Mama said
Burn your biographies
Rewrite your history
Light up your wildest dreams
Museum victories, everyday
We wanted everything, wanted everything - High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco

Hinata

I slept poorly that night. I was uncomfortable, having skipped dinner, then sneaking down for a snack. I got distracted from eating a small bowl of leftover rice by deciding to make pickled carrots for no reason at all. Except that I was so happy when the carrots were peeled, sliced, and put in the brine that I almost ate them on the spot. Instead I put the jar in the fridge to cure, and made a mental note to tell Sasuke and Kazuko not to let me have more than a few pickled carrots, and stick to raw if I could.

I found a folder with a note for me to read through it. I opened it, flipping through the contents to see Sasuke's unsmiling academy photo glaring at me. I was also still feeling emotional over my earlier conversation with Sasuke before I went inside to soak in a cool bath. I would need to clear things up with him, especially about how I want to feel about the Uchiha legacy.

I put the folder down with the intention to read it tomorrow. Or, rather, later on. I understood about him wanting to change how people saw him, and remembering Itachi talking about the horrible things he was forced to do, all while doing more terrible things, slicing away his insides, had made me want to sob into Sasuke's shirt and hug him for an hour. I couldn't do that, so I ran, which was cowardly, but the other option wasn't even close to appropriate.

Waking had felt more like being dredged up from the bottom of a lake. I put a hand on my forehead, but I didn't have a fever, though I had a slight headache which would probably go away with a shower and meal. I stood, and put the same hand on my stomach and almost fell over in surprise. Instead of the slight swell I'd been feeling for a couple of weeks, I had an actual, appreciable bump. My eyes teared up.

"Sasuke!" I pitched forward, all other aches and misgivings forgotten. I ran to the next room, "Are you awake? Dressed? Sasuke!"

The door slammed open, and a wild-eyed Sasuke met me at the door, "What?!" He shocked me as his hand whipped up and he pulled me bodily into his room, making me yelp, scared to death. "What the hell? Hinata, what's wrong?"

"N-n-nothing! Nothing's wrong, something was right!" I collapsed against the wall, "I just need to catch my breath. Sorry for scaring you, I was just really excited." I bent over, and took a deep breath before straightening out and exhaling. "Let's add early morning wake-up service to our house rules."

He stood in his pajama pants, one side hitched on his hip, the other clinging to his body by a double knot tied at the waist. His chest and stomach were defined, though not perfect, his abs being slightly staggered in an adorable display.

I nearly shook my head. I really shouldn't be thinking about his body right now.

His smile was crooked too, "How about neither of us will go screaming through the house unless it's an emergency."

I squeaked, he'd caught me being weird. "Right." I laughed unsteadily, "Sorry again. But there was something I wanted to share with you." I smiled, and lifted my top, baring my bump, "Look!"

Sasuke smiled, and for the first time I thought it looked real, happy and lit him straight to the core. It reminded me of Neji's smile. And the one Itachi had learned just before he died. It was a great smile. His hand reached forward, and then jerked back as blood suffused his cheeks.

"I'll be down in a minute. Do you mind?"

I blinked, "I-I.." I felt like I'd been rejected, though I hadn't. "Sorry Sasuke. I will remember better next time."

He turned away, "Don't freak out. We can talk over breakfast, okay?"

"Okay."

I left his room quickly, my cheeks heating in embarrassed flames. I hadn't been using my head, letting my heart lead me like a child. I silently fumed while I dressed in my outfit for today. Then I threw the mesh on the floor, kicking it for good measure. I couldn't wear my gear now. Although my newly acquired bump wasn't large by any means, all of my clothes except for my coat had been skin-tight. The blush switched to embarrassed tears instead, as I cried over my clothes.

I swiped them away as best as I could, and decided to put on one of the shirts I'd gotten when I finally learned that just because Itachi was gone, I was not excused from the rest of my life. I had to cope with, and take care of my pregnancy. That seemed like a no brainer, but I'd been in a state of bewildered disbelief. I was able to put on my training pants, though they were snug, even tucked below the bump.

I exited my room, and walked slowly down the stairs. Sasuke was standing in the kitchen, pulling open drawers. I opened the fridge, pulled out my carrots, and sat at the table.

"I'm sorry, Hinata." Sasuke didn't turn, "I know I said you could hug me. I may have overreacted."

