Rumours and Assets
The rumors at Konoha Gakuen High have been confirmed and Itachi Uchiha is indeed pursuing the new Hyuuga girl. And for the sake of defeating him, Sasuke wants to win her affections first. With his good looks and "too cool for you attitude", it couldn't be too hard, right?
A/N: OH MY GOODNESS! I apologise for all the horrible errors I made in the last chapter! D: This chapter, I'll try to proofread better, I'm so sorry! (The other one was too long and I have a minute attention span. XD) And school's starting this week... NOOO! :( Onto chapter three! (sorry, it's shorter than the second chapter, I was beginning to suffer from writer's block already... XD Hope you enjoy the Akatsuki interaction in here though, it's been written for a while now. :) )
...
It had almost become a daily routine now. Hinata would wake up early, pack her lunch-ensuring she cut up some fresh tomatoes and place the slices in her lunchbox-, arrive at school early and head to her locker to find Sasuke already at his. It seemed that everyday for the past week she had disregarded his warning to not greet him and would each day walk up to her locker, a nervous smile on her face as she would say "Good morning" to him, despite the fact that he hated mornings and thought darkly how it shouldn't be referred to as "good" at all. Most of the time, he would shoot a murderous glare at her and it was those days that Hinata knew something had occurred at his home concerning his brother that had put him in a foul mood.
It had been an entire week of this same routine and sitting with the Akatsuki at lunchtimes that Hinata began to wonder if she was slowly getting used to it. That idea of course, flew out the window when Hidan proposed that he sacrifice her at the end of the month. Two and a half weeks to live seemed very bleak in Hinata's mind. Luckily for her, Tobi was an insanely protective "owner" and refused Hidan's proposal, insisting that she was too precious to sacrifice which aggravated Hidan into throwing chopsticks at the eye-hole in Tobi's mask.
"Pet-chan! They're being cruel to me, their leader!" Tobi sobbed, hugging Hinata's head to his chest and stroking it to comfort himself.
No, Hinata thought dully to herself, I'll never get used to this.
Although Hinata found that she could "get along" (for lack of a better word) with Itachi, Kisame, Deidara and Tobi, there were still the six other Akatsuki members that she needed to work on. Not that she really wanted to get too close to two particular members as: 1. Hidan would mostly likely sacrifice her at the first opportunity he could get, and 2. Zetsu who hadn't stopped eyeing her like she were something edible would most likely eat her if she willingly approached him. She shuddered at those thoughts every time.
Overall, it had been an exhausting first week at school and Hinata stretched her aching and cramped muscles, hoping to relieve them as she sat in her usual spot on the roof at recess on a Friday morning. She gazed up at the bright azure sky, watching the white clouds drift by and sighed contentedly. She would finally be free of this for two days straight, time for relaxation and recovery from her first stress-filled week of school.
Oh, how she loved the weekend.
...
"H-how did you find out where I l-lived?" Hinata asked, eyes wide as she stood in her pajamas at her front door, a deep blush evident on her face.
It was a Saturday morning, 7 am to be precise and Hinata had only just gotten up to make herself some breakfast when there was a knock on the door. Believing it to probably be a family member such as her cousin Neji, she had naively walked up and answered it, whilst still dressed in her sleeping clothes. As soon as she had opened the door up to the Akatsuki however, her expression was of one that resembled a deer caught in headlights. Deidara and Kisame had burst out laughing at her appearance and Hinata was thankful that she had thought to brush her hair.
"Come on," began Pein, a smirk on his face as if he too were tempted to laugh, "you're seriously going to ask us that question? We're the Akatsuki and Konan knows everything," he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the blue-haired information collector of their group.
Too numb to reply, Hinata held onto the doorframe for support, unsure of what to do or say next besides wishing she could magically disappear.
"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!" Deidara was tempted to roll about on the floor as he laughed uncontrollably. "A love-heart covered pajama! AHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Blushing a million shades darker than usual, Hinata stared down at her fluffy pink slippers, too embarrassed to move or utter a single word except attempt to slam her door shut. It was rude of course, but she had no idea of how to escape the shame besides fainting and she didn't want Deidara or Kisame to die laughing on her account.
