The right people will always bring out the best parts of you. They will bring out the sun and watch you bloom.
-R.M. Drake
For the first time in her life, Hinata woke up without the heavy burden that had always weighed down. Sighing softly, she felt a wave of laziness as she snuggled into her bed. After a few minutes, she groaned, getting up.
She yawned, stretching as she rubbed her eyes. Looking around, her gaze landed on the flower on her nightstand. On instinct, a smile took over her lips.
She suddenly felt the urge to jump around her room doing cartwheels and summersaults.
She didn't though.
Kurenai would have a heart attack.
The thought made her giggle. Humming softly, she went towards the bathroom, a noticeable skip in her step.
Quickly taking a bath, Hinata stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body.
She opened her wardrobe, her hands extending towards her usual attire.
However, she hesitated.
She wanted to change. But, that wasn't just it. She wanted others to notice the change in her too. So she could be someone more than the disgraced Hyuga Heiress, or Neji's younger cousin.
It was funny. She hadn't set foot in the Hyuga Compound ever since she was fourteen, and yet, her name was still associated with that clan. Hinata clenched her fists. If she wasn't going to be known as herself, than she was going to be known as Kurenai's daughter and her unborn child's elder sister.
Hinata concluded that she quite liked the sound of that. She'd failed as a sister before, with Hanabi. She didn't want that to happen again, didn't want to repeat her mistakes.
Making up her mind, she dug deep into her closet, pulling out clothes she had once been gifted by Ino. Beck then, she'd simply shoved them at the bottom of her closet, believing she would never have this courage to wear them.
Yet, here she was.
The clothes weren't anything special. They covered up good enough, which--considering who they were gifted from--was quite a feat.
The lavender top was sleeveless, with a high collar, and went all the way down to her thighs. It came along with a thick belt which she tied around her waist. The outfit was completed with shorts. However, her slender legs were completely on display. Biting her lips, Hinata substituted the shorts for a pair of black combat leggings. Finally, she put on her Ninja Sandles.
(Just imagine her standard outfit from The Last movie, only with leggings and normal ninja sandles.)
Experimentally, she walked around her room, realizing that her current outfit gave her more freedom of movement than her previous one.
Looking in the mirror, she once again admired the miraculous job Ino had done on her hair. Quickly brushing out the tangles, she made way down the stairs.
Her stomach grumbled when the delicious aroma of something sizzling hit her nose.
She sighed in content, her mouth watering at the thought of food. If there was something Kurenai was amazing at, it was cooking.
Stepping into the kitchen, Hinata took a deep breath.
"Good Morning."
Hearing her voice, Kurenai turned around, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
"Good Mor-"
She froze when her eyes landed on Hinata, eyebrows shooting up. She blinked once. Twice. Kurenai gave Hinata a once over as the latter fidgeted slightly.
Finally, Kurenai broke the silence.
"You look..." She paused, "Different."
Looking up at her, Hinata clasped her hands together.
"I feel different."
Biting her lips, Hinata met Kurenai's eyes, slightly hesitant.
"Is different okay?"
Then, Kurenai smiled.
"Different is amazing, Hina. You look absolutely beautiful."
A soft flush tainted Hinata's cheeks.
"I'm going to be an elder sister, right? So, I've decided to be one worth looking up to."
Kurenai blamed her tears on the hormones, her mind taking her to the thoughts of the potential family she had lost.
Oh, Asuma...
Gliding forward, she wrapped her arms around Hinata, eyes clenched shut to stop her tears from spilling over.
"You've kept me alive, you know." Hinata's eyes widened, her blood running cold at her words.
What?
Kurenai's arms tightened around her.
"After Asuma, you and this baby, kept me alive."
Hinata felt a shiver roll of her spine at the revelation. To think that her comfort had been so important, that Kurenai only survived because of her.
She gasped sharply grasping at Kurenai, her fingers digging into her.
"I'm here. I'm here. I'll always be here."