With slow movements I unwrapped my pickles, "I just was excited, I guess." I felt the old pall of rejection settle over me, "I just didn't think. I'm sorry too."

He stopped rummaging, "I want you to feel like you can share those things with me. I want to be here for you and your baby." He turned slightly, one purple-petaled eye peeking from beneath coal-colored bangs. It looked as miserable as I felt. "I just can't process it. Or switch gears, or whatever." He slumped, "I think no more skin." I looked up and he corrected himself, "Nudity."

He turned fully toward me and we both pinked in shared embarrassment. I nodded, and Sasuke slammed the drawer with a quiet curse. I hadn't been nude, but Sasuke had been living away from family and female teammates for months, maybe years. I thought back to when I was staying with Itachi in the hospital at the beginning of all this, and my toes curled. I had not even wanted him to possibly see any part of me not usually covered by clothes.

"Another house rule." I started with a smile, "Be mindful of our privacy. Ask before showing."

Sasuke dropped into the chair across from me with a sigh of relief, "That's a good one." He looked at me, "What're those?"

"Pickled carrots. I made them last night. Make sure I don't eat too many."

He reached over, snagging the jar, picking one out and eating it. "Not bad," he picked out another, and retrieved a fork, pulling out a couple more and putting them in a condiment bowl. "Don't eat too many of these, alright?"

I gave him a rueful laugh, "Okay. Do you want me to make breakfast? We're supposed to meet the team in about an hour."

"I'll go get dressed for that then. If you wait, you can show me around and I'll make breakfast." I couldn't help but glance at his missing arm, "I'm perfectly able to do almost everything but basket-weave. I couldn't do that before either, so don't waste time thinking about it."

I quickly averted my eyes though I couldn't stop the new blush that stained my ears, "Sorry Sasuke. I'll wait."

Before long he came back in black training pants and a red and white cord-belted gray gi. His fan stood out on the back of the neck.

He flourished his hand, "Welcome to Chez Uchiha. I made fried eggs yesterday. Would my lady enjoy an encore?"

"May I respectfully suggest that the chef direct his attention to the refrigerator? He might be pleased to find sliced melon. Perhaps he could then check the bread box; he might again be pleased to find bread for toast."

Sasuke's crooked smile returned as he bowed his way to the refrigerator. I stood, pulling down plates and grabbing a couple of butter knives to cut the melon. Sasuke returned with a plate of melon that I'd sliced for breakfast yesterday, but that he'd not found. With a jar of adzuki paste balanced on the side. I licked over my lips, this breakfast was going to be great!

The rest of the breakfast passed in friendly chat. We both read over the folder's contests, and talked about what we might want to do to finish getting them ready for the exams. What my expectations would be for Sasuke, though I was happy to let him just be my helper. Although I could reliably use chakra now, that wouldn't be the case by the time the chunin exams begin.

Sasuke read over my dossier and I read Sasuske's one page. Basically it was the date he entered the academy, and the genin missions that led up to the Bridge mission that had changed Naruto's life. Apparently it had been a turning point for the whole of Team Kakashi. It was times like this, contemplating my own course, that I wished Team Kurenai had been as sorely tested. I grew a lot from graduation to the first Chunin exam, but not nearly enough.

The rest of Sasuke's paper was blank. Kakashi had not been an assiduous note taker, and even the field evaluations were sparse. That needed to change.

"After we meet with the team and run through some drills to see their skills, can we fill this paper up? There's nearly four years worth of things you can put on this." I showed him his half-empty dossier, "Your experiences with Orochimaru, while not strictly Leaf standard, were valuable. I know you learned a lot of things. You hold a couple summon contracts, right? I don't even have one."

"Not everyone does. It's fine. I wish I knew what happened to Itachi's contracts. He should have had one with crows and our family summons."

I stood, gathering our plates, "I have Itachi's crow contract upstairs. It's in that scroll you looked at."

He blinked, "That's good. If he didn't leave you the cats, then they may be in storage."

"Are you upset?"

I watched Sasuke stand, "Not really. I wonder if he'd have given it to me if he'd never loved you." He shook his head with a huff of displeased air, "Probably not."

"He loved you. I know he said as much to you. I talked about him with Neji-nii and he said that Itachi had told him that he loved you too much. That's one of the things I remembered afterward. I mean, when you came to talk to me after the battle. I think he didn't like that he'd screwed up so badly."

