Itachi found Hinata waiting for him in front of the door to the Hokage's tower. He was unsure why she would seek him out once done with her self-appointed errands. There was no point in holding back what happened.
He said it without preamble: "I'm no longer in ANBU."
Hinata wrung her hands. "Oh."
"Would you know anything about how my parents were involved?"
He immediately regretted asking such a thing. It had been loaded and fired off for no reason except to provoke, unleash. Instead of shrinking away as expected, she put on the face of someone trying to remember something important.
"Forget I asked," he said, and started off, briskly, for home.
She followed.
The sidewalk was empty when he stopped and turned around. It had only been a few minutes. He followed a stray cat with his eyes until it scrambled under a bush. His hands were buried in his pockets. He finally made himself look at her.
Her eyes carried a concerned gleam. "Your mother, um, stopped by a couple of days ago."
"Did she."
"Yes." She glanced away. "You were on a mission."
"And then?"
"She just - asked how you were doing."
"What, exactly, did you say to my mother?"
She tugged at the hem of her sleeve. "Just that, um, you had been taking on a lot of assignments. That's it."
"I guess she came to her own conclusions," he said, softly.
"W-wait, then…you mean..." She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh no. I'm. I'm sorry."
"You didn't...do anything wrong." He paused. "And..."
Her fingers curled up near the bottom of her chin, then her hands sank back down to her chest. He lifted a hand and realized he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with it. It was the barest touch, a whisper along the fabric.
"I should be the one apologizing." He swallowed. "I'm sorry."
AN: Sorry for the wait. I'm bad at schedules.
-Val
