Part I: Eighty-eight Days
Chapter 3: Belle Laide
She was nothing like he expected.
Itachi had almost missed her presence yet again. Itachi was a light sleeper so he was surprised when he woke up that morning to find her already in his room. She sat on a chair placed next to his bed. She had one of her legs crossed over her other one and an elbow resting on her knee. Her hand was in a fist which supported her chin up as she stared at the folded newspaper held in front of her by her other hand.
"Who are you?"
She turned her head slightly so that she could meet his eyes. She was foreign to him. And to his city. That much, he knew. She had eyes of such a pale color, it might as well be white. Maybe he should have asked 'what' she was instead.
She smiled at him. It was the kind of smile a stranger gives when they don't mean to offend someone. The kind that people don't think twice about.
"Hello." But in a week, Itachi will realize this wasn't a smile he could ever forget. "My name is Hinata."
.
In the end, it turned out that Hinata had done nothing to his eyes. She did, however suggest that it might have been some of the healing side effects from the herbs. Some of the concoctions she brewed had double uses. But, even she had doubts in the information that she offered. Going from partially blind to 20/20 vision in less than a month was... unheard of.
"...says that it'll take maybe three months for it to be done."
"What?"
Itachi wouldn't want to admit it, but he lost his focus while Kakashi was speaking to him about what he missed while he was unconscious. He insisted the head nurse to discharge him by tomorrow morning so he could resume his duties. Surely, his once clean desk in his office would be littered with stacks of untouched papers he'll have to go over due to his absence. Itachi had to get to them as soon as possible before it piles up even more.
Which was why Itachi had asked Kakashi to update him on all the events that happened during his slumber. However, he found himself wondering when the man will get around to talking about the new residents who immigrated to the capital. Where did the girl with the blue hair and white eyes come from?
She was intriguing to say the least. Her eyes were white. The color of her eyes practically blended into her sclera and her pupils, almost nonexistent. Did she even have pupils? Itachi frowned. Her supposed pupils were also so light, unlike the usual black color of normal pupils, that he wasn't sure whether they were her pupils or just a cast of a shadow.
Itachi crossed his arms. Was it a disease that made them like that? No. She looked perfectly healthy and the guards wouldn't let her in if she had anything deadly. Besides, she was a healer herself, so it was unlikely. Just what were those eyes? It was unlike anything he's ever witnessed, and he's seen a lot of things as the future ruler of this country.
"Uh. Hello?" Kakashi snapped his fingers in front of Itachi to capture his attention. And it worked. Itachi gave Kakashi a look of annoyance. Peeved that Kakashi tried to gain his attention in such a childish way and angry at himself for falling for it.
"What," Itachi asked again, only this time, with annoyance.
"I answered your last 'what,' now answer my 'what.'"
Itachi frowned. What did the older man ask him?
"I asked you what was on your mind."
Did he? Itachi couldn't recall. Then again, he wasn't very attentive either. Kakashi could have told him Suna wanted to wage a war against them and he still would've been too preoccupied with his thoughts to hear him.
Deciding it was only fair to answer the other man, Itachi sighed in defeat.
"Who is Hinata?"
There was a pause and a silence enveloped them before Kakashi spoke.
"She's..." Itachi could see him purse his lips under the movement of his mask. "She wasn't in my jurisdiction to know."
Itachi blinked in surprise. While his face remained stoic to strangers, Kakashi recognized the emotion that Itachi just displayed. The masked man sighed and leaned back into the chair before responding to Itachi's unspoken question.
"She was taken in by Naruto himself."
Itachi nodded. Naruto might be one of Kakashi's former students and younger than the two, but despite the large age gap, Naruto's position was still clearly above Kakashi's rank of a duke.
"But, rumors are that she comes from a temple in another city of ours and that Naruto brought her here for marriage."
"Marry? To Naruto?" Itachi was surprised before, but this time, he could hardly contain his current surprise as he heard what just came out of Kakashi's mouth. They were rumors, but it was still a shock to think that Naruto would be getting married already. He was, what? Twenty? Not even his little brother who was the same age as Naruto was thinking about marriage yet.