A hand stopped the door from closing and Tobi's masked head peered around the door. "Aww, don't worry Pet-chan. Don't listen to those buffoons out there. If you have any concerns, please, leap into my arms and sob to your heart's content!" Tobi proclaimed, throwing the door open and opening his arms wide expectantly to Hinata who was still too numb and ashamed to move.
"Don't be an idiot, Tobi, you sound like a fucking perve!" Hidan said as he walked into the living room, his eyes roaming over the neat house.
One by one, the Akatsuki walked in, looking around the small house, an awkward silence falling over the group and Hinata suddenly wished she had fainted.
Her living room was rather modest and neat, reflecting the rest of her house. A comfortable yet affordable sofa, a bookshelf of loved novels, a small TV, a stereo which Hinata treasured when she was alone and able to dance freely, a telephone handset that hung on the wall and three photo frames, one of a young lady, another of her father and younger sister Hanabi and the other of her two closest childhood friends, Shino and Kiba. Nothing too flashy or pricey. Just a plain house.
"It's... small..." Sasori commented, breaking the silence.
"O-oh, um, yes..." Hinata agreed, feeling the need to explain. "It j-just wouldn't be n-necessary." She gulped and gathered her courage. "W-would y-you all like some t-tea?" she asked nervously.
"Erm..." Tobi began, staring at the small TV and measuring it with his hands, "...sure, why not?"
Relieved that she had something to do and no longer needed to be in their presence, Hinata made her way into the kitchen that was the room next to the living room. She left the door open behind her as she opened up a cupboard to take out the necessary number of cups, in case they asked her for anything.
"What do you mean it wouldn't be necessary?" Itachi asked as he examined the photographs indifferently.
"Oh, I live alone," Hinata replied, more confident now that she didn't have to face them.
The piece of information surprised the Akatsuki members.
"Then how do you make money to support yourself? You're only 15, you couldn't possibly earn enough to make a living," Kakuzu asked, the one member who was more intrigued with money and how it was handled than anyone else in the Akatsuki.
Hinata began to place a bit of tea in each cup, a soft smile on her face. "My father sends me money each month. He actually sends me more than I need so I end up saving most of it up. But now that I'm attending Konoha Gakuen High, I've been using it to pay my school fees," she explained, beginning to pour hot water into each cup.
There was silence from the living room as each member digested this new piece of information and by this time, Hinata had placed all the cups onto a tray and was bringing it into the living room.
"Who's this lady?" Konan inquired about the photograph of the young lady. The blue-haired member was of course a person who disliked not knowing things, this had become apparent to Hinata during the time she had gotten to know each member.
A soft yet sad smile appeared on Hinata's face. "It's my mother."
"Your mother? She's too hot to be that old!" Hidan exclaimed as he peered at the picture on the shelf alongside Konan.
A small laugh escaped Hinata's mouth. "Do you think so?"
"Hell yes, I know so!"
"You're talking about someone's mother here, Hidan," Pein said as he sat down on the sofa, accepting the cup Hinata offered.
"No shit, piss-brain," Hidan retorted, taking a tea cup from the tray Hinata held.
Pein's eyes narrowed. "Don't make me remind you how empty your head is right now by kicking it around a bit."
"Now, now!" Tobi said before his nose disappeared into his tea cup as he drank generously from it. He let out a satisfied "ahh" before continuing. "I strictly prohibit any fighting from occurring in my beloved Pet-chan's house."
Hidan grumbled a few choice swear words into his tea cup and Pein relaxed back onto the sofa.
"So, your parents allow you to live on your own?" Deidara asked as Hinata walked past, heading for the kitchen to put the tray away.
"My f-father sort of encouraged it..." Hinata answered slowly as she walked into the kitchen, placing the tray on the bench before returning to the living room.
Deidara nodded slowly, taking a sip from his cup. "Hn, and what about your mother? Did she agree?"
"My mother's dead."
Deidara swallowed his tea hard and nearly choked and dropped his cup. It was another shocking piece of information for the Akatsuki.
