Dreamcatcher

By Airyo

Lessons in Wishing - 2

Hinata frowned slightly as she checked her watch.

Itachi had two minutes before seven, and three before she turned around and went straight back to the Hyuuga complex. Hinata restrained the urge to tap her foot. Ninja or not, it was generally polite to arrive a few minutes before, not a few moments. It was yet another mark on her growing mental list of his blunders in etiquette. Dinner preparations had run late, so she'd even skipped her meal in order to avoid tardiness.

Yet seven came and passed without any sign of Itachi.

Hinata glanced at the plaque that declared this area number 4. He had said Training Area 4, didn't he?

She was being a little harsh. He was a high-level jounin, after all, and the mentor of the soon-to-be Rokudaime. He must be really busy, unlike herself.

Maybe she'll waiting a little longer.

There was a slight chill in the air, and Hinata hugged herself, leaning back into the sturdy trunk of the lone tree in the middle of Training Area 4. The bark still contained some residual warmth from the now-setting sun.

Sunset was timed at 7:25 pm today, and it'll take about 10-15 minutes for it to set. As soon as she could no longer see the orange glow of the sun, she really was leaving. He was the first one to insult her by being late, so she was no longer obligated to stay, right?

He should have at least sent some sort of note.

He was the rude one.

Then it was final. She was leaving.

Really.

The last rays of the sun faded from sight, leaving the lot in increasing darkness.

Hinata stood and began to walk. Somehow, her feet only took her in a circle around the tree, again and again. She really could not easily accept that he had lost interest that quickly.

A small part of her enjoyed being pursued so sincerely, even if it was for the wrong reasons. It was nice to be treated as special, to be singled out by someone like Itachi.

He must have decided she wasn't worth the effort after all. Hinata smiled sadly as she pulled away from her track around the tree and began to cross to the gate in earnest. The gnawing emptiness inside her was just hunger, and it was making her regret the dinner she didn't eat.

This was what she wished for, after all. She now had every right to could go back to her perfect, mundane life now.

She made one last mental mark against him, for his worst faux pas to date, for the cruelest crime he could have committed against her.

Itachi had given her cause to hope for something more than bleak monotony.

AN: Whew! Work just eats my life sometimes. If only I will win the lottery sometime.