Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Diplomacy ❯ Lady of the Cranes ( Chapter 2 )

     Hinata stood outside the door to a run down apartment in a run down apartment building. Truth be told, it reminded the girl a lot of the building Uzumaki Naruto lived in. A quick scan around showed Hinata that there were at least four men, members of the ANBU, in the vicinity. They were well camouflaged, Hinata found them only because she knew to look for them at all. She reviewed the address her superior had given her to make sure she wasn’t about to knock on the wrong door.

     There was a slight delay after Hinata’s knock. It wasn’t long though, until the door opened. The girl who answered looked exactly like the photo Hinata had seen. Rather, she would, if her slate gray hair were put in a high ponytail and she wore her everyday clothing in place of the gray pajamas decorated top-to-bottom with origami cranes of various colors.

     Because of its sheer necessity in her newly chosen line of work, Hinata had improved at speaking and interacting with others, gradually overcoming her shyness. Still, she had a difficult time dealing one-on-one with new people. As a result, she had a hard time starting up.

     “Um… ahem… G-G-Good morning, Tsurukawa-san.” Hinata began with a polite bow, “My name is Hyuga H-H-Hinata. Saruwatari-san assigned m-m-me to be your chaperone so you could g-g-go outside and see the v-village.”

     The slightly older girl stared at Hinata for a moment. Her blue-gray eyes fixed on her with a blank stare. Without warning, she slammed the door shut in Hinata’s face. Hinata could only stand where she was, stunned. When about a minute had passed the door just as suddenly opened again.

     “I’m so so sorry!” the girl said, “When you told me who you were I got so excited I had to get dressed right away and I completely forgot my manners. Tsurukawa Chie. Nice to meet you! Come in, come in!”

      As Hinata removed her sandals and entered Chie’s apartment, she didn’t doubt the other’s words one bit. It was very obvious she had begun getting dressed at a rapid pace. While she still wore the crane spattered pajama bottoms, her top had been replaced with a dark gray t-shirt and a jacket of a similar color. In her rush to reopen the door and let Hinata inside, Chie had only had time to get her left arm through one of the jacket sleeves, the rest of the garment flapped about loosely as Chie ran about the apartment grabbing the remainder of her clothes and rushing into the bathroom.

     “There’s tea on the table. Help yourself!” she called out through the closed door.

     Hinata poured herself a cup. The tea had been prepared quite a while ago, suggesting Chie had been awake well before Hinata’s arrival. It was well made, too. Two minutes later, Chie emerged from the bathroom looking exactly like the photos Hinata had seen.

     Though two years Hinata’s elder, Chie was barely taller than Hinata herself. Her gray hair was tied up high into a ponytail that extended down to the point her neck met her back. Along with the shirt and jacket, she wore dark blue trousers under a white skirt. Her face bore a sheepish expression.

     “Again, I’m sorry ‘bout slamming the door in your face.” she said as she sat down at the table across from Hinata.

     “It’s all right, really.” Hinata assured her, “I can understand how you might want to get out of here.”

     She really could. The place, while hardly a pig sty, was not the cleanest apartment in the world. Again, Hinata found herself thinking of Naruto, who was known to have kept his own apartment in similar shape. All over the place were dirty clothes, clean clothes, various items. The only thing that seemed to have been deliberately placed was a Hitai-ate forehead protector bearing the insignia of the Village of Mist. To avoid alarming anybody unnecessarily, Chie wasn’t wearing it while in Konoha.

     “So, um… Tsurukawa-san, what would you like to do, today?” Hinata asked.

     “Well, my first thought was something to eat.” Chie said, “You guys have supplied some groceries and things, but I want a meal I don’t have to cook myself right now. Something quick, though, I wanna see as much as I can today.”

     “How about r-ramen?” Hinata asked, “I know a good place.”

     “Sounds good.” Chie replied, “Just one thing.”

     “Hm?”

     “Drop the ‘Tsurukawa-san’ junk. I hate being so formal.” Hinata could have sworn she just saw Chie shudder.

