Chapter 28
Sasuke continued to stare wordlessly at his brother, his mouth opening and closing unintelligibly. Hinata took a step back. Maybe the two would want a more personal reunion...
Suddenly, Sasuke lunged at his brother with a loud snarl, hands clenched into fists as he wildly began punching at him. Itachi returned each punch with equal force and power, evading and dodging the few that looked like they actually may cause damage. Maybe this was their way of brotherly love, Hinata thought. Suddenly, Itachi was left with a bloody (and possibly broken) nose while the two continued fighting.
Or not.
"Stop!" She screamed and tried clawing at one of their backs. "Stop!"
The cameramen miraculously appeared at the sound of her screaming, stopping and arriving precisely at her doorway. Hinata waited for them to do something, but was horrified when they merely stood there filming with gross interest.
"Help them!" Hinata cried and motioned at the brutally tussling brothers with her wildly flailing arms. "They're killing each other!" Bruises were popping up everywhere and blood was being spilled across the hardwood floors. How could they do this? They were brothers, recently united brothers.
The cameramen frowned at her and motioned her to look away and ignore them because...because that was their job. And apparently hers too.
Screaming back tears, she dove into the mess of bloody limbs and managed to get between them, but not without some painful (and hopefully misguided) punches directed her way and blood dripping from somewhere on her face.
"Stop it!" She hissed and gripped both of their chins sharply in her fingers, "Stop." She could feel the resigned tiredness in her voice and looked back between them in the eyes.
"Hinata, don't get--"
"Uchiha. Shut up." Hinata said calmly to the youngest brother, then increased her grip on his chin dramatically, eliciting a sharp yelp from the man. "You are going to go and get yourself cleaned up." She turned to Itachi who was staring at her uninterestedly, "And you...are going to go talk to..." She paused, trying to think of someone important enough other than his brother whom he had just had a full out brawl with, "Kakashi." She finally decided on and slowly let go of the two, making sure they wouldn't jump at each other again.
"Capisce?"
Itachi smirked at her and gave her a small bow of his head, "Yes...milady."
Hinata turned back to Sasuke who was breathing deep through gritted teeth and shaking clenched fists. Lightly, she moved him away from the distracted cameramen and led him into her bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She watched the pained expressions fall across his face and lightly brushed away his bangs that were sticking to the blood on his forehead.
"I'm not going to ask what that was," Hinata whispered and held his bruised hands in hers, "But at least sit down so I can clean you up a bit so you can go back to the cameras looking at least halfway decent."
He stood still, perhaps not even registering what she was saying. She pulled him onto the rim of her bathtub and sat him down, dabbing down the swelling and blood with cold, wet cloth.
"He...he just disappeared." Sasuke muttered, making Hinata stop her dabbing and look at him.
"One day he was there, and the next...poof. Vanishing act." His eyes were wide as he hysterically stared down at his hands. "Did you know that right after he left, my father was...murdered? And my mom..." He gripped Hinata's shoulders and stared at her wildly, "My mom committed suicide because of them."
Hinata crouched down and hugged him, "I know, Uchiha. I know." She whispered and held his head against her neck, "It must've been terrible."
He clutched her like she was his only escape from certain death, "It was. I inherited the company at seventeen. Where were you at seventeen?"
"I was...still in high school." She whispered and ran her fingers through his hair.
"You know what the worst thing is?" Sasuke asked in a choked voice.
"What?"
"I can't even...hate him." He was sobbing now, and Hinata could feel the tears stream down her neck. "I'm angry. Angry as fucking hell...but I can't hate him. I can't."
"You don't have to do anything, Uchiha. You don't have to hate him, but you most certainly don't have to love him either. Just don't hurt yourself forcing yourself to hate him, it's not worth it if you're in more pain than him." She reassured and began lightly dabbing at his face again, lightly kissing his bruises, cuts, and tears.
"I need to though, I need to hate him." Sasuke insisted and clawed at her back frantically, "You don't understand."
"No, I don't." She finished the last of his face dabbing and clung back to him, feeling him relax beneath his soft black shirt. She rubbed his back comfortingly and let him rest his head on her shoulder.
"Hinata, I don't want...I don't want to face them right now." He whispered against her shoulder, "I hate this whole thing. It's so stupid." He pulled her into his lap and held her like a teddy bear.
"I won't make you." Hinata promised and ran her hands across his face, pushing away hair that was falling into it. "I won't make you do anything you don't want to."
He glanced up at her, his face showing the emotional wreckage that was taking its toll and Hinata wanted nothing more than to hold him and tell him that none of this was real. He lightly traced a bruise that was forming on her cheekbone and pulled her closer with his other hand, she could feel his breath on her lips.
"I know you won't."
He kissed her urgently and held one hand at her waist, one running up and down her arm. Hinata twisted in his hold to wrap one arm around his neck and coiled her fingers through his hair. She could feel her stomach flip and twirl pleasantly; they had never kissed like this. Sasuke ran a stream of kisses from her jaw up to her ear and back again, throwing in the occasional lick that made Hinata's lungs seem to stop working.
He stopped suddenly and looked at her with serious eyes, "I should get out there now."
She nodded and got off of his lap, waiting for him to exit the bathroom. Instead, he grasped her hand and stood in front of her. "Please come with me."
The last thing Hinata wanted to do was face those cameras and get into one of those god awful private 'talk boxes' where she would have to relay the events to the camera and world, she had managed to avoid them so far. But looking up at his begging face made her nod and hold his hand back.
He pulled her out into the foyer where the cameras were surrounding Kakashi and Itachi, the former who was nearly screaming at the other annoyingly stoic one. Kakashi was clutching his top hat angrily and waving his arms agitatedly at Itachi who continued to just stare with arms crossed across his chest.