Kakashi stroked his chin. "Yeah. They say Naruto met her during his visits to the other cities the other month."
...For someone to become so smitten with another in less than a month. Was that possible?
"Wasn't Naruto courting Sakura?"
He could remember Sasuke ranting to him about how Naruto always needed his help as a wingman.
"Feelings changed? He did stop coming to the hospital to bother Sakura recently. I just figured it was Minato keeping him busy."
Well, Naruto did look like the idiot to change his mind easily.
"Do you think Sasuke is thinking about marrying soon, too?" If his little brother was best friends with someone as fickle as Naruto... He wouldn't be surprised if some of the blond's traits rubbed off Sasuke.
"Uh...Probably not..?" Kakashi was a little concerned with Itachi's behavior now. Rather than hearing him speak about boring politics and news updates, Itachi would rather pay attention to gossip. This was very concerning for the silver haired man. "Itachi, are you okay?"
"What?"
Kakashi was beginning to think Itachi's favorite one-word-sentence was 'what.'
"I mean, do you feel okay?" The older man gestured to his head. "Like, in the head? They say you were hit pretty hard."
Catching on, Itachi frowned, unamused. "Yes, I believe my analytical skills and reasoning is still working."
"Good to know. It's weird for you to want to know gossip. I thought you were a facts only person."
"All gossip holds some truth. You should know that."
"I suppose so. Well, if you want to know more about Hinata, you'll have to find out on your own. I'm not allowed to know, but you are."
Itachi nodded. He'll look it up when he's back in his office tomorrow. Probably during his lunch break when he's free to do his own things. Wait... Itachi had been so preoccupied with her unworldly eyes that he missed the most important piece of information about her.
"What is her surname?"
.
She didn't have one. Itachi sat back in his office chair as he thought back to the conversation he had with Kakashi yesterday. This 'Hinata' was a complete mystery to him. Not even her last name was known to him.
On his desk were books on genetics and unique traits people were known to be born with as well as traits that stayed with people after fighting off illnesses and the such. When his secretary gave him a wary smile after delivering him these books to him, he couldn't help but compare it to the smile Hinata gave him. He could understand how Naruto may have switched his affections from Sakura to Hinata after seeing that. She was certainly...unique. And Itachi was sure that the white eyes would've looked horrifying on anyone except her.
She had the gentle kind of face that looked like she was incapable of anger and rage. One could only feel calm when looking at her. It was like an aura of peace surrounded her. Perhaps that was why he hadn't noticed her when she first entered the room. Maybe that was why he hadn't responded in a threatening way when he woke up to find her sitting patiently on the guest chair, waiting for him to wake up. Before Itachi could fully realize he had sat on his office chair just thinking about Hinata, the doors to his office burst open unceremoniously.
"Yo, Itachi, I heard you're back on your feet already."
"Kisame... Knock or I'll have to start making you wait outside until my secretary let you in."
It was something Itachi threatened to do many times in the past, but Kisame just brushed it off, knowing there wasn't much he could do. Kisame was a marquees of the Kiri Empire and ambassador to their countries. There really wasn't anything any of Itachi's subordinates could do to hold him back from bursting through Itachi's doors without prior notice.
"Don't be such a sour face. I come bearing gifts." Kisame held up a picnic basket and Itachi guessed that he meant food. As soon as Kisame set the basket on Itachi's coffee table, the taller man rudely threw himself on Itachi's couches and laid on it like a bed with his feet dangling over the arm of the couch. Itachi frowned. This man was only an asshole— excuse me, improper with a few people and Itachi was unfortunately one of the few people who Kisame was like this with. Itachi blamed it on the fact that they've known each other since their early teens. Before Itachi could retort, his office door opened again. This time, it was in a much quieter way, but the knock was still absent. When will people start knocking on his door first? Itachi turned to the door and was readying his lecture for the two uninvited guests.
"Nii-san." But, since it was his little brother, he supposed it was fine.
