Hinata lowered her head to the counter to adjust to the mug set in front of her. She only meant to find Itachi his own mug, but the set was too cute to pass up. Each mug had a little ghost designed to point at each other, holding out a heart. It was a silly joke that she was sure Itachi wasn't going to find funny, but they made her smile.
She expected to find something wrong with them since she found them in the clearance section, but maybe they were just from Halloween months ago now. She washed them, started the kettle, and hoped Itachi would be home soon to see them.
Itachi appeared in the entranceway and noticed a pair of larger slippers waiting next to Hinata's usual ones, waiting for her to come. The shoe rack was missing shoes she usually kept there, and the coat rack was emptier than before. She made room for him.
He took off his shoes and coat to wait for her to be home. It wasn't like he tracked in dirt, but it was probably strange to her that he was always fully dressed.
The sound of the lock fighting her to turn alerted him that she was just behind him. He turned the knob to let her in, and she squeaked in surprise. "Oh. You're here." Itachi nodded as Hinata collected herself inside, putting up her coat next to his. "You found your slippers."
"It's unnecessary," Itachi commented.
"So is taking your coat off." Hinata slipped into her own slippers as she headed for the kitchen and the cups she was very proud of. After them, he wasn't expecting more.
Was this considered nesting?
"I don't like marshmallows." Sasuke pulled his hot chocolate toward himself before Itachi could drop in the handful.
"Since when do you not like marshmallows?" Itachi dropped them into his own cup.
Sasuke made a face. "They get mushy."
"Well. What if I told you that you could just eat them right out of the bag." Itachi moved the bag closer to him.
Sasuke eyes narrowed his eyes at him. "Did you break something?"
Itachi chuckled. "No."
"Why are you being nice and giving me sweets?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
"Some days are just for silly little things like drinking hot chocolate with brats." Itachi sipped from his.
Sasuke tipped his cup up, leaving a thin line of chocolate across his lip he didn't quite lick off. "I think you broke something."
"I may have." Itachi teased.
"What?" Sasuke whined.
"Well, if I did break something, and you haven't noticed, then is it broken?" Itachi raised an eyebrow at him.
Sasuke face twisted. "Yeah!?"
It took some research and a few calls, but she may have finally found someone who would know what happened to Itachi. The old man from the roof was still alive and living across town. Hinata waited until Itachi left to take the trip to see him. She wanted to know if the old man was even able to remember before she dragged Itachi in for nothing.
She stepped off the bus to look at a care facility and gave his name at the front desk. Hinata was pointed outside to the coat yard.
Outside on a cold rainy day. This man and she had that in common. Hinata approached the wheelchair alone under a covering, looking out at the rest of the empty yard as the rain poured down. He must have someone sit him out here because, with his one arm slung, he wasn't going to be able to roll himself around.
Hinata turned around his side and then realized she would have to come further to be in his eyeline. "Danzo Shimura?"
"I am not done yet," Danzo grumbled.
"I am not staff." Hinata crouched down next to his chair. "I was wondering if you knew something about a man who died a few years ago, Itachi Uchiha."
Danzo's eyebrow came down to scowl at her. He knew what she was talking about. "That's before your time."
Hinata nodded. "I… was wondering, since you were up there, if you knew what actually happened."
"The coward jumped." Danzo's eyes shifted, not hiding his lying well.
Hinata put her hand over his, grabbing his attention. "I know that's not what happened." Danzo set his jaw to glare at her. "What really happened?"
Itachi took a few breaths to recover from their near fall before launching himself to hold Danzo down from getting up to go back to the ledge. "What are you thinking!?"
"I am thinking that I am not going to live my life as a cripple!" Danzo fought against him. "No one wants a broken doctor."
"What would you do if one of your patients was up here? You would tell them to have hope and that it would get easier." Itachi flinched back as he was elbowed in the face.
"I would be lying to them! We know what the odds are. We know the risks of surgery. I know my chances damn it." Danzo barked back from the ledge as Itachi recovered, holding his hand up to his bleeding nose.
Itachi went back after him to keep him from the ledge. "And I know my chances, but I am not up here to leap!"
They both knew what he was talking about. Itachi had been secretly taking the test in the hospitals for weeks after he collapsed out of nowhere in the hallway. He told Danzo, his superior, before he even told his own family. His little brother didn't even know yet.
Danzo rested his good arm on the wall. "My career is over with this." He nudged his bad shoulder forward. "I am not going to be chained to an administration desk for the rest of my life."
"Then travel or do research." Itachi spat back, offering his hand to ask him away from the ledge. "Don't be a coward."
Danzo took his hand, but his eyes flashed in rage that Itachi was pretending to know his pain. He pulled Itachi toward the ledge.
Hinata kicked and struggled to call for help, but there was too much pressure on her throat. This old man wasn't a ghost, and even if he was, her keys were in her bag behind him. He wasn't bound to the chair as she assumed, but nothing would have made her think the question would make him lunge at her.
Her head hit the ground, and before she could recover, Danzo had his hand around her throat. He was an old, frail man, but he was using his full weight, and his hand fit the whole way around her throat and with enough strength to cut off her air.
Her eyes blurred as she tried to scratch at his wrist to get him to stop, but no amount of blood draw was stopping him.
Suddenly, his hand released, his weight was lifted, and Hinata gasped violently, rolling away and getting up on her knees, ready to run as soon as she had enough air. She looked up expecting to see a nurse or Itachi, but instead, she found Danzo being held up by his throat off his feet by a short woman looking into his soul.
"H… Hanabi-chan?" Hinata coughed.
Hanabi looked at her and dropped Danzo back in his chair, and the brief light that came from him told her that his soul was gone. Hanabi had killed him. Hinata stared at her sister while rubbing her throat. She looked… like Hinata remembered. If she was a lost soul, could she kill a man like that? If she was a lost soul, would she be rotted by now?
"Are you okay?" Hanabi knelt with her hand out. What could Hinata say? She didn't feel okay. Hanabi's hand touched her throat with the familiar feeling of heat coming from the tips of her cold fingers. This is what Itachi did. Hanabi was a reaper.
"What the hell, pipsqueak?" Hidan barked, appearing to wave his hand at the dead old man in his chair. "You can't do that!"
Hanabi didn't even look at him as she finished with Hinata's neck. "He was going to kill my sister."
"So?" Hidan looked at them. "Wait. Isn't that Itachi's witch girl?"
"Just putting that together?" Kisame appeared with Itachi shortly behind. Putting a hand on his hip, he looked at the scene. "You know better, kid."
Hanabi's eyes fell. "Yeah. I'm coming."
Hinata grabbed her sister's cold hand before she could stand up. "I don't understand."
"We aren't allowed to kill humans." Itachi voiced, his eyes locked on the Danzo. Hinata could see the memories come back in his eyes. He waved his hand over the old man's wrist, and the scratch disappeared, hiding the struggle.
"What's going to happen to you?" Hinata tightened her hand around Hanabi's.
"She can't be a reaper anymore. She has to move on." Hidan waved his hand. "And I have to go back to my old pain in the ass, partner."
"You never liked me anyway." Hanabi countered, turning to Hinata. "It's okay. Someone else is protecting you now."
Were all those times that Hinata imagined Hanabi trailing behind her …real?
"I'll give you a minute to talk, but you don't have long." Kisame looked down at the wheelchair. "But maybe don't stay here."