Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
Storm - 1
Nothing about Itachi was by accident.
She still believed that, still had to. Because otherwise everything she thought she knew of him would be a facade - another genjutsu, another dream. She had to believe it even if it meant he'd been using her all along.
She forced one foot before the other. It hurt now, but it could have hurt enough to break more than just her heart. But she had stopped before it was too late. So she'll take the excruciating agony now, because it was her payment for daring to think herself more than she was. She was Branch. She was the gatekeeper to the Hyuuga secrets, the clues, and one foot in the door was enough for Itachi to ruin everything.
"Hinata. Stop..." Then he was standing in front of her, with more emotion than she'd ever witnessed in his black eyes. It scared her. "Is that what you really think of me? That...whatever this is...it's just a side-effect of some deeper plot?"
He was furious. But even worse was the deep, deep agony that hid behind the maelstrom of wrath.
"Don't belittle me," he said quietly, with a calm that made her shiver. She had never seen him like this. Hinata could only listen, her turn to be dumbstruck.
"You're not even giving me a chance. 'Since you can't reciprocate...'? You are so sure you are the only one capable of sacrifice. Every time I step outside to defend this village I love, it is a deliberate choice. Every time I train, it's not for the glory, but so I can be strong enough to protect Konoha and the people that make up this village. From the moment I could remember, everything I did was driven by the choice to love Konoha for all its flaws. Every mission is an affirmation of that choice. My heart, my body, my soul and everything that I have to give - those are all a small cost to protect those that are precious to me."
She thought her heart couldn't break further for him, for her false accusations that hurt him so.
Then Itachi's next words shattered her.
"I can and will give everything. That is the meaning of being a true shinobi."
AN: One reviewer mentioned confusion over Hinata's thoughts. I'm purposely being a little oblique here, but a lot revelations will be happening in this arc. You get a lot of movement when things go boom. Hopefully you'll find my explanations viable.
I will say that the first half of Hinata's speech last chapter is completely true. The later half was a bit of bull, since Itachi practically oozes love for Konoha and Sasuke.