Hehe... Sorry for the late update, but both authoresses are pretty busy right now. Don't be surprised if the next chapter takes longer too.
It was about eight in the morning, and Hinata and Hanabi were just finishing breakfast when the doorbell first rang. At first Hinata was startled; the mansion was mainly isolated from the rest of the city, and she couldn't think of any reason someone would visit. But then she deduced that one of their tutors must have arrived early, and rushed to open the door.
She was partially correct; Kurenai was standing on her doorstep, but beside her stood Sasuke. Quickly averting her eyes from the Uchiha, Hinata addressed Kurenai.
"Hello Kurenai-sensei." A bow. Then a polite nod to the Uchiha was required. "W-welcome Sasuke-san."
"There's no need to be so formal, Hinata," Kurenai smiled. Beside her it was obvious that the Uchiha had no intention of apologizing for the day before.
"Kurenai-sensei?" Hanabi appeared behind Hinata, her eyes brightening slightly at the sight of her teacher. Then a glare was directed at Sasuke. "Uchiha."
"Ha-Hanabi!" Hinata intervened. "Don't be so rude." All Hinata got back was a blank stare, before she was completely ignored by her younger sister.
Kurenai broke the uncomfortable atmosphere by smiling warmly, "Well then, shall we get the lesson started?"
Kurenai walked into the house with long comfortable strides, then placed her heavy book-bag onto the table that had been set up the night before and began taking out books, "I think we'll need to have a little bit of separation, since Hanabi is younger, and..." She looked up and glanced at Hinata and Sasuke, noticing the air of wariness between them.
She beckoned to Hanabi, "I'll have you take a small test to see what level you're at." Hanabi eagerly nodded, and tried not to look too excited. "I'll be giving the two of you workbooks so get started individually. Call me over if you have any questions." She handed them a workbook and then returned to Hanabi, "You know basic math, don't you?"
Hanabi nodded.
"Good."
---
This math is easy, thought Sasuke, a small smirk forming on his lips. His eyes darted to the figure across the table; Hinata was sitting there, deeply absorbed in her calculus. He looked back down, forcing away the feelings of guilt. 'What's wrong with telling the truth?'
---
"Hyuuga-sama," the voice respectfully murmured.
Neji rubbed his temple, wondering what the man wanted now. "What is it this time, Kakashi?"
"Can't I drop by and pay my respects to my employer?"
"If you had really wanted to show respect, you would have waited until the end of the day, after my job here is over, and you wouldn't sneak in though the window," the Hyuuga retorted.
"Why would you suspect me of wanting to scale thirty stories when I have an elevator at my disposal?" Kakashi's smile betrayed his innocent tone of voice.
"Because that's the kind of thing you do." A pause. "And I doubt they would let you in through the front door, dressed the way you are."
"My clothing is perfectly normal, Hyuuga-sama," Kakashi grinned, pointing to his civilian's clothes.
"But your mask makes you look like a thief," argued Neji. A lengthy pause progressed, both men being the type to enjoy quiet.
"So what do you want?" Neji tiredly sighed, swiveling around in his chair to face the other man.
Kakashi shrugged. "I'm just curious as to why you hired that woman as a tutor."
"I hired other tutors too," Neji rebuked, a little too defensively for his liking.
"Yeah, but they're all Uchihas. That woman isn't protected." Kakashi was treading about the subject as cautiously as his curiosity would allow.
"It's mainly for Hanabi-sama's sake. That woman looks a lot like her."
"You mean you think she might know something?" Kakashi thoughtfully pointed out.
"Yes." Neji allowed himself a small frown before snapping his attention back to his unwelcome guest. "Hinata-sama is in enough trouble as it is, and should we lose the help of the Uchihas, namely because something should happen to the Uchiha heir, we'd have to give up our efforts. All that time and effort we put into research would be useless. That and if the Hyuuga heiress were gone, the politicians would immediately turn their backs on us." Neji added with a rueful smile, "Perhaps we deserve it."
"Would you still be willing to take her life then, to protect those of others?"
Neji closed his eyes, thinking in length over the dilemma that was presented to him. "I honestly don't know. I hope it will never come to that."
---
"Kurenai-sensei," a pair of white eyes stared imploringly up at her.
"Yes, Hanabi?" Kurenai asked, surprised at her pupil's assertiveness. She paused in the act of collecting her papers.
A small hand reached out to tug on her shirt. "Are you going to leave now?"
"Well, yes. Your other tutors are here, and I wouldn't want to get in their way." But Kurenai hesitated, taking in the sight of Hanabi's disappointed frown. "How about I'll come around later, and take you out for ice-cream? You did a great job today."
"Okay." The blank eyes seemed to light up for a moment, before seemingly becoming emotionless again.
"Would you two care to join us?" Kurenai addressed her two older students, who seemed determined to avoid each other's gaze; Hinata was staring down at her twiddling fingers, and Sasuke glaring out the window.
"…no." A single syllable, the typical Sasuke answer.
"Um, I-I have another meeting with Neji-san today," Hinata apologized. "Maybe some other time?"
"That's alright then." Kurenai ran some quick calculations through her head. "How about I pick you up at 4:00?" She smiled gently at Hanabi.
"All right." Kurenai got a small smile in return.
---
Finally, their 'classes' were over and done with. Hinata noticed that Hanabi didn't even speak to, or make any attempt to get to know any of their other teachers better, unlike with Kurenai.
But then again, the other teachers weren't exactly the 'nice' stereotypical type. They were more strict and quiet, not unlike Hanabi herself. Hinata did get the impression that the teachers knew and respected Sasuke, some of them even referring to him as sama.
Hinata gave a small sigh in the back of her mind, blaming herself for overanalyzing everything. Her face softened as brushed Hanabi's hair back gently, pulling it up into a high ponytail in preparation for her sister's outing. She beamed at Hanabi's reflection, "Don't you look nice Hanabi?"
Hanabi stared into the mirror and saw her own reflection... a sudden, sharp jolt caused her to scowl and she aimed her fist right into the mirror where her face was, shattering the glass and causing Hinata to jump back in surprise.
Then she was back to normal, and slowly realized what she had done...
Hinata looked shocked, her face pale, "I-I'm... I'm s-sorry Hanabi..."
Hanabi backed up from the shattered remains of the mirror, trembling all over. She felt a sob force itself up her throat; this was called 'crying', was it not? She curled herself into a ball and continued to cry, only the tears refused to come. Dimly, Hanabi felt Hinata hesitantly reach out to 'hug' her. When she had looked at herself… she had remembered so many bad things… a gunshot, a dead woman's hand clutching her own... it was all a painful cluster of memories.
---
When Kurenai finally came to pick up Hanabi at the designated time, she found small cuts scattered all over the girl's body, and her right hand was tightly wrapped in bandages. Concerned, the well-meaning older woman had asked for the cause of her injuries, only to be warded off with a tight-lipped muttering of some sort of accident.
Though not completely sated by Hanabi's answer, Kurenai decided not to pursue the issue further upon reflectance of her charge's obvious reluctance to answer.
Holding open the door for the youngest Hyuuga- lest she hurt her injured hand- Kurenai noticed a small glass shard glinting in the afternoon sunlight, caught in the necklace Hanabi so faithfully wore about her neck. About to mention it, Kurenai reconsidered, as the other was still in a gloomy mood. She'd bring it up later, after the ice cream…
---
Above, perched safely on an overhanging branch, a black haired man watched as Kurenai helped Hanabi into the car, and grinned. His master would be very pleased.