It was the perfect moment, one of the rare ones they got these days, when they could simply bask in each others comfort and strength.
Then, they smelled smoke.
Hinata could sense him. Still in the village, she could feel his presence in the nearby forest.
He'd cloaked his Chakra signature as always, and yet, this time she could sense him.
Making way towards the forest, Hinata exhaled, pushing away the thoughts of the house that had almost burned. It had been terrifying, and comical--if Kurenai, red-faced and wide-eyes, screaming at her to find water counted as funny.
Instead, Hinata started formulating a plan.
At a distance, crimson eyes narrowed challengingly. Itachi smirked, when he felt Hinata's presence go in two opposite directions.
Closing his eyes, he contemplated.
Now, which one to follow.
However, it seemed he didn't need to, when he felt both return to their point of separation.
Raising his eyebrows, he glanced over his shoulder, where he could feel her presence. In the darkness of the trees, he could see the outline of a figure crouched on a branch.
Straightening up from the branch he had been resting on, he himself tensed you, waiting for an attack.
A single kunai came at him, an explosion tag in its wake.
He leaped away, his eyes set on the woman who had attacked him. In response, he saw her figure bound off deeper into the forest.
Not hesitating for even a second, he went after her.
He could already feel it. The adrenaline pumping in his veins, making him aware of the slightest changes in his surroundings.
He heard the sound of rustling. taking out a kunai, he went in for an attack. She dodged, moving away just in time as his kunai sliced air.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a kunai come at him. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to make contact. Pulling her forward, her placed a hand in the back of her neck, pinning her to a tree.
Before he could voice his victory, he heard a click.
Acting on instinct, he let go of her. Instead, placing his foot next to hers, he pivoted, smoothly reversing their positions.
No sooner had he done that, he felt her gasp as the trap she had set up activated, the ropes wrapping around one of her legs as she was pulled up.
Itachi jumped to closest branch, sitting down gracefully as he watched her hang upside down in front of him.
She groaned.
He smirked.
"Do you know what kind of Shinobi are the worst?"
She blinked in surprise at his question.
She didn't answer. Instead, she breathed out a laugh.
"Giving fighting advice to an enemy? What if I decide to use it against you?"
Her breathy tone sent his mind to a different place all together, amidst sweaty bodies, and tangled sheets.
The thought made his stomach flip, his gut twisting with excitement.
And only now, he took real notice of her change in attire. His heart skipped it's next few beats, eyes trailing down the graceful arch of her neck, which was now fully revealed due to her short hair.
He remembered the night he had traced a finger down that very neck, against her soft skin. His mind conjured up the image, however, this time he imagined his lips replacing his finger.
Just what was this power she had over him?
He forcibly pushed the thoughts out of his mind, trying to focus on what she was saying.
Shifting his mind on the woman in front of him, he blinked, realizing that she had stopped talking. Instead, her eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes analysing him closely.
"You know, you sure get distracted easily."
Only when I'm with you, His mind supplied helpfully.
Thankfully, his mouth listened when he told it to remain shut.
Suddenly, his eyes caught movement. Only now he realized that she had somehow unwound the rope from around her leg.
In a moment that was too quick to be registered, she had flipped herself over. She had slipped her leg out of the knot she had made, but her foot was still halfway in, holding her up.
The next second, he felt the rope encircle his neck as he was slammed against the tree, his back digging into the bark.
He barely registered the pain. He was too busy trying to deal with the sudden intrusion of his personal space.
His whole body tensed up, the scent of cinnamon assaulting his nose. She was practically sitting on his lap, on of her legs placed between the both of his, the other pressed up against his side. Her hands were placed on either side of his neck, holding the rope.
Not wanting to arouse any suspicious, Itachi had changed his attire too. He was wearing normal training attire; combat pants and shirt with the usual ninja sandles. He was donning a plain black cloak, his Headband gone.
