Chapter 14: Chapter 14
Not So Subtle Differences
~Chapter 14~
"Ah," Mikoto gasped in delight as she stepped out onto the front porch and into the morning sunlight and saw the birdhouse set on a new pole. The ground was freshly raked and all of the charred remains of what used to be her rose bushes and prized flowers had been removed.
In its place sat something that was infinitely precious to her. She had long thought it was missing and had not seen in many years.
Her eyes grew misty as she fondly ran her fingers over the smoothly sanded surface of the birdhouse, Itachi and Sasuke had secretly whittled out of wood with kunai knives many years ago when they were small. Fugaku had helped them put it together and the three of them had presented it to her as a surprise Mother's Day gift.
A tender smile formed on her face when she remembered five year old Sasuke standing in between Fugaku and Itachi and holding it out to her as if he had done all of the work himself. The smile on his face had been uninhibited and full of simple joy as he had been able to spend a lot of time with both his brother and father.
Moments like those had been few and far between as the clan had been plotting and on the verge of an uprising against Konoha. It was one of the reasons she wanted grandchildren so badly, her boys grew up far too quickly and their childhoods vanished faster than a plate full of dango did in front of her oldest son.
As she looked over at the birdhouse and she recognized it for what it was.
It was a sign—granted a small one, but it showed her, her husband was beginning to weaken. Hope began to build in her chest, at the thought of having her family all back together once more.
Mikoto looked toward the garage and saw her husband was watching her intently as she looked over his peace offering. Lowering her head and looking away from him she sent him the message that his gesture while accepted by her, was not nearly enough to atone for what he had done to their family. Turning her back on him completely she went back inside of the house.
Fugaku sighed as he watched her leave and looked over at the team of men he assembled to help him work on the Inuzuka's yard.
"Let's move out," he told them firmly as his eyes drifted sadly back towards his house.
"I bought old man Jiro's place a few houses down from yours and your builder is going remodel it for me," Sasuke told his brother as they were walking back to Konoha escorting a client. "He said to me he would begin working on it sometime…"
"Hey, damn it," the client interrupted rudely as he straggled behind them dragging one of his heavy bags behind him leaving tracks in the dirt. "Would it be too much to ask for one of you to give me hand?" He asked in a voice heavily laden with sarcasm.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked slightly as he shared a derisive look with Itachi.
"Hn," he replied abruptly as he didn't even bother to look behind him.
"But… I am the client...it is your job to assist me, damn you!" He spluttered out in an outraged voice when he saw they didn't immediately jump to his bidding, and offer to help him.
In fact, they did the opposite as they just kept walking and ignoring him completely.
How dare they do that to me? This is intolerable, the client thought becoming increasingly infuriated as he watched the twin Uchiha symbols bounce smoothly up and down in front of him as the two brothers walked in tandem with supremely indifferent strides.
Angrily dropping the large back-pack he was carrying over his shoulder with a loud thud, he stopped walking and folded his arms tightly across his chest.
"Do you have any idea who you are messing with?" He spat out arrogantly with a haughty look on his face. "My father is a very important man in the Fire Country."
"What a loser," Sasuke muttered to his brother when he finally stopped walking.
Deliberately trying to provoke him, Itachi turned around and pinned his hard gaze down on the client with icy authority before his eyes raked over him dismissively.
"Our orders are to escort and protect you Saito-Hyuuga-san; we are not required to carry your personal items," he explained to him in a condescending tone as if talking to a petulant, and not particularly bright child.
Standing there in shock, Hajime felt unexpectedly cowed and humiliated by the ninja in front of him. Soon though, his distorted sense of pride and self-worth inserted themselves in his mind, and he stood up with outraged dignity before the ninjas from Konoha.
You are a Hyuuga, and we cower to no one, a mental picture of his stern autocratic father appeared in his mind reminding him of his clan's superiority over lesser clans.
"How dare you speak to me in such a manner, Uchiha?" He replied with reckless hauteur as he spat out his name. "I am a Hyuuga, and my clan was here long before your pathetic clan even existed."
