I'm pretty sure I can keep up a weekly schedule. I'll let you know if anything changes.

Chapter title from the song Crystalized by the XX.

Many thanks to these people for reviewing: dumdeedum, km987001, I-Love-Trunks1, Indigo, and a Guest.

Thanks for reading.

oOo

Chapter Eleven: So Don't Think That I'm Pushing You Away

The migraine that brought Itachi low came without warning. He did not experience them often. But when they came, it felt like his skull had been cracked in half. Every time he opened his eyes, it looked like he was squinting through a shattered mirror. Which might not have mattered, seeing he could not keep his eyes open for that long anyway.

As a shinobi, pain was not a new companion. He had been injured in so many different ways. But the migraines always seemed different. More intense, maybe. Or more debilitating.

Today, his saving grace came from the fact Hinata was not there. It was her half day. After struggling for normalcy all day, he could close his eyes, rest his elbows on the desk, and carefully cradle his throbbing head in his palms.

He did not know how much time passed when someone knocked on the office doors. He mentally cursed when he recognized the pattern.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, I forgot- oh."

Hinata's intentionally firmed her steps so he could hear her coming. A signal of politeness. She indicated her non-threatening status.

He did his best to raise his head, but he could not.

He tracked her chakra as she closed the shades and shutters, then crouched next to his chair. Her voice came out in an extremely soft whisper. "Is it a headache?"

"Aa," he breathed out an agreement just as quietly.

"Can I help you?"

He meant to say she did not have to. The words rested on the tip of his tongue. But when he spoke what came out was a weak: "Please."

"Permission to touch one of your hands?" she asked politely.

He gingerly offered the hand next to her. She accepted it, her calloused palms rubbing over his.

"I'm sorry about my chakra," she apologized. "It must be distracting."

He noticed it a long time ago. But he understood what she meant when their skin made contact. Her chakra felt muted, almost like a civilian's. It jarred his perception of her. How could a nin have such low chakra?

He struggled to get his mind into some kind of order. "It…" He swallowed and tried again. "It's the chakra blockers?"

"Hmm," she hummed.

Her fingers pressed strongly on either side of the webbing between his thumb and index fingers. The pressure continued for a short amount of time before she began to rub in circles. He did not understand what she was doing, but the warmth of her skin diffused through him, calming him slightly. The circles reversed.

She let go, the pads of her fingers rubbing over the center of his palm. His jaw clenched. He sucked in a breath and could smell her hair.

"May I have your other hand?"

He turned the chair to face her. His eyes stayed closed, and his head continued to hang low. But he could move, which was an improvement.

She repeated the action on his other hand.

"May I touch your face?" she asked.

"Aa."

He could not quite tilt his face upwards, because his neck muscles felt frozen, encased in steel.

However, from her spot crouching in front of him, she could reach his face easily. She lifted her hands and pressed two strong fingers on either side of where the bridge of his nose met his eyebrows. She kept the pressure then released and repeated this until he let out a hitching breath through his nostrils.

The claws embedded in his head loosened a little.

He tried to distract himself. If she saw him vulnerable, then maybe she would be vulnerable in turn.

"Is… is it the seal? That makes you need chakra blockers…" he tried.

The dark and their hushed whispers made the whole situation seem sacred or intimate.

"The seal, yes." Her thumb pressed against the chakra point right between his eyebrows.

Itachi winced as it radiated pain through his eyes.

"Sorry," she said but did not let up. She let go and did it again. "I'm a little older than usual. My chakra pathways are already developed and not as elastic. It will take time for my chakra to regulate and get used to the restriction of the seal."

By the time she stopped speaking, she finished with his forehead. Her fingers gently slipped over his eyelids, tickled his eyelashes, and glanced over the sensitive skin of his cheekbones. He struggled to keep his breath even as the contact caused his heartbeat to speed up. When was the last time that someone touched him this kindly?

Her fingers pressed into the middle of his cheeks. The pattern repeated. Pressure, release, repeat.

"Does… does it cause you pain?" he rasped.

"Not when I use the blockers."

"Do you regret coming off of active duty?"

"I don't regret serving the village to the best of my ability."

Her clothing rustled, making him realize how close she really was. The pockets of her flak jacket brushed against his legs.

"Sorry," she said.

"It's fine. Would you rather do anything else; I mean?"

The silence that followed his question made him think that he made a mistake. He pushed this too far.

When she did speak, he could hardly hear her. He did not know the emotion that colored her voice. Wistfulness? Sadness? "I don't regret being here. I don't regret working with you. I enjoy our time together."

Maybe it was because his headache was easing, but the thrill of her words slid down his spine to sit at the base of it, right over the Wonder gate. It burned like a tiny ember, warming him from the inside out.

"May I touch your neck and shoulders?"

He bit back his enthusiastic plead. Managing to keep himself in check, he only nodded. The shattered pieces of his skull were slowly fusing together.

She stood, moving behind him. Hunched as he was, she had access to his back. His chair had also been switched out with one that had a low back that stopped at the middle of his ribs. He liked it for his posture, but he never realized it could come in handy in situations like this.

Her hands settled lightly on his shoulders. Her thumbs pressed past his formal robes, and he was very glad he was not wearing his body armor. Halfway between his shoulder points and the base of his neck, she applied firm, circular pressure.

A small knot on his right shoulder released, letting out white hot fire, then cold shivered through his nerves. The cool sensation spread up the side of his neck and face, soothing the angry pain there.

