
Naruto shrugged. I did, too.
"Better not," I said, thinking about Kakashi-sensei and being on time. "He'll probably show up—" I felt the bundle of chakra appear behind me. "—three hours later or something."
"Mah, I wouldn't leave my favorite genin and chunin waiting."
"Sensei!" Naruto hollered.
I turned around, waved at sensei. He looked even more haggard than usual, dressed in his official ninja attire. I guess that, like Naruto, he didn't care about appearances.
I turned back to Sasuke. "Lead the way, Sasuke-kun."
It was time to see what this dinner was about.