He seems kinda down today.Hinata thought, peeking at him over the top of her textbook. She studied him carefully as everyone read. He was following in the book for a few minutes before sighing and putting the book down. He propped his head up and stared into space as the last paragraph was being read. When the last reader finished, all the students looked to him for their next assignment. He stared back at each one of them.
"Can I tell you guys something?" he asked, depression leaking in his voice. The students slowly nodded, confused. "I got fired." There were gasps around the room, and girls began to cry. Deidara laughed a bit, though Hinata felt that it was fake. "Aw, you guys. Don't cry over me!" He waved a hand dismissively in the air. "But Sasori-sensei's getting fired too! What's up with that!?" Someone yelled, which made the sobs all the more louder. "Calm yourselves, that's not the end. I have more things to say."
Hinata stared at him, shocked. She didn't even cry. Sasori-sensei, too?
"You guys have been the best class I've ever had." he began. "Which is why I'm going to be completely honest with you guys." He paused, staring down at the floor and thinking about what he was going to say. "I'm Nineteen." The sobbing immediately stopped, replaced with a hushed sound of shock. "Which explains my appearance. Sasori-sensei's eighteen, even younger than I am." The students silently listened. "I won't tell you my life story, but my age is the main reason I got fired." Deidara looked up and stared at Hinata, telling her that his age wasn't the only reason."I can give you guys my email address, in case you want to contact me." he wrote his email address on the board. Mostly everyone wrote it down, and then the school bell rang. Hinata stayed in her seat while everyone else lined up to give Deidara a hug. When they all left, and when it was all silent, she walked up to him.
"Fired?" She whispered, placing a hand on his chest. He held it there and nodded. "Did... Did Itachi-sensei...?" her other hand clenched into a fist; angry. "We think so." he let her go and began packing his things. All of his things, this time. Hinata kept following him with her eyes until he looked at her again. "What did the principal say?" Deidara winced. She was just too good at this. "Hinata..." he trailed off. Hinata took his hand, stopping him from stuffing a stress ball into his box. "Deidara-sensei." She said, her voice shaky. Her lip trembled, along with the rest of her body. Her grip was tight on his arm, yet she looked like she was about to fall. He pulled her into a hug, stroking her back soothingly.
"He knew we were going out. He told the principal about Sasori's age too, the bastard." Deidara muttered, kissing Hinata to stop her trembling. "What did the principal say to you?" She asked again when she realized he didn't answer it at first. He held his breath, then let it go. "He... told me to break up with you before I left." He felt Hinata flinch, and he held her tighter. "But... I can't bring myself to do that." He pushed her away so that she could look at him. "This is going to sound reallycheezy." He warned to make her laugh a bit. Then he went on with the serious matters.
"Hinata Hyuga, I've never loved a woman as much as I love you. You've taught me to love like I've taught you to write. To me, you are the most important person in my life." he caressed her face and kissed her forehead. "I won't ever break up with you, even when I leave you here today." At this, she began to cry. He held her close so that she could cry into his shoulder. "Even if you get married, I'll still be your boyfriend. That's how much I love you." he swayed from side to side to comfort her. "Don't cry. We still have friends here; Hidan-sensei can be your teacher friend if you really need one." he joked, kissing her head. He let her go to continue packing his things. "But... Don't hang around Itachi. At all." He said sternly. Hinata nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"After this, we might not see each other every day. But Sasori and I will still be in town. I'll be at my house still, and Sasori will probably be there, too." He gave her the address, since all the times she's been to his house he led the way. "Drop by any time. Even in the middle of the night, We'll be there." he assured her. He plopped the box on his desk, turning slightly to see if she was coming along okay. She walked up and kissed him - for the first time of her own accord. He smiled, hugging her.
"I love you, Hinata. Don't ever forget that." he said, tapping her nose. She giggled. "I love you too, Deidara-sensei." she whispered. He chuckled. "I'm not your sensei anymore, kiddo." he winked.
Outside in the schoolyard, stood Itachi, who witnessed this through the classroom window.
-:-
Hidan was the school's councilor. Though he was rather... vulgar... he was a big help to the students. He related to them very well, having had a trecherous childhood (no exaggeration).
