Background Noise

A.N./ Scr*w the canon, I have green hair! … Actually I don't, but it was fun to say anyway.

I heard from a girl that part of Ch.3 confused them, the dream sequence. D: I'm so sorry if anyone else got confused by it too! I was really sleepy when I was checking that chapter over so I wouldn't be surprised if I did leave that part bad but— I'll try my best not to let it happen again! D;

I really need a beta reader… If anyone would like to do it for me, I'd love you forever. D:

Also, thanks so much reviewing Hinata6, Shiko Isihamaru, Unnamed, and otakuxfanxgirl (thanks also for taking the time to review all the chapters and not just the most recent! ILY! ;3;).

4

"What?" Hinata tried to laugh, but it sounded strained in her ears, "Don't you think you're being overly dramatic?" His probing gaze made the fake laughter die in her throat. "Hitsugaya, really, nothing happened. I just had a bad dream last night, that's all." She turned back to the slope and grabbed a tree branch from above to try climbing back up.

He watched her struggle for a minute before exhaling softly.

"You do realize that you could go around, right?" When she looked at him he pointed out where the slope became level with the ground. Hinata blushed in shame all the way back through the woods. Luckily, Hitsugaya seemed to have decided to let the subject drop.

"So, what did Sasuke say to you?" Or not. Not wanting to get back on that subject she looked for an excuse not to reply. They were almost at the edge of the trees; she spotted figures walking past them on the road side.

"Oh, look, people!" She quickened her pace to the tree line. Hitsugaya maintained his speed, much to her confusion when she realized he wasn't beside her anymore. Hinata looked around, seeing him standing several feet away. "Aren't you coming?"

The white haired boy crossed his arms, "No. There are some things I still want to check out." He shifted his eyes to the side, his expression already becoming distant and steely.

"Oh." She shifted in place, examining his expression, "S-Should I come with you?"

"I'll be fine on my own, besides, it's getting dark." He looked at the setting sun that was barely visible through the trees. Hinata panicked, thinking about how she'd been gone for several hours. They were all probably waiting for her right now.

It shouldn't be surprising, she spent quite a while wandering at random to distract Hitsugaya until she fell down that ledge. And then they spent quite some time talking and looking at flowers. And on the way back they walked instead of the quick pace she originally had them going at.

"I better get going, bye Hitsugaya!" Hinata said as she ran out of the woods. She'd just cleared the last of the trees when she thought to look back. He was still standing there, watching her go. All by himself. Her pace slowed as she continued along the road, thinking about the strange boy. What does he do all day, explore the island?

She sighed and kept her eyes to the trail. If she had paid any attention to her surroundings, she would have seen the looks on the faces of the villagers as she walked by them. The heiress still didn't notice anything as she neared the docks. Kakashi was the first to spot her coming down the road.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't realize how late it was!" She apologized as she joined the two servants.

"Ah, there you are Miss…Hyuuga…" Kakashi's only visible eye stared at her as Asuma's eyes bugged out and he tried to hold in laughter, looking away from her. Hinata blinked at the giggling servant, what was so funny?

"Um, Miss Hyuuga," Kakashi cleared his throat, "Did you fall down or something? You're a mess." Asuma wasn't able to contain his mirth any longer and began laughing over the opposite edge of the carriage.

Hinata looked at herself for the first time in several hours. It was true, her knees were caked in dirt and bits of grass, and her skirt had soil and grass stains all over it and small burs stuck to the ends. All in all, she looked like she rolled down a ditch and into a pile of dirt.

Her face felt like it was going to ignite any moment as she wondered how many people had seen her look so messy. The heiress hadn't noticed at all, why didn't Hitsugaya say anything? It should have been obvious after she fell down that she was going to look awful but she'd been distracted by all the flowers. It wasn't that she especially loved flowers; it was just a surprise to find them like that.

"I-I fell down." She told them, trying to ignore the raucous laughing that Asuma was making, "I was hurrying back here and I tripped, I didn't really pay it any attention at the time."

Kakashi hummed and then turned to the carriage. On his way to climb up he pinched Asuma's arm to make him stop laughing. "We should get going then, you need a bath and we'd hate for any more people seeing you like that." Hinata watched him climb up and remembered the original reason they came to the docks.

