Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Seven
Kikyo190
Come and find me.
Hinata awoke during the middle of the night, a week after her encounter with Sasuke at the Uchiha compound. Since then, it had been relatively quiet and peaceful in the Hidden Leaf village. She had been discharged from handling Itachi's recovery, therefore she hadn't seen him since his imprisonment or what the conditions were like in the new cell he was now situated in.
The most eerie and unsettling thing for Hinata had been his stagnate silence in her mind; she hadn't heard from him in so long, which led her to the assumption that perhaps the Hokage had already gone ahead with his execution in secret. There was no official date for Itachi's execution after all.
…Can you hear me? Are you awake?
Hinata had been so wrapped up in her despairing thoughts that she may never see Itachi again, who was such a mystery and yet piqued her curiosity despite various warnings, that she didn't recognise the lilting baritone at first as it filled the silence of her room.
"… Itachi?" Hinata whispered in amazement, her heartbeat racing for reasons she couldn't understand. Was she dreaming this? Was her mind so desperate to hold on to this fanciful notion of Itachi, that it had fabricated his voice just then out of nowhere?
Come and find me, Hinata. I'm waiting for you in the forest. Come alone.
Hinata quickly gazed out of the window; the first few rays of dawn light fractured the receding darkness of night.
"Aren't you still imprisoned in Ibiki Morino's torture chamber? Or are you already dead and has your g-ghost come to haunt me?"
Hinata was met with silence.
Before she had any time to properly think through her irrational actions, Hinata was getting dressed and exiting her room, stealthily gliding past impeccable whitewashed corridors and taking the backdoor exit, in order to limit her chances of being caught.
Unknown to Hinata, a pair of enraged translucent eyes watched her as she disappeared.
Hinata had to use Byakugan to locate Itachi's forest. There were dozens upon dozens of flourishing forestlands bordering the Hidden Leaf village, so pinpointing just one was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Nevertheless, Hinata found it unnaturally easy to locate it, and she didn't doubt for one second that it had something to do with Itachi's powerful influence over her mind.
When she got there, Hinata was surprised to find Itachi in the flesh, perched on the highest rock that loomed beside an enigmatic waterfall.
The moment she looked at his face, she noticed the prominent glow of his crimson eyes, the twirling black tomoe that resembled tears so much it was uncanny.
Hinata forced her voice through her throat. "Why have you brought me here?"
Itachi didn't move. Instead, he closed his eyes and she immediately felt herself released from the clutches of his spell.
When Itachi opened his eyes again, they were faded obsidian, and somehow they looked far too world-weary for his handsome young face. Hinata tried to remind herself that this was the man who had butchered his own Clan for personal gain, that he was responsible for Sasuke's pure hatred towards him and that he could've killed her in the millions of opportunities he'd already had and she would be completely defenceless.
As if reading her mind exactly, Itachi spoke mercilessly, for he knew and she knew that it was the truth.
"You're too weak."
Standing grandly, Itachi stepped off the edge of the rock and without beating an eyelash, flexed his hands and landed gracefully on the ground with speeds too fast to comprehend.
Before she could recover from the shock of his abrupt movement, Itachi had already disappeared.
The only warning she got was the subtle shift of the air in front of her face.
The next moment, a gasp left Hinata's throat as she was pinned harshly against a tree, the impact so strong yet painless that all the air was knocked out of her system.
Dizziness overtook her mind, but before Hinata could get some semblance of recovery, much less defend herself, Itachi was already on her again, his hand, the unusually smooth hand of an experienced killer, gripped her throat in a tight lock, forcing her to look up at him.
"Do you hope to live another year in this Shinobi world?" Itachi asked heartlessly.
Hinata let out a strangled breath as she focused on concentrating chakra to her eyes and palms in preparation.
But Itachi didn't just stop there.
"Are you aware of the infamous Akatsuki? They have prowess unmatched to none, and even the weakest member could kill you without opening their eyes."
Hinata shut her eyes, scrunching them so tight that small tears issued out of the corners of her eyes. She could barely breathe in Itachi's tight lock on her throat, and she wasn't sure if he realised just how strong he was.
Her body shaking, but not for reasons one would have thought, Hinata fought to force the words out of her trembling mouth.
"How dare you." Hinata said softly, her voice stammering uncontrollably. "How dare you!" She shouted.
At that exact moment, Hinata's eyes flashed open and the pulsating veins signifying Byakugan dominated her face.
With speeds otherwise thought incapable of her, Hinata's palm shot out, ignited with bright blue blazing chakra, about to solidly connect with Itachi's torso.
A split second before the blow could land, Itachi shifted out of the way and flipped back a few metres, reassessing.
Hinata had calmed down minutely, but the adrenaline was still pumping through her veins as her chest heaved.
"I am the Heiress to the Hyuuga Clan. Even if I am weak, it would be a crime to admit that to my foe. As long as the royal Hyuuga blood runs through my veins, I have unlimited power to best any opponent by any means." She warned, her eyes narrowed almost demonically.
Itachi had partly seen this fierce and zealous side of Hinata in the hospital when she first demanded for him to relinquish his clutches on her mind. It was very amusing and befitting of her.
"The Uchiha have been much stronger than the Hyuuga for decades. Sprouting nonsense like that, as if some kind of higher spirit will possess you in time of need and give you the power to escape death, is very naive and foolish."