     “All right, Chie-san.”

     Chie shot Hinata a look. Hinata shrugged apologetically. She wasn’t going to be overly formal. But that didn’t mean she shouldn’t at least be courteous. Chie, picking up on that, just chuckled.

     “Good enough.”

     The two made their way to Hinata’s choice of restaurant, the Ichiraku Ramen stand. They talked and got to know each other. Hinata’s initial nervousness slowly faded as they spoke. It was a sign of just how well she was coming along with her shyness. Chie’s casual attitude helped as well, as Hinata felt little pressure to act a certain way. That same casual attitude, however, was the most likely cause of the one quality of the other girl Hinata had any serious difficulty with.

     “Phantom! Is that the place?!”

     Chie liked giving people nicknames.

     She had all of the ANBU that guarded her regularly named for the animal masks they wore (Neko, Hound, and so on). Hinata had watched as Chie, after surprisingly serious thought on the subject, settled on “Phantom” for her. In part for her white eyes and in part from observing that Hinata, given the choice, preferred to keep quiet and blend in rather than make herself known. Accurate though it may have been, Hinata found the nickname rather embarrassing. She made a promise to herself to ask Chie to stop it. For now, though, while the two were still in the introductory stages she decided to let it go.

     “You said it was called ‘Ichiraku,’ right?”

     Hinata had no sooner given her affirmative before Chie sat down and placed her order. Hinata sat down but her order wasn’t necessary.

     “Your usual, Hinata-chan?” the old man behind the counter asked warmly. Hinata nodded an affirmative.

     “Guess this place knows you, too.” Chie commented as they received their bowls.

     Hinata nodded and explained.

     “I found out about this place because it was a favorite of Naruto-kun’s.”

     Hinata had told Chie about Naruto. She hadn’t fully intended to but when Chie noticed how Hinata blushed when first mentioning him she began needling for more and more information. Hinata wasn’t used to that kind of persistence and, she thought, better she give in with Naruto than some other matter she wasn’t allowed to speak of.

     “I would pass by often and see him digging into whatever flavor he had chosen that day… or night.” Hinata added with a smile, “I remember how often back then I would try and work up the courage to sit down and order a bowl myself. But the only time I could ever do it was when Naruto-kun wasn’t there. So I didn’t get to eat here very often.”

     Chie laughed. Among Hinata’s details had been Naruto’s love for ramen.

     “That all changed after the Nimmori.”

     Hinata had briefly told Chie about the Nimmori. She had left out much of the details of the mission. In part simply because she was forbidden by her superiors to do so. Much of what happened was among what Hinata was instructed to consider classified information. Partly because Hinata simply didn’t feel like sharing something more personal than even her infatuation with Naruto to someone she’d just met. Chie had been told simply that Hinata was rescued from a band of primitives and the experience had changed her outlook greatly.

     “Naruto-kun and I had gotten to know each other better during that mission. He started to notice me, and I became braver about approaching him. He would sometimes invite me to share a bowl of ramen here with him. And I finally managed to sit down while he was still eating and join him. I started coming here more frequently, and so I became better known to Teuchi-ojisan and Ayame-san.”

     “So where’s this guy of yours now?” Chie asked. Hinata blushed at his being called “her guy.”

     “He’s not here anymore. He left to be trained by a famous shinobi of our village. I’ve been told he won’t be back for at least two and a half years.”

     “You gonna wait for him?” Chie asked suddenly. Hinata spit out the noodles in her mouth in surprise.

     “Of course!” then suddenly, “I-I mean… I…” Hinata stammered as her cheeks flushed an almost cherry red.

     When Chie started laughing Hinata realized a simple fact. Chie had asked that simply to see what Hinata’s reaction would be.

     “Sorry, sorry.” Chie said with a grin, “I just had to do it. You mad?”

     “No.” Hinata answered honestly, “Just embarrassed.”

     She was also wondering, with a sigh, what this day, and this mission as a whole, would hold for her.