fourteen.
Years of experience had taught Itachi not to let his guard down, even inside his own house, and yet he couldn't help but relax his tense shoulders whenever he was inside Hinata's room, watching her making little notes on her journal as he gave her writing exercises. The two children's books he lent her were stacked neatly on her bedside table beside a vase of sunflowers, given to her by Ayame who had bought them for a cheap price at the Yamanaka's flower shop.
As expected, the girl had grown attached – terribly so – to the tachibana they had bought last week. It did not leave the pocket of her pinafores, not even once. Unfortunately, her hair had not lengthened in that short amount of time, hence, leaving it impossible for her to use quite so soon. She did not lose hope though, actually looking forward to their sessions when he would brush her hair after he had informed her that brushing could help her hair grow.
Despite her advancement on her literary skills, Hinata was still as quiet as a mouse, often squeaking whenever she did speak due to her shyness, but nonetheless maintained the air of maturity around her—a disparity to her childish, doe-like eyes that seemed to entrap him every time he stared for a second longer. Itachi could only imagine the potential advantage it held, of men who would fall to her whims, bewitched by the lavender tint in her chilling, pale eyes, contrasted by the darkness of her hair, which he could already imagine to be absolutely stunning once it grew. Ah—he thought there was no such thing as bewitching, but maybe there was.
Feeling an odd warmth in his chest, he pushed himself off the wall where he had stayed to observe her progress, crossing the room in four long strides to get to her. She had already managed to finish the rest of her writing exercise when he finally peered over her shoulder, nodding at the neat scrawl written on the pages.
"You're making good progress as always," he commented, laying a hand on her head to give it a gentle pat. "Why don't we stop here and call it a day? You should take a warm bath now."
At the mention of the so-cursed-bathing-time, she visibly stiffened. The girl still didn't have much of a liking to baths but refrained from fighting Ayame as much as she could, especially whenever Itachi was around. And so he marveled at how she could still smell so nice even after a day out under the sun – a rare occasion – with her hair tangled and messy, nose wrinkled with the thinnest sheen of sweat.
Hinata lowered her gaze until she was staring into the pocket of her pinafore. "W-When can I wear my—my tachibana?"
Itachi suppressed the growing need to smother her and smiled instead. "Perhaps in a month or so, we can try pinning your hair up."
That seemed to brighten her up, irises flaring with the barest hint of joy, allowing him to guide her toward the direction of the bathroom. This time, she made no protest and handed him her most prized possession wordlessly, allowing Ayame to take the lead as she stared begrudgingly at the running water in the tub.
a/n: No new terms this chapter! And here is a pretty light-hearted one as well. I might start up on the supposedly Intense seen in the anime, but it obviously won't go that way with this story. Still, we'll have to see. I love writing Itachi's thoughts about Hinata, which is why I tend to write more of these scenes, but I hope you're fine with that! As always, thank you for the reviews, I appreciate every single on of them.