"Where's Chitose?" She couldn't see anyone in the carriage and she doubted her maid would stand to be quiet during all the commotion they just made. Kakashi leaned out the carriage, pointing behind her.

"That's the last boat for today," Hinata followed his gesture, the same man who had taken her to the island was steering his craft out of the dock, "No one came on it. He's the only one who makes the trips out here and no one who was riding with him today was your maid."

"Oh." Was Chitose still sick? Maybe it wasn't just a cold that she caught. Hinata climbed up into the waiting carriage, wondering if her maid was alright.

-O-

Kaede stared at the heiress's clothes, one eye twitching sporadically.

"I-I fell down," Hinata repeated to her for the third time, the maid had been making that scary face for the last two minutes, "Into the dirt. It was a-an accident."

Kakashi walked past them, finished with his conversation with Asuma, "Kaede, you're scaring her."

The maid's dark eyes darted to the spiky haired man. "She should be scared." The air around the two darkened and Hinata was tempted to back away, "Miss Hinata do you have any idea how long it takes to wash out a stain? A long, long time. Until one's hands bleed. And you have the audacity to roll around in the muck and give me even more work to do?"

"I-It was an accident, I'm sorry." Hinata squeaked out before Kaede began yelling at her. Asuma watched the interaction, clearly enjoying the Hyuuga's terror.

The front door opened and an irritated Sasuke stepped out with Kakashi close behind, "What is going on out here?"

Kaede simply pointed at Hinata's clothes, making her blush again. The Uchiha proceeded to stare at her dirty clothing before turning his head, one hand over his mouth as an impossible sound came out of it. Was that a laugh?

"What did you do?" He asked between chuckles, "Jump into a ditch?"

Startled by his behavior she replied automatically, "I fell down." That only made him start laughing, surprising her. It was strange to see him laugh so much. He was so serious all the time but now he seemed more…childish. He looked much younger than he had the last few days. She felt a light blush on her cheeks but didn't pay it any attention. In the middle of his laughing he looked back at her and seemed to notice something he hadn't before.

"Hinata, there's a blade of grass in your hair." He removed his hand from his mouth, he wasn't smiling but his expression was much lighter and soft than before. It took her a moment to realize what he just said and she reached up to feel her hair. Sasuke shook his head and crossed the distance between them.

"Not there, hold still." He told her as his fingers started working on a lock of hair near her ear. Hinata was turning red by this point, her thought process in shambles. He was much too close for her comfort. A treacherous part of her mind commented on how slender his fingers were. She felt something loosen and Sasuke held his hand in front of her face to show her the elusive item. Apparently he was wrong. It wasn't a blade of grass, it was a small wildflower.

Even though he had already pulled out the vegetation he wasn't moving away. Hinata felt her heartbeat speed up and she turned sharply toward the mansion.

"I-I-I better w-wash up!" The Hyuuga pulled away from him and began to walk away as ladylike as she could manage. It wasn't until she was safely inside that she realized that Kaede was on her heels. Though the maid's anger seemed to have simmered down, her expression was still bordering on terrifying.

"I said I was sorry!" Hinata repeated to her on the way upstairs.

Kaede didn't reply to her claim, simply glaring at her even as she took Hinata's filthy clothes and left to do some of her other chores. Hinata sat in the warm water and sighed. The bloodlust that Kaede was giving off reminded the heiress of home, though she was feeling anything but homesickness.

Suffice to say, she was really enjoying the little freedom she had here. If Chitose was around, she wouldn't be able to freely do half the things she had been up to the last few days. No walking around the garden aimlessly and without a prying maid trying to keep her from touching anything, no sleeping on the chair by the window – not that she wanted to do that- and definitely no being able to talk to Hitsugaya. It felt wonderful to be able to be so carefree; otherwise she'd be tugged around by her maid for fear of word getting back to her father of her antics.

But at the same time, she did miss having Chitose around at the very least as a comfort that she'd keep Hinata from being taken advantage of. As many faults Chitose had, she had nearly as many good points. Hinata smiled happily, recalling the time she had knocked out a boy who had been flirting with her. She started giggling, remembering the looks on the faces of everyone who had been around them. Hinata hoped she would get better soon; she was starting to miss her. Good God, she was missing Chitose! She sunk her head under the surface of the water.

