Title: Life Lessons
Summary: Itachi imparts some knowledge on a young Hinata.
Warnings: Short and rushed. One of those thirty-minute things.
The girl really couldn't have been more than six years old.
Itachi watched her idly from behind his father while the heads of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans exchanged customary greetings. Their kinsmen, who usually flanked the leaders at the official meetings, were absent. Itachi vaguely wondered why he'd been dragged along.
"Hiashi-dono, my son, Itachi," Itachi stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"My daughter, Hinata," Quietly, she stepped forward and repeated his actions perfectly, murmuring a polite welcome, and quickly went back behind her father.
Hiashi lead them all into the large compound in silence. Fugaku and Itachi followed. Hinata trailed behind, knowing instinctively that her part in all this was over, but reluctant to leave until dismissed.
When they reached the main house, Hiashi turned to his heir. "Hinata, keep Itachi company while we talk."
The tiny girl bowed in nervous obedience. After their fathers left to discuss business, she turned to him.
"Ano, do you want to do anything, Uchiha-san?"
Itachi replied in the negative. Awkward silence stretched between them.
The younger heir squirmed. Itachi took pity on her.
"I heard," He intoned quietly. "That the Hyuuga gardens grew beautifully this year."
"Ah," Hinata said (a bit sadly, Itachi noticed). She turned to him, forcing a cheery smile. "They are. I could bring you, that is, if you want to see…"
Itachi gestured for her to lead the way.
Once they reached the extensive, admittedly magnificent garden, Hinata politely offered to guide him around to look more closely at the various herbs and blooms.
Itachi thought it over a moment and graciously declined.
"You don't have to watch over me, Hyuuga-san," He stated as he stalked over to a tree and leaned against it in the shade. "I'll stay here until my father comes out. You can go."
Hinata bit her lip in consternation. It would be so awfully rude…
"I insist, Hyuuga-san," He added with a firm tone, noticing her expression. It would be pointless to keep her there after all.
"Oh, excuse me then, Uchiha-san," Hinata bowed again, scurried to the house, paused, then went back to whisper a sincere thanks.
Almost half an hour later, an older female of the Hyuuga branch house came out, carrying an infant swaddled in white cloth adorned with the Hyuuga flame, Hinata in tow.
There was no mistaking the adoration in the heiress' face as her eyes drank in her younger sister.
Itachi found himself observing the scene closely. He had never seen the second daughter before, although he had heard that the mother died in complications in childbirth.
He found himself feeling a bit of detached pity for Hinata, who must have adored her mother, if the way she looked at the gardens earlier was any indication.
Curiously, there wasn't a shred of resentment in the child's eyes, there was nothing but pure, innocent affection in those white orbs.
It wasn't at all surprising, not to him.
Itachi felt himself smile. He was more than familiar with that feeling, that unconditional love for a sibling, that sense of having someone at the center of the universe.
He, after all, loved Sasuke so much that his own happiness didn't even compare.
It was wretchedly amusing how mere babes had so much power over them, could have them bending over backwards without hesitation.
He stood up.
Auntie was already leaving with Hanabi-chan. Being without her sister made her feel so alone and lonely.
Hinata felt himself squeak as a pair of arms lifted her from behind. She quickly twisted, ready to scramble away and scream, when her eyes met the happy black ones of the Uchiha heir.
It was surprising, to say the least. She'd seen him, after all, in quite a few formal gatherings in the past and had never once seen him expressing emotion.
Itachi didn't set her down and she didn't protest, not until they reached a patch of the garden Hinata loved.
"Uchiha-san… um…" He shushed her smoothly and let her down. Then he kneeled so they were staring directly at each other.
"Do you know why the elder sibling is born first?"
Hinata's madly blushing face scrunched up in confusion.
"Why were we born first, Hinata-chan?" The use of her first name startled (and delighted) her, though she was still clueless as to where this was getting at.
"Um…" She thought hard, not wanting to disappoint. "Ah…" Frustrated tears sprang at her eyes.
"It's so we can protect the ones that come after." Itachi answered, conveying conviction in every word.
"Ah," Hinata brightened. "I knew that already, I-Itachi-san. I would do anything for Hanabi-chan!"
Itachi stood and smiled down at her. Good.
Two years later, when Itachi slaughtered his clan and left his little brother alive to pick up the pieces, only Hinata understood why.
"Even if you come to hate me because of it… That's what being the older brother is about."
Owari
Notes: The lesson is from Bleach, thanks Ironically Pessimistic for telling me. The pirates-themed ItaHina story is still in works (and progressing very slowly, damnit, schoolwork and a cluttered mind proving very bad obstacles). The summary is in Cranes or Civilian.
By the way, I'm gonna put all ItaHina stuff here.
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