AN: Thar be GaaHina in dis here story, just letting you know. Not sure if you'll like the subsequent chapters (personally I hate them) but this was actually my favorite chapter to write.
2
Contrary to popular belief, Itachi could express himself in various ways if he wanted to. Around people he did not know well or were business associates he was calm, cool, collected, and stoic. If his father was around, he would only relax if the rest of the family was there, but he was more distant. If around Sasuke, his mother, or Hinata, he was kind and gentle. He would smile, he would laugh and his facial expressions to anyone else would have looked foreign on him to them. The Uchiha was still calm and collected, he just looked happier and that made all the difference.
The reverse was also true when it came to his family; or particularly Sasuke when he was in one of his moods. They were brothers and at times, they definitely acted as such.
"You know, for a genius you're really stupid."
Itachi's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. He had just entered his apartment from work when his brother had called his cell phone. Sasuke had asked him some rather strange questions concerning the other week with Hinata.
"I see you still think highly of me, little brother." He said rather sarcastically. Really, who called someone up just to call them an idiot?
"Why didn't you say anything to Nata-chan when she left?" the bite in the younger Uchiha's tone dropped, shifting to honest curiosity.
He wasn't at all sure of what Sasuke was referring to "I gave my farewells to her at the airport." She had acted stiff and strange to him, however, so he had kept his distance. Not as if he hadn't been doing that for the past seven years, but still. Details.
There was a rather exasperated sigh on the other line "No pledges of undying love? No hugs or kisses?" he was almost chuckling at this point, trying to hold it in.
Were he anyone but an Uchiha the older brother would have hacked, spluttered, and almost choked on the bottle of water he was currently enjoying. But he was an Uchiha, so he merely paused before removing the bottle from his lips. "Don't be ridiculous." He said low.
"What exactly did you tell Hinata when she asked you if you'd miss her?"
Itachi opened his mouth to respond and then closed it, thinking. He wasn't stupid, this line of questioning was going in some sort of direction, and he just didn't want to deal with it. Or admit it. He sighed, knowing the response he would get from his brother "I told her that I would miss her because she is my little sister."
There was silence. For a moment he almost thought Sasuke hung up on him. Then his brother sighed "Itachi, when are you going to admit that you love Nata-chan and marry her already?"
The older Uchiha blanched. "I don't –" he was cut off
"Everyone knows, by the way." Itachi remained silent "I know it, mom knows it, hell, even some of our friends noticed it. So really, I need an answer because mom won't get off my back until I do."
Another twitch. Oh mother, you meddlesome woman. "Mother asked you to call me?"
"Well, Fugaku doesn't like the fact that you two are talking and he sneaks peeks at her phone." Sasuke explained. The two brothers had stopped calling him 'father' a long time ago "She wanted me to call and see what was going on and if you could meet up with her next week."
"Nothing is going on and yes, I will be more than happy to meet up with mother next week for lunch." He said tersely "We had this particular conversation when the two of you graduated high school. My answer has not changed."
"Whatever." Sasuke sounded a mix between annoyed and bored "I'm only bugging you because mom told me to bug you; I gave up on you years ago since you have this weird denial thing going on. Whatever it is, mom will get it out of you so I'm done."
"It is nice to know that you still think of me when reminded. If you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork I need to work on from home." He hung up the phone.
A lot of him was annoyed; he hated it when people, even family, tried to delve into his private life so deeply. This was even more annoying, because it was about Hinata and his little brother was absolutely right; he was in denial. It didn't help that had the Hyuuga not disowned their daughter he would currently be in his first year of marriage to her. That had been the Hyuuga's price for the Uchiha to keep their heir for four years and he had readily accepted; believing that eventually she and his brother would get together instead. Sasuke, at the time, had already liked her a lot and she hadn't been adverse to him either. Of course, they had also been eleven.
What a horrible miscalculation on his part. Who knew that his two 'siblings' would date for only a year before going their separate ways? He didn't even know why, they had been quite tightlipped about it. Itachi hadn't been terribly worried about marrying her when she turned twenty-one, he was a man of his word and he would have tried to be a good husband to her even if it would have been awkward as hell. All that changed on her eighteenth birthday when her family disowned her after she told them that not only did she not want to be heir and take over, that she wanted to be a doctor. A pediatrician. Had his family not been there he was sure it would have gone down a lot worse than it did.