Tobi sniffed audibly, placing his cup down on top of the TV before walking over to Hinata and embracing her (or more like embracing her head), his hand stroking her head in an attempt to console her. "Feel free to weep into my chest, Pet-chan!" His voice shook as if he really were about to bawl.
The rest of the Akatsuki studied Hinata's face as if expecting her to fall apart before them. Instead, a smile lit Hinata's face.
"Don't worry, Tobi-senpai," she said reassuringly, reaching up to pat his arm. "She died when I was young so I don't really remember her... but..." Hinata paused in thought before pulling back a bit from Tobi's hold to look up at him, beaming, "b-but father says I look exactly like her!" And that makes me happy, Hinata added silently in her head. That a part of her father looked at her not as a burden but lovingly, like how he might have looked at her mother was something that Hinata was glad about.
As if a thought suddenly struck her, Hinata dashed away to the kitchen. "H-have you all had something f-for breakfast? Aie! I'm such a h-horrible host! I'll f-fix something right away!"
She was preparing to make some rice balls when Hidan entered the kitchen. She turned to him with wide eyes, surprised that he was now standing beside her, observing her cooking.
His eyes narrowed and turned to her. "Don't fucking get any funny ideas."
Even if she had gotten to know him a bit better, it didn't mean she was any less scared or intimidated by him. For all she knew, he had only entered the kitchen with bad intentions-such as sacrificing her then and there. She gulped audibly at that thought, wishing her hands wouldn't tremble as she began to shape some rice into a ball.
"Well, you fucking live on your own, so shit, I wonder, are you able to fucking defend yourself?"
"Eh?" was Hinata's reply as she stared at Hidan. Was that all he wanted? She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the kitchen door to see that all of the Akatsuki where gathered around the opening, watching. Did they see her to be an easy target of a criminal who would break into her house? "U-Uhm..." Her nerves were getting the better of her, so she placed the rice down onto the plate, unable to continue with her hands shaking this much. Long ago, she had decided that she would change for the better. She didn't want people to continue to see her as a frail and easy target. "I-if you must H-Hidan-senpai... a-attack me, but... I-I don't want to h-hurt you..." she said as she walked to the centre of the kitchen, her back facing the senior. With all the Akatsuki watching her carefully she stood still and waited.
Although she had been expecting it, it still surprised her when Hidan's arms wrapped around her neck roughly, his hold threateningly tight, almost as if he intended to close off her air passageway completely. His arms were powerful around her throat, and for a short moment, she struggled to breathe.
"What do you do now?" he asked, never loosening his hold.
Instinctively, as if she were used to such attacks, Hinata grabbed hold of the arms around her throat before pounding her foot hard on the floor, tipping forward as she did so and using her own strength and whatever weight she had to throw her attacker, face-first into the floor.
There were a few sounds of awe from her Akatsuki audience.
Kisame snickered. "You got done in by a girl smaller than you Hidan."
Hidan sat up, rubbing his nose and checking whether it was still intact. "Shit, I did."
"Prepare yourself for another assault, Hinata-chan!" Deidara announced to Hinata's back as he charged forward into the kitchen.
Hinata waited for his approach, ready for whatever way he attacked her; Neji had taught her how to defend herself after all. Yet, she still wasn't expecting Deidara's peculiar way of attacking.
There was warm heavy air being breathed down her neck and Hinata jumped in fright, shivers running down her spine as she intended to get away however, her forearms were caught and she was pulled back, shivering uncontrollably as more warm air was breathed down her neck.
Deidara laughed evilly. "I have you Hinata-chan, hn! I call this my special Stalker Art Attack!" he cried triumphantly.
There were a few mutterings of 'idiot' from the kitchen doorway.
"Deidara, you idiot, that's not art at all," Sasori grimaced, wondering once more how on earth the blonde-head had made it through all their years of art class.
"Nng!" Hinata cried, frantically trying to rip her arms away from Deidara. Although his attack was successful, it was immensely freaky and she couldn't deny that the name suited the attack well. It scared her that a possible attacker in the future could hold her in this same position, breathing sadistically down her neck...
