Is this how it ends ?

Hinata fell face first, her feet tangled, and eyes tightly shut waiting for a free fall and probably a broken nose or a bruise on her forehead nonetheless.

The moment however never came, instead of feeling the hard floor beneath her, she was caught by two strong arms. A lean yet soft and comforting embrace radiating heat. "Are you hurt ?" a soft murmur came out of her savior's mouth. Hinata nodded her yes. As the thunder struck again this time close to the school campus, the Hyuuga heir buried her face into his broad shoulders as a refuge, the way she had always done ever since she could remember whenever in his presence. The same way she would have done ranging from when crying whether it was because of Hiashi saying that she was worthless or Neji scowling at her for coming back home past curfew to when she would whimper because of a scraped knee while playing around or to the scenarios such as this one when thunderstorms would scared her to death. Only this time it was different. Different is supposed to be something nice. Something new or something exotic. This time instead of comforting her like he has always done for the past years, he conformed himself with brushing her aside and got up as quick as possible as if something had burned him not even bothering to look behind his back to see if she was alright.

Thunder and lightning were harmless since they were sheltered in a building, however Hinata couldn't help but to feel upset. At the same time, she felt guilty. Guilty for being so reliable on a man that was highly independent and mature.

She had told Sasuke that they weren't kids anymore, so why wasn't she doing the same herself ?

"What are you doing here Itachi ?"

"You sure are a klutz Hinata. Aren't you ?" the Uchiha replied, dismissing the girl's question while he gazed out of the window, observing the rain pour on the streets and houses of Konoha.

She felt a sting. At times like these he would normally chuckle in that low seductive voice of his. She as well noticed the little nickname 'hime' he usually added after her name. She'd usually blush at being called that, but now she missed it.

What was going on ? Did something go wrong ?

"Don't avoid the question" she firmly stated "Please.. tell me..."

The tall man turned around to face her. The weak street lights merely illuminating his face, yet enough to reveal his abnormally tired features. His black orbs that were always intimidating, emotionless and full of confidence were now emitting profound grief and sorrow. His body always in full composure seem to barely stand up for iself. He seemed to have aged in no time or as if he had sold his soul to the devil.

What could have gone wrong since last night ? It had been only a day since she had last seen him..

"I just wanted to see you.. I wanted to buy some time" Itachi replied. It was simple and the truth even though there was some explanation to be done. But it was enough for Hinata. She just assumed he was tired or didn't want to talk about it and she respected it even though deep inside, she was dying to know what was going on in his mind. She wasn't used to have him being close yet so distant from her.

He bent over, his lips an inch away from her trembling ones. Noticing he eyes squeezed shut, he pulled away not wanting to force her to do anything she didn't want. He was hurt. All these years he had been there for her. He had been taking his sweet time in order not to do a wrong move. He had been trying to decode her feelings for him. He had been her rock and the centre of her attention. It only had taken Sasuke to slightly step back into the frame to shatter it all. It was clear. Itachi Uchiha no longer was the one. He was replaced for the guy who all has ever done was hurt her.

Itachi hated it. He hated to see her being scared. Right now she wasn't scared of the thunder. She was scared of him. Him, the one who has devoted his life to only love her. It pained him. It pained him to know that he was some sort of a tool or a temporary replacement. He knew well that she wasn't doing all of this on purpose and probably wasn't even aware of what she was doing. He couldn't bring himself to hate her.

However, this seemed to be the most fitting and the best way for the situation. For her, and for Sasuke.

"Like I said, I just wanted to see you again" he repeated one last time before taking his leave

Hinata didn't understand. They saw each other often... so what was the problem ?

OKAY THAT ENDING LITERALLY SUCKED and so did the whole chapter. It was short, I know. I just had to stop here because the story sometimes escalates and sometimes it drops. I don't like combining both because this way it emphasizes more drama. Anyways, this was NOT the was I wanted the fanfic to enroll. The first time I wrote this chapter, the mood was more joyful since it involved Jiraya (he was the one in the room instead of Itachi) but I lost the file when I re-formated my laptop. So yeah, thank you for reading and please REVIEW ~! 3