"Screwed up?" Sasuke let his eyes go to the window that showed bright sunshine bathing the compound, "Itachi told me to hate him. I did. If anything, he did not want me to leave the village to do so."

I nodded, "He said he didn't see the full path. He wanted you to lead the village to eliminate him and the Akatsuki. When you left, he was devastated." I walked out of the kitchen, turning back to gather Sasuke with a flick of my wrist, "We all were."

He followed me to the foyer where we slipped into our shoes and I opened the door to leave, but Sasuke turned quickly, bounding back up the stairs. He returned with his long katana and I flashed him a smile. Leaving without our tools would be a bad thing. I zipped my coat, and wondered why I bothered to wear it at all. It had never hid anything that I wanted it to, and now making sure the hem was straight made it make an obvious detour around my new bump.

Sasuke followed beside me down to the pond where we'd taken our family picnics together as children. I stole a look at him and his lips were slightly uptilted. The rest of him showed no emotion what-so-ever, but that made me know that this was a good place for him. I was glad. I was planning on reinstituting the inter-clan picnic. I lifted my gaze, and there were two younger Genin on the road in from the village. I stopped, and Sasuke halted too, flicking his gaze at me before following my line of sight.

One waved, she was just about a handbreadth shorter than the other, with long flaxen braids that streamed out behind her as she picked up the pace. Her companion adjusted the bow slung over his shoulder, and picked his pace up to an easy jog to keep up with her.

"Reminds me of meeting Kurenai-sensei for the first time. Let's go down to the dock, okay?"

We resumed our pace, and I pointed at the dock, which made the kids turn their steps that way and Sasuke grunt. I looked at him again, but he shook his head minutely, and I decided to just ignore him for a few minutes. It was going to be harder than I thought to work with him. I'd always thought that Shino was reserved, but it seemed that Sasuke was on another level. Itachi would talk your ear off if given a half-chance. I almost couldn't stop the giggle that rose in my throat.

We all converged on the dock. It was worn, it had seen many seasons, and there were scorch marks. I toed one, and wondered if this was where generations of Uchihas had come to learn their fire jutsu. I made a note to ask Sasuke later. Especially if Itachi's child would be a Sharingan user. This tradition looked to be a nice one. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves. Getting off topic wasn't a great way of dealing with anxiety.

"Hello. Everyone. I'm glad you two were able to find us. If it's okay, I'd like to meet here every morning if we're not in the Village." Two younger heads bobbed, "Good. Let's make a nice start shall we? We'll introduce ourselves. I'll start. I'm Hyuga Hinata. I like to press flowers and eat cinnamon rolls. I dislike bullies and can't stand shrimp."

"I'm happy to meet you, sensei. Um, my name is Mochizuki Sunako, and I'm a twin. But, he doesn't really look like me at all. You can call me Sunako." She smiled prettily, her bright orange eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "I like music," Sunako ran a thumb over the ocarina tucked into her belt. "I guess my favorite food is gyutan over rice. I really hate eggplant." She made a face, "And when my brother is right and I'm wrong." She glanced at her teammate.

"I'm a Hyuga too." He looked away, "But I can't use the byakugan. I don't like that."

"What's your favorite food, Kenichi-san?"

Kenichi blushed, "I like croquettes. The ones with taro."

"It's okay not to be able to use the Byakugan, Kenichi-san." I told him softly, "According to what I learned about you, you're better than I'll ever be with a weapon. Any weapon, am I right?"

He raised his hands, waving them in denial, "No! I mean, I'm sure you're really good." He blushed to the roots of his hair, and I felt a strong fondness for the sweet, plum-haired boy who just needed to believe in himself more. I could help him. "I just like archery. I did it as a hobby, but when our last sensei found out," at this he frowned again. "Well, he wanted to see how good I was."

"That's really great, Kenichi-san. Not many use the bow and I think it's a wonderful skill."

"Y-you can call me Kenichi, Hinata-sama."

I smiled at him again, "And you can call me Hinata-sensei. I'm not the head of our clan, Kenichi." I was rewarded with a small return smile. I turned to Sasuke, "This is your new teammate, but I want you to think of him as another sensei. Sasuke?"

Sasuke's Rinnegan was covered by a long bang, but his dark blue eye surveyed the kids, "As Hyuga-sensei said, I'm Uchiha Sasuke. You've probably heard of me. It's probably horse-shit. I dislike sweets. I have a lot to teach, but not a lot of patience. Do either of you know anything you shouldn't?" They traded looks, "You've heard of forbidden techniques. Have you learned any?"