At the slur on his clan, Sasuke swooped down on him in a flash like an avenging angel, his Sharingan blazing terrifyingly as he stood right in the foolish man's face.
"Tch, I could have snapped your neck before you even had time to activate your Byakugan," Sasuke taunted him dangerously with a kunai knife pressed against his throat.
Eyes narrowing and swallowing his fear, Hajime refused to back up from the Uchiha and looked him in the eye with his Byakugan activated.
"Unhand me, Uchiha," he squeaked out before clearing his throat slightly. "The Hokage is going to hear all about this incident…" he continued imperiously, while trying to hide his growing trepidation.
"Not if you are dead," Sasuke told him with chilling indifference as the idea of implementing plan B, was beginning to look very appealing to him.
"Sasuke," Itachi's emotionless voice reminded him they had volunteered for the mission for recon purposes only.
"You are lucky for now, Saito-Hyuuga," Sasuke warned him mockingly as he turned around completely unafraid of the ninja behind him and returned to his brother's side.
"We are wasting time," Itachi reminded both of them coldly, as he began walking back to Konoha.
Muttering angrily to himself, Hajime slung his heavy back-pack over his shoulder and jerked the handle of his bag and began pulling it indignantly behind him.
As he walked, Itachi's mind filtered all of the information he had just gleaned about Hinata's cousin. He was glad he had brought his brother along; Sasuke's blunt way of handling things had been very useful in exposing the Hyuuga's motives and weaknesses. And it allowed him to be an observer and watch everything.
"I still think you should just let me eliminate him," Sasuke complained as he walked next to his brother.
"We'll see..." Itachi told him evasively as he stared out in front of him and knew he had to let Hinata be the one to deal with him. But he would keep Sasuke's option open…just in case.
Pressing Itachi's journal to her chest, Hinata clung to it as a lifeline as she felt she was being swept away by problems that she had very little control over. Her life yawned before her, a lonely gaping hole where she would be denied everyone and everything she loved. If she went through with this sham of a marriage she would be forced to move and live amongst people who did not care about her, and considered her to be a liability to the clan.
I have to find a way out, she told herself for about the hundredth time that day. Her mind went over the agreement between her father and the elder and realized it left her some options, but few of them were viable ones for her.
She could cry off and refuse to go through with it, but her father would never let her, nor would her own sense of honor.
Her cousin Hajime could cry off, but Hinata didn't think he would do something like that because of his greedy nature. She knew her cousin had long coveted the main family's prestige and wealth.
There was a clause in the contract where it could be terminated on grounds of infidelity, gross misconduct or if either party sought to cause harm to the other, either politically or financially through the marriage.
Frustration overcame her as she considered her options. She wouldn't be able to do any of those things and if her cousin was involved in anything shady, it would be up to her to prove it.
Her shoulders drooped slightly as she was fully aware that being deceptive and suspicious were not something she was good at. It would be ridiculous for her to even attempt it.
Her mouth tightened as she stared out the window and hoped Mikoto was right and they would be able to find a way of this mess. If they didn't, Hinata knew she had no one else to blame but herself.
Sadly, she knew it had to be this way and would do it again if the same choice was set before her. At least Hanabi was free to do as she liked in the future.
Aimlessly trying to take her mind off of her problems, she opened Itachi's journal as Shizune's voice droned on at the front of the classroom and something she had never noticed before caught her eye as the light shone on it.
Hinata saw a letter hidden in one of the diagrams. Turning the page, she examined the other diagram closely and saw another letter.
Oh Itachi, she thought in amazement at how wonderful his brain was. Rapidly, she began writing the letters down until she saw the question.
Will you decorate my house for me?
Oh, if only…I could, she thought feeling completely hemmed in by a trap of her own making. Suddenly the loss of him, was unbearably painful, she had to get out.
Picking up her books she ran from the classroom as tears spilled over her eyes. As she ran down the hallway she looked through an open door and saw an empty classroom, after running inside she closed the door behind her and let her emotions out…
"Enter," the Hokage ordered loudly from behind her desk.