Hidan had been through the absolute worst; the kind you hear on the news or in teen novels. His parents divorced before he was even born, and when his mother remarried, his extremely rich father beat him every day with a jewel studded belt. At 7 he was smoking pot and was the leader of 'some stupid gang' as he called it. His gang often hung around the back of their school or the back of the mall, smoking, drinking, and everything else we aren't supposed to do. When he entered high school, he met the girl of his dreams. He dumped all his habits in an instant, seeing that she was one of the clean, more intelligent people. However, in his strive to make the girl like him, he just humiliated himself with all his crazy ideas and stayed single for the rest of his high school life. In college, he tried smoking pot again, only to get bored of it. Then, in a sort of lifetime epiphany, his entire life flashed before his eyes and he decided to become a high school councilor.
Of the many habits he quit in high school, cursing wasn't one of them. It violated policy, but he had cheered up so many depressed students, the school board turned a blind eye.
Hidan had a temper shorter than this sentence.
The things he heard from students angered him so much, he'd run into a fit of curses, sometimes tying in his made-up religion, Jashinism. Then, after ten minutes, he'd tell the person about an experience he had that related to the person, and always told them, "If you want to be like me, let it go. But if you don't, fight back." This served as a tear-jerker in even the toughest students who never cried. It was so inspirational, that the subject hadto change. If they didn't, Hidan would curse at them some more until they came to a decision, good or bad.
So, upon hearing Hidan-sensei's past and present, I'm sure you're wondering how he ties in with our story of a high school romance disguised as a teacher/student story.
Well, yes, Deidara did mention Hidan-sensei in being Hinata's new teacher friend, but I thought that was just a joke!
A joke? Are you joking? He was dead serious.
Hinata timidly knocked on the last door of the last hallway of the school's last wing (as in, the wing that was built last). There was a sudden booming noise, and when Hinata really listened, she realized it was Hidan-sensei screaming his brains out at some kid who did pot.
"Pot? POT!? Here, gimme what you got!" Hidan held his hand out expectantly. The kid, scared shitless, handed him a joint. Hidan lit it and inhaled it expertly, then throwing the joint into the garbage can, still lit. "This shit doesn't even compare to the stuff we had in my day. We were so high, someone reported me walking mid-air! Get this shit out of my sight, or I'll beat the fuck outta ya!" Hidan waved his fist in the air, and the kid scrambled out of the room. Hinata watched him leave, and she could have sworn that he had a smile on his face.
"Come in!" Hinata was still staring in wonder at the boy running down the hall. And even if she weren't, the tone of Hidan-sensei's voice changed so suddenly she didn't think it was him calling her in.
"Hello?" Hinata jumped when she felt him behind her. "Are you next? Come on in!" He smiled at her and invited her into the room. Hinata sat down on the couch as he took a bucket of water and poured it into the garbage can, drowning out both the scent and the joint. "So, what's up? Pregnant? STD? Your best friend back-stab you and is now spreading rumors about you being pregnant and having an STD?" he sat down in front of her. Hinata blinked, registering the information. "W-Well, no... none of that." she adjusted herself in her seat. "D-Deidara-sensei sent me to you." she said awkwardly. Hidan stared at her intently as he tried thinking of her name.
"Ah! Hinata Hyuga, right?" Before she could answer, he went on. "Haha, Deidara. Nineteen, can you believe that? Lucky guy, dating you." He laughed, tilting a finger at her teasingly. "So, what'd he tell you?" he silenced himself and looked at her. Hinata fidgeted. He was so straightforward. How did Deidara ever think this friendship would work? "He said... that you'd..." Hidan nodded for her to continue. "He said you'd be my friend." She said, blushing. Hidan paused, then smirked. "Really? Funny." He stood up and rubbed the back of his head. For a second, Hinata felt that he was saying no. But then he grinned at her.
"Sure. I'll be your friend. In fact, I'll be your best friend! Let's make up a secret handshake!" He held his hand out for her to shake. Right before she touched his hand, he snapped it away and pretended to slick his hair back. "You copy me." he said as he held out his other hand. He did the same thing before she touched it, and he began to sway to unheard music. Then he held both hands up for her to high-five, but she couldn't reach that high. He laughed, then lowered his hands. "We'll work on it. Why don't you come in tomorrow? Same time, same place, after that pot-kid?" He was already writing it down before she could refuse. Not that she minded... much. He was a little pushy, but she knew she could get used to it.
"Well, my shift's almost over, but if you wanted to talk about Deidara-sensei - er, not sensei - we can." He turned to her and smiled. Hinata smiled back, shaking her head. "I'm fine." she said. "Maybe next time." She started for the door, but Hidan stopped her.