Itachi appeared in front of her, a kunai poised against her throat lightly before she could even move a muscle.
"I commend your spirit to beat adversarial odds, but that will not be enough of an underlining factor to save you."
Hinata had calmed down entirely. She now glared back at Itachi. "What are you proposing? Why did you bring me here, Uchiha?"
Smirking slightly at her cold term of address to him, Itachi removed the kunai from her throat and gazed deeply into her wary translucent orbs.
"I am going to train you."
The shock of his answer caused Hinata to remain unmoving, unable to respond.
He came forward and held her wrist in his palm. Then he brought her wrist forward, guiding her towards his heart.
"Keep your hand raised." Itachi instructed, stepping away from her. "Your stance is more solid this way."
Hinata looked down at her stance quizzically. She had to admit that the way Itachi had positioned her palm suited better than the traditional positioning of her palm against her abdomen.
"Why would you be helping me? And how is it even possible for you to be meeting me here when you're supposed to be detained?"
Obsidian eyes flickered back at her, revealing nothing in their depths. Itachi let out an unexpected quiet laugh. It held a rhythmic tone to it and a rich quality that Hinata couldn't quite place her finger on. Why was she even contemplating a killer's laugh?
I'll tell you telepathically, in case anyone is watching us. You agreed to help me. So I need you to do a task for me in my absence. I would never put your life in danger intentionally but I need you to meet up with one of the Akatsuki members very soon.
Hinata gasped but Itachi didn't stop, his eyes never batting a lash.
I promised I would leave your mind and I intend to keep that promise as soon as you complete the task. I will tell you more about the task later, but you meeting up with my subordinate will allow me to tell them of my situation, and that way they'll be able to help me escape this execution.
Hinata's stomach sank, filling up with butterflies as thousands of questions raced across her mind. She knew Itachi was going to eventually betray the Leaf Village, but for some reason she had always assumed he'd be strong enough to escape by himself, not that she underestimated the security forces of the Leaf village. Was Itachi in reality actually coinciding a plan to help the Akatsuki infiltrate the Leaf village and spy on them?
Had Itachi been put up to that all along? Was that why he allowed himself to be captured by Naruto and brought to the Leaf after his fight with Sasuke in the first place?
"Which Akatsuki member am I required to deliver this message to? Where will they be?"
Itachi assessed Hinata with an unchanging expression, as if her words had barely registered to him.
Suddenly, and without express warning, Itachi came forward and pressed his hand against her check, an action thought to be exchanged between intimate lovers. His thumb gently rubbed a strand of midnight hair out of the way, his touch shockingly filled with warmth.
"Concentrate on your training first. Don't forget. I promised I'll always protect you, Hinata."
Hinata shook her head, pulling away from his touch in confusion, trying not to let him get to her.
"That still doesn't explain how you escaped the torture chamber."
Itachi didn't answer. Instead he batted his perfect eyelashes almost oblivious to its intoxicating effects on her female body, as he pierced her one last time.
"We meet again tonight."
A second later, Itachi poofed out of existence.
He had been a clone all along.
Later that morning, when Hinata arrived back at the Hyuuga compound, she was met by the sight of her sister Hanabi standing expectantly in front of the gates to the compound.
"Where have you been?" Hanabi's eyes were strangely unmasked with fury.
Hinata narrowed her own eyes, paring Hanabi's glare with a fierce glare of her own. She wasn't in the best of moods, especially after her eerie encounter with Itachi.
"It's none of your business." Hinata responded, trying to keep her voice calm so as to not instigate provocation. "Since when has it ever mattered to you where I go?"
Hanabi just let out an aggravated curse, and flaunted inside the house like a queen. Then, glancing behind her back, she gave Hinata a final remark.
"Just to let you know, a servant saw you leave earlier this morning. They were going to send Branch members after you to see where you were going, but I saved your neck by saying I would investigate myself. Just a word of advice to you, foolish older sister. Yes, that Uchiha's vocabulary is rubbing off on me very nicely… Next time you meet up with Mr Sharingan, make sure to be more subtle about it. I only watched you two from afar for a bit before I got bored and left, but it was enough."
Hinata was too shocked to find her voice for a moment but when she did, it was steady and serious.
"Hanabi… You can't tell anyone about this, do you understand?"
Hanabi turned around suddenly, every fibre of her being bristling.
"I can't believe you! How can you have the audacity to say that? Do you realise that the severity of the situation is so high, I could report you for betraying the Leaf by meeting up with a criminal who is supposed to be detained and awaiting execution?"
Hinata's shoulders sank. "I know…"
"No!" Hanabi said, shaking her head violently. "It might seem fun and romanticised at first, but how do you know he won't betray our village and hurt everyone in it?"
"I'll tell you how I know, Hanabi…."
At the moment Hanabi had said those words, it sparked something deep inside Hinata. She just knew it wasn't true.
"He promised to protect me."
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Author's Note: Hi everyone! How did you all find this chapter? There will be lots more surprises and more in store!
Please keep the votes coming on the poll on my profile for which Uchiha brother you think Hinata should end up with at the very end! Thank you to those of you who have already voted! ^^ :D
As always…. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND SUPPORT!
I look forward to hearing from you all!
See you!
