Storm: Rain Arc
Chapter 2
Meetings
~Hinata~
"Good, I am proud of you." Praise came from my father's mouth, directed at Hanabi. Always directed at Hanabi. To be honest, I was not jealous. I was proud of her as well, but my father made it seem like he only loved one of his daughters. Dinner was formal. We ate in the dining room. Father sat at the head of the table while Neji was at his right, Hanabi on his left and I was next to her. Thankfully though, it was a quick affair, only school and extracurriculars were discussed over the healthy meal options that the cook chose that day.
After dinner, I took a walk back to the park. I had not been there for an entire month. The sun was only setting, but I felt safer since it wasn't too late. I settled down on one of the benches, staring up at the tree leaves above me. It was only the beginning of fall, so some of the leaves started to change colors. It was one of the things I loved the most. Nature's artwork.
I jumped at the sound of a bush rustling. I closed my eyes, thinking that it wasn't the wolf, repeatedly. My wishful thinking was in vain, because once I did open my eyes, he was there. The black wolf was sitting in front of me the same way he was when I walked away from him a month ago. His pointed ears were up, listening while his eyes were staring at me.
"C-come to f-finish me o-off?" I asked in his direction. Maybe I was just being stupid but I wasn't afraid. I had this feeling he wouldn't hurt me. "G-go on th-then."
His ears twitched thoughtfully. Did he understand me?
'I'm not interested in eating you,' a voice floated towards me. I looked around. I was completely alone except for the wolf. Unless…
"C-can y-you t-talk?" I asked the animal. The black wolf twitched his head so it looked like he was nodding. He was talking to me. A pressure built up into my lungs, and my head felt light. An animal was talking me. I was going crazy!
"Do y-you t-talk to a-a lot of p-people?" I said, trying to stay calm. Maybe this was just a dream. It couldn't be real.
'No, you're the first.'
"Why me?" I was curious. I was never considered special by anyone.
'It's not everyday someone tries to beat you with an umbrella.' His lips curled, showing all of his teeth in a smirk. He was making fun of me.
"O-oh, I-I'm so s-sorry. I th-thought you w-were g-going to-" I stopped when I heard a howl.
'Yes, I know, but you should go home before it gets too late.' His voice commanded my attention again. There must be more wolves than just him and the other one.
"W-will I s-see you a-again?"
'You come here, I will be here.' I nodded with a smile, before getting up from the bench to go home. I was interested in this wolf who could talk, not just because he could talk, but also because he protected me from one of his own kind. That was a good enough reason, right? But I still wondered, what was considered his own kind anyway?
~Sasuke~
I followed her home without her knowing, just in case. Suigetsu could come out of nowhere. After what he pulled last month and today, I did not trust him around her. I had to make sure he left her alone in school as well. All she was, was a greater complication to my life, but I still could not understand why I was so interested.
Once home, I slammed the front door open and sauntered into the living room, sprawling myself across the empty couch.
"And where have you been?" a dull, bored voice asked me. Kakashi, my first mentor, now legal guardian, sat down across from me on one of the chairs. He stared at me, taking his uncovered eye off of his open book for once to actually look at me.
"Out," I grunted and slowly flipped over on my side, turning my back to him. He, too, is a wolf, like the rest of us. Because of his experience, he watches over all of us.
"Sasuke, I told you that you have to be careful. He could be anywhere."
"Don't you think I know that?" somehow I ended up on my feet, glaring at the older, gray-haired man. I knew we were in danger, of both the humans around us and other wolves not in our pack, more specifically him. My brother….Itachi.
"Sasuke! You're home?" Karin voice screeched from down the hallway. Her bright red hair bounced along behind her as she pranced into the living room.
"I'm going upstairs." I muttered, pushing past her. I had no time to deal with them. They would only get in my way. I wanted my brother to come. I want to kill him. I will kill him!
The next morning, I woke up earlier than the others and began walking to school. Once again, driving seemed useless, since the school was so close. I cleared my mind, trying to ignore all of the thoughts about my brother, my family, and me.
"Mother?" I yelled running through the front door of the Uchiha compound. I froze at the sight of the two dead bodies in front of me. Mother and Father! They were covered in blood. Tears streamed down my face. How? I fell to my knees, sobbing. Who could have done this?
"Brother?" I called for my older brother. Where was he? Was he dead too? "Itachi?" I searched the entire house, only finding more family members dead.
"Sasuke!" Itachi's voice called my name from inside of my head. "Outside, little brother." I went where he said. He stood ten feet away, his back facing me.
"Itachi? What-" My question fell from my mouth when he turned around. He was covered in blood too. Their blood.
