Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
An Absurd Proposal - 2
Itachi did indeed notice her staring.
Frankly, it made him a little uncomfortable.
Itachi was sadly accustomed to the rather perverted gazes of his fans, for looking was much more preferable to touching. If she'd been simply admiring him, Itachi would have taken it as a positive sign, as that meant he had a better chance of gaining her agreement to his proposal.
Instead, she'd been regarding his groin with a distinct expression of terror. Like she was expecting something from her nightmares to burst out.
Itachi wasn't a vain man, by any means, nor was he a ill-tempered one. But even he had to feel a little bit indignant. Some aspect about his crotch area seemed to offend her so much that she wasn't even listening to him anymore.
She was turning an interesting shade of red, though Itachi was no longer sure why. Hinata was difficult to read, despite her lack of training in ninja techniques to control her emotions. Regardless of her thoughts, her physical cues always resulted in a mix of terror and humiliation. It was like trying to translate a foreign language, except someone had replaced half the text with a second language without informing him.
Her silence was getting a little unnerving. "Please at least consider it. Have a good day, Hinata-sama," he said, rushing to the end of this conversation. He will get not anything useful now, and there was only the possibility that her embarrassment over acting so strangely would galvanize her into a positive answer.
Though after three days, it became quite apparent that he will not be receiving a response.
There were a multitude of lines of communication open to her: letter, messenger, messenger bird, talking to any one of the hundreds of Uchiha in this village, telling her father, or simply keeping to her morning routine and nodding when she saw him.
That was another thing. She'd changed her route to the market and Itachi felt a little too much like Jiraiya to track her down again.
The logical side of Itachi wondered if it was time to give up. Hinata did not want to cooperate, and he can not force her. But now, it was quickly becoming more a point of pride than mere curiosity.
Most people pointed to Sasuke as the stubborn one, and Itachi as the wise one. But they were still brothers. Itachi did not achieve what he had through the wisdom of knowing when to give up, but rather the wisdom of knowing when to appear to have given up.
He simply needed a change of tactics. Hinata will be even more upset with him, but Itachi found himself less inclined to care after all the frustration she has caused him.