In a sudden moment of intense fear and revulsion, Hinata used her feet to kick against the kitchen bench in front of her and repeated this until she was able to climb up it, wincing yet ignoring the pain that screamed from her forearms as she twisted and seemed to fly above the shocked Deidara, right over his head and landing in a not too comfortable position behind him. In her rash action, she had hit her kitchen light, yet she ignored the glass shards that now lay scattered on the floor, one protruding from a weeping wound in her left leg and was solely focused on her attacker now. The fear had completely overcome her and Hinata brought up her uninjured leg and kicked it with incredible force against her enemy's back, forcing him to relinquish his hold and fall forward onto the kitchen bench with a cry.
Adrenaline pumped in Hinata's veins and there was a wild look in her eyes as she prepared to launch herself for another attack.
She couldn't let anyone get the better of her; she wasn't going to allow someone to take advantage of her weakness.
She was going to tear her enemy apart.
As she jumped forward an arm caught her from around her waist, the swiftest of the Akatsuki group was as usual, the fastest to act. "Stop," his soft voice ordered, pulling her slightly towards him, restraining her movements.
The familiarity of his voice brought Hinata back and she looked up into deep pools of darkness; his eyes were vacant of emotion. What was he thinking? Suddenly, heat rose into her face when she realised how close she was to him. She wriggled about in his grasp, trying to escape yet found his hold tightened with each attempt.
"Shit! She really hit me then!" came Deidara's surprised voice as he pushed himself up off the kitchen bench.
"I would hit you too if you breathed down my neck like that," Pein snorted before turning to the flustered Hinata. "That was an impressive display. There may be no need to sacrifice her yet, Hidan, she could be of use to us, perhaps."
Hinata stiffened and turned her head in Pein's direction, horror written all over her face. She may be a pet and toy to the Akatsuki, but now they were going to use her for something else too? Her life was already doomed to be the next sacrifice for Hidan and her body doomed to be eaten by Zetsu and now this?
Zetsu grunted, as if having the same train of thought. "I don't like that idea, I say you just sacrifice her already Hidan," he said, glancing down at Hinata's leg at the blood seeping out of the fresh wound.
"NNNEEVVVEERR!" cried Tobi, jumping in front of Hinata and Itachi and throwing his arms open like a shield. "You must take me first before you take my beloved!" he announced, placing his hands on his chest dramatically.
"IDIOT!" Deidara yelled, throwing a plastic bowl at the Akatsuki leader's head.
Tobi sniffed. "But... I've always wanted to say something like that..." he turned around to Hinata and she could almost see the puppy eyes behind his mask. "Didn't you think I was cool Pet-chan?"
Knowing she should just agree, Hinata nodded mutely in response, bracing herself for the hug attack on her head that she knew would ensue from her agreement. However, as Tobi leaned forward to wrap his arms around her head, he paused and glanced up at Itachi, cocking his head to the side in thought.
"You don't have to hold onto her anymore Itachi, I'm sure she's cooled down now," Tobi said in a strangely quiet voice that surprised Hinata. She had never heard this different tone in his voice and she couldn't quite put a finger and what the tone sounded like.
Itachi remained silent, observing Tobi and never relinquishing his hold on the young Hyuuga. "You must be enjoying yourself, Madara," Itachi said in an equally quiet voice and a shiver zipped down Hinata's spine when she recognised the tone in both of the Akatsuki member's voices. It was unmistakable in Itachi's voice, a cold threatening tone, the tone that would frighten Hinata into thinking she would have her head chomped off or that another battle would break out before her. More concerned over the threatening tones in their voices, she almost didn't realise the name that Itachi had called Tobi.
There was silence and Hinata realised that even the Akatsuki members knew something was happening even if the words exchanged between the two before them were too quiet for their ears. The silence was broken when Tobi squatted and studied the wound on Hinata's leg, sobbing in a whiny voice, "Oh, poor Pet-chan! She's hurt so severely! Quick, someone call the hospital! She must be in immense pain!" He hugged Hinata's uninjured leg and made sobbing noises as he pressed his masked face against it. Hinata wanted to blush herself into flames, it was too embarrassing.
