Wee, I have finally broken the 260 review landmark. You are all making me feel loved.
Originally I wanted to be evil and wait for 50 reviews again before posting but that would be cruel, ne?
Anyway, this chapter is definitely back in the style of the first eight chapters. Expect from now on the pace to be slowed down too, which is a good thing instead of my previous awkward jumps.
Disclaimer: The Usual.
Dedication: sissyHiyah. I'll try to get around to writing a FFVIII fanfic one of these days.
Durch Leiden Fruede. Because your reviews always brings a smile to my face, and those come rarely these days with exams and all. Thank you!
Note: for the few who read chp 9 right after I posted it (as in, within hours), I suggest you go reread it again. I've added a few parts that weren't there in the original posting.
As Far As Innocence Goes
Chapter 10
"What do you think we're doing today Hina-chan?"
Hinata, who had been resting at the foot of a tree, tilted her head and glanced upwards. Raising a hand to bat away the loose leaves that were drifting down, she squinted to catch an outline of Kiba on the topmost branch.
Whoa… for a brief moment even she couldn't help but admire the skill and sheer audacity of Kiba's rash actions.
"I don't know." she replied honestly, struggling to project her voice far enough. Hopefully Kiba's ears would pick up her words.
"I hope we don't have another one of those evil play tag-with-the-kunai sessions… I have more purple bruises than Chouji has chips!" Akamaru barked as if to emphasize his point.
"That wasn't very nice," Hinata gently admonished. Kiba didn't seem to hear her however judging from the way he gaily flipped from his dangerous perch to yet another precarious branch.
"Kiba, get down from there…" Shino said irritably from his own perch on a lower branch. "That branch isn't that sturdy."
"Are you calling me fat?"
Well, Kiba definitely heard that.
"You said that, not me…" Hinata smothered her giggles unsuccessfully behind her hand as Shino's dry voice drifted downwards.
"Damn you!" A long time ago, Hinata might have once blushed at the crude language. It hadn't taken long however for Hinata to accept Kiba's uncultured mouth as part of his personality, and after two months of verbal garbage, Kiba's words rolled off her like water and oil.
"Language, Inuzaka-san."
Oh dear. Hinata quickly stifled her laughter but couldn't hide her smile as she heard Kiba audibly gulp. Although Itachi's face was as impassive as always, Hinata fancied that there was a hint of smugness in his eyes as he raised an eyebrow at Kiba.
"Good afternoon Itachi-sensei," Shino said politely as he jumped off his perch and landed on the ground gracefully, his crooked knees easily rolling off the force onto softer parts of his body. The kikai that Hinata had always secretly thought were more cute than actually creepy were all carefully hidden except for one that drifted right underneath his ear—no doubt providing Shino a steady stream of information about their surroundings.
They had gotten used to Itachi's sudden arrivals. It was useless trying to sense his presence; not that they didn't try. Still, even with the combination of Inuzaka ears, Hyuuga eyes, and even Aburame kikai Itachi was invisible. Still, Itachi had always mentioned that they'll have the skill one day—something Hinata secretly hoped for as well, but never dared to publicly voice.
Itachi was dressed in his usual dark shinobi clothes—there was an additional bandage wrapped around his wrist, but Hinata could tell it was probably merely from at training accident. His hair had been slightly trimmed, but otherwise he looked like he always did: stunningly cold, remarkably elegant long face and dark calm eyes.
Usually, he looked remarkably old for his age; while his skin and his physical was still as flawless as any seventeen year old, he moved with the grace and purposefulness of someone beyond his years. It made Hinata forget his age sometimes.
However, today, staring up from her angle, Hinata had to admit he looked surprisingly young and almost… dare she say relaxed?
He looked, for the first time in quite some time, actually seventeen.
"So what are we doing today?" Kiba called as joined the rest of the team at the bottom of the tree.
"We're going to have a combined training session today."
Hinata blinked. For a moment, she could have sworn Itachi looked hesitant. But before she could even think to verify, Itachi looked as calm and collected as always. Must have been her imagination. He really did look rather striking with the way the sun hit his hair and streamed across his white skin.
"Really?! That's great!" Itachi, like he always did, ignored Kiba's enthusiastic whoops. Shino seemed inclined to follow his example, judging by the way he didn't even glance once at Kiba's "victory dance".
"With whom?" Shino inquired, curiosity coloring his voice.
Itachi opened his mouth; and then paused.