For seven years he kept silent concerning his feelings towards his little sister, he had tried to discard the emotion altogether when it had first started. Unfortunately, they didn't call her 'little sister' for nothing, she had been constantly around. The girl had practically lived at their home even after she went back to her family. So eventually he had moved out into his own apartment and had started dating.
In those seven years he has dated about twenty women, none of which lasted longer than a month except for one. She had lasted two. The majority of the time they had broken up with him, for various reasons. A lot of it had to do with his attitude; he was almost cold to people he didn't know and this included girlfriends. He had been unable to loosen up around them and a few of them had even called him 'emotionless'. If it were not his attitude it was his intelligence. Apparently, being a recognized genius intimidated women. They would over think what they wanted to talk about to him and constantly worried that he would think them unintelligent if they even so much as breathed wrong. It was rather odd; yes he was very intelligent and he learned things at a ridiculous rate, but he was still a person. He liked 'normal' things and 'normal' people and he hadn't been looking for a woman who could match him in intelligence; he had wanted a woman that he could relax around and be comfortable with.
The only two women to ever succeed in this were his mother and, consequently, Hinata. When she looked at him she didn't see the image that the media had painted on him and even if she did she wouldn't care. She was an extremely patient and understanding individual, a necessity when dealing with two Uchiha males. Around her he didn't have to worry about people being intimidated by his intelligence; he wasn't even sure if he had ever had a deep, intelligent conversation with her before. Her family background had been rather abusive mentally and for a long while her cousin had been violent towards her physically a few times. That was part of the reason why the two brothers had been so protective over her, because Hinata had the potential to be something and her family had utterly failed in bringing that out. Their tactics to make Hinata a strong person were rather traditional but too linear; their father had been the same way. Instead of trying to understand why she was such a naturally shy and quiet girl they scolded her for it and then scolded her when she retreated even further into herself. Scold enough times and they get the point right? Instead it had made her a bumbling mess of nerves, too jumpy and too jittery and quick to burst into tears over any minor mistake due to the high amount of stress she had been under.
Perhaps he had fallen in love with her because of how much stronger and confident she had held herself when she left their home to go back and live with her family. Or maybe it was simply because he could sit beside her in silence and it was never uncomfortable. Or it could be that when she looked at him she saw him and it had just been so easy to look into those pale eyes of hers and feel lost within her gaze. It could be any number of things, but it didn't stop him from refusing to deal with it.
Was he…running away? He couldn't be scared of rejection; it was obvious that Hinata held some sort of feelings for him, although whether or not it was love was debatable. They were definitely close although once he began to grow feelings for her he stopped touching her as much and had become slightly distant emotionally. Hinata was of legal age now and he was only five years older than her. He knew he could comfortably live the rest of his life with her…so what was it?
Perhaps his mother would have the answers. Genius he may be but mother's tended to know things he couldn't even fathom at times.
xxxxx
The university she was staying in was massive in comparison to her last one. It was so large that after the first week of classes she had ended up having to buy a bike just to get from one side of the campus to the other so as not to be late. Since she was part of a 'program' she had been set up with other students in a small campus house very close to the university itself. There was about four of them in the three bedroom house, almost all of them from different countries.
Tenten was from Taiwan and it was interesting to go over kanji with hanzi. Almost all of the characters were the same, many of them simply held different meanings. Tenten's English wasn't as good as the others but it had only been a few weeks and she was already getting much better. She was a year ahead of her.
Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara were from the United States and they were siblings. Temari was the oldest; she was on her final year to graduating. Kankuro was the middle child who was very gruff when in a bad mood and flirty when not. Gaara was…interesting.
He wore these amazingly thick glasses and kept his hair brushed back. His clothing – on campus - was rather plain, almost poindexter-ish. On campus he was very quiet and reserved; he spoke to no one and held an aura that he didn't want to be spoken to. He was the same year as her and like her; he was an honors student on scholarships. All of this was on campus.