"TOBI, YOU FUCKING PERVE!" yelled Hidan, pulling at the leader's collar and attempting to wrench him away, failing as Tobi continued to cling to Hinata's leg, sobbing. "THAT'S FUCKING UNFAIR!"
"Unfair?" Pein repeated, staring at Hidan. "The only pervert here is you then."
"SHUT THE HELL UP! I'M FUCKING PROUD TO BE ONE!"
Deidara palmed his face. "I'm surrounded by idiots," he grumbled before directing his gaze to the Uchiha. "In any case, you have to get that glass out of her leg, clean the wound and wrap up her leg."
"Oh, let me do it!" Zetsu piped up, excited at the prospect of "cleaning" the wound. Hinata wondered if he would bite her leg off instead of cleaning it.
"No, you're not allowed near her!" Tobi cried. "I will defend my beautiful Pet-chan to the end!" he said as he fisted his right hand in determination, allowing Hidan to finally rip him away from Hinata's leg, causing Hinata to shift forward slightly, wincing as pain shot up her leg.
In one fluid motion, Itachi swept her up into his arms and carried her out of the kitchen. "Where is the bathroom?" he asked in a bored tone, glancing about the living room as he walked.
Hinata's cheeks were burning and she feared that someone may mistake it for a fever if she didn't stop. "T-to th-the l-left," she said in a weaker voice than she intended.
Nodding, Itachi turned to the first door to the left and Hinata was surprised to see Kisame had followed them and was opening the bathroom door for them with a grin. "Well, you have quite a wound there Hyuuga," he said, still grinning as if the wound in Hinata's leg were highly amusing.
Noting that the room were too small for more than two people to enter, Itachi glanced over his shoulder at Kisame and the blue-haired senior remained outside, understanding. Itachi lowered the toilet lid over the bowl with his foot, closing off the hole before sitting Hinata on top of the lid and turning to the bathroom drawers, pulling out the first aid kit that he found in the second drawer. He turned back to the red-faced Hyuuga and knelt, lifting her injured leg slightly for examination. Grabbing scissors, he brought it to her pajama pant leg and proceeded to cut it at the knee, Hinata crying out in protest.
"D-don't c-cut i-!"
Itachi shot a glare at Hinata who swallowed the rest of her words and returned his attention to his cutting. "It's in the way," he explained curtly, snipping off the last piece of hanging fabric and cutting it straight down. He carefully pulled the material away, Hinata wincing as the fabric brushed roughly against the shard, rocking it in the wound. He glanced up at Hinata's face, her bottom lip bitten down, and looked back down at the bleeding wound before him, gripping the shard firmly in his hand-yet not firmly enough to cut himself. He studied how deep the shard had gone and noted that it was lodged more deeper into her leg than he originally thought.
Realising his intention, Hinata's eyes widened. "Pl-please... no..." she whimpered, wishing she could shrink away from him. Knowing he wouldn't listen, she scrunched up her face and prepared herself for the pain she knew was coming.
Itachi calmly yanked the shard out of her leg and she doubled over with pain, her hands grabbing his shoulders to prevent herself from falling forward and clutching them tightly, screaming briefly in agony before biting down on her bottom lip to push the rest of the screams back, her lip bleeding from how hard she had bit it. She gasped for air and remained in her bent over position for a few seconds, Itachi, surprisingly, remaining still as he waited for her breathing to return to normal.
"Are you finished?" he asked apathetically, reaching up and grabbing her wrists, pulling her hands away from his shoulders. He studied her exhausted face wordlessly as she began to breathe more easily, his hands still holding her wrists.
She nodded and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain and rush of blood down her leg, not wanting to cause the Uchiha irritation. Without warning, she felt him release her wrists and stinging pain in her leg as a cool liquid was dabbed into it. She bit down a groan, knowing the senior was putting on some antiseptic to ensure the wound was clean before wrapping a bandage on it.
"What's happening? What's happening?" called Tobi's unmistakable voice as he struggled to catch a glimpse around the Akatsuki's who had attempted to squeeze into the doorway to watch. "My poor beloved Pet-chan, hang in there!" he wept in the background and Hinata braved a weak smile.