He'd thought it a good idea to substitute his Akatsuki attire for a normal one. And everything was going fine.
Then, he felt Hinata slowly slowly slide her leg up, assuming to get more comfortable in her position.
The skin of her ankles brushed against his. He hissed sharply, trying to keep still as shocks jolted up his leg.
It almost made him regret changing hais attire. Almost.
It was complicated.
Swallowing thickly, he looked up meeting her eyes. He could feel his face warm, as he tried to keep his blank mask on because-
Uchiha Itachi did not blush. He did not. Regardless of the situation.
Soon, however, he realized that it was futile to act apathetic, when his whole body was on fire, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap an arm around her and slam her against him because-
Holy fucking gods, she was close.
But it was the look in her eyes that made his throat go dry. They were wide, shining bright with accomplishment and her face was practically glowing.
In other circumstances, he would have accepted defeat. But, suddenly, she remembered the penalty he had set.
"Capture me and I will answer your question."
Then, he remembered her question,
"Why won't you kill me?"
It suddenly occured to Itachi that he wasn't ready to answer that question, wasn't ready to voice his attraction out loud.
He had thought himself to be unafraid, after everything that had happened to him. He was now proven wrong.
He was afraid. Of rejection, of all things
Attraction. It was a monster he never thought he would have to bow to. And, yet, here he was.
Mentally shaking his head, he blinked, coming back the reality. He took a barely audible breath.
"You haven't answered my question yet."
His voice wavered slightly.
She furrowed her her eyebrows in response.
"What kind of Shinobi are the worst?"
This time, he didn't wait for her response.
"Those who get defeated by their own Jutsus."
She blinked, confused.
"What are you talking about?"
He smirked slightly at her cluelessness.
"Everytime you make a poison, you make its antidote too."
Hearing his voice was soothing, the kind that put its listener in a daze. He had the kind of voice that could be heard clearly over anything. Like rain.
Hinata listened, drawn.
"Which means, that everytime you come up with an attack, you think of its counter too." He said, answering her earlier question.
Before she could even blink, he had effortlessly flipped them over, her rope now wrapped around her own neck.
Itachi tried to ignore how tempting--no, welcoming--she looked beneath him, that spot on her neck, which was just begging to be marked.
"Then, you think of a counter to that counter, so that if an enemy uses your moves against you, you would know what to do."
There was a firmness to his words, a calmness to them that she hadn't noticed before.
"That is what it means to think ahead of your opponent, and it decides the outcome of the battle even before the fighting has begun."
Hinata looked at him in wonder, her eyes wide as she memorized everything he'd just said, her lips slightly parted in awe.
His eyes which had been analysing the surrounding, suddenly turned to her. Her breath caught in her throat, as butterflies erupted in her stomach, her heart pounding in her chest.
His eyes were intense, smouldering, an unreadable look in them. For some reason, Hinata felt her face flush slightly.
He leaned forward, pitching his voice lower.
"You have twenty seconds to think of a way out."
In contrast to before, his voice, this time, seemed clouded with an edge of...of something to it.
Tearing her eyes away from him, she exhaled shakily, feeling an odd shiver roll off her spine.
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes, trying to think of a plan.
After a moment, she opened her eyes, and whispered out a single word,
"Rotation."
*Running away frantically from the mob of readers, carrying pitchforks and swords*
IM SORRY, IM SORRY!!! PLEASE DONT KILL ME!!!
Like I said in the last cliffhanger..
...
...
...
...I could help myself.
...
...
...Please don't kill me.
I promise the next chapter will make up for it.
Talking about this one, how was it? Any thoughts?
Poor Itachi, loosing his mind over our Byakugan Princess. And Hinata is oblivious as ever.
*shakes head*
BUT, that is going to change sooonn.
...I wasn't supposed to tell you all that...
Either way, guesses on what would happen next?
Gotta wait to find out!!
Until then, ENJOY!!
-Your sinfully-devilish-author.