"What the hell are you doing here, Itachi? This is no longer your house." Kakashi demanded and mimicked his position.
"Homesick?" Itachi suggested with a shrug.
"Don't give me that shit." Sasuke hissed from behind the mob of people surrounding the two men.
The cameramen immediately diverted their attention to Sasuke and Hinata. She could almost feel them zooming into their clasped hands.
"Ah. Sasuke." Itachi smirked, "Your face pretty enough to face us yet?"
"Shut up." Hinata was surprised to find that the snarling demand had come out of her mouth. Quickly, she slapped a hand to it and attempted to hide behind Sasuke's broad back (a feat that worked none to well due to the hand of his she was still clasping).
Sasuke merely patted her head absentmindedly like a dog who had just retrieved the thrown stick and stared down the small audience that was staring at Hinata. "Can't say your is looking all that well either, Itachi." He shrugged, but Hinata could feel his muscles tense and his grip on her hand tighten.
Itachi glanced at her. "You're annoying. And demanding." He looked back at Sasuke, disgusted, "Why'd you even consider bringing her here? Or even keep her, for that matter. It's seems to me like the word 'gold digger' fits her perfectly."
Hinata could feel the heat rush to her face and the urge to cry very strong. This…jackass was like those kids in elementary school and high school who would tease her mercilessly for being so...
Shy?
She didn't understand. She didn't understand at all. Demanding was the last thing she was before she entered this contest, before the contest it pained her to ask the waiter for a glass of water. Whether or not this change was good, she couldn't tell. Not yet, at least.
"She doesn't need to gold dig, brother dearest." He rubbed his thumb against Hinata's knuckles comfortingly, "If you hadn't noticed, she's--"
Hinata quickly clamped her free hand over his mouth and hissed desperately into his ear, "Please, Sasuke. Not here." Her father would find numerous ways to dismember her if she told the whole world (on national television) that she was the previous heir to the Hyuuga company.
Sasuke shot her an annoyed glare, but said nothing more on the subject. Ignoring Itachi's nearly interested stare, he turned his glare on him. "Why are you here?"
"Can't a brother visit his family?" He put his finger against his chin, "Or what's left of it, I guess would be the appropriate answer."
Hinata recognized the snarling coming from the back of Sasuke's throat and she frantically grasped onto his arm, pulling it against her chest. "Stop, Sasuke! No more fighting today!"
"Let. Me. Go." He hissed and struggled against her surprisingly strong grip.
"No." She insisted, shaking her head profusely.
"Okaaay." Kakashi stepped in after getting enough drama without more bloodshed. "Itachi, you are coming with me. Sasuke...go cool off."
Itachi shrugged and turned his back nonchalantly, walking away from his brother with the arrogance no human being should be allowed to possess. She made a face at his back and turned her attention back to Sasuke who had a defeated look on his face and sagging shoulders.
Pulling him along without any complaint on his behalf, she wandered around the halls aimlessly holding hands with him until they arrived at the library. It was quiet as always as they walked in and sat down on the couch, snuggling up to each other in the comfort of silence.
"Why do you do this?" Sasuke murmured quietly.
"Do what, Uchiha?"
"This. Take care of me, be so kind. And why do you always call me Uchiha?" He played with her fingers sleepily.
The first part was easy, but she wasn't sure why she always called him 'Uchiha'. Making a face, she replied, "I take care of you because I care. It…hurts me to see you like this, I'm not one who likes watching people suffer. No matter how much of a ass he can be sometimes." She teased, but sobered up when she received no response to her lame joke. "Er...Right. Um, I...I don't know why I call you Uchiha. Habit, I guess?"
"Well, don't. Call me by my name." He yawned and rested his head against hers.
"Okay, Sasuke." She murmured and dozed off.
--
By the time she woke up Sasuke was gone and she was left sprawled across the couch in an undignified matter. She frowned. How chivalrous of the man. The events of the last hour or so were remembered and her annoyed frown faded into one of melancholy and what might've been pity. Poor, poor Sasuke, he didn't deserve what had all happened to him.
Getting up, she searched around for the photo album she had seen when she had first come to the library. She needed something that would stop making her heart feel like it was drowning whenever she thought of the agony Sasuke was in. She needed to see him when he was happy. She was, however, sorely disappointed when she could find nothing.
She sat back down on the couch and clutched her head in her hands. This whole thing...was...was...
"Ohmygawd!"
Hinata looked up at Ino who had flung the door open and had the look of a small girl who found that her favourite boy band was performing a concert just for her birthday.
"Hinata!" She trilled and skipped up to the bemused woman, grasping her hands in hers, "Ohmygawd. Have you seen him?" She didn't wait for her answer. "He is like, the hottest piece of ass ever. Right up there with Sasuke."
"What?" Since when was Ino ever nice to Hinata?
"Sasuke's brother. Itachi." A dreamy look crossed her face, "He is soooo hot. I can't believe he's going to be living under the same roof as us! Yum."
Okaaaaaay. Slutty McWhorebag, much? Go after both brothers?
Ino must not have heard the snort that Hinata directed at her, because she continued cheerily, "Well, I'm off to go tell Sakura now. Ciao!" She then pranced out of the room much in the same manner she had entered in.
Watching her leave, Hinata suddenly realized what this was. What this whole thing was.
It was fucked up.
--
Short. That is what this is. Bah. I don't like writing about Itachi…it's so much of a hassle. I think that this story is…ALMOST COMPLETE. Kind of. Couple more chapters maybe.
I'm so excited.
I'd just like to add...I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!
1000+ REVIEWS?!
Holy hell.
Ciao,
MissLe
