"First of all, show me what you can do."

Hinata glared fiercely at the young Akatsuki member, ready to give it her all. The moon glowed down on them, like an angel was watching them with a giant, silver flashlight.

It was a miracle that Hinata was able to get away from Konoha that night. Three slow days had already dragged by, and Hinata wasn't aloud to go anywhere alone for a while, so she wasn't let out of sight from anyone. Tsunade made extra sure of that. So, that night, Hinata left her bed at 8:30, before making sure that Neji was asleep. Of course he was. Hinata had planned out what she would do to get away from home without getting caught, therefore taking extra, EXTREME precautions.

She had drugged her family.

She didn't want to, but Neji had to sleep in her room on a spare futon, since someone had to watch her at all times. So, since she was the lady of the house, she was the one who had to prepare dinner, and while making a pitcher of her famous, fresh cherry lime juice, she had put a drug in there that would knock them out the whole night.

"I'm sorry, Neji. But I had no choice." Hinata brushed the shoulder of her knocked-out cousin, pulled the covers up, brushed his hair out of his face, then opened her window and fled (of course, she made sure to close it, also).

It seemed Itachi hadn't forgotten much about the village. He told her 9:00 p.m. because it took her approximately 30 minutes to go from Konoha to go to their training spot. And 8:30 was the time that the day and night gaurds switched shifts. They also took a while to chat about the odd things that they saw that day, mostly having to do with Naruto.

Hinata smiled smugly as she snuck through the front gate. Itachi is as clever as they say, after all. He hasn't forgotten a thing about the village.

The second she left the gate, she broke into a run. As she approached the forest, she jumped up into the trees, leaping flawlessly from branch to branch. Adrenaline pumped through her chakra filled veins. I've escaped!

Now, here she was, before the famous Uchiha. Not friends, not enemies. Just a sensei and student, training in the silver moonlight. Itachi, Hinata had to admit, looked rather dashing in the moonlight.

She closed her eyes. Now wasn't the time to marvel at his… well, beauty, which is the only word to describe it. If she wanted to impress her father, she had to let Itachi train her, first.

"Byaakugan!" Hinata could see everything, except what was in the Byaakugan's blind spot's field of vision. She ran toward the handsome young man, leapt off the ground, and did a graceful front flip in the air as she pulled out a kunai. As she began to fall, she viciously flung her kunai at Itachi, who easily dodged it.

Frustrated, Hinata beautifully landed on the ground and sprinted toward her new sensei.

"Ninja art! Gentle fist jutsu!" The young Konoha ninja shaped her chakra in the palm of her hand, the way Neji had taught her, and smacked her hand on Itachi's most important chakra flow.

"Augh!" Itachi winced, clutching where the Hyuuga had so viciously hit him. But the image before Hinata disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hinata was angry. Itachi was nowhere to be found. Up high? Down low? Right? Left?

"Behind you, Hinata." Before Hinata could turn around to the familiar voice, a shuriken stabbed her, right where the Byaakugan's blind spot lies. But, like any other shinobi, Hinata didn't feel pain. Just annoyed that she had gotten hit.

The white-eyed teenager looked straight forward and saw Itachi, as emotionless as ever. He moved fast. How could she keep up with him?

Panting, Hinata turned off her Byaakugan. Itachi let her catch her breath before speaking up.

"I happen to know about the Hyuuga clan's secret blind spot," said Itachi. "You must always be aware of it. Even if it is smaller than the rest of your field of vision. The enemy WILL find out if you fight long enough."

There was another short silence as this sunk into Hinata. Will I ever become a good shinobi?

"Hinata."

She looked up.

"You really do have what it takes to be a great ninja. Especially if you were willing to train with me… It shows your courage and determination to become an excellent kunoichi one day. And, I'll train you until you're the best."

Hinata couldn't help but gasp. Her heart rate quickened. He was really willing to train with her until she was the BEST? Did he mean… literally, the best kunoichi in the ninja world?

Itachi walked behind Hinata and pulled the shuriken out of her back. Her jacket was coated in blood in the place that it had stabbed her, along with the blade of the shuriken.

"Before you leave, let me treat your wound."

Hinata was still blushing at his words, but she stood up straight and took off her favorite jacket, revealing her black mesh top. "Hai, sensei."

They sat down on the bank of the waterfall (the place Hinata had woken up was a secret room behind the waterfall) and Itachi began to rinse the crimson blood off her jacket. He hung it on a branch on a nearby tree to dry. Then he sat back down next to Hinata, and actually tore a piece of cloth from the bottom of his pants, wetted it, and dabbed at Hinata's back. She blushed more. Wow… I can't believe how… kind he is…

"I'm sorry about this," said Itachi. "But if you really want to train with be, just know that I like to get the point through right off."

Hinata just briskly nodded her head. "Um, Itachi… you really don't have to do this."

Itachi dipped the cloth back into the water and continued dabbing. "Do you want to go back to Konoha with a blood-covered back and arouse suspicion?"

"Um…" he had a point. "No. Not really."

More silence fell between them. Not awkward, but peaceful. A silence of trustworthy peace. For some reason, Hinata just knew that she could trust Itachi. There was no reason to be afraid of him. So, she broke the silence with a curious question that had been lurking in her mind ever since she returned to Konoha.

"Itachi, why are you doing this?"

Itachi stopped dabbing. "Doing what?"

"Well, why are you training? Why didn't you just say know when I asked?" The Hyuuga bit her lip nervously.

"Well," started Itachi. "It wasn't a question. It was a demand. It didn't look like you'd take no for an answer." Itachi paused thoughtfully. "Besides, it was actually very respectful and daring of you to seek help from an S-Ranked criminal."

"Yeah? Well, I don't know why… I just… I felt like I had to. I really don't know what came over me." She looked back at him. "But, sensei. I… guess I trust you."

Itachi couldn't suppress the small smile that found its way to his lips. "Well, that's good."

That was their last words for the night, until they said their goodbyes, until next time. As the two of them quietly made their way back to their separate homes, they both felt an odd sense of, well, they didn't know what to call it. But it was the best feeling that they had both had in a very long time.