Chapter 7

Things fall in Autumn

Sasuke was worse than Neji had ever been. That was a serious achievement. Hinata did not even know someone could keep a closer eye on her than her father. It seemed any time that Hinata made the motion to leave the room she got the series of questions: "Where are you going? Who are you going to be with? How long will you be?" The man was like a paranoid mother.

Hinata had decided a while ago not to tell Neji about Itachi, Sasori, or Deidara knowing. She figured he didn't need the stress of trying to figure out why they knew. Unlike herself Neji did not just accept things. He was relentless until he knew. So Hinata decided not to tell him. Which meant that she would not tell him about Sasuke either. This is good because Neji would have a problem with Sasuke's constant tab keeping. Of course Neji would be angrier that he hadn't come up with the idea himself.

And Sasuke was as good as his word. If no one was going with her, he did. If the teachers had her run papers somewhere Sasuke would say he needed the rest room and go with her. She was barley allowed to pee without him hovering just around the corner. At first Hinata was flustered that he was always there. But after the first two weeks she got used to it. Now it seemed weird when he wasn't around which was rare.

It seemed strange that people did not notice Sasuke's behavior. But no one really paid much attention to Hinata so she was invisible to most of the population. The suite mates were the only ones that seemed to notice. However, Naruto, Kiba, and their other friends assumed it was because Hiro did not talk a lot so the easily irritated Uchiha enjoyed the silence of his company. Neji figured Sasuke was gay so he did not worry about it because if he found out that Hiro was a girl then this whole shadowing business would end. And then of course Neji could threaten the Uchiha's life if he ever told. Sai just assumed they were both gay.

It was a cloudy day in late November. It had been raining all week, nonstop until this morning. The day had passed normally, without a whole lot of drama. There was of course the incident in English were Naruto made a joke a little too loud and a few of the students took offense to it and gave the blond boy death glares. Then after the third french fry hit him in the head he made quite the spectacle of himself when he started to randomly accuse nearby freshman for the offense. Neji and Sasuke held onto his jacket as he tried to make a go at the group of boys laughing at him. But other than that there was relatively little to talk about.

They were sitting in Itachi's class waiting for the bell to ring. Most of the group had managed to finish their homework and were now in the back playing cards; Hinata was sitting up a few rows reading a book. When the bell finally rang everyone made the mad dash for the door except for Hinata and Sasuke.

"Sasuke can you stay for a moment. I need to have a word with you," came Itachi's voice from the other side of the classroom. Sasuke turned to Hinata, "Catch up with Neji and stay in the room unless you leave with someone. Got it?" Hinata merely nodded and left out the door.

Sasuke turned to face his brother. "What do you want?"

"Follow me into my office," was all Itachi said and walked through the door and sat down waiting for Sasuke. Sasuke followed and sat in the chair across from Itachi's desk closing the door behind him.

Sasuke stared at Itachi. "Look, Sasuke, I don't know what you are doing but you need to give that poor girl some breathing room." Sasuke did not say anything.

"You're shadowing her could raise suspicion. That could compromise this case."

"I don't give a fuck about the case. She is walking bait and has no idea. She can't defend herself. She isn't prepared to handle an attack. I am not going to let anything happen to her."

Itachi looked at his brother carefully. This was certainly odd for Sasuke to take on such a protective nature for someone. "Do you like her?"

"NO!"

"Why so tense?"

"I can't believe you would suggest that," Sasuke sat back in the chair and stared out the window watching the rain hitting the glass. Shit, I didn't bring an umbrella. Oh well.

"Then why do you want to protect this girl so bad?"

Sasuke thought about that and personally he really didn't know either. But his gut told him to and he always listened to his gut.

"Sasuke if you are trying to make up for what happened to dad…"

"This has nothing to do with dad."

"That was not your fault."

"Shut up Itachi! This is not about dad or what happened to him. I am doing this because I want to, end of story!" Sasuke stood from his seat and made his way to the door. Just as he was turning the handle Itachi spoke. "Just don't make it look obvious with what you are doing." Sasuke stepped through the door and made his way out of the classroom.

Sasuke was not expecting to see Hinata waiting under the eve of the roof outside. She turned when she heard him open the door.

"What are you doing here? Are you alone?" Sasuke said before she could say anything.