-O-

"Miss Hinata, time for dinner." A woman called, knocking on the door. The Hyuuga looked away from the window, that's not Kaede's voice. The puzzle was solved when a woman with corn-flour yellow hair opened her door, she recognized her as the woman who was waving a bloody knife at her when she first arrived to the Uchiha estate. Hadn't Kakashi called her 'Tsunade'?

"Oh," She shook off the disturbing memories, "Alright." She quickly followed Tsunade downstairs. On the way her curiosity got the better of her.

"So, what do you do? A-Around the mansion, I mean." The blond kept walking with her eyes forward.

"A number of odd jobs. I cook, clean a bit, work a little in the garden, and sometimes I help Kaede with a chore she can't do by herself. When you have such a small staff, everyone has to pitch in to get things done sometimes. My actual title is 'head of the staff' since Asuma and Kakashi wouldn't do shit if I wasn't around." Seeming to remember who she was talking to, she looked back at Hinata, "Pardon my language." Tsunade tacked it on as an afterthought.

Hinata smiled uncomfortably and waved her hand at the woman, "It's alright." The heiress was relieved when Tsunade left her side once they reached the dining room.

Sasuke, once again with his slim book, looked up at her as she joined him. The last few nights at dinner had been quiet to a somewhat awkward level. Neither of them spoke at all usually. That wasn't to be the same tonight.

"Did you wash off all the dirt?" He asked with a slight smirk on his lips. Hinata blushed for the umpteenth time today as she sat.

"Yes." She mumbled under her breath when it became apparent that he wanted her to answer. The truth was: he had made her feel like she was being watched at every moment when she first came here. It was a creepy sensation. Hinata managed to stifle it for a while, but it had kept building up in secret until the butterfly incident the previous day. It felt so awkward yesterday at dinner and she had to force herself not to jump whenever he moved. The heiress couldn't even bear to look over at him, afraid that she'd get caught in his gaze again.

Hitsugaya was right; she was using her maid as an excuse to get away from Sasuke. It was embarrassing for her to admit that she was so terrified of a would-be suitor that she would run away like that. It was like she was being hunted, more than anything. If Sasuke was a bird, then she'd be a butterfly. The memories of the blackbird's dinner floated into her mind's eye, making her shiver.

Dinner peddled on as the silence drifted into the space between them again. Strangely, it was a little more bearable than it had been the last few days. They were almost through eating the casserole for that night's meal when Asuma whispered something into Sasuke's ear. His dark eyes sparked for a moment before he returned to finishing his dinner.

Within moments of eating the last bite of her casserole, Hinata heard a chair being pushed backwards. Without thinking she looked up and found herself caught in Sasuke's dark eyes. Silently he held out a hand to her.

"Come on." He told her, "There's something I want to show you." Should I, she wondered even as she hesitantly placed her hand in his. His fingers curled around her hand as Hinata stood up. He lightly pulled her along out of the dining room, the servants went to work clearing the table as they left.

He led her along the hallways further into the mansion. Now that she wasn't trapped by his gaze, Hinata was beginning to regret agreeing to it in the first place. Where was he taking her? His back offered her no answers as they continued at a brisk pace. Finally he stopped and she peeked past his arm to look. He was unlatching a deadbolt from a door. When he finally had it unlocked he turned the knob gently to open it. Sasuke pulled on her arm again and led her through; she blinked and looked back and forth.

They were in the garden, so that's where the door was! It closed behind them, cutting off all the light from inside. The section they were in was overcast by an awning, but past it the garden was lit by moonlight. The crickets played their tunes loudly but hushed as they passed, starting up again when they were far enough away.

When they crossed the border between the darkness and light, Sasuke stopped again and pointed above them. Hinata looked up and felt her eyes widen. The moon was almost full and, oddly, a coppery yellow that seemed to shine brighter than it usually did.

"Wow." She whispered under her breath.

"This happens once a year in this area," The Uchiha explained, "For three days as the moon grows, it will change color until the third day when it becomes redder than the sun as it rises. There's a local legend all about it that the villagers are crazy about. Starting tomorrow they'll be organizing a festival like they do every year to celebrate." It was right then that Hinata remembered that he was still holding her hand. He squeezed it gently.

