Crimson Seal - 9

For those asking for more Ita/Hina you're in luck for this chapter, haha.

He stared out across the street. At the villagers walking in and out of the small shops, restaurants, around the carts lining the street on both sides. Thankfully there was none directly blocking his line of view into the street or else he would have had to ask for a different table as he waited for her.

Hinata.

She had surprised him a few months ago when she stumbled onto the aftermath of one of their missions. Instead of taking off running like he expected most genin would do - since they typically didn't get missions that involved enemy ninja and therefore had never been in a fight to the death or dealt with death up close before - she had investigated the scene a bit, mainly just figuring out who the dead ninja were. He had already known they weren't part of her village, but she hadn't and even though the attack had been recent she had taken one of their headbands to see for herself who the ninja had been.

Most ninja wouldn't do such a thing, for a variety of reasons. Once you reached chunin status you recognized those from your village almost instantly so there was no reason to check a headband and you only brought the bodies back if there wasn't any enemy ninja in the area. You simply didn't stop to look at a body while on a mission or when at war.

It only served to further remind him just how soft she was when it came to the ninja life style. Which wasn't kind or caring, unlike her. It was harsh and could leave you second guessing even your own family. It could lead you to kill them.

His gaze dropped down as he wondered what had even made her consider such an occupation. The only plausible reason he could come up with was her family. When she was younger and heiress the academy would have helped her grow as a ninja, would have helped with some of the skills needed for when she became heiress. If they had kept her as the heiress, they hadn't though. Now she was just doing what she had been trained to do. But was it really what she wanted?

Since the Hyuuga clan obviously didn't want anything to do with her she should do what she wanted. Whatever that was. Regardless the ninja skills were something she still needed, even he could see that. It was obvious with how many people were interested in the byakugan that she needed to be able to defend herself.

For whatever reason her father didn't seem to care about this anymore. Perhaps he had pushed that responsibility to her squad leader, Kurenai. At least that woman cared about Hinata, though he had to question where she and the rest of them had been when Hinata was standing in that pool of blood.

He would have asked her himself if he could be positive that she wouldn't take the question negatively. Itachi was still shocked that had gone as well as it had without some sort of prior plan. Even better after Kisame mentioned seeing her smiling when she was walking away from him.

All of this could have gone a lot better though, a lot easier if his clan didn't have those hidden intentions. If he had been able to follow through with his... well, 'courting' years ago.

He turned away from the shelf, glancing over another but still not seeing anything that caught his eye. Nothing he could use for the purpose he intended anyway.

All of it was too fancy, the jewels, the colors. Every single necklace he had seen in this shop already had a focal point, but he needed one without it. Otherwise it completely lost the meaning it held and there was no reason to give something like that to her now.

She was only five for kami's sake. These pearls, large gems, they weren't needed.

Just something simple, that's what he needed. Why was it so hard to find?

"Itachi, come here." Shisui's voice came from the other side of the store and after a moment of surveying what was in front of him Itachi made his way over. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it?"

He was holding up a thin chain made of steel connected by a simple hook in the back. It certainly didn't have a focal point, but... "Too plain."

At Shisui's laughter Itachi scowled. "You don't think you're stressing about this too much, do you?" his friend asked, still chuckling while he set the necklace back down on the shelf he had taken it from.

"I have to leave in an hour-" Itachi glanced to a clock in the store that caused the corners of his lips to turn down further. "In less than an hour and there's no way I'll be back by tomorrow with this mission to go to the birthday like Hiashi requested. He mentioned that he was going to tell her about the arrangement tomorrow and he wanted me there to... make things go smoother, I guess."

Shisui had finally stopped laughing completely and just smiled. "I already told you I would deliver your present to her. All you need to do is pick it out."

Itachi couldn't resist the scowl that was developing on his face. "But I won't be there, and I'm positive he's not going to tell her anything about it if I'm not there. It's been three years and he hasn't told her."

Shisui was silent for a moment before speaking, "Even with the agreement our clans aren't getting along. Of course, practically our entire clan knows so they are making the effort to not strike off as many matches with the Hyuuga, but only Hiashi, his brother, and that elder are the ones that know about it in that clan. They're probably more suspicious of us because of that. Not that you can really blame them for feeling that way."

He glanced to his cousin before looking back to the necklaces. "Is there any reason besides that for them to be suspicious?"

"I can't confirm anything yet, and I certainly wouldn't be comfortable talking about it here, but... It looks bad. On both sides. You know the plan concerning the village, and it would seem she's part of it."