"I-I-I re-remembered th-that you didn't h-have your um-umbrella this morning. S-so I brought one back f-for you."

"Does anyone know where you are?"

"I-I told Neji wh-where I was going." Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. But he was still a little upset that she had walked here by herself. But at the same time he was grateful that she had thought enough of him to bring him an umbrella.

Without another word she opened the umbrella and held it out for him to take. Sasuke took the handle and held it out enough to cover both of them as they walked back towards the dorms. Sasuke was brooding about what his brother had said to him and Sasuke began to wonder again why he was being protective of her. Was it because he liked her? No, Sasuke Uchiha did not get crushes on girls. Was because of his dad? Could be. Sasuke still blamed himself for that day. He was brought out of his broodings when he heard Hinata cough, rather violently.

"You ok?" He asked.

"I-I think I-I may have a-a cold." Sasuke looked at her and noticed she was a bit pale with a red tinge grazing her cheeks. She did look like she could be sick. She's too frail to be getting sick like this. Sasuke thought.

"When we get back to the dorm get into bed and I'll bring you something warm to drink. You should stay in bed for the rest of the evening. Maybe take some cold medicine to be safe."

Hinata nodded and went into another coughing fit. Sasuke stopped walking waiting for her to finish and then continued walking back to the dorms.

Hinata did in fact get a cold and was out of commission for a few days, luckily the majority of was over the weekend. Between Sasuke and Neji Hinata was better off than at a hospital. The routine in the suite did not alter much. Naruto and Kiba got into trouble, Sai annoyed Neji, and Sasuke brooded most of the time when he was not playing body guard to Hinata.

In the third week of November, of course trouble had to hit. The boys were outside playing a version of tackle soccer that they had come up with themselves. The sky was heavily overcast and looked about ready to dump a reservoir of water over the school at any moment. Hinata as usual was on the sidelines watching the boys, ogling at Naruto. Neji was off with Lee working on some project for his chemistry class so Gaara and Shino were playing in their place and even the lazy Shikamaru and over indulgent Chuoji decided to join in the game.

Hinata was finding the game rather exciting. Instead of regular soccer the boys had come up with rules that they could tackle each other. Since it had rained for the last couple of days and all of the boys were covered in mud. They had been at the tackle soccer game for about two hours before the first drops of rain started to fall.

Hinata noticed immediately but the boys seemed to be able to ignore it for the most part. Hinata did not really want to get wet because one, she was in a white shirt and the rain would make it see through and then anyone could see the corset shirt she was wearing, and two, she had just gotten over a bad cold. But Hinata dare not leave without telling Sasuke because the last time she had gone off on her own he had given her the scariest look she had ever seen on his face. But Sasuke currently was completely absolved in the game.

So setting her resolve Hinata decided she would step into the middle of the game and notify the boys that it was now raining heavily. As Hinata moved towards the dog pile they had just created on the other end of the field she slipped on a particularly big patch of mud. Hinata had been able to catch herself from falling on her butt in the mud but in her exaggerated movement to keep her balance she tripped over a rock that had reached the surface after all the rain and fell flat on her face.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sai were the ones to hear the thud and Naruto and Sasuke were the first one there.

"Hey are you alright Hiro?" Naruto asked.

Hinata lifted her head out of the mud to look up at Naruto's bright blue eyes but instead saw Sasuke's black orbs.

"I-I-I am fine," she said.

"That was a pretty nasty spill…what's that thing under your shirt?" Hinata had not realized that since her front was now soaked and dirty the bone ribbing of her corset was showing through the thin material of her white shirt. And today she had not donned a white undershirt. Hinata quickly crossed her arms over her front so Naruto could not look for a closer inspection.

"N-n-n-noth-th-th-ing," Hinata said. She was flustered because now naruto might actually see what she really was and this both compromised her identity but it could open doors of possibilities. But Sasuke was in a little bit more of a rational line of thought.

"Naruto if you keep staring at his chest like that people are going to think you are gay."

"Shut up Sasuke-Teme! I was not staring at his chest! He just looked like he was wearing something weird that was all!" And Hinata's hope died in the mud that day because Naruto got up and turned his back on Sasuke moodily to show Sasuke that he was not staring at Hiro's chest.

Sasuke mean while had started to help Hinata up.

