Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
Storm - 2
Even before he finished his sentence, Itachi knew he'd struck too low. Years of repeating the meanings and codes and rules and justifications of being a shinobi made the words roll off his tongue thoughtlessly over the lubricant of his anger.
He was a shinobi, a soldier who protected Konoha. It was the very core of his existence. To him, duty was love, and she'd so easily dismissed his service, his loyalty. In essence, she'd questioned his ability to love, be it for an individual or for a village. Even worse, he could not fathom why she was attacking him and could only defend against her vague, almost incoherent accusations. (Then again, he was resigned to the fact that all the sturdy threads of his logic and control frayed for anything that had to do with Hinata.)
But that was no excuse to lord his status over hers. Not when the crux of her vulnerability was her failure as a ninja of the Hyuuga.
Hinata broke.
There was no other way to summarize the excruciating way her features crumbled, the way she flinched as if he'd physically struck her, the way her trust for him turned to dust.
The way his chest hollowed away at the sight of it all.
"Wait, Hinata, I'm sorry. I did not intend to -"
She turned to flee. He grabbed her wrist, but she recoiled from him, looking back at him with the those enormous, fractured eyes. Itachi did not miss the dried tear tracks on her cheeks.
She had already been crying.
He watched as she ran away from him, further and further, until she was lost to him.
Hinata rushed past Hanabi on the way to the her room, and despite her sister's calls, she slammed the door behind her. The strength that drove her dissipated, and Hinata slumped back against the frame and slid down to the floor.
"Hinata?" Hanabi didn't knock. She heard her sit down on the other side. Neither of them spoke, and Hinata almost begged her to leave her alone.
I can and will give everything. That is the meaning of being a true shinobi.
He was correct. It hurt because it was the truth.
She was hiding, flinching away from the things she feared and the consequences for them. It defined all her choices, and she used every excuse she could find to justify them. It was to the point that she could no longer tell if picking a fight with Itachi to push him away an act of wisdom or cowardice. Was she protecting her clan or just herself? Because she could never betray the her clan. Not when her self-identity was so hopelessly tangled with her family.
She was Hyuuga. She was Branch.
Then, a rare spark of rebellion burned in her veins.
"I love him," Hinata whispered, a confession out of spite. Already loved him, far more than she'd dared to admit until now.
There was a pause.
"Idiot," Hanabi murmured. The warmth of her sister's back through the shoji door was steady and strong. Hinata clutched her knees like a child, and began to weep in perfect silence.