Title: One Week: Free Spirit
Series: Naruto
Word Count: 1092
Warnings: Shoujoai, implied sex
Gift for: akumness lj.
1
"Today the sandnin come," Hanabi said to her that morning, and Hinata jumped a little, because Hanabi was always quiet, so quiet, until she was right beside you.
Still, she smiled, somewhat more easily than she did with others, and looked back from the crowd she'd been observing in bewilderment. "Ah, I didn't know." It was useless talk, really, but Hinata didn't mind; she so rarely got to speak with all with her younger sister.
"They're staying for a week," The younger girl added, activating her byakuugan to see through the crowd; she was too short to see over it.
Hinata sighed at having not thought of it before, and slid into her own special sight.
"Kankurou," The sandnin jumped, swearing, before looking down at his sister, who had appeared beside him.
"Nn?" He had flicked his gaze back to Gaara, who was exchanging greetings with the Hokage; Gaara automatically required more of his attention than Temari, who was far less likely to go on a rampage.
"Who's that girl?" Temari sounded patient in that way that meant she really wasn't, so he turned to look where her eyes had landed, and shrugged.
"Hyuuga, isn't she? How should I know?" He turned back to Gaara, wincing at the somewhat strained conversation, and decided perhaps it was time to intervene.
Temari didn't follow.
2
"Later, Hinata!" Kiba's voice followed her down the street, and Hinata instinctively drew into herself, hunching over slightly and wincing at the volume of his voice; people were looking at her, not, and it was something she tried to avoid when she could. She too often had eyes on her, hard Hyuuga eyes that saw through walls and skin to her very heart and found her lacking, lacking the things they'd bred her for.
"Hinata," She didn't know that voice, and she turned, startled, to the side, to see the sandnin girl, and how...Kiba was too loud, far too loud, for Hinata, even if she loved her friend for it.
The name...Gaara's sister...Hinata ran through her memories, until it caught; "Temari," She responded, politely, backing up a few steps.
The other girl was too close. Far too close.
"Pretty name, for a pretty girl," Temari said, almost casually, and then she was gone.
Hinata stood there for a long time before she could move again; the only thing she could think was that no one had ever called her pretty before.
3
Temari was everywhere she went. Training, walking home, out at the marketplace...always, she could see that flash of desert-color in the crowds of Konoha, just at the corner of her eye, and Hinata wasn't certain what to think.
Shino told her that perhaps Gaara wasn't the only one they should look out for, one day, as they ate their lunches.
Hinata agreed, really; it was hard not to, as Temari pulled her behind one of the trees near the training field as her friends walked away to kiss her upon the lips, hard and dry and far too fast for Hinata to feel anything other than that split-second impression, and as she leaned back against the tree, alone again, she wondered if there was really anything she could do to stop this.
4
It was distracting. Those desert lips and calloused hands and dark eyes and Hinata didn't know what to do because she expected at every corner for Temari to pull her back into the shadows and whisper to her and do things to her.
She didn't mind. If she had, she wouldn't have stayed so still as the sandnin leaned down into her, pressing harder and harder and harder as if she thought Hinata's skin would break and she would get to the sweetness inside.
One week, Hinata thought, when she was alone again in the ally.
Three days until they go home.
5
It was night, and Hinata thought perhaps that was fitting. She sat still as stone and let the dark wash over her, Hyuuga eyes shut and lips parted, inviting the night into her, into her, where no one else could see.
And Temari came willingly, kneeling behind the girl in the ghost-white nightgown, the girl with her eyes closed neck long, and tilted her head back farther to kiss her, leaning just that much farther down.
Temari tasted of the desert, to Hinata, leaving behind the faint touch of sand, grit on her lips, dust on her hip, her stomach, her neck--
Gentle, and then sudden sandstorm and Temari's teeth sunk into her neck.
6
"You're in love."
Hinata started, and turned to face her younger sister, who was standing in her doorway, as if trying to make up for her too-insightful statement by being polite, waiting for permission to enter.
Hinata turned back to her window, and she heard Hanabi's footsteps behind her, felt the younger Hyuuga come to a stop at her side. They were quiet for a few moments before Hanabi sat down, saying nothing more, expecting nothing more.
It was that quiet acceptance, that silent patience, that always made Hinata want to tell her more. But now? What could she tell Hanabi now?
"Yes." Hinata agreed, because it was true. "I am."
But she isn't in love with me.
Hanabi reached out and hesitantly, cautiously, took her elder sister's hand, and Hinata smiled, returned the pressure.
They watched the sun rise from behind the mountaintops.
7
The seventh day came, and Hinata stood at the back of the crowd, watching.
Gaara and Tsunade exchanged goodbyes, just as awkward as their hellos had been.
Hinata didn't see a moment of them, because her eyes were drawn to the girl behind the Kazekage, beside the boy with the painted face, Temari, and she felt her lips move, ghost-whispering that name. Her lips had memorized the shape of that name.
It shouldn't be fair, she thought frantically, it shouldn't be fair for someone to do this to her and leave, just leave. No goodbye.
Temari's eyes did not drift over her, did not catch and linger; Hinata's eyes followed her through the gate, past the gate, down the road for as long as her Hyuuga eyes could see.
When she let the Byakuugan fall, everything tight, her heart constricting, pressing pressing pressing against her soul, she was alone in the street, but for the small hand in hers and the knowing gaze of her sister.
She didn't speak at all, but let Hanabi pull her away from the gate, starting home.
Hinata didn't know where home was, anymore.