Off campus the glasses came off and he'd muss up his hair until it looked like a straight mess. His regular clothes were the normal street clothes and somehow he always looked like a model walking around in them. Because he wore baggy and geeky clothing at school one would not notice the fact that he was not only rather tall – he hunched at school – but he was also in outstanding shape; a pleasant fact that Hinata and Tenten encountered one day when he had come out of the shower in nothing but jeans. The Hyuuga had almost sliced her finger off while she had been making dinner and Tenten damn near stabbed Kankuro in the eye with a dart instead of hitting the dart board. Not that Kankuro was bad to look at but Gaara was…and all that red hair…
Hinata had never seen foreigners before, especially those like the three siblings. To her surprise, she learned that they spoke Japanese fluently and Temari had told her that it was because Gaara's mother had been Japanese and so they had lived there for quite some time.
Tenten and Hinata both agreed, they were really happy they ended up in a house with him.
Of course, he spoke to his roommates about as much as he spoke to the students in school – not at all. If they greeted them he would let out a small grunt or, if they were lucky, nod in their direction. After the first time they had seen him come out of the shower without a shirt on he must have noticed them staring because it had never happened again – to the girl's disappointment. He did not go out often, preferring to either lie on the couch and read or sit in his room and…read. If it was Hinata's night to cook he would take a plate and go into his room to eat, otherwise he'd get take out. That part actually made Hinata feel somewhat good about her culinary skills since the other three had tried their hands at cooking and Gaara had refused to eat it. Especially Temari's.
"What is that?" a deep voice came from behind her.
Jumping, Hinata spun to face the subject of her thoughts. His pale green eyes were looking down at her thoughtfully as he peeked over her shoulder to the large pot she was stirring. He was incredibly close for someone who didn't like to be around people, his face only inches from hers. Hinata's face turned a rather bright shade of red and she turned back around.
"I-Its um…it's…b-beef stew." She cursed her stuttering. She only did it when she was extremely nervous, such as now with an incredibly hot boy standing behind her that smelled like sandalwood.
"Ah." Was all he said and walked over to the couch. He flopped unceremoniously into it and pulled out a book to read.
Still nervous, the white-eyed girl stared hard at her stew bubbling. That had been the most he'd said to her since they had first moved in five weeks ago. Briefly looking around she noticed that they were actually the only two in the house. She and Tenten were sharing a room and the door was open so it probably meant she was bar hopping to play darts. Temari and Kankuro had yet to come back from school. A nervous chill went up her spine at being alone in a house with a boy.
As if that's never happened before!
But she had grown up with those two, hell; she and Sasuke had even taken baths together as little kids. The three of them held a bond that no one could break and she was extremely comfortable around them. Well, around Sasuke, anyway. Itachi on the other hand…
"Why are you making so much?" the redhead asked from his spot on the chair. She jumped again, not used to hearing him talk. He had a nice voice; low and smooth without being too deep.
"Ah, well…I was figuring that leftovers would be good for everyone as a lunch," she explained "And well…" she blushed "I cut up too many vegetables and meat for a smaller pot."
"You're an amazingly honest person." He still did not look up at her and for that she was grateful. Who knew what her face looked like right now?
"Um, thank you?" she said uncertainly; not knowing if his tone was supposed to be complimentary or not.
Why was he talking to her so much? He didn't speak to anyone inside or outside of class besides his siblings. Maybe he was just trying to branch out? Or he could be one of those people that simply take a while to loosen up around others.
Then he did something outrageous and started laughing. Well, it wasn't a 'laugh' so much as a few soft chuckles but it was something. Closing his book he put it on the coffee table and started to walk over to her again. Ears burning, she kept her gaze on the rather large pot of stew that was more than done but this ladle was her support damnit and she wasn't letting go as long as he was in the room.
"Do I make you nervous?" his voice sounded genuinely curious and when she sneaked a peek up at him he definitely looked curious, as if she were some sort of puzzle to solve.
"U-um…a little." She admitted "Because you've…you haven't really spoken to any of us until now so…"
"Oh." Was the simple reply but he did not move and she could continue to feel his eyes on her. This went on for a good five minutes, making her jittery and slightly uncomfortable. Did she accidently breathe in too much of Kankuro's weed or something? She had to be hallucinating this beautiful man standing really close to her.
"Hinata," he began and it took her a second to adjust to him calling her by her first name. They didn't address people by their surnames in England or the United States. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"What?" she jumped away from him, the ladle sinking into the pot just a bit before sliding down for the handle to meet the metal. Her eyes were wide but his expression remained as calm as ever. He looked curious, but nothing more. "W-why d-do…I mean you…"
"Why am I asking?" he finished for her and she nodded. A small, slow smile emerged "Why do you think?"
