More than just a "Thank you"
She lent almost cautiously against the large red gate of the villages entrance, almost as though she feared the added weight of her small body would strain the hinges of the great oak wood doors.
Her fingers tightened protectively about the cloth of the small package in her hands, gaze cast to the ground as her mind wandered behind glazed lavender eyes.
She didn't register the soft footfall on the grassless path, didn't realise he had arrived until his sandals grazed the edge of her view.
"Is it okay… to end it like this?" Her gaze refused to stray from his feet, but she could easily guess his expression.
Stoic, every situation was met, with such a face, detached, uninterested, bored even.
"Are you really fine leaving all this behind. Your team, your friends. All that you've worked towards all that you achieved-"
"What have I achieved Hyuuga-san" He breathed, his voice heavy with curiosity, invisible fingers draw her face up to see his.
"I'm curious as to what you have been thinking. You who has never spoken more than two words to me in our entre lives. You who has never seen me beyond the loving gaze directed at the dobe."
Her gaze narrowed on him slightly, her heart not completely objectant (my word) to his words, therefore not at liberty to admonish him entirely.
However…
"I did see you." She breathed, and her gaze left his, settling on the line of trees behind him in order to keep her nerve.
"I saw you, and admired you in the same way I saw Naruto. You… loved by all knew your goal, whereas I… hated by my own family even, could only follow the goal they have set for me. Even now, I am bound by them."
He snorted with duress, a flicker of contempt glistening in his eyes at her words.
"Admired my goal to kill my brother."
"I did not say I knew your goal, only that I admired you for having one."
Silence enshrouded the two as they stood together, the chill breeze picking up about them as if to ease the growing tension. Time was running out for him.
"Is that it? Or will you tug on my heart strings a moment longer?" His words were spat with impatience and contempt.
She suppressed a sombre smirk.
"Always too eager, Saskue-kun. What can you not learn from the elders about you? What can you not learn here that your brother forfeited?"
"You are not like me. You're family was not torn away from you."
"Yes they were. Maybe not physically, but emotionally. I am merely a ghost who graces their halls, seen yet not heard. If I died, they would go on the same. I have no one but myself"
He was silent, watching her with veiled curiosity, dark orbs flickering over her facial expression which had not altered once, even as she spoke of her own inadequacy. He never knew the lavender eyed lily held such a poker face.
"Neji, He tried to kill you."
A small smile graced her lips, her gaze met his once more, this time of her own volition.
"Hai… He was praised, whereas I was once more admonished for being weak. I seek power just as much as you Uchiha-san, only I do not steal myself away in the middle of the night. I will strive to find my own strength."
"Ah." He chided. "But I am on a timeline, one you have lowered significantly with meaningless words. If I do not kill him, someone else will. I will not lose my revenge to anyone."
He made to pass her, but a small tug on the hem of his shirt caused him to pause.
"Why do you try so hard Hyuuga. What will my stay benefit with you."
Her grip faltered, the material falling through slender fingers. He continued on.
"I don't want to see Sakura cry… I don't want Naruto to hate himself… I don't want-"
"Naruto. I should have known. A world that revolves around that fool must be sickeningly bright." He sneered in disgust, he didn't turn to her. "Go tell Naruto he is welcome to his fairytale, his futile dreams of Hokage. I will follow my path and kill him if he gets in the way."
She was before him in an instant, and Saskue allowed a glimmer of surprise to cross his face at her speed… and the sting running down the side of his face. He barely registered her tears.
"I… I… I don't, want you to go…"
He blinked.
"We are the same, yet different. I have seen you, so many times…"
Again he blinked.
"I'm not confessing…" Her voice was soft, the words whispered softly. "I'm just telling you how I feel."
He said nothing, mind trying to process all that she had said. It was only when she pressed something hard into his chest that he awoke to reality.
"What's t-"
"A bento. I…I knew you would leave, no matter what I said, so I prepared this for you… I know that tomatoes are your favourite."
His hands wrapped about the case when she stepped away from him, then wrapped about her wrist when she made to pass him.
"I want you to know."
She didn't look at him, she couldn't bring herself to let him see the tears welling in her eyes.
"I won't betray Konoha. I will come back one day."
And in a second his face before hers, his eyes burning with intensity as his words fanned across her lips.
"I'll come back for you."
And on that fateful night, when the last Uchiha left Konohagure, Hyuuga Hinata received more than just a thank you.