Background Noise
Coupling: Sasuke/Hinata/Hitsugaya
Dedicated to: Raesigns, the crazy person who got me into crack couples .
Summary: Hinata didn't intend on being married off when she told her father she wanted a vacation, but maybe it was only a push in the right direction. HitsuxHinataxSasu
A.N./ Since I got so much positive feedback on my other terrible HH crack story I decided to write another one, since the attempted sequel I tried was a bust. XD This is something that has been cooking for awhile in my skull so I hope you guys like it, it's based off a drawing I did about a year ago.
1
The ferryman looked over at the sighing girl in his boat. She'd been staring at the water ever since she got in. Her radiant, violet hair caught his attention immediately—but her eyes—
He felt the same shivers he had earlier upon looking at the pale lavender irises. She was a regular beauty, not even a doll came close to her perfection. He knew he had no chance with her but still he tried to strike up a conversation.
His attempts, though, met only with silence. Her eyes had never trailed up to his and she preferred looking down than enjoying his company. He lifted a hand to his chin, alright so he wasn't the most strapping man around but was he such poor company that she couldn't bear even to talk to him? But after hearing a sigh from her, again, he changed his mind, deciding that she was probably depressed about something. Maybe her family died, or she lost her dog, or she was being sold to a—
"How far are we from shore?" A soft voice asked, it took the man a moment to realize the beauty in the boat had been the one to speak.
"Oh!" He paused in his rowing to look up; the island they were approaching was much closer now. "I'd say in twenty minutes you'll be on solid ground." The lavender eyed beauty finally looked up at him, her eyes darting quickly to the approaching landmass. Surprisingly, her pretty face twisted into a grimace and she turned her attention back to the water. One of her fingers dared to breach the cool surface.
The ferryman felt like sighing now, were all angels this hard to please?
-O-
Hinata felt like jumping from the boat if only to delay arriving that much later. Her finger swirled in the water as she thought. She had been hoping for a break from home, the tension between her and her relatives was so strong she felt one of them might snap her neck if she so much as sneezed! Being an heiress was, as one of her friends would often put it, very troublesome. Her cousins were always watching her every move to point out every mistake she ever made as if that determined how much of a failure she was, while her father kept stacking more and more pressure on her when it came to her studies, all the while giving her more and more letters from hopeful boys who wanted to court her.
At this point she was about to tear her hair from their roots! She let a sigh slip out and pulled her finger from the icy recesses it was playing in to let it drip dry on the edge of the small wooden boat. If only she could be allowed to love who she wanted, but the last boy she liked- a golden haired troublemaker- had been taken by a pink-haired, doctor's apprentice in town. It was so sudden, she still suspected her father of having a hand in it, but they seemed happy together anyway. Hinata stared at her reflection in the water.
That didn't stop her from liking him though. But it did show her how much her life was controlled by her family.
At times, she thought that she'd gladly hand the mantle to her little sister, Hanabi, but she had been working too hard for too long, it would put to waste all the tears she had shed over the years, all her work…
Hanabi would be better suited to be the heir anyway, she was much more talented than Hinata, and even her father could see that. The only probable reason he hadn't already stripped her of her status was because she was old enough to marry to a rich boy whose family could add to the Hyuuga's power.
If only she'd kept her mouth shut, Hinata moaned in her head, why did she have to say that she wanted to go on a trip? She suspected her father was up to something when he agreed so quickly, but how could she have known that he was planning to ship her to another country?
'They're a very well known clan', she remembered her maid saying cheerfully as she packed her horrified mistress' luggage, 'I hear the Uchiha are well known for their looks!' If the ferryman weren't already staring at her like she was going to commit suicide she'd sigh again.
So far she had spent two days in a carriage and one day waiting for a boat to take her to the island where the Uchiha mansion was located. Not including the hour spent sitting in said boat. If she had to sit any longer Hinata figured her butt would turn into wood too! Thank goodness her maid didn't come along or else she'd be talking her ear off about how great this boy was, no doubt her salary had been raised for her to act like that. The only reason the maid hadn't come on the boat with her was because she caught a cold while they were waiting yesterday and wouldn't be able to come until she had fully recovered.
Thank goodness, her praise of people they'd never even met was getting annoying.
They were close enough now that even with her head tilted down she could see the island's docks from her peripheral. A man called out to them and tossed a rope out to the ferryman. When they got close enough they began tying the vessel to a post to keep it from bobbing away.
Knowing she couldn't put it off any longer Hinata stood up and began to collect her luggage.
"Let me take that, ma'am." The dock man said, holding out a beefy hand. Hinata nodded and held it out for him. It was then she first noticed a strange, white haired boy sitting on the edge of the platform. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to her and she was glad he wasn't because that meant he didn't notice her gawking at him.