"I-I'm... o-okay," she tried to sound reassuring, but doubted that she sounded anything but unconvincing. "U-Uchiha-s-senpai is being v-very gentle," she lied, though was well aware that the Uchiha was most likely holding back when he had ripped the shard from her wound.
She felt clean fabric encircle her leg as Itachi wrapped the bandage carefully around her wound, his face impassive as ever as he listened to the exchange of words.
Knowing that a show of gratitude was in order—she had been raised to be well-manned after all—, Hinata clasped her hands together and smiled down at him, although his gaze was still lowered and focused on the work at hand. "Thank you." She felt proud that she hadn't stammered when she had said it and that she hadn't looked away when Itachi raised his impassive gaze to her smiling face.
Itachi lowered his gaze once more to the bandage before him, continuing the wrapping of her wound. Finished, he stood up and did something strange by placing his hand on top of her head. There was silence as Hinata stared at him, waiting for him to say something but he simply pulled his hand back and turned away leaving her to wonder what he had wanted to say if it were anything at all.
...
Hinata woke up on the Sunday morning, stretching as she yawned widely. After Itachi had finished wrapping up her wound, he had suggested that it be best that they leave and the Akatsuki had agreed, dragging out a weeping Tobi who vowed he would return to visit his "beloved Pet-chan" later. Thankfully he hadn't, and Hinata had a good night's rest.
Swinging her legs over the edge of her bed, she winced at the slight pain in her leg as she did so but smiled all the same and got out of bed, limping her way to the bathroom. In actuality, Hinata didn't mind living alone most of the time as she could dance around freely without anyone watching and could do other silly things that were normally ill-mannered to do when living with others, such as walk around in her towel after having a shower, or singing as loudly as she could to her favourite songs playing on the radio. Hinata loved the freedom that came with living alone. That, and the fact that she had more privacy. Well, without the Akatsuki that was.
She replaced the toothbrush into the cup on the side of the sink and ran a comb through her hair, humming to herself softly. It was a pleasant sunny day, she could tell from the sunlight that streamed into her bathroom window generously. The tiled bathroom floor had been scrubbed vigourously when the Akatsuki had left in the area where her blood had gushed onto and now smelled of squeaky clean eucalyptus floor cleaner, a scent that Hinata loved.
Hobbling into the kitchen, Hinata opened her fridge to examine what she could eat for breakfast. She sighed dejectedly, noticing that her fridge was unusually bare and that she would have to head to the grocery store to purchase some breakfast and food for the upcoming school week. The fridge snapped shut as she closed it and she hobbled back to her room to change for her outing. She grimaced as she pulled on some pants, the rough material rubbing against her bandage. She would have to make sure to check in at her family doctor's clinic before venturing to the shops.
...
Pushing open the clinic's door, Hinata sighed in relief and allowed it to swing close behind her. It had been awkward walking up to the clinic that was a few streets down from her house. Usually it would be a pleasant walk on a day such as this but her leg had been bothering her as she limped down the pathway to the clinic. She hobbled to the counter, asking to see the Hyuuga doctor who the receptionist said was currently seeing another patient and that she would have to wait and then headed to the closest seat and relaxed into it, stretching out her uninjured leg which she had strained to get there. She could almost close her eyes and relax completely if she didn't feel like she were being watched. Raising her head, she looked about the room and her search ended on dark, charcoal-coloured eyes, seated two chairs away from her. She gulped and looked away, hoping he would stop staring at her and wondered why he was here at her family doctor's clinic. But being the well-mannered child she was, Hinata turned back and bowed the upper-half of her body in acknowledgement.
"G-good morning, U-Uchiha-san." She had not been expecting to see Sasuke Uchiha on this bright, sunny Sunday morning, sitting near her, staring coldly.
"Hmph." He looked away from her and stared ahead, cheek on his closed hand in boredom.
Hinata stared at her hands nervously, hating the silence that was always around whenever she saw the moody Uchiha. She could deal with him at school as she only saw him twice in an entire school day but here, outside of school seemed more intimidating and personal and Hinata found herself wishing she had not come to check in to Dr. Hyuuga's at all.
