Love's Sweet Melody
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. I've seriously been blown away by how much people seem to like this pairing. I might do other Itachi x Hinata stories later on. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: Everybody has something that they aren't good at and Hinata discovers what Itachi's weakness is in this chapter. I don't know if this is cannon or not, but let's pretend that it is because the Hyuga Princess is going to help our Sharingan Dragon conquer one of his fears.
Chapter 8
Hiashi Hyuga was not a happy man for two reasons. The first was that he was being blackmailed by Danzo. The second was that he was being blackmailed over his eldest daughter's inappropriate affection towards Itachi Uchiha. That meant that he was one furious Clan Patriarch.
Oh and did he mention that he was currently walking through the Uchiha District? A District that was filled with Ninja Cats and that he was allergic to cats?!
"Oh wait. That's three things." He mutters under his breath as he continues his long and miserable trek.
Hiashi supposed that he could be forgiven for his oversight. He had a lot on his mind and almost none of it was good. Honestly, he had always thought that Itachi was a more sensible sort than this!
The boy was supposed to be a genius and yet, he was foolish enough to try to seduce Hinata?! Hinata who was not only his daughter, but the Heiress of the Hyuga Clan? A Clan that Itachi's own family had a very complicated history with?
"He must be out of his mind." He grumbles.
"Who must be out of whose mind and what are you doing in Uchiha Territory?!" A familiar voice demands with a hiss.
Great. It was a Ninja Cat. He recognized this one as being Tsuki. Mikoto's companion. At that moment, the Hyuga man was forced to face the truth. Someone up there clearly despised him.
Why else would this be happening to him? Why else would his formerly sensible daughters be falling for two Uchiha men?! Why else would Hinata get caught kissing him and why else would he have to deal with a sassy Ninja Cat?!
"I'm here to see Lord Fugaku. It is a most urgent matter. It pertains to my daughter and his eldest son." He states firmly.
A Ninja Cat who was currently making him launch into a coughing and sneezing fit. He could feel his eyes running already. Damn it! This simply was not his day!
"I'll tell him. You really need to stop harassing Fugaku about his kittens though. It is most unbecoming." Tsuki grumbles as she flounces off.
Unbecoming?! What was unbecoming was that feline's attitude and the Uchiha Boys constantly trying to seduce his daughters! That was what was unbecoming!
"Lord Hiashi, I must confess that I am surprise to see that you have chosen to visit us again and so soon after your last visit. What can I do for you?" He asks.
"I feel that we should speak in private. Our Clans are about to be blackmailed." He states bluntly.
Fugaku raises an eyebrow and Hiashi sighs. He couldn't blame the man. Who could possibly be stupid enough to blackmail two of the most powerful Clans in the entire Leaf Village? Apparently, Danzo could be that stupid.
"Very well. We'll have tea at my home. Mikoto is quite excellent at preparing it." He states.
"Thank you. I do appreciate your hospitality and your agreeing to see me on such short notice. It's just, I didn't know what else do. This situation is becoming most concerning." He admits as he follows the other patriarch.
It didn't take long for them to arrive in the Main Uchiha House. The Uchiha District was far more humble than his family's estate. There was a certain charm to it. A charm in its simplicity.
There were no grand estates. All of the houses were of a respectable size and there were shops scattered around the District. He could also see some training grounds and fields. Hiashi had to respect a person who could grow their own food, really. Such self-sufficiency did appeal to his more pragmatic nature.
"Lord Hiashi, what can we do for you?" Mikoto inquires.
The poor woman was obviously confused. Why had he come here? Why had he come here without announcing that he was doing so? It was certainly a breach of Clan Protocol and they all knew it.
"Lady Mikoto, it pains me to say this, but we all need to discuss a most unpleasant matter. We are being blackmailed." He states with a sigh as he sits down and the married Uchihas did so as well.
"Blackmailed? What do you mean?" She demands.
"It's a very long story and one that is best discussed over tea. Tea has a way of calming one's nerves." He mutters.
For a moment, Hiashi looks around the kitchen and allows himself to be distracted. It was a nice kitchen. Marble countertops and a handsome blue tiled floor. At the moment they were all sitting around an oak table and everything was extremely clean.
Mikoto obviously took pride in her house. That or someone else did. He was also certain that he smelled cookies in the oven. Most likely for their sons or some of the younger members in the Clan. (He couldn't picture Fugaku Uchiha as a man who enjoyed eating cookies, but he digressed).
"And why do our nerves need calming?" Fugaku insists.
They really did make the perfect married couple. The two of them worked well as a unit. Hopefully, Hinata and Hanabi would have that with their own husbands one day.