I opened my mouth, but Sasuke held up a hand, "If you don't, I will teach you one. Everyone has at least one thing they shouldn't know that could be the trump card in a battle. As you know, Naruto uses the shadow clone technique. Do you know why it's forbidden? After all, we learned how to do a clone technique at the Academy."

"Because it uses a lot of chakra?" Sunako's fingers stroked over one long braid, "I don't know anything like that."

Kenichi's soft green eyes were wide, "I don't think I know something forbidden."

"Okay. Sasuke-sensei is correct, and I'm sure no one has tried to teach you something potentially harmful to yourself. A technique is forbidden either because it uses a lot of chakra, like Naruto's shadow clone jutsu, or because it is simply horrendous, like the reanimation jutsu." I shot Sasuke a long-suffering look, "But I don't think we should start there, Sasuke."

His mouth turned down as I continued, "Obviously Sasuke-sensei has noticed the same thing I did. You're both strong with a good chakra pool at your disposal. Do you know what type you are?" This had been so much fun when I was a Genin, though I already knew my affinity. "Like most Hyugas, I suspect that Kenichi is fire, like me; but I brought along some chakra paper so that we can get you typed and work on the styles that are right for you. If you're wanting a strong technique, don't worry. I fully plan on getting you to learn a couple of Jonin-level jutsu."

I handed them a slip of the ultra-expensive chakra paper, "Just bring your chakra to your fingertips like you were going to free climb." I held a slip up, and it smoked and curled in my grasp. I handed one to Sasuke and it promptly flashed to ash. I handed him another, and smiled at my students as the paper twisted at his touch.

"As you can see, fire chakra makes the paper burn, lightning makes it crinkle, wind makes it tear, water makes it get soggy, and earth makes the paper crumble into dust. Can either of you tell me why it's important to find out what nature you are?"

"Because of our founders, and the nature of Konohagakure in general." Kenichi rubbed half-gloved fingers over his shaved hair on the right side, catching strands of plumy curls as he continued, "As you've said, the Uchiha are fire-natured for the most part, as are we Hyuga. But the Senju took in smaller clans, and the first Hokage was a master of wood style." He paused, shooting a questioning glace at me, "Hmm."

"Wood style is earth and water mixed to make something new. It's called a kekkei genkai." Sasuke took up the narrative, "That is special, usually bound to happen only in clans or individuals. Though there is a living wood-style user, it was implanted. None from his line ever was able to become a wood-style user, Senju-sama was totally unique."

Sasuke held out his hand, and I put another slip of paper in it, which he tore with wind, and held up the pieces. "Most shinobi will only master their natural chakra nature. If you want to become a Jonin, you must be able to use two natures. Kage-level shinobi can usually use many. Because I am a holder of the Sharingan, I can convert my chakra into whatever I wish. The Rokudaime, though he doesn't have the Sharingan any longer, can use them all as well, proving that any shinobi with determination and a little talent can learn to master at least two elements."

"My dad is only a Chunin. Are you saying he couldn't learn to master another?" Sunako's cheeks were pink, and her sun-shine eyes were narrowed.

I took over again, "Not at all. I don't know your father, but he may not have as much natural talent as you do. Kurosaki-sensei, may he rest in peace, was planning on teaching this to you specifically to pass the Chunin exam and make your way to Jonin someday. He had faith in you, and so do I." I held up a fresh sheet for myself, "So gather your chakra, and let's see what we get."

My paper crinkled and I smiled at Sasuke who was now a little more at ease. Kenichi and Sunako held theirs up, and as I predicted, Kenichi's slowly smoldered. Sunako's slip flopped onto her hand, making her a Water release. That tracked. The best genjutsu users were. Well, unless they were Uchiha. They excitedly showed each other their papers, and even Kenichi's smile was wide.

My first day as a Sensei and though there were a few bumps in the road that I would need to discuss with Sasuke later, I was extremely happy. All my earlier sadness and anxiety was gone. Instead I was filled with inner peace. We could do this. Together.


AN/ Week 12! Aww, baby is showing! Hinata, being a small slim gal, probably has a bump the size of a… deflated American football? Baby is only the size of a lemon, but mom's put on weight and bloating can also occur. I hope wherever Itachi is, he's smiling. If you ever have any questions, even mundane ones, feel free to drop a note.