Thank you again BlackElement7 for being a wonderful beta.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Last time on the Virgin Wife:

Once upon a time, there was a couple that did not live happily ever after.

The husband was not ready to be a man. Thus, the wife told falsehoods to protect their loved ones from the harsh reality.

No, the couple did not live happily – they only lied successfully.

"It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely." – Albert Einstein

Chapter Two: A Moment of Weakness

Hinata curled into a ball under her blanket, unable to stop shivering from the cold despite the weather being warm and sunny. Her sweat had soaked through the Egyptian cotton sheets. She felt so sick. Her stomach was either flipping or contracting while her throat was sore and dry. She could barely swallow without wincing from the pain afterwards. Her head was pounding to the point where she couldn't tell up from down.

(Medicine. I need medicine! But I'm so cold!) This must be a one-day bug because this cold had come out of nowhere! Yesterday, she had been perfectly fine, but today she felt like shit. Usually the long colds sneak up on her, but whenever she had a one-day cold, it sucker punched her.

In a fit of adrenaline, Hinata flung off the covers and threw herself on the floor. (Ow!) She groaned as she was sprawled across the hardwood floor beside her bed. Her arms felt like limp noodles as she had no energy to even pull herself up. She felt pathetic. Like an upturned turtle trying to find the ground again…

Giving up for the moment, Hinata slowly counted to ten in her head, not moving a muscle. At ten, she flipped onto her stomach, shoved herself upward and scurried across the floor like an animal. She forced herself to use the adrenaline she had and she managed to make it to the stairs before her head started to hurt. (Okay! Not bad. Just the stairs and then the kitchen, then I can get those meds. I need those meds or this will just get worse!)

Despite how much pain she was in, Hinata forced herself to concentrate on her goal. She still couldn't get up but she forced herself to crab-walk down the stairs, feet first. Limbs shaking, she managed to get halfway down the stairs before her funny bone accidentally knocked against one of the steps, causing her arm to buckle beneath her. Like a domino effect, all her limbs buckled and she tumbled down the stairs, smacking her head on a couple of the stairs. Thankfully, she was already close to the landing so she didn't tumble too far. But she did knock her head hard enough that the room was spinning. The fall knocked the energy out of her. Despite her best attempts, Hinata couldn't move. All she could do was sit there, huffing and shivering. Whimpering, she curled herself into a ball as she waited for the pain to stop. She tried her best not to succumb to the darkness that was invading her eyesight – but it was so tempting, and she blacked out.

Hinata felt her body being nudged upwards in to a sitting position. (What? What's happening?)

She felt a hand gently open her lips as a cool, bitter liquid entered her mouth. Warm hands softly massaged her throat into swallowing.

(Someone's here? ... But there's never anyone there … Am I being poisoned? Is someone trying to kill me? I can't die like this!)

"…No…" Hinata whimpered, and she twisted in the mystery person's arms. "Don't!" She held back her tears stubbornly.

"Relax," the man hummed, his hands running comfortingly through Hinata's hair. The light was burning through her closed eyelids; otherwise, she would have opened them to see who her assassin was! "It's just medicine. You'll feel better soon after you sleep more."

(What? Someone's taking care of me? But there's never anyone helping me. Everyone's too busy.)

Her father - too caught up in his grief to notice hers.

Her husband - too caught up with other women to notice her.

Her friends - too concerned with their own lives to worry about hers.

Hyuuga, Uchiha – it didn't matter, because when it came to Hinata, she was always alone.

She was used to that, though. She knew that she could only count on herself. No one came running if she cried for help. She used to cry and beg for hours as a child, but still no one had bothered to help her. So she had learnt to stop calling for something that would never come. She had learnt that she could only trust herself.

"Don't worry – I'll be here until you get better," the man whispered gently as he stroked her face.

(What a dangerous man…Making me feel things that I've given up…) Hinata fell asleep against him, a warm feeling spreading through her body at the gentle care of this potential assassin.

Hinata scrunched up her nose as her mind returned to consciousness. Her thoughts were befuddled and it took a moment to realize what had happened beforehand.

She remembered falling down the stairs in an attempt to get her medicine. She remembered passing out on the landing, unable to move. She remembered being fed some sort of liquid by a potential assassin. She remembered being cared for by this dangerous man.

(Hmmm… So it looked like I haven't been killed or poisoned.) Hinata paused to wiggle her big toe on each foot before wiggling her middle finger on each hand. (Yup – definitely not poisoned). She could still move her body, after all.

She heard a chuckle from somewhere above and to the right of her. Hmmm – it made sense, seeing as she could feel a weight on that side. So, her potential assassin was still here. Time to find out whom exactly was beside her.

Hinata brought her arm up to cover her eyes. She didn't bother faking sleep. She knew he knew she was awake. He had obviously seen her wiggling her fingers and toes. She slowly opened her eyes bit by bit, adjusting to the light. It didn't hurt because the room was pretty dark already, lit by the bedside lamp. She turned her head to the right and –

"Itachi."

Itachi peered down at her through his dark rimmed rectangular glasses. He snapped closed the book he was reading, setting it aside to turn to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he combed his fingers gently through her hair.

Hinata closed her eyes and sighed softly in pleasure. She didn't think anyone had ever run their fingers through her hair (besides her hairdresser when styling her hair), especially not just to make her feel better. "Better, but what are you doing here?"