He just really hoped that said husbands weren't Uchihas. They would have marry outside of the Clan. That or God forbid, one of them would become the new male head of the Hyuga Clan one day.
"Danzo wants to become Hokage and he believes that he has found a way to achieve that goal by blackmailing us." He whispers.
"And what does Danzo have on us, that he could use to blackmail both of our Clans?" The dark beauty demands once more.
That's when Hiashi braces himself. After this, there would be no going back. Everything rested on how the Uchihas would react to this. So he takes a deep breath and prepares his answer with great care.
"Danzo came upon Hinata and Itachi kissing. There is no mistaking what kind of embrace and kiss they were sharing. It was most assuredly not one of friendship. He took a picture and has made hundreds of copies. If we do not back his bid for Hokageship, he will tell everyone." Hiashi replies cautiously.
Meanwhile Itachi was with Hinata in one of the more secluded training grounds of the Hidden Leaf Village. He doubted anyone had used this one since before he was born. It should be safe.
"I have always admired your family's flexibility." Itachi confesses as he watches Hinata train.
The woman had decided to become a medic, but that didn't mean that Hinata would never see combat again. It was always better to be prepared, just in case. One never knew, if the village would fall prey to an attack.
"Thank you." Hinata says with a smile as she continues the graceful motions that had come to signify the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist Style.
He still wasn't entirely certain what they were going to do about their situation, but Itachi did know one thing. He wanted to spend more time with her. There was something there.
Something that he wanted to explore more. Unfortunately, their last names made that very difficult to do. He wasn't going to be stopped that easily though. Not with this view.
"You're welcome. You just need to be more confident. You have the chakra control, the flexibility, and sufficient power behind your strikes to defeat the vast majority of ninjas that might be your opponent. It's your hesitation that might become your undoing." Itachi warns her.
The last thing that he wanted was her hesitation to cost Hinata her life. All it would take was a split second's hesitation and that would be the end of her. Itachi found himself unable to bare the thought of such an outcome.
"I know. I'll try to get better." She promises.
"Trying is meaningless in the context of battle. You either do or you don't. I'm only saying this because I care about you. The last thing that I want is to lose you over something that I know is preventable." Itachi tells her with a sigh as he walks over to her and takes her hand in his.
He raises it to his lips and places a gentle kiss on it. Itachi couldn't help, but smile at Hinata's reaction. The woman was blushing redder than any fire that he had ever seen before in his life.
"I'll do it then. You d-on't have to worry about me. I am a Jonin too, after all." Hinata stammers out shyly.
Blushing and stuttering over a simple kiss to her hand. The woman was completely innocent. He almost felt guilty about the less than innocent thoughts that he had begun to have about her.
Well almost. Itachi wasn't completely naïve. He knew that it was just human nature to have such thoughts. The most important thing was whether or not, you decided to act on them.
"Good and I know that you're a formidable ninja. I wouldn't have trained with you, if I didn't believe that to be the case." He tells her with a soft smile.
Itachi wasn't sure how she did it, but Hinata was now blushing even redder than before. Really, this must be some sort of medical miracle. He didn't know that human skin could even turn that color!
"That's very nice of you to say." She says with a shy smile.
"It wasn't about being nice. It was about accuracy. This is about being nice. Well the feeling is nice, anyway." Itachi says as he kisses her.
He really should know better, but for some reason his body and heart were most certainly not listening to his mind. It was a most perplexing situation. He'd never really had this issue before.
Hinata smiles and kisses back. Itachi could call it accuracy, if he wanted. It was kindness. Really, it didn't matter what he called it. That's what it was.
"You're right. That does feel very nice." She whispers between heated kisses.
A transformation was occurring. Itachi's original kiss had started off as fairly innocent. That was no longer the case now. Hinata could feel Itachi's tongue dancing along her own and trying to coax her to respond in kind.
Itachi was a very skilled kisser. She didn't know why that fact surprised her. She had yet to see anything that he wasn't good at. Though surely, there had to be something.
"Good. I'm glad." He tells her as he caresses her back, after breaking the kiss.
There really had to be something. He was a genius, a talented ninja, an amazing kisser, and a great caresser. There simply had to be something that Itachi Uchiha did not excel at and Hinata was going to find out what it was.
"What is it?" She whispers as she rests her head on his shoulder.
His broad shoulder. In addition to being good at everything, he was also ridiculously attractive. This simply was not fair. There had to be something!
"What is what?" Itachi asks in confusion, not at all certain where the Hyuga Heiress was going with this.
"What aren't you good at? I have yet to see you fail or struggle with anything." She whispers.
Itachi blinks. He wasn't really sure what he had expected Hinata to say, but t hat wasn't it. The woman was just full of surprises.
