Dreamcatcher

By Airyo

What Lies in Truth - 7

For the first time since she could remember, she had trouble sleeping simply because she was so excited. As soon as dawn's rosy fingers began to peel back the night, Hinata was up. She had completed her duties in the kitchen the day before, leaving her ample time in the morning make sure her equipment was in order. Though Hyuuga generally didn't need much except their own hands, Hinata's taijutsu still needed supplementation.

She was determined to get it right - for her father, for her family, for herself - so Hinata brought a spare of every weapon that the Academy had recommended. She only clanked slightly when she walked. Kurenai-sensei would address it if it became a problem.

Hinata arrived half an hour early for her first meeting, and waited eagerly at the designated training field with soft smile. This was a new era in her life. Doubt was but a vague notion at the back of her mind - determination filled her veins with a steely Will of Fire. She was ready to step up to the battlefield, to serve as a proud soldier of her village. It was a dream come true.

Right at the stroke of nine, her teacher appeared with a swirl of leaves.

Except, Kurenai looked a lot like Itachi.

"Good morning...Hinata," he said after a moment. The Uchiha frowned as he regarded her. He didn't seem angry at her - rather more like he was thinking about something frustrating.

"Good morning," she said with a bow. "I didn't know there you were meeting a team here as well."

"Not a team," he replied. "Just one student. An apprentice whose name Father refused to tell me until now..."

Then it hit her.

"You're my teacher."

That was why Hiashi had been so strangely evasive. He never actually confirmed that her mentor would be Kurenai and simply had let her assume it for the past week.

"Hyuuga-sama...he...he...he tricked me!" she exclaimed, lips pressed into a little pucker of disappointment and fists clenched in front her chest.

Then just as quickly, her burst of ire dissipated. It was uncharacteristic of her to be angry with Hiashi over a silly thing like his choice of her teacher. It was his prerogative to begin with. She had always accepted his decisions dutifully.

She left her hands fall to her sides in wonder. Hinata realized that with her renewed relationship her father, she allowed herself to feel the unique irritation that children felt for their parents.

"I am not surprised," Itachi said flatly, sharing her filial exasperation. "I told Father not to meddle after he'd suggested a betr-" He shook his head with a sigh. "Naturally, he involved himself even more. Probably Mother's idea..." Itachi recomposed himself and looked at Hinata apologetically. "Please understand this: I am far from displeased with our fathers' choice. Moreso with their method of springing this on us. In fact, I already have several training ideas derived from our earlier experiments, though they were extraneous until recently."

Until you became genin. She understood. He had a thousand thoughts in a moment, but carefully picked out only a few to share. Before her promotion to genin, suggesting training for her would have only hurt her.

Mentally, she apologized to Hiashi for being so angry over his trickery.

She shared Itachi's sentiment and could only complain about the method (or lack of one) of how she was informed. Now that the reality of it sunk in, Hinata's heartbeat played a strange, albeit not unpleasant, pattern of anticipation in her chest.

"How long is this supposed to be?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't believe they altered the terms of the contract overmuch," he answered easily. "So it would be until your promotion to chuunin."

If that happened at all.

"I...I will work hard," she hedged. He smiled at her so trustingly, unaware of her sly thoughts.

She must be the first genin who ever considered failing the Chuunin Exam indefinitely.

AN: I'm sure you're all wondering where this fic is going. I'm pretty much done with important parts of Itachi and Hinata's character development, so I just need to wrap up the Big Damn Secret. So that's roughly three arcs left, and the epilogue.

My sporadic bursts of updates are mainly due to the unfortunate tendency to write scenes in the future and then sit staring at a blank screen for the chapter I'm supposed to write.

Review to help motivate me. ;D