Okay guys, first thing is first. Thank you guys so much for your amazing reviews honestly they are my inspiration. But it seems a few of you guys are worried if this will turn into a SasuHina, and you don't need to worry about that. There are plot important side pairings yes, but the main pairing is Hinata and Itachi. Oh and this chapter is something like a filler, to tell you guys what happened between the time skip but it is important for the plot. Anyways, on with the story~
TIME SKIP: Hinata; 18, Itachi; 22
Taking risks is what life is about.
Getting hurt is something we're afraid of; but just remember, wounds heal.
Regrets will haunt you for as long as you live.
"From Chunin to Jounin huh Sakura?" Kakashi sniffed in pretense.
"My heart is filled with emotion."
"Hehe!" Sakura grinned.
"Of course! What did you expect?"
"Nothing less from my cute pupil." Kakashi's eyes averted to Naruto who was pouting and crossing his arms.
"What?!" Naruto scoffed.
"You're the only one in our team who is still a genin, Naruto." Sakura snickered.
"Hey, hey! I was out with ero-senin ya' know!" Naruto argued.
"Speaking of which," Kakashi snapped his book shut.
"Where is Jiraiya-sama?"
"Heh? Oh, I don't know. He went to do research in the Hidden Rain Village. I am sure he's just doing his usual pervy stuff ya' know?"
Sakura looked around while hugging the bouquet of flowers to her chest, ignoring the other two chattering.
She smiled bitterly as she spotted the guy in mind chatting with a familiar Hyuuga.
It was two years ago, when news spread that he had a thing for her.
Not long since then, they've been spotted hanging out together alone.
Though Hinata was usually on the passive side, it wasn't hard to see that Sasuke actually did have feelings for her.
So it hurt, a lot. After years of chasing after the Uchiha, he ended up having feelings for the girl who almost never paid attention to him.
It was sad, but pointless to think about.
Stuff happens, and it's not like they are going to last forever.
Even if they do, well... There are other Uchihas in the sea she reckoned.
"Sakura-Chan?"
"Huh?"
"Me and Kakashi-sensei are going over to snag some of those finger food, wanna join?"
Naruto grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
Sakura giggled.
"It's free." She shrugged.
"It's free," Sasuke shoved down another grilled tomato thing down his throat.
God knows what else is inside of it.
Hinata shook her head disapprovingly.
"That doesn't mean you should eat everything, Sasuke. You'll get a stomach ache!"
"Fine, mother. Just can it."
Hinata smiled and rolled her eyes.
"I feel bad for Sakura-san. She must want to spend time with you as well."
"I spend time with Sakura all the time."
"But, it's her special day..."
"Are you trying to chase me away or something?"
"N-No!" Hinata sighed.
Sasuke smirked.
"Calm down, I already congratulated her and everything." Sasuke took a step towards her.
"Besides," He cupped her cheek.
"I rarely get to see you, nowadays." He murmured, not missing the way she blushed as he got closer.
Hinata looked from side to side and then at him again. She grabbed his wrist and tugged.
"S-Sasuke," She said a little pleading.
He sighed and let his hand drop to his side.
"Okay, okay, I know. I am sorry. Just friends." He raised his arms in surrender.
Hinata sighed and averted her eyes, things always got a little weird from time to time.
"Is," Hinata swallowed.
"Itachi and Amane-san coming?"
She couldn't help herself.
Sasuke seemed disinterested.
"Itachi isn't coming, he just got assigned to a new mission. And since he isn't coming, there just isn't any reason for Amane to come is there?"
Hinata seemed a little down.
"But I am sure he'll congratulate you once he sees you."
"Right..."
A two year long relationship between Amane and Itachi surely wasn't what Hinata had expected, but maybe things turned out for the best.
She hadn't had the guts to tell Itachi how she felt, and maybe she did not deserve him.
Their lives are too different anyways.
It was just her, fooling herself; even till this day.
She should be able to, but she can't forget Itachi, or her feelings for him.
Their friendship, still retained, though they weren't as close as they were before.
Meeting twice a week or so, provided that Itachi or she isn't out on missions.
Sasuke became closer to her than ever, and unexpected things happened.
Things had become rocky, but it was not all bad.
Life was still on course. Hinata knew that, and even though she had a huge burden on her chest right now she can't be weak and just let it get the best of her.
She is a jounin now, a fully fledged ninja. No more mistakes, no more excuses, no more worrying about things she didn't do...
She has to look to the future now.
"Oi, Ken are you done yet? We have to go!"
"Hn." Itachi stood and secured the mask on his face.