"Apparently, I'm not very good at following common sense or resisting my attraction to you." He answers honestly and to his surprise, Hinata lightly swats him.
"You know that isn't what I meant." The bluenette says with determining shinning in her enchanting lavender orbs.
It was those orbs that were the cause of all the problems in their relationship. She was a Hyuga and he was an Uchiha. Generally, their Clans didn't mix. When they did, the results tended to be rather negative to say the least.
"I do? Well humor me then, My Byakugan Princess. Clarify what you mean and perhaps, I'll be able to give you a more satisfactory answer." He tells her with mirth dancing in his eyes.
"Well everyone has something that their bad at. I'm bad at telling people no. Naruto used to be really bad at Shadow Clones. Hanabi can't sing." She says.
Oh. That's what she was asking. It was no wonder why he hadn't understood her. The question had been entirely innocent and his mind was definitely not in an innocent place right now.
"Oh that. Well it is a bit embarrassing to admit this. It's not really that important either. Perhaps, we should discuss something else. Has Hanabi spoken of Sasuke to you?" He asks.
Hinata blinks. Itachi was actually embarrassed by this. She never thought that she would see the day when Itachi Uchiha was embarrassed about something.
"Yes, she speaks of him often. That's not the point though." Hinata protests.
"Oh alright. This is particularly humiliating to admit because one of my chakra types is water, but I've never been that good at swimming. I'm fine as long as the water doesn't go above my neck. I have this fear of drowning." He mutters.
Hinata tries her best not to gape, but she was almost positive that she was failing miserably. Itachi Uchiha was afraid of drowning. That was such a normal fear. She had never expected Itachi tell have that one.
"Thank you. Thank you, for trusting me with your secret and humanizing yourself to me. I was beginning to wonder, if maybe you were just gifted at everything. We can fix your fear of drowning though. I'm a very good swimmer and I would love to teach you get better." She says with a sweet smile.
"Hinata, that's very kind of you. It's not necessary though." Itachi replies.
"What if you get a mission where it's necessary to swim though?" The Hyuga Heiress asks as her lip begins to quiver slightly.
Damn it. How as he suppose to resist that sad look on her face? As Sasuke would say, he was so screwed.
"Alright. I suppose one swimming lesson wouldn't kill me." He says with a resigned sigh.
"Wonderful! You won't regret it! I promise!" She says excitedly.
Itachi sighs. He was pretty sure that he would, but he couldn't resist that look in Hinata's eyes. She was just so excited about it, that he couldn't say no.
Back at the Uchiha Estate, Mikoto and Fugaku stare at Hiash in stunned silence for a moment. Neither of them could quite believe their eyes. Fugaku was the first to speak though.
"I will speak to Itachi about this, but I feel that it is only wise to warn you. If the children are actually in love, there is very little that can be done to stop them from being together. Well short of disowning them and we are not going to disown our son." He states firmly.
"That's right. We are most certainly not!" Mikoto agrees.
"I wouldn't expect you to disown him. What you choose to do with Itachi is your concern. I don't want to disown Hinata either. She's my daughter. I love her, but she's behaving recklessly. You two know as well as I do, that our families have not always gotten along." He says with a sigh.
Mikoto glares at Hiashi. She knew that it wasn't his fault, but she didn't like where this was going. No, she didn't like where this was going at all.
"If you aren't going to disown her for loving the "wrong" man, what are you planning to do to that poor girl?" She demands.
"Love?! Fugaku was speaking in theoretically. We have not by any means, established that Itachi and Hinata are actually in love. It might just be a passing attraction. Not every person that one courts, ends up being their husband or wife." The Hyuga Patriarch protests.
That was most certainly true, but Mikoto wasn't going to allow Hiashi Hyuga to determine the Itachi's fate. She would be damned, if she let the other man control her son's love life! She would be doubly dammed, if she allowed Danzo to do so!
"I believe that everyone understands that this is all purely theoretical, but you haven't answered my wife's question." The Uchiha Patriarch states.
"I don't know. I don't want to disown her. I know that much. I couldn't disgrace her in that fashion. I couldn't bring such shame on our Clan, but I don't know that I could ever approve this match. There is quite simply too much bad blood between our families." The lavender eyed man replies.
"Well perhaps a marriage would fix it! And what is wrong with my son? He's highly intelligent, he's powerful, and he's training to be a medic. I fail to see what more you could want in a son-in-law." Mikoto seethes at him.
Hiashi blinks at her response. His interaction with Mikoto had been rather limited at best. Though it did appear that she was quite the tigress when it came to defending her children.
