Purpose and Expectation

Chapter 7: Contact

Over the week Hinata had off, she and Neji had combed through every case Ino had dropped but found nothing. Hinata could tell something was missing in the files, but even in comparison to her files, she could tell there was information missing. The more they dug, the more Hinata became sure of that fact, which frustrated her.

After a day back at work without Ino, her suspicions only continued to grow. Ino hadn't said anything, so Hinata had been forced to tell everyone that she was taking a personal leave. Nothing else. They had no idea when she would be back, and no, she couldn't give out Ino's personal number to contact. All in all, she came home that evening more than frustrated with the day.

After she'd finished cooking dinner, Neji elected to show up on her doorstep again... looking for her baking, she assumed. No, probably also her leftovers. With a sigh, she beckoned him in, closing the door behind him. "Don't you have food at your place?" She asked, knowing her tone was sharper than usual.

Neji already had half a bite of cinnamon bun in his mouth before he spoke, raising his eyebrows at her. "Who spit in your coffee this morning?" Hinata was rarely, if ever, easily upset like this. "Also, you cook better than I do. I'd rather eat a meal than slop." Hinata raised an eyebrow and shook her head, moving to the kitchen to fix him a plate of dinner. She'd started to make extra purely out of habit for Neji's tendency to show up unexpectedly like this.

"I guess I'll take that." She set the plate down in front of him, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry I'm snappy tonight. I just... I'm frustrated. Ino wasn't back today, so I couldn't ask her anything. On top of that, everyone's asking for her, so I'm forced to come up with excuses as to why she's not there and tell them that I can't give out her contact information, et cetera, et cetera." She packed the rest of the food into containers and put it in the fridge so she could take it to work tomorrow.

"In other words, even going into work means that we've got nowhere on this investigation." He was scarfing down the food so fast Hinata wondered if he'd even eaten today.

"No, and on top of that, Dr. Haruno and Detective Uchiha are gone. No one is saying anything in the office. Nothing. No word about them at all, not even from their friends. We're without a medical examiner until they find a replacement, which they've yet to do... Chief Hatake keeps saying that every candidate that comes across his desk just 'isn't qualified enough'." Hinata couldn't help but worry. She hadn't talked much with Sakura, but she knew the doctor was a good person.

Heaving another sigh, Hinata took a seat in her comfortable recliner and grabbed her laptop, popping it open to her documents and scrolling through. She pondered for a bit before picking one of her stories to work on, fingers clattering across the keyboard at almost insane speeds. Neji, at some point, made his way over to her couch, flopping down on it and grabbing the remote to watch television. Jeez, it felt like he lived here half the time, the way he opted to spend time with her. She didn't mind, though. He was at least an unobtrusive presence.

...Her phone ringing, on the other hand, was not unobtrusive. She pulled the caller ID up, wondering who'd be calling her at this time of night.

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Naruto paced back and forth across his apartment, doing his best to summon every ounce of willpower and charm he had. He'd never had a problem asking girls out before, but Hinata? He... well, he couldn't explain it. There was something about her that had deterred him from asking her out. No... Deterred wasn't the right word. Hinata was cute, she was kind of pretty, but he knew so little about her. In fact, she seemed to seize up every time he talked to her, keeping things more professional than he'd ever expected.