"Where did you learn how to do this?"

She continued her ministrations. "This was my area of study under Tsunade-sama. I had some knowledge of acupressure and homeopathic practices. But the extra training helped me immensely, especially when I lost my reference materials."

"Lost?"

This time, her hands strongly slid to the base of his neck. She massaged the muscles on either side.

"My reference materials were my mother's."

"Oh? Was she interested in herbal remedies?"

"Hm," her hum was non-committal. "Not really. She was not a healer."

"What was she then?"

"She was a Tokubetsu jonin. Her specialty was poisons. It's traditional that the wife or husband of the Hyuga Clan head pursue this area of study."

Itachi's eyebrows rose. He did not know that. Well, he did not know much about the Hyuga, in general. If he never became Hokage, he would not have learned so much.

Hinata continued. "But she did have a few journals dedicated to salves and herbal remedies. When I was demoted, those items were confiscated."

Now, Itachi's eyebrows furrowed. "But they belonged to your mother."

"No," she breathed. "They belonged to the spouse of the Clan Head."

Her fingers caressed the back of his neck as they traveled upwards, under his low ponytail and hair until they rested at the base of his skull. Her nails lightly caught on his skin.

"Sorry."

Itachi really fought to keep from telling her that she could do that again if she wanted. This whole situation bordered on impropriety and asking her to run her hands through his hair would tip everything over. He only allowed her close because he was so desperate.

"Do you have anything left from your mother?" He channeled this impolite feeling into his relentless curiosity.

"I had some of her furniture for a while, which was very nice. Now, I only have a couple of hairpins. Some of her clothing."

"You couldn't keep the furniture?" he asked incredulously.

She huffed out a laugh. "It doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the Clan Head and their spouse. When Neji gets married, it will go to his wife. I don't mind that."

Itachi opened his mouth to say something else, but she cut him off.

"I am trying to relax your muscles and give you some relief, Hokage-sama. If you insist on working yourself up with my answers, I'll just stop talking."

"But it does not make you upset?"

She did not respond, making good on her threat. He focused on slowing his breath into a meditative pattern.

After a few minutes, she broke the silence. "Do you have pain in your jaw?"

The pain in his head was practically nonexistent. The crown of his skull did not feel like ice shards were digging into his skin. However, his jaw still hurt.

"Aa."

She pressed her fingers to the skin above his ears and massaged hard. It hurt almost more than his jaw. But he let it happen, feeling the small but extremely tense muscles he was never aware of before.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he apologized, trying not to wince. She would not see it, but it would be embarrassing considering his high pain tolerance.

That strange emotion was back in her tone. "You care a lot about the people in your care. It's admirable. I cannot be angry at that."

"I still don't want to pry. Especially not into clan matters."

Her tone was still soft but serious. "I am a Konoha nin before I am a member of the Hyuga. If you want to understand, then I will tell you."

"Even if I am asking out of my personal interest and not as your Hokage?"

"Even then."

She leaned forward, surprising him. Her fingers pressed into the hinges of his jaw before her right palm slid to cradle his chin. The left hand moved down further and spread so she could press her thumb and index finger on the bottom of his collarbones. The stiff tendons on his neck pulled tight before relaxing.

"I'm going to adjust your jaw, Hokage-sama. Please relax."

His eyes shot open wide. How could he relax when her breath ghosted over the sensitive skin of his ear? The hot honey sliding down his spine increased in temperature and intensity and that ember at his Wonder gate caught flame. His hands clutched at the armrests of his chair.

"I apologize for my familiarity."

She leaned the right side of her head against his left, on the opposite side of where her palm cradled his jaw. Her flak jacket pressed to his shoulder. She breathed in once, long, and slow. He found himself unconsciously mirroring her. They breathed out, then in again, then out. His eyes fell closed as he absorbed the softness of her bangs sliding against his. The grounding sensation of her proximity.

His hands relaxed. His tense neck muscles did as well. In. Out. In.

She quickly pushed his jaw with her firm, confident grip towards the left. Her temple pressed against his kept his head in place.

He breathed out in shock. In seconds, she let him go and stepped back. The absence of her left a void around him. His jaw ignited, then cooled as the tense muscles in his face and neck relaxed into their natural and original positions.

She circled around his chair and stood in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

Amazing. Off kilter. Lost. Lonely.

He met her gaze and hoped his shock was not visible on his face. "My headache is gone. Thank you," he said earnestly.

She smiled, and even with the lack of light in the office, her eyes glittered like polished moonstones. "I'm so glad. I know you don't like accepting drinks and food you don't prepare yourself. But a lot of your pain was clearly caused by your muscles tensing from stress. I can bring in a tea blend to help with stress relief. It… it was part of my training and I'm qualified to help."

He did not know how she knew about that quirk of his. It was a leftover survival mechanism from his time at ANBU.

But with how amazing, how light he felt, she could have asked for his hair, and he would have pulled out a kunai to cut it in a second.

He tried to gather his thoughts. Haste was not a good course of action right now. "Will that help?"

She titled her head to the side as she studied him. "You're under a lot of stress right now, Hokage-sama. Even if it's a little thing, it will help."

"We did talk about needing to deal with my stress the other day, didn't we?"

She nodded.

He decided. "Okay. Tea is fine. Thank you so much."

"Thank you for trusting me, Hokage-sama."

oOo

Coming up: Tea time.