He slid down to lie on his side. His head was propped up on his hand as he peered down at her with a smile. His other hand now rested on his waist. "I was in the neighborhood. I figured I would visit my favorite brother and his beautiful wife. Imagine my surprise to see you passed out on the stairs with a high fever and Sasuke nowhere in sight."

"Mmm," Hinata hummed. She curled to her side as well and faced Itachi. She was a bit of a cuddler, especially after waking up, but had no one but her pillows. It was really tempting to just nudge over and cuddle into his chest. He was so warm and comfy looking. But she shouldn't. He was her husband's brother. (It wasn't right.)

"Where's Sasuke, Hinata? He should have been here to care for you especially if you are sick," Itachi asked gently, smiling at Hinata. She was acting catlike and she knew he probably thought it was quite adorable. Itachi had a soft spot for cats.

Knowing Itachi, Hinata figured he already knew the answer, but that didn't mean that she was going to make it easy for him. "He's out with his friends. He doesn't know I'm sick." (He never knows I'm sick because I never tell him. What's the point?) Hinata was used to taking care of herself. Sasuke could barely take care of himself, so why would he be good at caring for another sick person?

"You didn't tell him?"

"No need," Hinata said as she pulled off Itachi's glasses and set them on the table at her side of the bed.

He just grinned softly at her. "Because he can't do anything from Vegas?"

Hinata pouted. "I thought you were here to see him."

"And you. But I never said that I hadn't figured out where he was."

"Yeah, probably only after you saw me passed out. You were just checking to see if I knew where he was."

Itachi just smirked. "Most wives would be worried about their husbands in the city of sin."

"I'm not most wives," Hinata grinned back. "Besides, Sasuke can't lie to save his own skin."

"Yes. I've always been able to read him even if you're impossible." Itachi looked meaningfully into Hinata's eyes.

Hinata didn't dare show her panic outwardly. "It's part of being a Hyuuga."

Itachi chuckled lightly and just looked into Hinata's eyes. She could tell he knew what he shouldn't - but strangely enough, she wasn't panicking as much as she would if someone else had found out. It was probably because it was Itachi. It was weird, but Hinata had always felt a bond between herself and him. Something that probably came from an understanding of being heirs to large, famous families and being elder siblings. "My pretty little liar."

Hinata ignored the possessive term and just smiled. They just laid there, facing each other and gazing fondly. They let the silence linger between them for an instant and Hinata enjoyed the intimacy of the innocent gesture. It was one of those moments that she wished could last forever.

Unfortunately, there still were things on Itachi's mind.

"I should have fought for you," he whispered gently. "But I thought he would love you."

Hinata didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. He was talking about things that might have been better left unsaid. Yet she couldn't stop him because a small part of her, deep down, wanted to know. She needed to know how he'd be different.

He ran his hand through her hair. "I would have dated you in the beginning, even if we were already married." He trailed his fingers gently down her neck and shoulder. "I would have made you fall in love with me." His hands rested their journey momentarily on her waist. "I would have fallen in love with you." He wrapped his arm around to her back and pulled her close to him. "I would have been faithful happily," he whispered into her ear.

(Itachi…) Hinata's throat closed up and her eyes burned. Her heart ached for what could have been. But she showed nothing outwardly.

"You are the best liar I've ever seen, but my brother was never a good liar, especially to me," Itachi murmured into her ear as he wrapped her deeper in his arms. "I'm sorry, Hinata."

She wasn't that surprised that Itachi knew the truth. The lie she was trying so hard to protect was one between her and Sasuke, and the only person who was able to read Sasuke like a book was Itachi. But at the same time, she wasn't afraid that Itachi would blurt out the truth. He shared many of the ideals that she held: for example, the protection of the family's reputation. She knew he knew that if word got out that Sasuke was a cheater, the Uchiha reputation would crash and burn. It was funny how small things like that could make the stocks fall. When the Hyuuga and Uchiha families had finally united with her marriage, the stocks had soared. So news of cheating would be followed by rumors of divorce, which would mean the separation of the two families again, and the stocks would fall in response. Plus, the truth about their marriage would hurt both families, and Itachi always protected his family, even if it hurt him. (Stupid, selfless man)

So, she just sighed. "It sounds like a wonderful life. Too bad it can't be my reality." She smiled sadly because it did really sound like a wonderful life. The moment she became Sasuke's wife, she had kissed goodbye to any possibility with Itachi. Their families would never accept them, and even if Hinata wanted to fight for them, Itachi wouldn't. Itachi would give up their happiness for the collective happiness of their family. That wasn't the type of man Hinata would allow herself to fall in love with.

Itachi chuckled. "Yes, too bad." He pulled her closer and closed his eyes, relaxing.

Hinata knew that she shouldn't succumb to the temptation to sleep in his arms. But Sasuke had no problem sleeping in another person's arms.

Itachi was her brother-in-law, though, and not some random stranger like most of Sasuke's women. This would be a one time thing where it was guaranteed that Itachi wouldn't blab, unlike some of the tramps Sasuke slept with.

So, Hinata would later blame it on the fact that she was sick and it was dark and she was feeling pretty weak.

"I would have loved to be your wife, Itachi," she murmured before closing her eyes and falling asleep in his arms.

But it was actually just because of Itachi and his warm feelings towards her. He was the one to create this moment of weakness in her.

I AM SO SORRY! I never meant to be gone this long but with finals and writer's block - I couldn't update. But thanks to the point, I was able to get rid of that with one PM! So MAJOR THANKS TO the point!

Thank you all for the reviews! I'm glad you all enjoy the premise of the story!

Read & Review!

-Ramen