Sasuke and Itachi entered through the door and nodded their heads in respect before the leader of their village.
"Lady Hokage, we have completed our mission without incident or difficulties," Itachi reported in an efficient and slightly perfunctory manner.
Lady Tsunade looked over their shoulders with a raised eye brow. "Where is the client? You were expected an hour ago, what took you so long?"
Itachi and Sasuke shared a long suffering look, before Sasuke responded irritably, "He's coming."
A stumbling noise in the hallway alerted them to his presence.
The Hokage hid her smile behind her hands as she saw her orders must have been followed to the letter. She looked at the Uchiha brothers and wished she had a hundred more like them. Especially Itachi, he always followed orders perfectly, no matter what.
Red faced and breathing hard, Saito-Hyuuga Hajime swept through the door full of righteous indignation as he set his luggage down stiffly.
"Hokage-sama," he said tightly as he bowed politely before her. Standing up to his full height of 5'10, he took a deep breath and tried to gain control of his emotions. His father taught him a Hyuuga must show restraint at all times.
"I would like to file a complaint against Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke for gross negligence and misconduct towards a client, and for conduct unbecoming a ninja."
Hearing the charges, Itachi didn't even blink an eye as his face remained perfectly composed. Sasuke smirked slightly and looked almost amused as he glared at the client.
Hiding her choked laughter behind a cough, the Hokage cleared her throat noisily. "Those are very serious charges you are leveling against my ninjas," she responded in a hard voice. "Explain yourself."
"I would be happy to, Hokage-sama," Saito-Hyuuga replied smugly as he shot a venomous glare toward the brothers. "Over the whole twenty mile plus journey from my home village to yours, I was forced to carry a very heavy backpack, and drag a large suitcase without any assistance from them whatsoever," he said tightly as he could feel himself becoming angry, just thinking about the injustice of it all. "With very few breaks… they barely let me even stop to get a drink of water."
"Hn, you went so slowly, and stopped so often, we considered those times to be your breaks," Sasuke said indifferently as he shrugged his shoulders.
The Hokage nodded complacently, accepting their defense, before staring at the client with a serious and slightly mocking expression on her face. "Hm…what about the misconduct allegation?"
He pointed toward Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "He …threatened to kill me."
Sasuke rolled his eyes in a deliberately insulting manner. "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be here right now."
The Hokage looked with mild amusement at Sasuke, "Did you threaten to kill him?"
"Yes, he insulted my clan," Sasuke replied flatly.
"In the future, I expect you to show more control over your emotions."
"Yes ma'am," Sasuke said unrepentantly with a small smirk on his face.
"Wait-a-minute," Saito-Hyuuga spat out in a tight and angry voice, becoming increasingly irate. "Is that all?" The twenty year old spluttered out in disbelief. "Aren't you going to punish them for mistreating and threatening me?"
"Are you telling me how to do my job?" Tsunade yelled as she slammed her hand down hard on her desk, almost causing it to crack.
At seeing her infamous quick temper directed at him, his pale hyuuga eyes almost popped out of his head. "N-no, of course not, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade looked at him squirm and realized it was times like these that made her job almost tolerable. "They performed their duties properly and had they wished you to be dead you most certainly would be. Your father paid for the best and that was what I provided for you," she explained to him in her best Hokage voice.
Still seething with anger, Saito-Hyuuga lowered his head and tried to keep his mouth shut. "They could have helped me carry my luggage," he muttered petulantly under his breath, unable to stop himself.
The Hokage looked at him and shook her head at how pathetic he was. "If they had, it would have impaired their ability to protect you," she explained to him slowly as if he was a small, dull child. "Next time, I suggest you pack lightly for the journey here."
Hajime stood there in shock as all them looked at him like he was some sort of idiot. He couldn't believe it, because back at home people always treated him deferentially, and with respect. Or else…
How dare the Hokage and those Uchiha bastards treat me in such a disrespectful and demeaning manner! He fumed in silent rage.
"Take a seat in the hallway, your cousin Neji should be here momentarily to escort you to the Hyuuga clan compound," she told him dismissively.