Hinata blinked again. This time, she was sure Itachi looked hesitant. And if she had been anyone but Hyuuga Hinata, and if he had been anyone than Itachi, she could have sworn he actually looked… uncertain.
That humanistic emotion looked surprisingly… good on him. It almost made him look as beautiful as---
"We'll be working with Team 7 and a team from the previous year under the tutelage of Maito Gai."
Hinata froze.
--as Neji did when he thought she wasn't watching.
"You mean Naruto's going to be there?! Damn!"
"Language, Inuzaka-san…" Itachi warned, causing Kiba to bashfully scratch his head.
For once even Naruto's name failed to bring even a shadow of smile to Hinata's face.
"Who are the other students…?" Shino mused quietly aloud, unaware of Hinata's drawn and pinched face.
Itachi , who was slightly more observant, chose not to answer and mentally reminded himself to investigate the manner further.
He was more than bit knowledgeable about clan affairs to have his suspicions about Hyuuga Neji.
Meanwhile…
Kakashi wasn't foolish enough to ask the deities above what he had done to deserve this—he was more than aware of all the agony (intentional or unintentional, serious or lighthearted) he had caused during the course of his short lifespan.
Still, it hurt when karma finally caught up with him.
"Sakura, please unhand Naruto. Joints really aren't meant to bend that way."
The girl released her victim (although, to be fair, the boy didn't look like he minded too much being in her claws) with a huff, but not before giving one final good kick. Kakashi contemplated whether to rein in her behavior or not, but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble. If his Genin required him to tell them even the most basic rules of teamwork, they weren't meant to be Genin anyway.
Kakashi ignored the little niggling voice in his mind that said he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Minato pointing out the damn obvious.
"What are you doing today Sensei?!" The boy's voice really was way too exuberant and not a little bit insane for two in the afternoon.
"We're having a mixed training session with a couple of your peers and some of my colleagues as well."
For the first time since Kakashi had wandered into the training session (two hours late as usual) Sasuke showed an iota of interest. Whereas before he had been totally focused on ignoring his rowdy teammates, he suddenly turned his neck to fix a thoughtful if not slightly narrowed gaze at Kakashi.
Gotcha.
Kakashi couldn't resist the smirk that crawled over his face. Masks were useful like that. Goodness knows how many wrinkles he would gather if he tried to keep his face as stoic as Itachi's every day.
Playing with Uchihas were always fun, even if it were a bit dangerous. And since baiting Itachi constantly was not an option (Kakashi had a bit more self preservation than that, thank you) he didn't mind settling for the young one.
Honestly, it was only because of Sasuke (and the darker parts of Kakashi's mind whisper about a little foxy boy with eyes more innocent than his essence) that Kakashi derived any form of pleasure from this "teaching" exercise. To be honest, at times it was downright painful (because he sees Obito in Naruto) but the few moments where Sasuke seems to be more than his name (Uchiha Sasuke, Main House, son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, brother and inferior of Uchiha Itachi) makes it all worth it.
Tee hee. Not counting the amusing parts of course.
"Who?" Kakashi almost twitched at the sharp sound of Sakura and Naruto's voice clashing together. Still, even their cacophony wasn't enough to keep Kakashi from relishing Sasuke's taut expression.
"Team 8 and Maito Gai's team."
Even a freshly sharpened kunai couldn't have had as bright a gleam as Sasuke's eyes at that moment.
Still, although Kakashi was pleased with Sasuke's enthusiasm, he couldn't help feeling such an obsession with his genius brother was unhealthy.
"Team 8… you mean the one with Uchiha Itachi!"
Sasuke's eye's flickered, turned murky, and then became impassive again. Kakashi felt something in him go out to the poor boy. But, as a rule, Kakashi followed a strict "Don't-touch-if-it-isn't-broken" policy, and he mentally reminded himself to observe just a little bit longer.
Besides, Sakura's subsequent squeal was enough to make even Kakashi's head ring.
While there was no denying Sasuke's attractiveness (after all, what more could one want beyond those dark round eyes and porcelain skin?) Itachi was a god as far as Sakura was concerned.
This wasn't to say Sakura liked Itachi better. Actually, to be truthful, she always found the older boy much too cold and angular to her taste. In Sakura's firm opinion, Sasuke was always the better of the two due to his "reachability". More boy-ish, more human, and more importantly, less out of Sakura's reach.