"It was during this time that I lost my family."

Despite her better instincts she turned to look at him, meeting his eyes. He'd never looked up at the moon like she had, watching her reaction to it the whole time. But strangely he seemed to look past her as if seeing something she couldn't. His eyes seemed lost and sad right then, slightly worrying her. "Sasuke… why are you telling me all this?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

Sasuke's eyes came out of their fog and focused on hers, making her heart stutter in her chest and began to speak slowly, "Hinata, I thought that… since it was you…" He closed his eyes and turned his head, "I thought that you'd like to watch it. That's all. We could come out and watch it change, go down to the village or something."

The Hyuuga stared at him; he seemed so different from when she met him. He seemed almost… shy. It was almost hard for her to believe that she had been scared of him just a few hours prior.

Realizing that he was still waiting for an answer she stuttered out, "I-I'd love to." Blushing softly she faced toward the dark shadow of the awning, "I-It's getting late. We should go back inside." Her fingers slipped out from his hand and she began walking toward the area where the door should be. When she didn't hear footsteps accompanying hers she paused and glanced over her shoulder. Sasuke was looking up at the moon.

"You go on back inside, I'll stay out here a little longer." His voice was solemn and almost overshadowed by the eager crickets tune.

Hinata watched him for moment. "Oh, ok. Goodnight Sasuke."

Even as the door swung shut behind her, he never replied to her farewell. Almost in a daze she retraced her steps back to the dining room and headed upstairs to get some sleep. She needed it after such a long day.

o0o

Sasuke kept his eyes on the moon above, even as someone stepped out of the shadows to join him.

"Well, that was a bit out of a character for you." Kakashi stated, sticking his hands into his pockets. The Uchiha ignored him even as he continued, "When did you tell her about your family? It's not like you to be so open." Sasuke's head tilted down at that examination.

"I wasn't going to, originally. I never planned to, but," He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, "The more I'm around her, the more I want her... It might just be because of who she is but I can't stop thinking about her. 'I want her all for myself' is what keeps repeating in my head."

Kakashi's sole eye stared at him, almost disbelieving. Without warning he became tense and sighed, lifting a hand to ruffle his hair.

"I guess that changes plans, yours and mine." The Uchiha stiffened and threw a piercing look his way, almost accusing him of betrayal. "Before you overreact, I'll go ahead and tell you something that you need to hear now that your feelings toward her are different. I've been monitoring her for you and she's been repeating a name for the last few days when she's alone. I thought it wasn't anything serious at first, she is prone to daydreaming it seems," Kakashi paused to meet his employer's gaze, he knew this wasn't going to go over well.

"And?" Sasuke prompted, losing his patience.

The man sighed again, "Hinata's story about falling down seemed suspicious to me when she was caked in that much grime. That and the fact that she had been gone so long. I went back to the village not long after we came back to ask around. At one point she had called out to somebody, the name Hinata called was 'Hitsugaya', as several people told me," Sasuke was clenching his hands into fists, "She then proceeded to leave town and wasn't seen again for several hours. A group of villagers near the edge of town saw her come out of the woods covered in dirt and grass…" Kakashi trailed off, the Uchiha looked like he was about to burst in a fit of rage.

"And you think she was with that 'Hitsugaya' person the whole time?" Sasuke asked, his voice trembling with anger.

Kakashi turned his head away. "Probably." He could feel the young man seething quietly near him.

"There's only one way to find out then," Something in his voice made Kakashi look up. The Uchiha's eyes were glowing red, two commas swirling dangerously in his irises as he stood under the yellow moon, "We'll just have to ask her, won't we?"

A.N./ Uh oh. This won't end well. D: There wasn't much Toshi-toshi this chapter, was there? Well, we really needed more building between Hinata and Sasuke. And yay, the first (and probably only) POV from Kakashi! :D Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed and story alerted so far, I wouldn't have been able to make it this far if not for you guys! :D

I'm really not sure how long this fic will be. ._.; I worry about that sometimes… btw, what do you guys prefer? Short chapters that are updated quicker or long chapters that will take a little more time? I don't care either way but I'd like to get other people's opinions. : )

And remember, Reviewing = Loving! 3