"Geez, you really are a demented brother. If you want to go congratulate him or whatever go ahead and do it! Don't spy on the poor kid!"
"Older brothers don't face, they spy. If you had a younger brother you'd understand." Itachi said gruffly.
"Heh," His fellow ANBU shrugged.
"Hey wait a minute, didn't your brother become a jounin two years ago?"
"Let's go." Itachi leaped.
"O-Oi!"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at tree nearby.
Naruto stared quizzically, back and forth from his sensei to the food.
"Kakashi-sensei? What are you staring at?"
"Eh?"
"Come on! They're serving sushi over there ya' know!"
"I am right behind you,"
His visible eye closed and wrinkled at the corner as smiled behind his mask at his grinning pupil, eyes gleaming with excitement.
I wonder what he was doing here...
"I still don't understand why you would spend your time with such a guy."
"Neji Nii-san..." Hinata sighed.
"We've discussed this, Sasuke is a nice person."
"Define nice Hinata-sama, because that man is menacingly rude, irritating, an ignoramus – "
"Nii-san please, it's not good to assume such of people we are not familiar with. I am sure if you got to know him you would agree with me."
"Haih," the older man sighed.
"I honestly don't know what you and Naruto see in that fool."
"I... think I'll go to bed now, Nii-san."
Neji shook his head and 'hmph'- ed.
"I know you may think I am controlling and inconsiderate, but I do this for your own good, Hinata-sama."
"Good night, Nii-san." Hinata lightly kissed his cheeks and patted his shoulder before heading to her room.
She glanced at the lit garden on her way, resisting the urge to spend the night there, with her beloved flowers. Just a few steps away from her bed room, she noticed Hanabi's bed room door was slightly opened.
She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the blinking light coming from the opening.
Out of curiosity, she peeked into the slight crack, finding her little sister sleeping on the table; her upper body bent down, resting on top of the table, with her mouth wide open, snoring from time to time.
Hinata stifled a giggle. She obviously had been hard at work.
Feeling a little brave, she tiptoed in to her room, looking down at her tired yet somehow peaceful face.
She narrowed her eyes at the parchments below her thin figure, scrutinizing to read what she was so determined to stay up for.
Hinata smiled as she read the title 'Hyuuga taiijutsu; Jyuuken'.
She reminded her so much of Neji when he was young.
He used to stay up late at night as well, reading about the Gentle Fist style, and about chakra manipulation.
After seeing him work so hard, even she followed in his foot steps.
But of course it took her a longer time to master some of the techniques.
Some, she couldn't get down.
For some reason though, she was sure Hanabi would do well.
Probably better than Neji one day.
She couldn't help but lean down and brush a few strands of hair from her face.
She was ready to run when she had whimpered a little, but she seemed to be in quite a deep sleep.
She could sit there all day staring at this version of Hanabi and be content.
She really, loved her little sister. If only she felt the same way...
"Huh?" Hanabi shot up blinking.
She sucked in a little drool on the side of her mouth and stared blankly at the wall in front of her.
Her hand blindly searched for her brush, when she winced as she felt something hot touch her skin.
She glared at the porcelain cup that seemed to be a threat, then her features shifted.
Tea?
She looked back at her room door; it was closed.
Her papers were arranged, her bed was made and there was a cup placed on top of a small stack of black papers.
Hm. Must be the servant's work.
Some nerve they have for entering her room like that.
With a sigh, she dismissed the fact, tucking her hair behind her ears before slowly taking the cup in her hands, blowing and sipping lightly.
Her head cocked back slightly and she stared into the liquid as though it had been poisoned.
Honey lemon tea.
Her eyebrow twitched.
Hinata.
"I can't tell him."
"Neither can I! Shishou, Jiraiya-sama meant everything to him!"
Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples to ease her frustration. What they didn't understand was how hard it was for her as well.
"Just after the jounin inauguration... he was so happy yesterday."
"There is no telling how he will react. He might just go berserk." Sasuke unsurprisingly, (though it was rarely seen) was worried for his blonde friend.
"Hey guys," Naruto entered suddenly, turning all the heads of the people and frogs in the office.
"What's happening?"
"I thought of holding a dinner, here in the mansion for all my friends on Friday. If that is okay, father."
"Hn. It is possible, though I will not be around during the time you are to keep things simple and civilized. There will be no hooliganism in this mansion."
"Father I assure you," she firmly spoke.
"My friends will not cause any problems."
Hiashi nodded.
"Then it is, no problem."
"Thank you, father."
"Have you spoken to Hiashi-sama?"
"Hm. He allows it." Hinata smiled.
"I told you not to get worried, Nii-san."