"You know Sasuke you are one to call Naruto gay," came Sai's drawling voice from just a few feet away next to where naruto was standing. The other guys had finally seen what happened and were now gathered around.

"And why is that Sai," Sasuke replied smoothly.

"Because you are the one acting like a protective lover," Sai said with a rather small smirk that did not quite reach his eyes, but he was making a jab non-the-less. The other boys started to snicker at Sai's comment.

Sasuke grabbed the front of Sai's shirt so quickly that no one had seen him move and laughter died as the boys now circled around to watch a fight. Sai merely looked into Sasuke's eyes, no emotion on his face.

"I swear Tanaka…"

"Are you going to threaten me again? Because if you are then it just proves that you are all talk and no action. Makes me wonder if you have any balls Uchiha."

In flash of movement Sasuke had Sai pinned to the ground with his right hand clamped on Sai's neck and his right knee on his chest with his left arm held back ready to strike the jaw below.

"I do follow through with my threats Tanaka, so I suggest you shut up before I lose my temper."

Sai did not appear very fazed except for the almost imperceptible look of doubt in his eye. Perhaps Sasuke will strike if I provoke him further. Then in that case both of us will have consequences. I guess it isn't really worth it. The boy is so moody, it's pathetic. Oh well, it won't be long anyways before someone else notices how he moons over Hiro.

"Alright Uchiha I take back what I said," with that Sasuke got off of Sai and turned away from him to where Hinata was standing behind him with a frightened look on her face. Sasuke inwardly cursed himself for scaring her and for losing control like that but he was not completely satisfied with letting Sai go just yet. In one fluid motion Sasuke flung his right fist around and landed it squarely on the left cheek on Sai's face. The force was not enough to knock Sai out but enough to stun him and leave a swelling bruise.

"I told you, you would pay if you ever suggested that of anyone in our suite." Sasuke then turned back to face a still stunned Hinata. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along back to the dorm so she could clean up.

When they got back to the suite Hinata got clean clothes together and went to the bathroom to clean up. When she came back into the room it appeared as if Sasuke was asleep on his bed but Hinata had come to learn that when he was laying on his bed with his legs crossed and eyes closed it meant that he was deep in thought.

"All done," Hinata said as she came into the room. "We c-can go down t-to dinner now." Sasuke opened his eyes and looked over at her to make sure she was back in her undercover mode before he got off his bed and began walking for the door with Hinata following.

Just as he was about to grab the door handle there was a loud booming crash that made him pause. Sasuke did not like thunder and lightning. Not that he was afraid of it but he did not like it. Of course there was a muffled scream behind him that distracted him from his unhappy thoughts of distain. Hinata stood just a few feet behind him with her hands clutched over her mouth and her whole body shaking like a leaf.

"Hey Hinata, are you alright?" Sasuke asked cautiously. He knew some people were afraid of thunder and lightning but he wanted to be sure that was what scared her. She seemed to have started to calm down after a few seconds but there was another loud crash and with it the lights went out. This time there was a scream that emitted from Hinata and a soft rustle of blankets. From the sound of it Sasuke guessed she hid under her covers.

Sasuke walked over to her bed side and could barely make out her shape under the covers as his eyes were still adjusting to the darkness. "Are you afraid of thunder and lightning?" A dumb question but it needed to be asked.

He could barely see a nod through her blankets but it was there. Now what to do? Sasuke had no idea how to comfort someone with a fear. But he had promised himself that he would look out for her and he guessed comforting her when she was frightened came with it. So he thought about what his mother or brother had done when was younger and frighten or upset about something. Well, his brother just told him to toughen up so that probably would not help, but his mom would hold him until he calmed down. However, a mom holding her son was one thing, a guy holding a girl was another. So for once in Sasuke's life he was nervous especially since Hinata was more timid then most girls, but what else could he do?

