Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Author's Words: This is not supposed to be up because I was supposed to be studying. However, lack of self-control gave birth to this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Uchiha Itachi was six years older than both Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Hinata. In the first chapter, Itachi was ten and Hinata was four.
Chapter Two: A Bit of Warmth and a Piece of Freedom
Four figures appeared at the entrance of Konoha and the sentries waved them in. They were an Anbu team that had just come back from a mission.
The lead figure dismissed the group and they went off in different directions.
Itachi, one of the figures, went towards his home slowly. He was not in any hurry to get home because he still had a lot of energy to burn.
He had not found the mission difficult and it had annoyed him. All those missions and every one of them had been similar.
He was starting to feel that emptiness inside him again.
Sometimes training alone had helped because the training he devised for himself had been much more difficult and challenging any one could have imagined.
However he could only train by himself only so many times before he wanted to, no, needed to try out the results.
The missions were not hard enough for him to even bother and he was getting extremely frustrated.
Suddenly he remembered Hinata.
After that day, he had not seen her again for almost a year.
He thought that since he had nothing better to do, he might as well go and see how she was. He was not concerned about the hour or the fact that the child would be asleep.
He only wanted to see her. He wanted to know if she had changed or if she was still the child he remembered.
She would be five years old now and he changed direction to make his way to Hyuga.
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He leaped onto a branch of a nearby tree to survey the seemingly quiet compound of Hyuga.
The Hyuga clan was one of the largest, oldest and most powerful clans in Konoha and good as he was as a shinobi, he was not willing to take any chances.
Maybe it would be better to say that because he was good as a shinobi and that was why he knew how dangerous it would be to just go into a strange place uninvited without doing at least a preliminary scout.
He had been to the compound before on a scouting practice and it was one of the most difficult practices for scouting he had done.
The people in Hyuga had Byakugan and it gave them extremely heightened eyesight.
One of the additional attributes to Byakugan was the ability to see through objects and during the practice, if just one Hyuga had glanced his way with Byakugan activated, it would not matter how silent or steady he was, he would still be seen.
Once he worked out the safest route, he leapt over the wall of the compound and started to make his way to little Hinata's room.
It did not take him very long to get there and he climbed in through the window, quieter than a cat.
He saw a huddled lump in the middle of the bed. He went over and carefully lifted the cover and underneath was little Hinata, fast asleep and curled up like a kitten.
He smiled a small smile at the cute sight and sat by the bed and patted her on the shoulder. She muttered something indefinable and turned over.
He patted her again and this time, she stirred.
Itachi called her name softly and Hinata opened her eyes and blinked sleepily.
He called again and she sat up, rubbing her eye sleepily.
She saw a silhouette against the window and was scared at first, being kidnapped before when she was three. Then she heard the person call her name and she remembered the soft and gentle voice.
She became awake at once and leapt into his arms, surprising Itachi very much, "Itachi-niisan!"
Itachi caught hold of her and shushed her. He lifted her up and saw that she had grown a bit taller, though not by much.
He was secretly pleased that she not only remembered him but recognized him before he identified himself and the fact that she trusted him.
Although his practical side told him that it was a foolish thing for her to do, his personal side was much happier than it had been in the last year.
He said, "Hinata, you look well."
Hinata smiled shyly at this older boy who did not feel like a boy, "H-hai, Itachi-niisan. Itachi-niisan look well too."
She held out her arms, hungry for a hug; she instinctively knew that this was a person who would not mind giving her a hug. She had not had one in so long and it made her sad.
Itachi knew what she was asking for and held her close and tight. Hinata hugged him back and tears came to her eyes.
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She was too young to understand why she was crying but when Itachi released her and looked into her face, he knew why. She had been very lonely too.
In this huge household, there was no one for her to rely on in private.
Once, she thought that she had Neji but since his father's death, he had not only been distant but hostile and she had been hurt because he had once been so kind to her, his young cousin.
Itachi was too cynical to sympathize with her loneliness but he did feel pleased that she was relaxed around him.
She did not mind showing him her weakness and seemed to rely on him just like that.
She was not asking him for anything.
She did not ask for his protection or for his intelligence.
She did not ask him to teach her ninjutsu or give her extra coaching.
She did not even ask for conversation.
She only wanted a hug and anyone could have given her that but she chose to trust him without knowing who he really was.
He liked that because being too outstanding had its price.
He may be respected and revered but he was also the target of jealousy and envy, as well as greed.
There were people who thought that he was too clever and too strong.
Some of them were very against the fact that he was privy to top secret information that some of his missions conveyed. They said that no one knew what he really thought in that head of his or what he really felt under that expressionless face.
His clan was very protective of him of course because he was their pride.