This was…he was…so different. Smiling, talking, these were things she had never seen him do until now. It made him a lot less intimidating and very…attractive. Not that he wasn't already, but this time it went beyond the physical.
Itachi flashed through her mind at the question. Hinata had loved him since the time he first held her hand when she was five. It had started out as admiration of his strength and kind nature and evolved into something much more when she became older. There was that awkward year where she and Sasuke had dated their second year of high school, but she had a feeling that it had been more of a curiosity thing on his part than anything else. Not that he hadn't been a great boyfriend, he had been amazing. It had just been painfully obvious to the both of them that they weren't what the other wanted romantically.
The older Uchiha was different. They had all been kids when they had first met but Itachi was a bit older than them so eventually he started coming around less and was constantly busy with work his father gave him. Regardless he had still taken time to 'play' with them and be there for them like any other big brother. He had held her when she cried, especially the night her mother had died, tickled her when she had been defiant, poked her on her forehead just as often as he did Sasuke, although a little lighter because she was a girl. The romantic feelings emerged around the time she hit puberty at the age of thirteen. She felt like she hid them well since he never commented on it or called her out for being annoying.
Unfortunately, he only saw her as his 'little sister'. He never had, and probably never would, see her as anything beyond that. All the wishing in the world wouldn't change that.
Something must have changed her expression because he suddenly turned away from her and started walking back to the couch "It's fine," he said, misunderstanding her silence "forget I asked."
"W…wait –" she took a few steps forward and he paused, turning to her with a blank expression "N-no. I don't um, I don't have a boyfriend. I mean, there was someone I loved before I came h-here but the feeling wasn't mutual."
With his long legs he was back to standing in front of her in over a second. Still blushing, his fingers tipped her chin up as he regarded her. There was something very warm and comforting about that gaze, so different from the closed off mask he seemed to wear. He was a lot like Itachi in a way; Itachi also seemed cold and unapproachable unless you knew him and even then he only truly relaxed around family.
"That is unfortunate for them," he said softly "and hopefully fortunate for me." His gaze flickered to her lips when she lightly bit her bottom lip and then moved back up to her eyes. "I started liking you the second week you were here. I've been waiting for a while to get you alone to talk to you. I –" the calm façade faded a bit when a light blush moved over his face and he looked away briefly "I'd like you to be my girlfriend, if you're okay with that."
Dumbstruck, she just stared at him for a moment. There was no way this beautiful, highly attractive man wanted to date her. Clearly she must have taken a puff or five from Kankuro's stash without realizing because she was losing it. "What?" she asked dumbly.
At this point he was obviously embarrassed and began to pull away. Without thinking, she grabbed his wrist, stopping him. They both looked down at her hand. When she fidgeted slightly he finally understood the real reason for her silence and smiled, his fingers brushing along her jaw.
"I asked you," he repeated, his arms moving around her waist. She didn't resist as he pulled her closer and bent down to whisper in her ear "if you'd be my girlfriend. I really like you, Hinata."
Pale eyes looked up at the male "I'm not…you are real right?" she asked seriously.
Gaara blinked at her as if she had lost it before laughing a bit "Yes," he responded "I am very real and I am very anxious to hear your answer."
Because she simply could not trust her mouth not to spew out any more embarrassing comments she merely nodded and closed the distance between them to bury her face in his chest, shy. This would be her second boyfriend and as much as she loved Itachi, she couldn't pine for a man that didn't want her forever. Besides, she liked Gaara and she was happy and flattered beyond belief that he wanted her to be his girlfriend out of an entire campus of really pretty girls.
He let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding and his arms tightened around her. They stood like that for a long while, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. His head was buried in the crook of her neck.
"Can I –" he began, sounding very hesitant "I know this has just started but can I kiss you?" she stiffened slightly "I've been…wanting to for a while now." Instead of verbally answering she nodded, her heart pounding when he pulled back to look at her. He was definitely blushing now but his gaze was intense, as if making sure that she was really okay with it. Satisfied, his hands framed her face and he bent his head.
His lips were surprisingly soft and his hands felt so warm and nice on her skin. He didn't linger, not wanting to push his luck, but when he pulled back she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him back in. His arms came around her tightly then as they deepened the kiss, enjoying the feel of being in each other's arms.
…And then something was burning.