He was wearing the oddest clothing, a baggy sleeveless coat over a black layer of clothing she didn't even know how to begin to describe, maybe as a robe? His pants were baggy and made him seem even more childish as they hung over the water. His sandals, worn over a pair of white - socks? – peeked out of the bottom of his baggy clothing. She wondered if his hair was naturally that shade, she knew of a couple girls who had their hair dyed but… His skin was remarkably tan for his hair color and as she stared his eyes flicked to her. They were blue-green like an iridescent emerald. Realizing how rude she was being Hinata quickly looked away.
"You alright ma'am?" The dock man asked, interrupting her flustered thoughts.
"Y-yes, I'm fine!" She stuttered, knowing her face was probably flushed she let herself be aided out of the boat, trying to keep her bangs hung over her eyes.
"Something bothering you?" He continued, "You were just staring into space like that…" Hinata didn't pay any attention to what he was saying, still thinking about her lapse in manners. While she was busy berating herself a man cleared his throat. She turned to come face to face with another strange person. He was a droopy eyed man in his mid to late 30s with long off-white hair sticking up. The lower half of his face was wrapped up with a dark gray scarf that almost drew one's attention away from the eye patch covering his left eye. His suit was a tight cut on his figure, though he shuffled on his feet as if it bothered him to wear it. In one hand he held a crinkled, dirty paper that his one eye was studying.
"Are you Miss 'Hugah'?" He pronounced uncertainly, apparently unable to read the page.
"Hyuuga." Hinata corrected, the man blinked and looked back at the paper. He turned his gaze back to her and nonchalantly rolled the already ruined paper into a wad and tossed it over one shoulder.
"Right, Miss Hyuuga, I'm here to take you to the estate… where's your escort?" He asked as he took her bags from the dock man.
Realizing how shameful, not to mention trashy, she'd be thought of if she didn't have one Hinata waved her hands quickly in front of her. "S-she caught a cold and couldn't come on the boat today. She should be alright tomorrow or the next day though, I should hope!" The droopy eyed man eyed her hand signals quietly as if he was trying to figure out her odd behavior.
"Ok. Let's get going." She let out a relieved breath and hurried her pace to try to keep up with his long strides. It wasn't until that moment that Hinata remembered the strange boy who had been sitting next to the water. As they stepped off the docks she snuck a daring peek over her shoulder.
Except for the dock and ferry men, there was no one else there. She paused mid-step, her eyes glued on where she had seen the boy earlier.
"Odd." She mumbled to herself, where had he gone? The droopy eyed man stopped to look back at her.
"What is?"
Hinata eyed the spot for a moment, "Nothing, just my imagination playing tricks on me again." She replied coolly as they continued to a waiting carriage.
-O-
She glanced up from under her lashes up at the man; he seemed to be too interested in his book to notice her attention, luckily. Hinata wasn't sure what to think of his reading material, she could tell from the cover it was less than appropriate. She turned her attention to the window, watching the countryside roll by made her feel slightly homesick.
Hinata wondered if they were any closer to the estate, she hoped so. If she had to sit for one more hour then she'd probably go stir crazy. She was just about to sigh, again, when the whole carriage jolted erratically and began to shake. The man in the carriage with her dropped his book and stuck his head out.
"What's wrong?" He asked the man at the reins. Hinata could see him from her seat, getting down to check something. He tisked angrily and tossed something into the bushes.
"Ran over a rock, nasty thing broke the wheel." Curious, Hinata leaned forward to see what they were doing. She could see from her seat the driver was holding a piece of wood, probably from the broken wheel, and toss it toward the side of the road.
The droopy eyed man turned around to address her and she straightened immediately, "Come on, we better start walking." After half-heartedly climbing out she stared down the road they were on. It was actually a small hill they were stranded on with them at the bottom; she'd have to walk over hills? Seriously, he was going to make her walk all the way?
Seeming to notice her reaction he continued, "We're almost there actually; it's just five minutes away by foot." He grabbed her bags and, without another word to her, started ambling down the road.
Hinata stared at him for a moment before hurrying to catch up. Well, she was getting tired of sitting. Like he said, the estate was close. They just barely made it to the top of the hill when she noticed the large mansion looming ahead.
Its wooden exterior was painted white and the whole main building was surrounded by lush vegetation that almost blended it into the surroundings. From where they were Hinata could see a large garden behind the building and even though she hadn't wanted to come in the first place she really wanted to explore it later.