So very cautiously he sat down on Hinata's bed and pulled back the covers. There Hinata was curled up in the smallest ball she could get into shivering like a leaf with her eyes closed tight. Sasuke not quite totally sure what he was doing gripped Hinata by the shoulders and sat her up; she still had not opened her eyes. Sasuke then wrapped his arms around as if giving her a hug and leaded back against the wall. A few seconds later Hinata moved closer to Sasuke till she was practically on his lap and then locked him in a death grip when she put her arms around his waist as another peel of thunder sounded through the darkness causing her to whimper. Sasuke also remembered that his mom would also have stroked his hair. Sasuke was not sure if he was crossing lines yet but decided desperate times called for desperate measures. So slowly he started to stroke her short hair. Over the next couple of minutes Hinata's shaking was reduced significantly and when the thunder sounded she only tensed up. After a few more moments of silence Sasuke decided to risk it and speak.

"Why are you afraid of thunder and lightning?" Hinata took her time in answering him.

"Th-the night m-my moth-ther died th-there was a h-huge storm." Sasuke immediately understood why she was afraid of the storm. For the same reason he did not like storms. It held bad memories.

Sasuke continued to stroke Hinata's hair as he become lost in his own dreaded memories of loved ones that had passed away.

"I-it was al-also the night m-my si-sister was born." The fact that Hinata spoke again surprised him, but the fact that she was obviously sharing something she did not tell a lot of people surprised him even more.

"W-we were at h-home when she w-went into l-labor. N-neji and I w-were the on-only ones there. I-I was f-five at the time a-and Neji was s-six. M-my f-father was o-out on bus-business. We h-had lost power. So we cou-could not use th-the phone. But th-there were ca-candles lit. Neji r-ran to get a-a neighbor. I stayed w-with her. Wh-when Neji ca-came back with h-help the candles h-h-had gone o-out and m-m-mother had died. I sat i-in th-the d-dark for an h-h-hour holding m-my bloody sis-sister th-thinking M-mommy was a-a-as-asleep," Hinata's story ended in a sob as she tried to prevent the tears from falling. Sasuke had pulled the blankets back up over the both of them so they would not get cold and now he was offering her a corner of it to dry her eyes. Hinata dried her eyes and they settled back into the silence that was before.

Some moments later Sasuke started to talk again this time he was opening up a bit.

"My dad was a chief Inspector at the police department. He usually did undercover cases." Sasuke paused as he collected his thoughts. He had never told anyone about his dad. "He was working this one case but somehow got exposed. He was afraid they would come after his family. At the time my brother was apprenticing under him. But instead of keeping Itachi with him, he had Itachi shadow me, to keep me safe. They never told me anything because they were afraid I would be frightened. I was eight at the time. There was a storm that day too. When Itachi got the news he dropped his shadowing act and took me home. That was when I realized that he had been the one following me for those few weeks. Needless to say I was upset because I thought Itachi was with our dad, keeping him safe. When we got home I got the news. I took one look at my mother's red tear stained face and knew my dad was dead." Hinata silently listen to Sasuke's deep voice and as he told his story her heart went out to him in silent understanding.

"I have always blamed myself for my dad's death," Sasuke whispered so quietly hinata almost could not hear it.

"Why?" she asked.

"I was not strong enough to take care of myself. So Itachi couldn't be there to help him when he needed him most." They both fell into a long silence that this time was broken by Hinata.

"I-I th-think someti-times my f-father blames me for m-my mother's death. A-and I do t-too."

"There wasn't anything you could do for your mother. You were only five," Sasuke said a little upset at the fact that anyone could be blamed or blame themselves when there was nothing they could do.

"You w-w-were only eight, Sas-sasuke. Th-there wasn't any-anything you cou-could have done ei-either." Sasuke froze as the realization hit him. She was right. Itachi had been telling him for years, but it never sank in like it did now. When he was eight, yeah he was top of his karate class but was in no way able to defend himself against an adult. No eight year old could.

"Well don't we make a fine pair? Both of us blame ourselves for circumstance we could not control. And we didn't know it till now."

They fell into silence for the last time that evening. They spent the night in each other's arms taking in the mute comfort of the other's presence. Hinata fell asleep rather quickly, but Sasuke remand awake for some time. He thought about what Hinata had told him and it made sense now that she was the way she was and why her dad allowed her to be here. It made him sick to think that a man expected his five year old daughter to save his pregnant wife's life. If anything this night made Sasuke even more determined that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. Even with the new knowledge that yes, it was not his fault for his father's death, but he was now stronger than his eight year old self, and he was capable of protecting people now. Just before he fell asleep with Hinata in his arms he made a promise that if he could help it no one would die so long as he could do something about it.