An incoherent sound issued from the Uchiha's throat; it was a toss between a growl and an irritated sigh, Hinata couldn't make up her mind on which, however, it was not at all welcoming. "Why are you here?" he asked roughly, not turning to her as he spoke.
"U-uh... I h-hurt my leg yesterday..." she stared down at the floor near her feet. Why was it so difficult to hold a conversation with him?
Sasuke glanced sideways down at her legs which were hidden under her loose-fitting pants. The kind of clothing one would wear around a house or with places they felt familiar with. He looked away and silence fell upon them again and Sasuke chose to ignore her. If she has nothing else to say, than neither do I.
"U-um..." she began, wishing the awkward silence would go away. "Wh-what brings you h-here?"
"My stupid brother has eye problems," Sasuke explained, unconcerned as he flicked off a piece of fluff on his armchair. "We've been here a few times before and Dr. Hyuuga has prescribed him some glasses but he refuses to wear them, the idiot."
"Ah, o-okay," Hinata said as they both settled back into silence. She wondered how Itachi could have such bad eyesight if he could handle it easily from she had seen.
A door clicked open and both Hinata and Sasuke looked up to see Itachi and Dr. Hyuuga exit from the room.
"Hinata!" the Hyuuga called in surprise, quickly making his way over to her. "Are you unwell?" he asked, placing a hand on her forehead to test her temperature.
Hinata shook her head, smiling nervously. "N-no, I just hurt my leg, that's all."
"Sasuke, we're leaving," Itachi's smooth voice commanded and Sasuke stood from his seat, glaring at his older brother.
"Ahh! I-I will see you t-tomorrow at school!" Hinata called as the two Uchiha brothers walked past on their way to the exit. A unison "hmph" was all Hinata received before Sasuke shot another glare at his brother for having responded the same way he had.
"Where're your glasses?" he snapped as Itachi pushed open the clinic door, ignoring him. "You know you're supposed to wear them, idiot!" The clinic door slammed shut behind them.
A clock ticked loudly in the background, resounding easily through out the room because of the silence. "U-uh... Uchiha-senpai... wears glasses...?" Hinata asked, turning to the doctor, not knowing how else to ask for more information on the subject.
...
"What is this?" Itachi asked Hinata pointedly, holding up a bright red tomato in his hand, turning it around to examine.
It was recess time on a Monday morning and Itachi had pulled out the tomato from his bag and had been examining it for the past five minutes.
The chopsticks hovered near Hinata's mouth and she placed it back down into her lunchbox, staring at the red fruit held up by the Uchiha. "It's a tomato," she answered, tilting her head slightly, wondering whether it had been a trick question.
Itachi blinked and continued to stare at the tomato, brows drawn together in thoughtful consideration. "All of the previous week," he began softly, still staring at the red fruit, "I had been taking Sasuke's tomato and mistaking it for an apple. I had wondered why it tasted suspiciously unlike an apple."
Hinata didn't want to laugh at his expense. Knowing the Akatsuki like she did, he very well may kill her as she took in a breath to laugh. She couldn't help but smile though at the mistake the senior before her had made. He really did need his glasses but for some reason was too stubborn to wear them.
"Do you like tomatoes?" he asked unexpectedly, turning to her and holding the tomato out to her, his face blank of emotion as usual.
"Yes, I do!" Hinata answered smilingly, accepting the fruit he offered to her and bringing it to her mouth. She paused and stared at it thoughtfully.
"What is it?"
Hinata continued to smile and using her chopsticks she pushed aside some of her lunch in her lunchbox to make some room before placing the tomato delicately amongst her food. "I'll save it," she said gently, thinking of a particular moody Uchiha before continuing her lunch.
...
End of Chapter 3.
A/N: Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews! This is the first time I've updated a story twice in one week! You guys are awesome! :3 Argh! I'm sorry it was shorter than the last chapter and it was a bit cheap but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway. Next chapter, I'll make sure it's better! D: Yes, I'm working hard to build up the people's relationships with one another, slow and mature love is the key (at least in my opinion. Rushed love is unrealistic to me… D:)! Please hold out a little longer for the fluff! D: So please leave a review and tell me what you think!