Normally he did not care either way but sometimes, it did annoy him when there were so many people buzzing around him, talking about him or criticizing him over his head, as if he was not there.
He had his moments of furious rage at everything around him.
They made him out to be so amazing but in reality they were stifling him with their rules and traditions. He had so little room to grow and stretch and no way to prove to himself what he could really do.
The hatred and anger simmered deep inside him, slowly and surely. He felt that someday he would leave this place and be free of it all.
He just had to wait for the right moment. The moment that would tell him, "Ah, it's time."
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Hinata tipped her head to one side and looked at Itachi with wide and wondering eyes.
He had been silent for a while and she did not disturb him. She did not want him to go away so she kept quiet, hoping that was the right thing to do.
Her father and other elders in the clan never liked it when the young spoke out of turn and she was used to keeping her mouth shut until someone spoke to her first.
Itachi came out of his thoughts after a while and he looked at Hinata, aware that she had been quiet all this time and that she was letting him have his peace.
It was very different from what he had in his clan.
He was still a youngster in his clan, despite his abilities and he often had to listen to his elders go on and on.
Also, there were the children in his clan that sometimes came to ask for coaching, like his brother and he hated it.
He had to go and hide if he wanted any quiet time in his clan. Everyone knew everyone and one's business was the clan's business.
Itachi sat down on the bed, still holding Hinata and set her on his lap.
He asked what she had been doing lately. She replied, "T-training and studying and… and…"
Her voice faded softly. She could not really think of anything else that she had been doing apart from those two.
Well, there was always crying but even she knew that it would be a silly answer.
Itachi could tell that she was not happy and guessed that her training and studying were not going too well.
He could tell that she was not excellent shinobi material and given her position, it was bound to be difficult for her.
He could not help her there because she would be learning ninjutsu only known to the Hyuuga.
There was something he could do though and he said to her, "I won't be going on missions for a while. I'll visit you every now and then, Hinata."
His tone was rather bland but Hinata felt his kindness all the same. It was so rare that she treasured every bit of it that came her way.
She smiled at Itachi her trusting gentle smile and her small arms reached out.
This time, she was not asking for a hug but it was to give him one.
It was the only way she knew to thank him for thinking of her. Her young mind did not process all that of course but her actions were based on her instincts and base nature.
Itachi accepted her hug.
It was strange because normally, he disliked other people touching him causally. Even as a child, he disliked his mother giving him hugs or holding him.
He had been an unusually independent child, strange and quiet.
Perhaps it was because Hinata was also quiet.
Perhaps it was because she did not irritate him.
Perhaps it was because he knew he could leave her anytime and there would be nothing to hold him back.
She was a little piece of freedom that he had and no one knew that he had this little piece of freedom.
Nothing bound him to her except his will and that was precious because it was his decision to make and not someone's order.
He liked it and he treasured it in the same way that Hinata treasured her little bits of happiness and warmth.
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Hinata also had her rare moments of joy and warmth.
She remembered her father's rare smiles, given just because she was his daughter and not because she had been clever.
She was not clever and she was aware of it even at that age. She was not deaf and could hear her clan talk about her when they thought there was no one around.
"Is she really a Hyuga?"
"How can the clan be governed by such a shy and slow child?"
"Why can't she be more like her cousin, Neji?"
The comments and criticisms never stopped and little Hinata was sensitive and frightened by all of them. She was inadequate and the clan did not want her.
She felt cold and lonely and there was no one for her to rely on.
She could not rely on anyone because her father said that she was supposed to be strong and independent.
She was supposed to be Hyuga but she was not!
She was not enough to be Hyuga and she did not want to be Hyuga…
She only wanted a little bit of warmth.
The little bit of warmth that Itachi was showing her without asking for anything.
She was too young to consciously realize how precious that was: unconditional care.
However, she could feel that he was showing his care in his way and she was warmed.
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The night was going to creep away soon and people would be up.
Itachi knew that he had to go. He said, "Go back to sleep, Hinata. I will come and see you again."
He put her down and she crept into her covers obediently.
He covered her with the blankets and she looked at him with a question that she did not dare voice, fearing it would be too impertinent.
He understood and said, "I will come, Hinata, when I can."
Hinata smiled a small and timid smile and closed her eyes. She was tired and drifted off to sleep.
Itachi stroked her cheek with one finger. She was so little and so soft, like a little animal.
He could easily have crushed her but he did not want to do that.
He knew it was not worth doing because it was too easy.
He knew that he would miss her if he crushed her because she was his first bit of freedom.
It was something to be treasured and she was someone to be treasured.
He thought and was amused at his own sentimentality.
He turned and left the Hyuga compound, just as careful and silent as he came, the perfect shinobi.