His pride all but destroyed, he had no choice but to obey her meekly and go out in the hallway, as he turned to go, he glared at the Uchiha brothers with eyes full of venom.
After Hajime had left, Sasuke and Itachi turned to go.
Shizune walked into the office. "Uchiha-san, please stay a moment," she asked Itachi as she closed the door behind Sasuke.
"I know you are technically on leave right now, however, I was wondering if you would help me with a student of mine," Shizune asked him getting straight to the point with a teasing grin on her face.
"How many weeks are left in the class?" Itachi asked.
"Two," Shizune replied.
"Fine, I will go help her," he told them as he turned to leave; he could tell by the teasing looks on their faces the student Shizune was referring to was Hinata.
"Wait," Tsunade said with a grin on her face. "How about we make it a little more interesting?"
Beginning to wonder just who else was going to meddle in his and Hinata's lives, Itachi turned toward them with even less than normal enthusiasm.
"How?" He asked flatly.
"I am here," Neji told his distant relative in a coolly reserved manner.
"Ah Neji, you are finally here," Hajime said in a sneering voice heavy with sarcasm. "I have been waiting for nearly a half an hour."
"It was unavoidable," Neji said unapologetically as he turned to leave, expecting his cousin would follow him.
"Uh, hmm," Hajime said loudly clearing his throat to get Neji's attention. "I would like for you to assist me with my luggage."
"No," Neji refused insolently.
Unbelievable, Hajime complained mentally as he looked up toward the ceiling in frustration.
"Listen Branch Member," he threatened through clenched teeth as he stepped toward Neji menacingly. "I have had to deal with more than enough shit today, I will not put up with it from you. Obey me or I will use the god-damned seal."
"Try it and I will kick your ass," Neji returned unemotionally as he looked down a little smugly at his shorter relative. "My seal has been removed."
Neji turned around and began walking down the hallway and could care less if his little asshole of a cousin followed him or not.
Don't underestimate me cousin, Hajime thought as he angrily picked up his luggage and began dragging it down the long hallway.
Hinata turned around as she heard the door open behind her in the hospital classroom.
Her eyes opened wide as she stood there and watched him walk towards her and wondered if she was dreaming. The whole time she had been staring out the window she had been hoping somehow she could see him again. She knew she shouldn't even go near him, but part of her couldn't resist.
She missed him too much.
As her eyes devoured the sight of him, Hinata noticed something was different in the way he looked at her. He was hiding his emotions from her, just like he did with everyone else. Turning away from him as her stomach clenched painfully, she knew it wasn't his fault. She had made her choice and now she had to live with it.
"I'm sorry, Itachi," she told him in a strained voice as she tried to keep the misery of losing him at bay.
"I don't blame you Hinata," he told her unemotionally as he came up behind her, and stood so close he was almost touching her. "You did what you felt was right."
At his words and the note of approval she heard in his voice she closed her eyes and leaned slightly back against him. Feeling warmer and more secure than she had in days, she sighed in relief as she felt… almost happy.
"I love you, Itachi," she murmured softly and was shocked when she realized she had spoken the words out loud.
Oh no! She cringed mentally. "F-forgive me; I have…n-no right to say those words to you," she whispered brokenly as she turned to go; not wanting to disgrace herself even more in front of him.
Itachi blocked her path with hard eyes; his hands were firm on her shoulders. "Stop it Hinata."
Stunned at the tone of voice he used, she stood still as a statue in front of him. All thoughts of breaking down and being emotional stopped as she recognized the authority and the irritation in his voice. Confused, she looked down at the ground.
"Look at me," he said slightly more gently as he put his hand firmly under her chin and lifted it up.
As she raised her eyes toward his, she took a ragged breath. She saw no sign of sympathy or comfort, only relentless black eyes that bore down on her telling her to stop acting childishly.
"You made your choice, now you have to either learn to live with it or find a way to change it," he lectured her unequivocally without a hint of compassion or kindness in his voice. "Crying and feeling sorry for yourself is counterproductive."