The first thing Sasuke noticed was the big man sprawled on Itachi's couch. "Kisame..." Sasuke can't say he really liked Kisame, but seeing the basket of food on the table, he decided to sit on the couch across from where Kisame was and grab a sandwich.
"Hey there, little brother," Kisame grinned at the younger Uchiha. Sasuke decided to ignore him.
"You only woke up two days ago and you're already back in the office," Sasuke asked.
"Papers will pile up." Itachi sighed and decided to join the two and eat the lunch Kisame brought.
"By the way, Nii-san, my guards caught the guys who attacked you."
Itachi raised a brow. Captured. So that meant they were from his side of the border.
"Hm...I see..."
"Hah! You've really grown Sasuke. I remember when you were just a kid trailing after me and Itachi." Kisame sat up and extended his arms towards Sasuke in a mocking grandeur. "And now, here you are. Capturing your big brother's enemies for him."
Sasuke growled at him. "Shut up, you fish lover."
Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned internally. He did not need to listen to them argue and pick a side on his first day back. Grabbing a sandwich from the basket, Itachi stood up to walk back to his desk.
"I'm going back to work. Get out," he dismissed them.
"Itachi," Itachi could hear the whine in Kisame's voice and prepared for the worst. "You gotta stop working all the time. Get out of here. You could meet the woman of your life."
Ugh. "I'm not even thirty yet. I don't need to think about that."
"The hell? Is that when you're thinking of marrying?" Great, now Sasuke's judging him on this with Kisame.
"I don't normally agree with mini-you over here, but he's right." Sasuke sent a dirty look towards Kisame at that. "Even Naruto's getting hooked."
That caught Itachi's attention.
"Isn't that just a rumor?" Itachi turned to Sasuke for confirmation. If anyone would know, it had to be his little brother who would definitely be asked to be Naruto's best man for the wedding. But, he just shrugged.
"He's been too busy to even bother me at work these days."
Itachi's eyebrows unconsciously furrowed together and let out a frown. Sasuke, unused to seeing his older brother looking troubled decided to amend his statement. "Uh... I'm sure they're baseless rumors. I'm sure he's actually busy because he's taking over his father soon, so you don't have to worry about having an incompetent priest to advise you when you're king."
Itachi felt relieved at hearing that and let out a sigh. "Yes, it would look unethical if I was to replace him in my court."
Kisame snorted. Itachi wouldn't have replaced Naruto anyways since he was important to Sasuke.
"Have you guys seen the girl he's been with? What's her name? Hana...Himawari?"
"Hinata," Itachi corrected Kisame.
Kisame raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Yeah, that was her name."
"You've met her, Nii-san?"
Itachi nodded. "She was one of the nurses."
"What do you think of her," Kisame asked. "I don't think Naruto's cut out for her. He's too loud and she's too...not."
Itachi could see what his friend was saying. For the few short moments he's met her, he could tell she was the reserved type, unlike Naruto who was bold, daring. One day, Naruto would overwhelm her and leave her in the dust. The blond wasn't one to patiently wait for anything or anyone which was probably why he was adamantly courting Sakura, instead of waiting for them to develop a friendship first before courting her.
"I don't think you're one to be judging, Kisame," Sasuke said, feeling like he had to defend his best friend even though he wasn't here. "Didn't you break up with a girl because she couldn't make the sushi right."
"The way to a man's heart is through the stomach." Kisame was the only one who grinned to his own joke. Already used to the Uchiha brothers' stoic faces, he didn't feel offended when they didn't laugh along with him.
Ignoring them, Itachi decided to voice his own observations. "She has peculiar eyes."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Kisame replied and walked over to examine the books on Itachi's desk more carefully. Picking one up he asked, "Is that why you have all these books?"
Itachi nodded and Sasuke decided to walk up to his brother's desk to see for himself. Flipping through the book focusing on illnesses that affects the eyes and vision, Sasuke said "Well, I can tell you now it's not a disease. Naruto wouldn't bring her in if that was the case."
"I thought the same. But, it never hurts to be sure."
"If you want, I can set up a meeting for you in the temple so you can just ask directly."
"That would be nice."
