Title:
Bitterness
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
I understand how you can be so, you
And perform before your audience in such a way as you do
But oh how I loathe you
How I simply detest your being
Your disdain for things I love
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
I fly home, my hair streamed back, the pant legs flapping around my ankles. I'm filled to bursting, ready to explode and blow away with shock and a healthy dose of fury.
He stole my headband.
I fume, a feeling that's been absent from me so long I don't recognize it.
He talked to me. He...
He annoyed me.
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
My eyes snap open the next day, infused with images of him. In my dreams he seems to haunt me with that rare, mocking smile. My fingers travel to reach out and touch him, and then I fall...
I jerk out of bed, plunge my limbs into my training outfit. I'm raring to go. I'm raring to kick some butt -
I pound down the stairs just so my presence is known. The Hyuuga household emphasizes calmness and peacefulness. This isn't going to go well with Hiashi.
He spots me instantaneously. "What are you doing, Hinata?"
I am in no mood to sidestep him to reach the kitchen - I am not hungry, I don't want a lecture. Instead I wrap my fingers around the doorknob and twist.
"D-dad, I'll be back after training. Bye!"
Before the door closes I see his stunned visage. I haven't called him "Dad" in just about seven years. "Father" is the proper term.
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
"Hinata, that's not the right posture. Your foot is supposed to be placed - like this - "
Kiba demonstrates the third time that day, a scowl evident on his features.
"Oh, so it's like...um - " I giggle feebly as I fall to the ground.
He places his hands on his hips. I swear it's all due to his matriarch family, the way he looks like a woman whenever he does that.
I laugh.
He scowls hugely.
I tell him what I think of him.
His eyes grow enormous, and his mouth flaps open.
"You - Hinata, you ! - "
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
Night is when I feel at my most vulnerable. Night is when the dark creatures come out, I imagined as a child, night was that demon in your secret heart -
I walk home alone after practice, the dusk settling like a fine curtain.
There is a tap on my shoulder and I all but jump a mile into the air.
It takes me twenty full seconds to recollect the blood that has drained away. It takes another five to turn around.
The youth flips me his most charming smile.
I glare at Sasuke, a fist clutched tight over my palpitating heart. I want to convey my emotions - that I'm really a nice person inside - I've never murdered anyone or committed adultery or raped anyone or even put out an insult - but he - he was pushing it -
I want to tell him to knock it off, or at least to stop lingering afterwards like smoke in a wildfire.
But what I say instead is,
"Y-you scared me!"
His eyes are still that pitch-black, that black that you know is there but can't prove it. The darkness that makes everything seem magnified.
"I did?" His smile is condescending.
"Y-yes, you did," I break off weakly. My gaze can't stay on his for more than two seconds.
He doesn't respond, just walks beside my stuttering steps. Purposefully, he takes two strides, then wait, sneering, as I struggle to catch up. (at least, it seems this way).
We walk along in silence, me deliberately glaring straight ahead, imagining that looks could kill. He walks leisurely, in a long, easy gait, his hands deep in his pockets.
Then he turns around suddenly. "What would you do if I killed myself?" he inquires, almost gently.
I know better of him. "I wouldn't bat a lash," I tell him angrily. Leave me alone, leave me alone.
"Oh? Really." He whips out a kunai and forces its point dangerously close to his heart.
Suddenly my mind is corroded with pictures of him dying, honestly dying. My heart stops for several seconds - I can't speak. I stare at him, stunned beyond comprension.
My scream won't escape my throat.
And then the kunai penetrates his chest, penetrates his entire body, and I am standing in the middle of white smoke.
I look wide-eyed at the tufts of smog enveloping me, and all I can think is, why?
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
Your disastrously opinionated mind
Your entire self, I cannot stand
The way you walk
The way you talk
The way you think you're right
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
"I - I want to place a restraining order on Sasuke Uchiha!" I blurt out. I stand in front of the first policeman I saw, my hands twisted tightly.
Unexpectedly the man's eyes light up. "Sasuke? That boy? He's my - "
"Hi, Uncle."
The voice is almost happy. I whirl around. He's sitting lazily on a park bench where there was nothing a moment before. He is the real Sasuke. I am sure of this, the way his smile is all-knowing, something that cannot be imitated.
"Hello there, dear nephew," my man chuckles. On closer inspection, his eyes are the exact same hue as Sasuke's.
I grit my teeth; Damn these Uchihas.
I'd forgotten they were the police force.
The policeman leads me by my elbow to Sasuke. "Now, I'm sure you two kids can reach a compromise," he says, his voice low and convincing. I wonder offhandedly if Sasuke's voice would be that way someday. "Y-all are just children," he continues, smiling. "Don't blow this out of - "
"No!" I look at him pleadingly. "This is important. It would - it would mean a lot to me if you placed a r-restraining order on him - just for a week or so - " Until I can get my wits back, I add silently, and until Sasuke stops this.
"Just to try it out," I finish anti-climatically.
My gaze darts to Sasuke. He's not looking at me, he's watching his uncle's face with hawk-like projection. Suddenly his posture isn't so leisure anymore. He reminds of a predator, surveying the air watchfully.
"Of course, a restraining order can be placed," the police agrees almost carelessly.
Sasuke's cheek stiffens.
"Okay, then," I say, backing up. "Th-thank you. I'll - be going now."
I laugh to myself inwardly, the relief making me giddy. I hadn't realized how nervous Sasuke made me. Now that it was over, I was freed from anxiety.
Take that, Uchiha.
"Wait." His calm, undeterred voice rings in my ear. I am so close to getting away, but I have no choice but glance back.
He's looking at me as he speak to his uncle.
"She never said anything about restraining distance," he says casually, his arrogance naturally seeping into his voice. "And therefore, it is up to the police to determine what distance her best interest is."
"W-what?!" The screech isn't voice aloud - it's in my mind, and I am speechless.
"Rule number 371 of Handbook Number Two," continues Sasuke as if I were invisible. "Go on, Uncle. Choose."
"No! Wait!"This time I successfully make a sound, but it's more of a whimper, and they can't hear me. I run instead - half dragging my mind that screams, I don't want to be near him! I don't want to be close to him! Stay away!
"Hm." The policeman is placid. He and Sasuke share looks.
"How about," he says with mock thoughtfulness, ".001 inches?"
Behind him, so far I feel isolated, I let loose a frustrated cry. Changeitchangeitchangeit.
"So...it's done," the man stipulates, grinning. "I'll put it in the record book." Almost lazily, in every Uchiha's manner, he lopes off.
I glare at Sasuke. I can't take this any longer. I can't stand his smirk. I spin around, furious, and flee.
--o-o--( ) --o-o--
Every word from your mouth is like poison to my skin
Why do I feel so you may ask?
You are almost the very opposite of how I feel
Your thoughts so far from mine
~Ashelin
I know it was sort of confusing (the clone part.)
The reason he did that was so he could learn how Hinata reacted if he honestly died. All his motives will become clearer later.
Until then, I'll see you later. Send me a review!