Beyond her infatuation, Sakura was generally a highly intelligent girl and it hadn't taken her more than four lessons in the Academy to be fully aware of the stark differences between the levels of shinobi.
There were shinobi and there were shinobi. Genin like Sakura and Naruto belonged to the first category, and Genin like Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Hinata, and the majority of Rookie 9 belonged to the latter category.
Unlike some one, say, Hinata, Sakura had entered the Academy with no experience or even familial support. Whereas some basic knowledge had been as simple as breathing to others (even Kiba!), to Sakura it had all been frightfully new and alien. She could still remember the first day where she had been sent to the separate class to practice shruiken throwing, leaving Ino-pig to latch onto Sasuke alone for a full thirty minutes. It would come as a surprise to no one that Sakura had worked her butt off to get where she was. Every living, breathing moment that hadn't been spent chasing after Sasuke had been spent poring over books and scrolls.
Still, even so, Sakura had always been aware that Sasuke and her were a world's apart. Only two months into training, and Sakura was being faced with the scary possibility that most of the ideology and knowledge she learned at the Academy was basically junk on the battle field. It made her anxious, and though she hid it behind a mask, she was becoming increasingly unsettled day by day. Surrounded by confident Genin such as Sasuke and Naruto who, regardless of skill, had a dream to pursue, didn't help matters, and it only made Sakura feel increasingly tiny.
Truthfully, at the bottom of her heart, there was a practical voice that carped she and Sasuke were utterly impossible. That didn't stop her from dreaming though—however, even Sakura's naivety couldn't blind her when it came to. Itachi was a god, a genius, and Sakura harbored absolutely no expectations of ever becoming close to him.
Still, it never hurt to look.
'Eye candy!' inner Sakura cooed.
A better motto never existed.
"Hey Sasuk—" she begins to shout.
But the look on his face makes her freeze.
The look vanishes faster than the ability to speak returns to her, but even so, for the first time Sakura is hesitant to approach her crush.
Because for a stunning, awe-inspiring moment, he looked just like Itachi.
He looked too far out of her reach—and that makes her unhappy, although she'll never admit it. And like always, Sakura dealt with her unhappiness the only way she knew how.
"SHUT UP NARUTO!"
As they glided toward their destination, Itachi could not help noting Hinata's uncharacteristic silence.
While she was always quiet, she wasn't completely unwilling to express herself either. Oftentimes, even casual walks such as these one could hear her voice murmuring replies to Kiba's stupid comments or even breaking out into soft laughter. Today however, she was noticeably silent and even cold as she rebuffed Kiba's attempts to start a conversation curtly.
It wasn't difficult to see the Hyuuga mask slowly clicking to place. Even her movements seemed that much more rigid and ugly.
Nevermind.
He sensed Kakashi and Sasuke's chakra as well as two unfamiliar ones quickly enough as they neared Team Gai's usual training area. To his pleasant surprise, it didn't take long for his Genin to notice too judging from the way Shino's pace slightly changed and from the way both Hinata and Kiba swiveled their heads to the left. Then again, considering their unique traits, it shouldn't have been surprising—still, it was nice to see their marked improvement.
Being a teacher was… oddly rewarding at times.
What a sentimental fool you are.
They finally slow to a halt at the edge of the clearing. Ignoring Kiba's usual chatter and Shino's short dry replies, Itachi glanced at Hinata.
Yes, the Hyuuga mask was definitely on. While it was a cracked and flawed, imperfect facade, it was still a mask.
Itachi inwardly frowned. For a brief moment, he contemplated walking toward toward the drawn pale girl.
"Oi Itachi!"
Nevermind.
"Hatake," he acknowledged with a nod as the Jounin veered close. His eyes flicked to the left to find Sasuke and even he couldn't resist a small smile.
"Hello otouto."
Author's Note: A more introspective look into Team 7 and Haruno Sakura. Kudos to anyone who can spot the hints about pairings and future politics I dropped.
Yes, I noticeably did not write anything from Team Gai's perspective. Kudos to anyone who can guess why.
And additional kudos to anyone who can recognize the subtle changes in Itachi's personality—and Hinata's perception of him.
And yes, I did make an effort to remind people that Itachi is seventeen. I think we tend to forget that in the larger scheme of things. And for my plot to work it's quite crucial we take into account his actual age.
Yes, this chapter is a bit shorter. However I wanted to get it out to the readers quickly so... [shrugs]
Cliff hanger… I will try to update within 24 hours again. =D
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