Sasuke nodded. "When do you think you'll be free?"
Glancing over at the paperwork in his room, Itachi begrudgingly decided, "A week." Itachi figured he'll be able to finish in four to five days if he worked nonstop, but decided to leave a few days in between for unforeseen circumstances.
"Alright then, thanks for the food, shark head," Sasuke said as he finished the last of his sandwich and headed out the door. "I'll let Naruto know." Sasuke called out before shutting the door.
Itachi looked at Kisame, sending a mental message of 'your turn' as he pointed towards the door.
Ignoring the gesture, Kisame scratched his head before finally deciding to ask, "This is the first time you've been interested in a girl, huh?"
Itachi frowned and was about to object before Kisame cut him off.
"—Izumi doesn't count. You just gave her attention out of pity when she said she was diagnosed with cancer."
Itachi's frown grew wider. "Where are you going with this."
"To think that the first girl that catches your eye is taken."
The frown on Itachi's normally impassive face grew impossibly wide (for him, anyways) and it looked like a normal person's frown, but on him, it meant that Itachi was absolutely not amused. If Kisame had been employed by Itachi, the other man could look forward to getting his salary docked, by a lot.
"Well, allegedly taken, anyways," continued Kisame. "I don't blame you for thinking this way, she has a really unique appearance. I know you have a love of unusual things—"
"Out."
Kisame responded with a smirk that read 'I-know-something-you-don't' and pocketed his hands in his pant pockets. "Hey, I'm just trying to remind you that you're a guy too."
Itachi almost rolled his eyes at that comment. "Well, thanks, I'm sure your reminder will come to be quite useful the next time I wonder which bathroom to go into." Seeing that his friend wasn't going to remove himself from his office any time soon, Itachi decided to prompt him more by going to the door and opening it wide for him.
Finally getting it, Kisame began walking out. "Hey, let me know when you want to peek into the women's bath, then"
"Bye," Itachi said before slamming the door just as the fish lover's foot was on the other side.
.
Just as Sasuke promised, Itachi got an appointment with the temple priests. In actuality, it was just the annual formalities moved up a few months. He's supposed to greet all the temple workers and make sure all facilities were working and in order so it worked just as well as a regular appointment. He'll still be able to meet with Hinata—and Naruto— personally.
But now, he wasn't sure if he was ready to meet the girl who saved his life again.
After asking a temple worker, he was directed towards the courtyard. The courtyard of the main temple is a large open area which has been converted into a garden decorated by a fountain in its center. And true to the temple worker's word, he found Hinata there.
She sat on the edge of the fountain and she must have been there for a while. Wet spots littered the sleeves of her robe where the drops of water fell from the spray. Her feet dangled slightly and one of her geta shoes were halfway falling off due to gravity. Hinata faced away from him as she stared into the fountain water. The water crashed down and made large ripples in the water. But, what Itachi focused on the most in this scene were the tears that made the smaller ripples in the water.
Hinata was crying.
Itachi immediately thought back to when he first met her— she had greeted him with a simple smile, but it was stunning, and he decided that the simple emotion he saw then was much better than the complex one she had now. She had a hand cupped over her mouth as she stifled her sobs.
No, Itachi thought. He wasn't good with emotions and he certainly wasn't good with comforting others. He wasn't ready to see Hinata now. And for the first time in a long time, he felt scared. Scared he might say something that would hurt her further. Not knowing what to do, Itachi turned and left.
Additional Notes I meant to update weekly but shit happened, so... yeah shit happened. I'm also thinking of editing some of the other chapters already, while we're still in the beginning chapters but well...
/lazy zz
Also, the Izumi I mentioned in this chapter is the Uchiha Izumi from Itachi Shinden. Uhm. I don't really think of it as cannon since it wasn't written by Kishimoto, but I figured I should maybe mention her, for when I want to build on Itachi's past relationships.
Question of the day: What kind of car does Itachi drive?
(whispers: a Nissan)
This is more for me to keep track of the days left in the arc, but you guys can use it, too, to keep track with me. (`ヮ`)/
10/88
