Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
What Lies in Truth - 3
Hiashi greeted Itachi and Fugaku at the door in a sign of hospitality, and accompanied them to one of the conference rooms. Hinata was conspicuous in her absence, at least to Itachi. He tried to surreptitiously fan out his chakra, searching for the warm lavender tones he'd come to associate with her.
"She's bringing the tea," Hiashi told him. The Hyuuga head exchanged an amused glance with Fugaku, and Itachi knew he'd been caught. He was in the presence of two very powerful ninja, even if they were retired.
A soft knock precluded Hinata's entrance. She was balancing a heavily laden tray of tea and light snacks. Itachi immediately stood to help her. Their fingers brushed and she nearly dropped the tray in the process. Blushing a pretty pink, Hinata stuttered out her thanks before scurrying to Hiashi's side of the table. She poured tea for all of them, herself last.
"Itachi, how much have you figured out about the Hyuuga clan?" Hiashi asked after they exchanged the minimal polite small talk. Hinata was looking at her scroll with determination, trying not to seem as if she was listening intently. Her grip on her pen was so tight her knuckles were white.
In flash of insight, Itachi understood why she'd so uncharacteristically attacked him with such harsh words. She thought he was trying to use her for information on the Hyuuga. Even though that she would think that saddened him, he understood. He understood duty.
He had to get her to understand that this was something more that just gathering dirt on another clan. The Hyuuga and Uchiha were two important parts of the whole of Konoha.
So Itachi told them everything he knew and concluded about the Hyuuga and the Uchiha. He spoke on how Hyuuga Yami had likely taken advantage of the rift between the Uchiha police and the ninja forces to amass an army.
Then he spoke about Hinata's kidnapping, and how much of it was blamed on the Uchiha as they had been invited as the third party to facilitate over the Hyuuga and the Cloud. The Cloud would have trusted no one but the Uchiha, for the rivalry between the Hyuuga and Uchiha was legendary. The aftermath was a political mess, with war looming on the horizon and too many fingers pointed at each other.
As he laid out all the nuances of such a pivotal event in her life, Itachi watched Hinata. Instead of shrinking in on herself, she set her shoulders and listened resolutely. This wasn't the shy, timid girl he'd first experimented with. There was a new edge of determination in her eyes, velvet over steel.
"We are not so different - the Uchiha and the Hyuuga," Hiashi said when Itachi paused just before mentioning the Uchiha rebellion. "In many ways, the Uchiha coup was inevitable in that political setting."
So the Hyuuga had guessed, after all.
Fugaku looked a little bitter and sad as he nodded. "Our clan's resentment and anger were easily harnessed by the more aggressive members."
"It is not too late to strengthen the relationship between the Hyuuga and Uchiha - we should be on the same side, Konoha's," Hiashi said.
Itachi was a supporter of harmony, and agreed with the man wholeheartedly. But he was also quite suspicious of the way the two clan heads glanced at him and Hinata.