Hinata realized she was seeing the ANBU Captain in him and almost melted at his feet at how capable and strong he was. But the hard glint in his eyes told her he would give up on her altogether if she did such a thing.
As she looked up at him she almost apologized and then realized he didn't want to hear that from her. He wanted to see her grow stronger.
She sighed and he removed his hand from under her chin. "I've read the documents and I don't know how to break the agreement," she told him woodenly as her problems began to look insurmountable to her again.
"I can't do something…dishonorable… or be manipulative," she told him in a slightly panicked voice. "I-I wouldn't even know how to and…well, it just isn't me."
Itachi almost looked amused as he agreed with her. The thought of her acting like that would almost be ridiculous.
"Leave the scheming and manipulation to my mother and your sister," he told her with a long suffering sigh. "They both seem to thrive on it and it will keep them from bothering us."
A choked laugh escaped her at his assessment of Hanabi and Mikoto. Before she left the house this morning Hanabi was already reading through the document with the acumen of a well-paid lawyer. Hinata almost shivered at the look on her sister's determined face. It was almost a mirror of the look she had seen on Mikoto's face the night before.
A small shudder escaped her and she almost felt sorry for her jerk of a cousin.
Hinata frowned as she remembered the last thing Itachi had said, she looked at him with a slight blush on her face. "What do you mean about keeping them from bothering us?"
"I am here because the Hokage asked me to be your tutor," Itachi explained to her impassively.
Hinata wanted to sink into the floor in embarrassment. He didn't come here to see her because he wanted to talk to her; he came because he was assigned to her. And she was practically throwing herself at him and… she was the one engaged to someone else.
Anxiously she spun around and looked out of the window with worried eyes.
"Whatever you are thinking, stop it right now," Itachi warned her firmly as he came up behind her and folded his arms around her.
Hinata closed her eyes and forced her mind to stop racing and made herself listen to him.
"I am currently on leave from ANBU and the Hokage gave the assignment to me to give us time together."
And to test my teaching skills, he thought irritably, but decided to leave that part out.
She turned around and looked at him a little upset that the Hokage was so disappointed in her that she thought she needed a tutor.
"There is two weeks left in the course…um, how long are you going to work with me?" Hinata asked him a little suspiciously as something about the way he was looking at her was making her feel a little nervous.
"Three days, and then you will be required to take the final and you have to pass it on the first try," he told her blandly. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he saw the look of horror on her face.
"But Itachi, I'm not you," she spluttered out miserably. "I can't learn all of that in three days."
"Yes, you can," he told her adamantly.
She shook her head a little in denial. "I actually have to learn three weeks worth of material because…ever since I started seeing you, I haven't been able to concentrate enough to learn anything," she admitted softly to him as she looked down at the ground and gripped nervously the back of a chair with her hands.
Looking around the room, Itachi found her textbook and handed it to her and guided her into her seat and then sat down across from her.
"Now show me where you want to begin?" He asked her brusquely, the look on his face was all business.
Hinata's face turned red as she flipped through the book and saw the purple little hearts she had doodled unconsciously all over the textbook.
She quickly turned past the pages until she found the last page she truly remembered and understood. It was also mercifully purple heart free, so it must have been before she started liking him.
"There," she said as she pointed to a chapter in the book while shyly averting her face from him.
"Hinata, give me all of your pens," he ordered her as he held out his hand, his eyes as he looked at her were relentlessly firm.
Digging through her book-bag she found several, but left her purple pen in the bag. It was her favorite.
Itachi put them to the side and reached his hand out again with one raised eye brow warning her to not to mess with him.
Sighing a little to herself, she reached in the bag and pulled out her purple pen and handed it to him.
"Thank you," he told her politely. "Let's get started."
"Okay," Hinata responded slightly hesitantly, feeling a bit over her head.
After all, he was a genius and she was just…smart, and the gap between them seemed to be pretty wide at the moment to her.
She looked up at him and saw he was looking at her with a mixture of pride, concern and determination.
He was letting her see him again.
He was trusting her.
She had no choice but to trust him.
"I'm ready Itachi," she told him as she set her mind to focusing completely on the material before her.