"Hm. It seems you have learned the art of persuasion."
Though for Neji it wouldn't take more than her usual doe eyed stare to hook him into doing whatever the hell she wanted him to.
Hinata had some sort of super power, one that is quite scary.
"I would like for you to invite Lee-san and Tenten-san, if you could." Hinata smiled, just hearing Lee's name would bring memories of how Hanabi blushed when he had interrupted her training session.
Although she had ignored him most of the time, Hinata knew for a fact that she had a small crush on the sparkling green lad.
She was extremely cute.
Neji raised a questioning brow, but nodded.
"Please tell me you are not going to invite Sasuke."
Hinata bit on her lip and stared down.
Great.
"Hinata-sama..." Neji groaned.
"Father does not seem to mind our friendship, so why are you so worried Neji Nii-san?"
"Hiashi-sama obviously does not know what kind of person that Uchiha is."
"Nii-san please, I do not wish to argue about this anymore. He is my friend, I would like it if you respect my friends and my wishes just as I do yours."
"Hinata-sama, it is not that I do not respect them, I am just worried about you and your well being."
"I am officially an adult now, Nii-san; as a person and as a shinobi. I believed that, after this you would trust my decisions and approve of them. But apparently, I have yet to prove my worth to you."
Neji sighed. Hinata has really grown from the person she was.
She is still lovably shy and quiet, but the fire and determination in her had finally showed.
She is a much more stand – your – ground kind of person now.
He had admired her growth, yet it made it harder to argue with her.
"I trust you, Hinata-sama." Neji sighed in defeat.
Hinata smiled sweetly and clasped her hands in front of her.
She is just unfair.
She must have some sort of telekinesis power that he was unaware of, to be able to control him like that.
"Thank you, Nii-san. I promise you he won't be any trouble!"
"Hn."
The man grunted as she pecked his right cheek and giggled joyously.
The sound of light footsteps caught their attention and two heads turned almost immediately.
"Hanabi-Chan." Hinata smiled.
Hanabi did not reply, instead she was spared a glance by the little girl before she looked at her male cousin beside her.
"Hanabi-sama," Neji nodded.
"I am sure you are aware of Hinata-sama's recently acquired jounin status," Neji smirked as Hinata tugged on his sleeve, wondering what he was up to.
"Did you not congratulate her?"
The youngest among them yawned and stretched as though she had not heard him.
"It's about time she got promoted to jounin. You became a jounin when you were sixteen, Nii-san."
Okay, that did not go as planned.
Neji's lips parted to retort, but the look on Hinata's face stopped him from doing so.
She was smiling.
"Hinata-sama?" Had she lost it?
"Hanabi-Chan," Hinata shook her head and laughed lightly.
"She is always like that. But don't you think she is cute in her own way?"
Definitely lost it.
"Jiraiya, the Legendary Sanin has passed away." Sasuke sighed, running his hand through unruly dark spikes.
"W-What?"
"That's probably why dad hasn't come home in so long."
Mikoto backed up, stumbling, nearly hitting the wall behind her.
She put a hand to her chest and shook her head disbelievingly.
"Jiraiya-sama..." She murmured.
Sasuke eyed his mother who reminded him a little of his blonde friend.
He left the office devastated and angry, but hadn't reacted anywhere near as badly as he thought he would.
"How?"
"Akatsuki." He replied bluntly.
"It seems they're planning something big, and he planned to go straight to the leader and end the problem by the root. He died during the battle, but had brought back some valuable information."
"It... It is so unbelievable."
Sasuke nodded, the man was an extreme douche bag, but Sasuke recognized power.
And that man certainly wasn't a pushover.
To transform Naruto from dead last to what he is now... That's some real talent.
"How is Naruto doing?" Mikoto swallowed, as if she had read his mind.
"I... am not sure. All I know is, he's pretty pissed at Tsunade for letting him go in the first place. He didn't even spare us a second glance when he walked out the door. I understand, I guess."
Konoha is slowly losing all of its valuable shinobi.
Her sons are out all the time on shinobi duty; to serve the village is an honour and a privilege.
To save lives is the greatest duty.
To die during duty is the greatest liberation.
They live in a twisted world, caught up in endless spiralling mayhem.
In the shinobi world, there is no true peace.
She prays with all her heart, that she is able to live to see her grandchildren.
The greatest liberation for her; was to see her sons happy, and to have ten to twelve grandchildren from each. That was her fantasy.
Unbeknownst to her, that was her sons' nightmare; well the grandchildren part.
"Sasuke?" Hinata snuck up on him, giggling as he broke out of his reverie.
"Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" Sasuke sighed.