Surprised, they pulled away to notice the pot of stew emitting a rather strange odor and stream of black smoke. With a cry she rushed over to the pot to salvage what she could, berating herself for not turning off the stove when the stew had been more than ready.
"Oh…I'm so…I'm so sorry." She apologized for some strange reason "A lot of it will be good still so…"
Something warm touched her lower back and she looked up to see Gaara brushing past her to grab pot holders and removed the pot once she had finished getting the stew into another container. "It's my fault really," he said softly "I…distracted you."
"I didn't mind." She blurted out and then put her hands over her mouth. When she looked back up at him he was smiling.
"Good." He said and began to fill the burnt pot with water.
xxxxx
When Hinata initially left the country she had written many letters and sent out e-mails to everyone at least once a day. Happy that she was doing well Itachi responded to every e-mail when he could, even if he wrote one line or a few words. She sent everyone pictures digitally of England, a few places being familiar to him from when he had last visited as a child. She talked about how she was glad the classes were challenging and she wrote about her roommates. After a while the e-mails went down to three times a week and then eventually only every weekend and in one huge e-mail about her entire week.
She called once every two weeks and their conversations were short but pleasant. A few times he had sensed that she had wanted to tell him something but hesitated. He never inquired and she never spoke up, so he dismissed it after a while.
Talking to his mother about the problem had been rather fruitless, he still had no answer as to his strange aversion to Hinata concerning furthering their relationship and his mother merely clucked at him and told him that this was something he needed to think out on his own. Like that was helpful; he had been trying to think on it for seven years. It was rather frustrating. Like usual, he eventually just decided to forget it altogether since nothing would happen from it anyway.
Five months later he received an e-mail from his 'sister' that marked the beginning of some rather stressful months for everyone.
Itachi-niisan,
I'm sorry I haven't written you in a while, there was this week long festival going on and I was dragged around by Tenten and Gaara. It was fun but very exhausting.
So far my grades are all A's with the exception of Child Psychology. I think that professor hates me, he's so mean. All of my professors (except the one that hates me) claimed that they would write a good recommendation for me when I leave, I'm so grateful.
I learned that Tenten likes more than just playing darts; she has an entire arsenal of daggers, knives, and other really sharp things that she had been hiding away. I only found it because I was cleaning our room and she had forgotten to lock it up like she always does. She was a little embarrassed but I told her that I actually like and know how to use tonfa and kama's and now she talks nonstop about martial arts and weapons. I feel like I'm really growing close to her.
Temari has been gone a lot to see her boyfriend. Gaara and Kankuro found out about the guy, another abroad student named Shikamaru Nara. It wasn't pretty. They were just like you and Sasu-kun, making threats and promising bodily harm should he ever hurt her. Temari was so mad about it because she's the oldest and she doesn't like them fussing over her like that.
…Um…speaking of boyfriends…I haven't said anything because I wasn't really sure what to make of it at first but…Gaara and I have been dating for these past five months. I didn't want to say anything until I knew that he was serious and not just looking for a quick relationship but I think he really does like me. I like him a lot as well…it's a really nice feeling. I hope you can meet him someday; he was originally from Japan before moving to the States and maybe towards the end he will come and visit me before going back home. I'm really hope that we can stay together.
How is everyone? I haven't heard from Mama-chan in a while now, is everything okay? I know last time I spoke to her she said she was under the weather. I sent her an herbal remedy my mother used to make, could you see if she received it? I'm really worried about her, she gets sick so easily.
And what's this about Sasu-kun getting married? Please tell me he's going to wait until I get back, if he doesn't I'll…I'll…kick him in the shins. Or something. Tell him not to get married without me being there!
Wow, this was really long. I know you're very busy so I'll end it here. Please take care of yourself; Mama-chan says you've been working overtime a lot again. There's nothing wrong with resting, the work will get done all the same. Whoops, there I go again! I'll call you next week.
He only read the e-mail once before deleting it. There was the sensation of something warm moving along in his chest and then…nothing. Itachi began to feel strangely numb. He leaned back in his office chair with a blank look on his face. For the first time in his life his thoughts were actually quiet. There was simply…nothing. Hinata had a boyfriend. Had it been Sasuke he wouldn't have minded; he would have expected it actually. Now for some reason the thought of her having a boyfriend seemed to click off something in his mind.
After a few minutes of feeling completely numb he went back to his paperwork, his chest suddenly feeling very cold.