As they got closer, however, she couldn't help but feel that something was off though she couldn't figure out why. When they reached a small fence that surrounded the front of the mansion, the man led her toward a latched gate. He shifted her bags to pull on a string by the latch and not a minute later the front door was whipped open.
"Kakashi, what took you so long?" Hinata couldn't stop herself from staring at the woman. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck, her face was twisted in fury, a knife gleaming in her hand that was covered in blood— the young heiress was starting to feel faint.
"Hey, Tsunade, could you get someone to go help Asuma? The wheel on the carriage broke on the way here."
"Don't 'Hey Tsunade' me! What do you mean it broke?" Spotting Hinata standing next to him she started waving the knife sporadically, making little droplets of blood fly in the air. "Did you make her walk all the way here? She's our guest you idiot!"
The man, Kakashi, looked at the girl beside him, "Let's go inside and have your things put in your room." He said, sidestepping the raving blond woman in the doorway. As they passed the woman grumbled and walked outside, much to Hinata's relief. Even inside, the strange feeling that there was something strange here persisted, she couldn't shake it at all.
Her lavender eyes examined the lobby; lighter tones seemed to be the theme. The walls were white and in the marble tile under her feet she could see her reflection. A solitary vase stood in one corner beside a tall, black grandfather clock.
Its face was strange, instead of a creamy white color it was a dark red and each hour had a dot instead of a number. All except for the place for the sixth hour, the bottom half was painted black in a small arc to match the wood the clock was made of. The hour and minute hands were metal and pointed on the ends.
What strange taste, she thought. It didn't match the rest of the furniture in the room- everything else was made of oak or cedar wood.
Kakashi found a maid and instructed her to bring the heiress to the room she'd be staying in during her visit. The maid took the luggage from the man but as she began walking out of the lobby Hinata hesitated, looking back at the man who led her here. She stopped mid-step and held her hands in front of her dress curtsying slightly to him.
"Thank you, Mr. Kakashi." He seemed speechless for a moment and then raised his hand to wave at her lazily. Taking that as a 'no problem' she turned around to follow the maid…
Who was no longer standing at the doorway.
"Might want to hurry up," She heard Kakashi tell her, Hinata looked over her shoulder to see him pull his book from inside his vest, "Kaede won't show you where your room is twice, and she hates people who dawdle." Hinata stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was messing with her or not, before hurrying from the room.
The room she was in now was much larger, but Hinata wasn't sure if it could be called a sitting room or a living room, it was hard to tell. She spotted the maid's skirt flutter out of sight near the top of a grand staircase ahead of her and grimaced. Kakashi wasn't kidding about the maid's personality; she didn't seem to like to dawdle herself.
Hinata hurried up the flight of stairs with one hand on the wooden banister, until she reached the top. A large portrait greeted her at the top, but she wasn't looking at that at the moment. The staircase split into two hallways at that landing, one going to the left and the other going to the right. The heiress began walking down the side she'd seen the maid, hoping that the girl wasn't too far ahead. About a minute of walking down the hall she came to another flight of stairs. Hinata eyed the steps reluctantly before going up them. How far in was her room anyway?
Her eyes trailed over the doors as passed them. The odd feeling was catching up to her. Where was everyone? Even at the family estate she'd see their servants all over the place. And why wasn't there anyone to greet her when she arrived with Kakashi? They were obviously expecting her, but still, neither her potential suitor nor his parents came out to welcome her. How odd.
Hinata really didn't know much about the Uchiha clan, she'd heard of them, sure, but other than occasional mention of their business transactions… nothing.
"About time you got here."
Hinata stopped and looked around, she was currently at a cross-section of hallways, to her right stood an irritated girl with raven black hair pulled back into a bun. Her plain, black uniform reached down to her knees. It didn't have a white apron like the maids at home and it looked more like a witches' dress than a maid's attire. The only thing that hinted at her occupation was a plain white ribbon tied around the collar of the outfit.
"Kaede, right?" The violet haired girl found herself verifying. The girl's eye twitched at her name but she didn't reply. Hinata took that as a yes and joined her by the open door.
"You'll be staying here." Kaede told her as she looked in, the maid had placed the luggage by the bed inside, Hinata noticed, "I am assigned to babysit you, don't mess the room up too much." Without another word the maid swept by Hinata, leaving a gaping hole behind as she turned the corner.
Hinata stared at the corner of the hallway before entering her room, "Thank you." She said to the door as it clicked shut.
Gah, angsty end is angsty. DX I hope you guys appreciate the feeling I'm going fer here. XD Anyway, We got Hitsugaya in here a little bit. So, yay! ;w; I wonder if anyone recognizes the maid from another story of mine… she's a good girl, really! D; She's just being a jerk at the moment, don't hate her. Lol.