SweetStealer: WOOT! ANOTHER CHAPTER UP! IM ACTUALLY GETTIN REVIEWS!

Deidara: Who cares, yeah?

Sasori: She act's so surprised.

Itachi: Obviously it's some kind of ruse to get people to tell her she's great and give her MORE reviews.

Hinata: Um...

Sweets: ITACHI-TEME! YOU'RE A DEAD AKATSUKI MEMBER.

Hinata: Sweets doesn't own Naruto!!

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Chapter 7

Hinata lay awake, stirring restlessly in the dark of night. Itachi was a little ways away, next to her, looking at the moon. Hinata got up and went to him. Kisame and the others were already asleep or out scouting the area. She could still faintly hear Sasori and Deidara near the campfire, fighting over directions. Again.

"Itachi-sensei? You should sleep." she murmured.

He turned to her.

"I don't need to." he said, coldly.

"O-oh."

There was a silence. Hinata looked up at the sky, realizing it was exactly the same way she had left it when she had taken off with the Akatsuki. Same full moon, same glittering stars, same navy sky...

"Beautiful..." she sighed, content.

Itachi cast a glance over at her. She still looked so innocent in his eyes. But then again, he was a cold-blooded killer. He breathed in deeply. The forest air was clear and cold, making him alert.

"Do you miss Konoha?" he asked suddenly.

Hinata turned to him, a questioning look on her face. When Itachi asked her a question, it usually had a deeper meaning.

"S-sometimes." she said, softly.

"Did you...ever regret joining with us?" Itachi asked quietly.

'He's worried that I'll turn my back on the Akatsuki. Is he thinking I just...used them?' Hinata wondered.

"Never. Killers and cold-hearted you claim to be, but that's not entirely true. Sure, you can all kill in cold blood and turn your back on the world, but you aren't all... evil." Hinata began, looking at the stars.

Itachi looked at the fifteen year old girl next to him. He knew she was still afraid of him, and he knew she had a reason to be. But still, here she was, telling him, Itachi, the one responsible for the massacre of his clan, that he wasn't evil.

"The reason I know this is because...you let a poor, worthless girl into the Akatsuki. You took her and molded her into something, you made her someone. You taught her how to be strong..." Hinata sighed.

Itachi absentmindedly ruffled her hair and she looked at him, puzzled. He gave the first warm smile he had given in years.

"Good."

They sat on the grass in complete silence. They stared at the sky and Hinata glanced at her mentor. She knew something was...off.

"I've taught you everything I know. Even then, you still found time to train yourself and learn new jutsus. Your skills have improved dramatically. You've learned and mastered the secrets of the Byakugan and are starting to learn the Sharingan. Your speed and wit are above natural ANBU level." Itachi said, almost incoherently.

Hinata looked up, completely startled. Itachi had never praised her, or anyone for that matter. This was completely new.

"Through all of this, you've mastered the art of summoning the elements without handseals, something I couldn't do until recently. You've become a genius in the arts."

Hinata nearly choked on air.

"Wha-?" she questioned.

"I'm saying, there's nothing more I can really teach you. You learn pretty fast. In just a year you were able to do all of this, while still perfecting your chakra control." Itachi continued.

"Sensei, please. You're becoming soft. You're giving me too much credit. I-I'm still weak and my practice regime is full of mistakes." Hinata looked to the ground, her mind racing, trying to figure out all the possible reasons Itachi would be telling her this.

Itachi was silent for a long time.

"I'm not your sensei anymore. I now see you as an equal."

Hinata's mouth fell slightly opened. Her face paled and her pearly eyes went wide.

"NO! Itachi-sensei! Have you been drinking or something?!"

Itachi gave a cold laugh. Hinata looked up questionly.

"Angel, angel, angel..." he began, "Your self-esteem is still pretty low. Work on that."

"H-hai..."

Itachi stood up. He then vanished into thin air and Hinata returned to looking at the moon. She began to think and think very hard.

She began to remember why they called her angel and that day in Suna, before she battled the Kazekage and his siblings. A warm day...

Flashback://

"Kisame-san...why do you call me angel?" Hinata asked as she carried the shopping bags.

It was midafternoon and the sun was beginning to go down. It left behind a trail of red, pink and white, painting the sky. The air was warm and dry and hardly anyone was in the streets. Well, after the chaos they had just caused, they didn't really expect anyone to be.

There was a small period of silence.

"Why do we call you angel?" Sasori asked. "Tell her Kisame. Just don't let her go all...mushy on us."

"Huh?" Hinata turned to him.

"I guess we call you angel because..." Deidara began.

"You're our bit of heaven. You're like the little innocent...thing that we can't help protecting." Kisame answered, turning away. He never had been good with words.

"Yeah. We usually stand for bloodshed and killing, but with you, we just want to protect our angel...?" Deidara stated. It came mout ore like a question.

"That would be you, Hinata." Sasori added, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Hinata froze. She dropped the shopping bags in shock.

Affection?

"Wha...?" she began.

Tears began to well up in her eyes and she covered her red face with her hands, embarrassed.

"Aww...she's so humble." Sasori teased, taking her hands off of her face.

"You're probably one of the most important things to us, yeah..." Deidara added, picking up a dropped grocery bags and taking out an apple.

"Remember that, angel." Kisame grinned at her, revealing his teeth.

Hinata couldn't stand it anymore. She ran over to them, and hugged them tightly, as if she never wanted to let go.

"Hey...don't get mushy-." Deidara sighed, impatiently but was cut off.

"THANK YOU." she cried.

T-these people. These assassins...could show me love...when my own family couldn't?

Hinata cried into their shirts and they just rolled their eyes and glanced at each other.

"C'mon, angel, let's go. Itachi is waiting for us."

Hinata drew back, wiped her eyes and smiled at the rare sign of love they were showing.

'They are...people too, after all...' she thought.

End Flashback://

'They're not evil, cruel or harsh. They're just...misunderstood.' she concluded lazily and she drifted off to sleep.

A half hour later, Itachi found her asleep in the exact same place he had left her. He shook his head, bent down and picked her up. He carried her back to the camp and left her there to sleep the night away while he kept watch over her.

He looked down. She really did look angelic. An innocent girl, still new to the world, still curious and scared. Itachi sighed and traced her face with his finger.

'It's been one year...'

Itachi took the rest of the night to think. Why did he take her in in the first place?

'She was the only one who understood...' he thought, remembering the day when they had first met.

At first, he had mocked and taunted her weakness, but then she made him realize that he wasn't alone. She was with him. She too was being weakened by her clan's expectations and pride. She too wanted to break free and fly...

"An angel..." he murmured as he stroked her hair.

My angel?

Love was an emotion Itachi was new to.

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Sweets: Whew! One more chapter up! Yay!

Itachi: ...

Hinata: Review please!

Sasori: It's that purple thing down there. See it?

Deidara: Click it, eh.

Kisame: NOW.