"What's wrong, little brother?" he asked patiently. He had killed them, and he was acting like he did nothing. The sides of his mouth tipped upwards into a smile. A SMILE! I ran at him, the rage festering in my stomach spread to my entire body. He was going to die for what he did. When I was a foot away from him, he disappeared, and I felt this burning pain on my side. Looking down I saw, my brother had bitten me, and then everything went dark.
A car horn beeped, bringing me from my thoughts.
"You need a ride?" a familiar-looking, pink-haired girl asked. Her also familiar-looking, blonde friend was in the passenger seat. They both giggled simultaneously like at some joke I was not included in. I never had any interest in silly girls.
"Hn," I grunted, and turned my attention back to the sidewalk. After realizing that she was obviously being snubbed by me, she drove off in the same direction I was going.
~Hinata~
"I can't believe he just ignored us like that," Ino complained, tossing her long blonde hair behind her shoulders. I was standing at my locker, unintentionally listening to the two girls whine to one another. I slammed the metal door closed and walked away, not caring that I did not know who this "he" was, though to them "he" was very important. Thankfully, the entire day flew by faster than usual. Thoughts about the wolf plagued my mind every other five minutes. He said if I would be there, so would he. I decided I was going to go, but only stay five minutes. If he does not come then I will leave and know that my conversation with the animal was only a hallucination created by my imagination.
Today Neji was on time; I did not have to deal with the silver-haired boy. I hopped into the car and gave my older cousin a smile. He looked exhausted, as usual. He never gets to take a break between studying at college and working. If he kept his grades up for the rest of the year my father agreed to pay for the rest of his college education. Neji deserved that, he has worked so hard his whole life.
"Hanabi came home early today," he muttered to me, not sounding happy. Hanabi was in her "I'm better than everyone" stage. Both Neji and I were hoping she would grow out of it and soon.
"But Father, it's unfair!" The second the door opened, I heard my little sister's voice squeal. "Please, just because Hinata doesn't go to parties, doesn't mean I can't." Of course she had to bring me into this. And what kind of party was she talking about? Neji pushed past me, ignoring the drama so he could go upstairs, to study probably. I sighed, ready to follow him, until Hanabi stomped from our father's study and stopped me.
"You ruin everything," she spat at me, before running into the living room. She blamed me for the fact that Father does not let her go to parties. She shouldn't go to them anyway, because I don't even get invited to those types of parties in the first place.
"Hinata," my father's voice called me from his study. I ran my hands through my hair, straightening it neatly before entering the room. My father sat at his desk, papers thrown across the surface in front of him.
"Yes, F-Father?" I asked politely, standing in the door frame.
"You are getting older now, Hinata, and I expected you to grow out of your shy phase, but still you have not. You are the oldest, and you will have to run this company if something happens to me. You should start being more like your sister." The last four words out of his mouth stung more then anything else. I felt my eyes go watery. I couldn't cry in front of him. I refuse to cry.
"O-of course, F-Father," I choked out my words, and turned on my heel. Once my back was facing him I let the tears fall. He just never understood that Hanabi and I were nothing alike. She was fire and I was water. Asking us to be the same is impossible. Without thinking, I kept walking while I cried until I reached the park. I sat down on the bench trying to calm my breaths. It was not the first time Father had said something like that to me, so I did not know why I was crying like this.
'Are you alright?' The wolf's voice… I glanced up, wiping my eyes. I sniffled loudly and looked at him. He was here and talking again. It definitely was not my imagination.
"No," I said, softly. He sauntered a little closer until he stopped less than a foot in front of me.
'You can tell me.' His dark eyes found mine, and somehow I knew he was sincere.
"M-my sister. We h-have a-always been c-compared to one a-another, and honestly it's n-not fair. W-we are n-not like each o-other at all. She is ou-utgoing and w-wild, while I-I'm shy a-and safe," I sniffled, brushing away some of my tears. "My f-father seems t-to be m-more proud of h-her despite what I-I do to ch-change m-myself for the b-better."
'That type of thing is normal. My father did the same to me. Nothing I did was good enough because my older brother could always do it better.' The wolf's eyes dropped to the ground in between us, he was …like me, overlooked. Before I could stop myself, I reached down and pet his head, gently, like he was just another dog. Surprisingly, he tilted his head into my hand, begging for more. I had stopped crying and because of this one similarity we formed a bond, a friendship. As the meetings continued, the bond grew stronger.
Chapter two everyone! I got bored and thought I should post this cause I already had it written and with school and work I might not get to post or write anything in a little bit. So anyway thanks for reading, and please review! XD