Itachi felt his muscles tense for a second before he was able to loosen them up in the next moment. "Yeah. I had a feeling about that." His mother was way too happy with the arrangement made with him and Hinata. She certainly dropped enough hints for him to spend some actual time with the younger girl even though his schedule didn't allow for it. Whether it was because of missions assigned to him by the village or the clan he was booked nearly every second of the week. Especially with his own investigation. All of which wasn't even including his younger brother and the time he spent - or rather tried to - helping him with his skills as a ninja.

With a sigh he picked up a silver chain, turning it over in his hands. The metal itself was better than the steel, perhaps a little less practical and something a thief would actually be interesting in stealing... He really shouldn't be worried about her losing it. Especially to a thief when it would be within the walls of a clan that possessed the byakugan. His gaze moved to the hook, the little slots for it that could add length to the necklace or shorten it depending on one's comfort. At the end of them was a small thin leaf made of amethyst.

He blinked, pulling the necklace up further before dropping it from his hand so it dangled from a single finger. Itachi turned his hand over to see the small decorative gem at the back once more. It was leaving the front open for the future and clearly designed as a traditional necklace for the occasion he was looking for.

With a glance down he could see others like it in varying metal colors and gems that were shaped into a variety of symbols: clouds, a single flame, the leaf, waves rising up from the air. Each one was distinct to a village or country in the nearby area.

Itachi pulled the chain back up, glancing over it again. There were other gems with the leaf symbol as well, but unlike the amethyst it didn't make him think of her. This was the one he had been looking for.

Had she ever worn it? He was sure she knew what the gift had meant, but she obviously hadn't asked her father about it or Hiashi hadn't answered her when she did. Besides, she wasn't required to until the day she turned sixteen.

Which seemed to be approaching faster every day. He was really running short on time to make her comfortable with the upcoming marriage. Especially since he could only see her a few times a year. It was completely by chance that he even knew she was going to be in the area today, on her first mission out of the Fire Country and possibly her last for awhile since those exams were coming up. If she was taking part that is. That was still unclear to him and likely to her as well. Typically you either asked to be included in the exams or your squad leader decided for you and he doubted her case would be the former.

His gaze scanned over the streets again, hoping to see that lavender hued hair of hers. He couldn't direct her over himself though without sending a red flag to Kurenai. Quite literally if she noticed the genjutsu and then the sharingan beneath it.

He had told the hostess though that he was waiting for her or rather he gave a short description of her. Young, pale skin, short black-violet hair, white eyes. Of course since she didn't know about this arrangement - and had never been in this area before - she would look lost as well. Another reason to have the hostess keep an eye out for her as she led customers to their seats.

At a glimmer of black-purple he tilted his head before his eyes fell on her and the squad shortly afterwards. Kurenai was leading them down the street and - judging by the movement of her lips - telling the squad to have a look around before they left for Konoha.

Kiba was off heading to a pet shop, probably for treats for the dog, Akamaru that was on his heels. Shino had just muttered something before following after him, leaving Hinata to wander off to the other side of the street. The same side where the cafe was.

He glanced to the hostess to check if she had spotted the guest yet to lock eyes with the woman for a moment and he opted to incline his head towards the street as a way to confirm that she was the one. A couple seconds later when Hinata was just outside of the cafe the woman had reached forward to clasp her hand around the young girl's arm, saying something with a smile before leading the wide-eyed Hyuuga inside the cafe and winding through the tables to his own. "Your table, Miss," the hostess said while pulling the seat opposite him away from the table before letting go of her arm to head to a waitress to give his earlier order and then going back to her job. At least everything was going to plan so far.

"Umm e-excuse me?" His gaze dropped to Hinata who had reluctantly gotten into the seat while the employer was here but now looked ready to jump out. "I... I think there w-was a mis-mistake."

"Unless we're in an alternate universe and you're a decoy it's not a mistake," he replied calmly, watching as she began to fidget in the chair. She seemed unsure if she should get up and make a run for it or not. Maybe he shouldn't be playing games with her at the moment. "Hinata," he began to have her head shoot up from looking at the table cloth and to his eyes. That was the opposite reaction he had been looking for. "Please, calm down. I just want to talk with you."

She was pinching her bottom lip between her teeth now as she looked at him. "Do I... do I know you?" He paused, not particularly wanting to mention the blood pool when they last met even if it would be pretty straight forward. After another second of silence he gave a small smile to see her eyes widen in the next instant. "Itachi?" the moment his name had left her mouth she covered it with a hand, eyes flickering around the cafe before settling back on him.