He could respect that, of course. That didn't meant that he appreciated her tone. The woman was dressing him down and he didn't care for that in the slightest.
"There is nothing wrong with Itachi in particular. I'm just saying that my Clansmen and Clanswomen would not react well to such a match. I highly doubt that most Uchihas would either." He counters.
The last thing that he needed was to get in a fight with Mikoto. The woman had retired from Active Duty Combat years ago, but she had been a Jonin. Hiashi could only assume that she was a formidable ninja in her own right.
"That's a fair point." Fugaku concedes.
"We're the head of our Clan. If we approved the match, the others wouldn't do more than grumble. I don't know how the Hyuga Clan functions, but that wouldn't matter. She would be taking his last name and an Uchiha, anyway." Mikoto states as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
If Mikoto didn't present enough of a threat, he damn sure knew what Fugaku's skill level was. At best, he was on par with the other man. At worst, the Uchiha Patriarch might be slightly stronger than him and he had the advantage of being in his own house. Not to mention, Mikoto would come to his aide.
A fight would only end disastrously for him. He needed to find a way to ease the tensions that were currently threatening to boil over in this kitchen. Hiashi needed to do this quickly, but he was at a loss for how.
"I don't think that you should assume that either of them is ready for marriage. A kiss is far from a marriage proposal. Wouldn't you agree?" He says reasonably.
"Yes, that much is obvious. My wife is right though. I highly doubt that you would allow Itachi to become a Hyuga. Where would you even put him? You wouldn't dare put him in the Branch House, but your Main House Members would never tolerate him in the Upper House." The Chief of the Leaf's Military Police points out.
That was a good point. He really wouldn't know where to put Itachi. His bloodline was powerful and he was the Heir of the Uchiha Clan. He certainly couldn't be put in the Branch House.
Unfortunately, Fugaku was right. There was no way that his Main House Members would tolerate Itachi being placed with them. He wasn't even a Hyuga. The Main House Members would feel slighted and the Branch Members would be outraged.
"That's true." He reluctantly admits, not sure what else he could say on the matter.
It would end in disaster. Bloodshed. There was no way that Itachi could safely marry into the Hyuga Clan.
That could only mean one thing. Hinata would have to become an Uchiha. He would be losing a daughter and Hanabi would have to become the new Heiress of their Clan.
"In any case, I do believe that we are getting off track. We still have to deal with Danzo before any of this matters." Mikoto reminds them.
Ah so she could be reasonable, after all. Good. Hiashi was beginning to worry that that might not be the case.
"Yes, what are we going to do about this? We might be willing to look the other way, but most of our Clans won't." Fugaku whispers as if he was afraid that merely stating the situation too loud, might jinx all of htem.
The lavender eyed man could certainly relate to that feeling. He kept hoping that this was some kind of nightmare. A nightmare that he would wake up from and then everything would go back to normal.
Hinata would go back to being besotted with that hyperactive blonde. It wasn't as if the Hyuga Patriarch thought that Naruto was a suitable match, but he was more suitable than Itachi. At least his last name wasn't Uchiha!
"For now, we can go along with it. Make Danzo believe that we're all going to back his bid for Hokageship. Then when the opportunity arises, we'll strike." Mikoto says.
"What do you mean by, we'll strike?" Hiashi asks warily.
Unfortunately, the ninja had a bad feeling that he already knew the answer to that question. Still he was going to ask it anyway. There was a small chance that he could be wrong.
"I think that you know, exactly what I mean." The dark haired beauty replies.
"Danzo has already shown that he has no problem blackmailing our families to become Hokage. What do you think that he will do after he's Hokage? Do you truly believe that these outrages will stop?" Fugaku asks.
Hiashi sighs. As much as he wanted to say yes, he knew that he couldn't. The Hyuga man couldn't deny the obvious truth. The outrageous were highly unlikely to stop.
Danzo was a man who valued power above everything else. The man didn't particularly care how he got it. He'd do anything to keep the Leaf save, but that was more to bolster his own reputation than anything else. Truly, the man was capable of almost anything.
"You're right. They won't stop, but what you're talking about is assassination. That's quite the step to take." Hiashi states warily.
"It's not something that we are suggesting lightly. Believe me, Hiashi. We don't want to do this anymore than you do. Mikoto and I understand the risks of going after a powerful man like Danzo better than most. Will you join us? If you can't, will you promise not to say anything? Can you give me your word of honor as a Hyuga, that you won't turn us in?" He asks.
"I give you my word of honor, that I won't turn either of you in and I will help you. You're right. This has gone too far and it ends now." Hiashi states firmly.
They didn't have any other choice. Danzo had forced their hands. No Clan was going to be shoved around by the likes of that power hungry-fossil!