"You're an heiress, learn manners for god's sake."
Hinata giggled and peered at him from his shoulder.
"Why so down?"
If he could, he would just leaned his head on hers and find comfort in her soft indigo locks.
But that would just cause another awkward problem between 'friends' wouldn't it?
Plus it would make him look soft and desperate. Two things that he couldn't allow himself to be deemed as.
"Naruto." He sighed once again.
"What happened? Did you two get in to an argument?"
Sasuke turned to face her, noticing how used she was with being up close with him.
It wasn't necessarily a good thing, for Hinata. It made restraints much harder to keep.
But Sasuke was determined. You can't win Hyuuga Hinata's heart by force.
Maybe by courtesy and patience, but not by force.
So instead of ravishing her lips right then and there he simply patted the empty space on the bench next to him. Hinata scurried and sat next to him eagerly, wanting to know what happened.
"Something bad happened to him."
Hinata frowned.
So it's serious then.
"Jiraiya, his mentor had died."
Hinata gasped.
"W-What?"
"I am not at liberty to discuss the details but, yes he passed away during a secret mission. And naturally Naruto isn't taking it well."
Hinata much like Mikoto couldn't believe his words.
To think that she was just about to look for him and invite him to a dinner.
"This is awful."
"Hn."
"I feel terrible."
"Don't. It's pointless, it's not like you had anything to do with his death."
"Sasuke!"
"What? It's the truth."
"I...I know but don't say it like that..."
"I just don't understand why you would feel guilty." He shrugged.
"While other people were out sacrificing their selves for the village, I was at home planning some stupid dinner." Hinata closed her face with her palms.
"I am an idiot." Her palms muffled her words.
"That is true," Sasuke smirked as she elbowed him.
"And what's all this sudden talk about a dinner?"
Hinata sighed.
"I was... planning a dinner for my friends, since the jounin inauguration. B-But, I don't think it's such a good idea."
"Maybe it is."
"Huh?" Hinata tilted her head.
"Maybe gathering everyone together might just get things off their minds. You know, goo times and what not." Sasuke waved.
"But inviting Naruto, might be out of the question."
"Hm. Poor Naruto-kun..." Hinata bit her lip and nodded.
"So," he coughed.
"Was I on the list or were you going to make me break in to the mansion uninvited?"
He raised a brow.
Hinata smiled mischievously.
"I said a dinner for my friends, Sasuke." She giggled half way, not mastering the art of mockery.
"Cheap shot, Hinata." Sasuke's lips twitched but he had managed to retain his serious expression.
"Oh," Hinata looked a little worried, looking at his expression.
"I am sorry! I was only kidding! Y-You were the first on the list!"
"Ah, I see. That's nice to hear." Amusement clear in his voice.
"You... are not mad are you?"
Sasuke sighed and stared at her apologetic look, wondering how anyone can be that pure and innocent.
It may have irritated him at times, but in truth, that was what he liked about her the most.
"Hinata, you really suck at being mean."
"W-What?" Hinata furrowed her eyebrows.
Sasuke smirked.
"After all this time of teaching you... and you still suck. Badly. I am ashamed."
"W-Well, t-that's because you s-suck at teaching!"
Sasuke gave her a look and raised a brow, crossing his arms.
Hinata shrunk back in to her jacket as she met his gaze, biting on her lip.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean that, sorry." She averted her eyes.
Her face turned completely scarlet as she heard his laughter.
"You have no hope in this Hinata," Sasuke shrugged.
"It's just not your style."
"No... I guess not," Hinata sighed.
"Don't try so hard to change,"
Sasuke put his hand on her head, as though she were a little kid which made her blood gush to her cheeks.
"I like you like this." He muttered.
"T-Thank you." She gulped.
"Hn."
Sasuke was sweet, though he made her extremely uncomfortable during times like these.
Few years back, she would have laughed if someone called him sweet.
He was a nice person, but nowhere near the word 'sweet'.
In fact, he hated sweets. Much like his brother.
Sasuke like everybody else, had matured.
He wasn't the childish, grumpy person that he used to be; now he was just grumpy.
He used to avoid facing his feelings, avoiding the people he felt for being the awkward teenager that he was.
It took him longer than Itachi, but Sasuke grew up.
Though for him, it didn't particularly mean it was such a good thing.
Being open meant being more vulnerable.
It would be easier to get hurt.
Though hurting Sasuke was definitely not something she wanted to do, she couldn't help her feelings. But it did feel a little sad; it was like she didn't know a good thing when she sees it.
She was still having feelings for someone who already had someone else in his life.
Her friend, Itachi.