"Oh, wait a minute. I forgot the most important thing!" He hopped over the couch and tipped over the garbage can full of water. "Shit! I mean, Hinata!" He shook his foot dry and stood next to her at the doorway. He held out his hand to her, and she looked up at him skeptically. "No joke." he said, gesturing Hinata to take his hand. She did, and he gave her a firm shake before letting go. "I'm Hidan! nice to meet you!" he smiled, and she couldn't help but smile again as well. "Nice to meet you, too, Hidan-sensei."
As she left, he shouted to her, "It's just 'Hidan' to you, missie!" as if it were a rule she just broke.
-:-
"So? Did you talk to Hidan-sensei?" Deidara asked as he rearranged a few posters on his wall. Hinata sat in a chair close by while Sasori fiddled with the stereo. "Yes..." she nodded, smiling a little. "He's very... um... interesting." she laughed awkwardly. Deidara laughed as well. "Yup. Can't go through one session without cursing. Tell me, did he swear while talking to you?" Hinata thought for a little, then remembered how he tripped over that garbage can. "I-I guess he did. He tripped over a trash can and said... yeah." Deidara hopped down from the small ladder and stood in front of her. "So what do you think? Odd, I admit, but very friendly." Hinata nodded in agreement.
They talked a little more about Hidan, about working on a handshake and the kid smoking pot and his past... Somewhere in the middle of that Sasori left the room for a little bit to hang around upstairs, leaving the two alone. "Deidara-sensei...?" Hinata began after a short silence. "Yes?" He turned down the stereo. Hinata held her arms open, expecting a hug. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head. "What will you do, now that you have no job?" she sounded very worried, and in truth he had no answer that could reassure her. So he distracted her with a kiss and said, "I'll think of something. Don't worry." He pulled her down to lay on the bed. "Are you missing me? It's only been a couple of hours, sure, but are you?" he asked, absently stroking her hair. Hinata snuggled up beside him. "You know I do."
Deidara smiled. "I'm going to miss seeing you every day." Hinata smiled and shook her head against his chest. "You're going to make me cry, Deidara-sensei." she wiped her tears on his shoulder. "Then cry, my sweet, for your tears are the drops of life that keep my thirst for it quenched." He said poetically. Hinata laughed, and a couple tears spilled out. He kissed the trail the tear left on her cheek, making her blush.
"I'll do everything I can to stay near you, Hinata." He whispered. "Don't make this sound like a good-bye, Deidara-sensei. Please." She giggled, still thinking they were joking around.
But now I can't be sure... if this is good-bye or not.
-:-
Itachi stared at Hinata through the remainder of the class. Hinata knew, for many times during the class their eyes met. It scared her how, even though he was caught staring at her, he didn't turn away. It scared her even more when he asked her to stay after class.
"Y-Yes...?" Hinata made sure to stay away from him and his desk. However, the effort seemed futile when he stood up and began pacing around the room. "Hinata Hyuga." he said her name softly, in that deep soothing voice of his. "You are a very good student - one of my best." he glanced at her. "I'm sure you know that it was I who saved you from the clutches of your... boyfriend. Deidara-sensei." Hinata bit her lip. Saved me?
He stopped at the corner of his desk, closest to her. "He was so young... completely unable to take care of you in this world." he shook his head shamefully. Hinata stepped to her side, and Itachi grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to him. "But I am more capable than he." his eyes pierced through her, making her legs give way. Itachi caught her, pressing her against his broad chest. "I can take much better care of you. I did what I did because I wanted - want - what's best for you." Hinata, utterly frightened, desparately tried to push him away, but to no avail. If anything, he pulled her closer. She felt his breath on her ear. "Please... I-Itachi-sensei..." His lips brushed against her cheek. "What's best for you," he repeated. "...Is me."
Hinata finally found the strength to shove him away. "Itachi-sensei!" she squeaked, panting hard from her beating heart. "Hinata, my dear, please forgive me. You have not yet developed your feelings for me. I shall wait, for as long as I have to." He placed a fist over his heart, making Hinata's face contort with disgust. "Feelings? For you?" She scoffed, storming out of the room. She felt tears burning at the edges of her eyes, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of Hidan's office.
She desparately knocked on the door, her tears forming inaudible sobs. Hidan hurried to open the door. "Hinata? What's up?" But before they could step into the room, she collapsed in his arms, crying her eyes out.
-:-
Ooh! Itachi! -anger-