He reached forward to grip her fingers lightly and move them away from her open mouth. "It's okay," he murmured softly, hoping she wasn't about to lunge for the door.

"Is it?" Hinata muttered, eyes still wandering around the cafe. "You... you're a... won't someone notice?"

He blinked. How did she keep doing that? Catching him off guard? "Don't worry about that. It's taken care of." His outward appearance was anyway, with another genjutsu. She must be concerned that someone would see through it, but he had taken all the precautions he could think of so that didn't happen.

"Oh, r-right. Can I... can I a-ask you so-something?" He finally felt himself relax when she asked the question. At the very least it meant she intended to stay seated. Itachi gave a nod of his head. "Why-" she cut herself off quickly when a waitress stopped by their table to set down a tray of sweets along with a drink for each of them.

"Thank you," Itachi told the villager.

"If you need anything else just ask," the waitress replied before walking away from the table.

When it remained silent even after the woman had left he reached forward to grab a stick from the plate, biting into one of the dango pierced on it a moment later. "What was your question?"

"Umm." Hinata looked about to reach toward the tray when her gaze dropped down to the hand she had just attempted to move. The same one his fingers were still wrapped around. He could see a pink tinge to her cheeks begin to develop and forced his fingers to stop their unconscious movement over her own, slipping his hand from hers. It took a second before Hinata moved again, grabbing a daifuku from the tray and rolling it around in her hands as her cheeks slowly began to pale. "Why did you s-save me from the Cl-cloud Ninja that n-night?"

Itachi bit into the other half of the dango, taking the few seconds it took to chew to sort out his thoughts. "I was in the area when I saw the other ninja wandering the village at night and then I saw the bundle he was carrying. I recognized him, as the Cloud Ninja that had just come to sign a peace agreement earlier that day and you in his arms. The main reason there was a war between ou-your village and the Cloud was because they wanted the byakugan. I only did my duty as a Leaf Ninja at the time to stop the kidnapping."

Hinata was frowning at the end of his explanation, staring down at the pink daifuku in her hands. "You were j-just doing your d-duty? Then ho-how come f-father didn't say th-that? He s-said he rescued me." Itachi didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. He had no idea why Hiashi would lie about something so simple, something he could have swept under the rug easily when she asked him. Unless... she was remembering the incident from her dreams. It must have been recent. Hiashi must not want her to feel any sort of gratitude towards someone like him. "Why did you kill your clan?"

He had just been taking a sip of his cold sweet tea when she asked the question and coughed a moment after. With a slight wince he took another drink to soothe his throat before giving the only answer he could give, "It's complicated."

"Like you saving me was complicated?" her voice was lower than normal and he glanced across the table at her as she bit into her sweet, chewing slowly, clearly not understanding what made it so complicated. He wished he had an answer that would satisfy her, but nothing came to mind. Other than Hiashi making that bit complicated. That man definitely didn't want him anyway near his daughter even though he should know by now that he had no choice in the matter. Her father had given that away a long time ago.

"Ah," the small sound made him look back to her. To see her hands waving rather dramatically in front of her face, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth. "Hot," she panted and he barely held the chuckle back as he remembered getting her a hot tea. Apparently it hadn't been his best choice for her.

"Here," he said, handing her his own sweet tea which she took quickly from his outstretched hands and began to drink down greedily. Itachi waited until she set it down to ask, "Better?"

"Mhm, th-thank you." As soon as the words were out of her mouth he could see her cheeks getting red again. First a lovely soft pink, but getting darker every second. His lips twitched up and she was scowling at him a moment later. "It's not funny." He released a soft chuckle at that. It was always funny when someone said that. "Or cute," she added a moment later.

He nearly burst out laughing. Had that comment really bothered her that much when he first said it just a month ago? Even with her lips forming a pout as he laughed it still rung true. She was cute-no adorable with her cheeks nearly bright red, little nose twitching as if she were about to-

Her eyes widened and her head swung around. "Sh-shino?"

His gaze raised to her squad-mate as he fought to suppress his laughter. "Kurenai said it was time to go," Shino said, but his gaze was on him rather than her.

Hmm. He adjusted his flow of chakra while leaning forward to look towards Hinata once more. "Thank you for keeping me company."

Somehow her cheeks got even redder and a soft laugh escaped his lips. "You-you're welcome," she murmured getting up from her seat and began to turn to stop short. Hinata turned back to him, lips pinched together. "When will I... see you again?"

"At the Exams."

Wow. Longest chapter here yet. Don't forget to leave a review ^.^