Summary: "AnBu Owl, your mission as stated annihilate the uprising Hyuuga clan, leave none alive. Any left alive aside from afore mentioned Hyuuga heiress, will be seen as disloyalty and you will be immediately dispatched as a Nuke Nin. Do not disappoint us.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto


Chapter Seven

White Fire

"Gomenasai for not informing you of the arrangement father." Itachi stated falling to his knees, subtly keeping his gaze to the corner of the room. His father nodded very slowly, the tightness corded in his jaw had not lessened however.

"What is this arrangement you speak of?" Itachi looked up, and Hinata gave the slightest almost unnoticeable nod for him to continue.

"Hyuuga Hinata, the last surviving Hyuuga and Heiress to the clan, I have invited her to stay with us until she has recovered." His father nodded slowly.

"I have two conditions, and that is it." Itachi peered up through his coal colored bangs.

"Hai?"

"I would like to have her as an Uchiha as a member of this family. Two I wish for her to spar with you, until she is moves out so that she will be strong enough once she is on her own. Is that acceptable?" Itachi felt his teeth gnashing together, this was another ploy to control the Heiress in the future. His mind fogged over with a subtle haze of anger, he would not see this child be broken and melded into what they deemed a proper Kunoichi!

"H-Hai I-if that is all y-you w-want I w-will stay. That is I-if you wish for me too."

The soft bell like voice cut through the scarlet haze of his thoughts and his head whipped up only slightly. What was she doing? She was literally offering herself to the wolves, what could she possibly gain from this? What could she possibly want?

"Very well, tomorrow Itachi and you shall retrieve your things. Have a good night Hinata-san." Itachi was glued to the floor, the soft tap; tap of her footsteps echoed the hall way once his father had left them.

"Gomenasai, is this n-not what you had w-wanted?" He looked up wide lavender colored eyes desperately searching his onyx ones for a sign she had not screwed herself or quite possibly him over. Itachi slowly rose from the floor, he watched as her tiny but noticeable muscles corded with tension.

"It is fine Hinata; please refrain from making any more reckless decisions however. I would not wish to see you hurt because of your recklessness." Reckless was the last thing she was really, but he couldn't very well say that her choice in staying was not.

"A-Arigato for letting me stay with your family." Itachi nodded as his mother walked into the hallway, worry etched into her eyes. Itachi and Fugaku had not been on the best of terms as of late, she was worried for her eldest son.

"Itachi, who is this?" His mother spoke softly, not judging the pearlescent eyes that watched her with mixed emotions. The more prominent ones being envy and loneliness.

"Hyuuga Hinata, she will be staying with us until she can live on her own." Mikoto nodded and Hinata wanted to cry at how similar this woman was to her own mother. Unlike her father and sister she had died in child-birth with Hanabi, Hinata didn't know why it felt different from the murder of her clan but it did.

'Stay strong Hinata' Her head snapped up upon hearing her mother's voice, she was saddened upon the fact that it was merely a memory. That voice, a memory of a memory, reminding her that she was strong. That she was beautiful.

"Tell me Hinata, do you have any hobbies?" Mikoto asked the young girl, Hinata bit her lip confused and scared. Itachi had shown her the room she would stay in while she lived here and said he would retrieve her for dinner later.

After he had left though the room seemed to freeze over, Mikoto has knocked and wanting to get out of the chilled area followed her. Now she was holding a conversation with her, Hinata was nervous to say the least, what if she did something wrong? What if she insulted them by mistake?

"I t-train, if that's w-what you mean." Mikoto's eye brows furrowed down together, she had always wanted a girl and had hoped Hinata would be like the many others her age. She had been wrong, the Hyuuga it seemed were very strict even with their children.

Of course so were the Uchiha, but at least they held some hobbies and other talents.

"I don't mean Training, I mean things like singing, or drawing. Maybe even bird watching or flower pressing." Mikoto stated and Hinata tilted her head to the side.

"C-Can you teach me, how to d-do those things?" Mikoto wanted to crush the child in a hug but refrained, a gentle smile sliding into place.

"Of course, which one do you want to learn first?" Hinata looked away the floor suddenly very interesting. Mikoto waited as the small child wrung her hands together, she finally tilted her head up.

"M-my Okaa-san liked t-to p-paint." Mikoto nodded Hitomi had been a graceful but lethal Kunoichi. Even better was her talent with a brush, Mikoto wondered briefly if Hinata though eight held her mother's talents.

"I don't know how to paint to well, maybe we should learn together?" Mikoto asked placing her hand on Hinata's head. Hinata smiled and nodded eagerly, reminding Mikoto briefly of Hitomi.

Shaking her head she walked over to the closet, Hitomi had seen her envious looks over her paintings. She had given her a paint set for Mikoto to use. No matter how easily she was able to grasp the color forms however, she couldn't place it into form on the canvas.

She could easily use her sharingan and copy the surroundings, but that killed the talent in the work. After all the sharingan was a copying doujutsu so it would make the work lose its value.

"Hitomi often tried to teach me how to paint, I know the basics perhaps we should start from there." Hinata nodded as Mikoto began to lead Hinata into a new world, a world that was so hauntingly familiar Hinata could easily click into place.


Author's note: Yeah long wait, no excuse expect for not knowing what to write for the conversations. Also there will be a time skip, if anyone thinks there shouldn't be please speak up.