Uh, yeah. Like looSUrxinxDiego said, they are OOC most times. And they probably still will be. And about their age… hm, I guess Hinata is twenty, and that would make Itachi around… crap, I think Itachi is around six years older than Sasuke, so that would make Itachi twenty-six (great reasoning, yes?). Whatever, Itachi's older than her, let's leave it at that.

But when Hinata's remembering stuff, it's usually Genin years, after Sasuke has left for Orochimaru, but before whatever comes next (because I'm not there yet, shut up).

And another note, this is still the same day Itachi's supposed to be executed. Because this entire chapter is a memoir. Because practically everything is in italics, and italics mean the past. The whole cool deal.

Sweet Promise

He had become a dark side. Her dark side, and her secret. Hers alone. She knew that she was real, and that he was real, because of what he gave her. A promise. A promise that he would change and have a certain form of control over her. But she wasn't as concerned as she should be, regarding what he was going to make her. She just reveled in the fact that he was there.

Hinata had met him again. She had been nervous at first. Who would not be afraid of their could-have-been killer? Certainly not her. Same place, same time: the farther edges of the Hyuuga compound, starting at sunset and ending at nightfall.

At first, he had only watched her in the trees, a nagging presence in her mind. But then he had stopped shadowing himself, stepped out, and corrected her foot positioning, or some other trait that needed to be perfected. From that, to some new jutsus and katas. And from that to small spars, which always ended in her defeat.

"Itachi…" She panted, arms shaking slightly as her chest heaved. Her breathing was harsh and rasping, filling the area. They had been sparring for an hour, and she was dead tired- but of course Itachi wasn't even ruffled. "May we… take a small break…?"

A kick was her response, sending her flying into the air. Hinata crashed to the ground, wincing in pain as her side throbbed when she tried to get back up. She doubted there was anything broken though, just a massive bruise that would quickly develop. Sharingan eyes watched her struggle.

"Itachi-san," she mumbled. "I'm sorry-"

"Feel sorry for yourself," he interrupted. "You have grown too comfortable. So watch it." Chilly red eyes warned her of the situation further, glaring down. "Distance yourself from me."

She bowed her head, submitting. "I'm sorry."

Itachi glared again before brushing his bangs away from his eyes. He disappeared. She couldn't sense him, or see his chakra system within her range. Though it wasn't as if she couldn't not expect his sudden departure. She deactivated her Byakugan.

You have grown too comfortable.

---

The next day she had woken up miserably sore. She could not bend to the left without her right side exploding in pain. She tried to ignore it during practice with her teammates- to prevent inquiries of her friends. It had only worked halfway.

"Hinata, you're slower today. Anything wrong? Are you hurt?" Kurenai's red eyes glanced at the small nick that Hinata had gotten from a flying kunai. "You can usually dodge projectiles easily."

"I…I'm a little sore from training, sensei," she admitted slowly. It was the truth. "And I didn't get much sleep last night." Also true- she had been thinking about Itachi late into the night. "It's a little painful to move sometimes."

"All right. Try to loosen those muscles, it'll feel better."

"Okay."

"That's it for today then. Boys!" Kiba and Shino looked up from their intense spar, pausing their attacks. "Enough! You'll have plenty of other days to fight. See you all tomorrow." She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sheesh, we were just about to kick his ass!" Kiba pouted, but quickly got over it. "Hey, Hinata, Shino, want to go get something to eat?"

"No, thank you." Hinata smiled at the other's pout. "I have to go home. Sorry Kiba, Shino."

"Hn." Shino started to walk off, giving a brief 'Ja' to Hinata, not bothering to give one Kiba. The bug user knew that the other boy would follow him and try to pester him into joining him, which worked on rare occurrences. Kiba and Akamaru loped off with a wave, a shouted 'bye', and several loud barks. Both followed Shino, as predicted. She watched them go with an amused smile. Hinata started to walk down the path heading to her house.

---

Another test of her strength. She was quickly tiring of them.

Her Byakugan had helped her sense and deflect a kunai with one of her own. Leaping to her left, as three more whizzed past the spot where she had been, she slid back to her Jyuuken stance. Next came a whole barrage of sharp projectiles, from all directions. Some were illusions, she could tell, but most were real.

"Shugohakke Rokujyuu Yonshou!"

Immediately after she had finished with all the flying kunai and shuriken, she was bowled over. A small cut at the base of the side her neck efficiently warned her; she could have just lost her life. She winced as she was kicked and sent back several feet. She barely had time to get up before she was attacked again.

Itachi was moving too fast for her. She could still track him- but being able to counter him was an entirely different story. She gritted her teeth, enduring a barrage of punches. She threw her hand forward, aiming for his left leg. She barely brushed it before he drew away- but it would still hurt a little later on.

She breathed heavily, wiping a little bit of blood off the corner of her mouth. The pain in her side was killing her as she slouched slightly, trying to support herself with her arm. "Itachi-san… nande? Why are you doing this?"

He stayed silent for a little, maybe thinking of his reason, or just contemplating whether to answer or not. "You have grown too comfortable," he repeated tonelessly. His voice was blank but at the same time menacing.

She shivered under his gaze, eyes lowering slightly as she shifted nervously. "Itachi-san… please…" As soon as he disappeared, she readied herself for an attack. He appeared behind her, throwing a punch at her spine. She moved, but fell forward when he yanked her legs out from under her. She managed to stick her hands out, to protect her face- mainly her eyes.

He watched her struggle up. "I could have killed you five times now. Did my lessons teach you nothing?" He sneered when she staggered up again. "You're still weak. Not strong enough to be killed."

She didn't know what came over her. Perhaps it was anger, or some form of frustration. Retaliation, raw instinct, or whatnot, as he turned to leave, she ran up to him, thrusting her palm forward. Her left hand aimed for his heart, while her right followed through towards his abdomen. He slid past her attack. She turned as well, not following him but continuing her circular motion.

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!" A small whirlwind of blue stopped him from another close attack, contacting him briefly before he leapt back. She jumped forward at him, thrusting her palms at him wildly as he easily evaded them. "Sixty Four Strikes!" She only managed to close around eight tenketsu before Itachi began to copy her movements to deflect the attacks.

She broke off, to attempt another thrust at his heart, suddenly changing her course to the right shoulder. A blast of chakra, and she knew that she had momentarily numbed it, disabling the arm for several moments. Both fighters paused for a moment, taking in the situation further. They lowered their arms, but did not step away from each other.

"You said," Hinata murmured hesitantly, "that you would make me real." She closed her eyes, shuddering a little. Were her eyes tearing up? She couldn't afford to leak any. She couldn't show any more signs of weakness. Otherwise… He might just revoke that promise… she thought to herself.

"Yes. I did." His quiet admittance shocked her further, but she was already quite numb. "And so you must distance yourself from me."

"Itachi-san… but-"

"How can I keep to my word? How can you trust me?" Sharingan eyes could read as well as Byakugan. She nodded slowly. He smirked, slowly leaning forward to brush his lips against her ear.

"See for yourself."

And he was gone.

---

Crap. I'm making things so unclear.

Shugohakke Rokujyuu Yonshou is Hinata's absolute defense in one of the anime fillers.

I have to finish this story by the end of two weeks. I'm gonna try to work hardish on this story… yeah, I'm a lazy ass.

Review. Motivate me. All that stuff. (although I am really happy that I got 27 )

Meibou