Hinata slid her keys onto the counter in front of Shino. "Do you think you could replace the clasp on this?"
"If it keeps you out of the road." Shino picked it up the set.
"Oh, and…" Hinata pulled a small trinket out of her pocket and laid it down. "Can you add this to it too?"
Shino picked up the symbol made out of metal. "What is it?"
Hinata shook her head. "It was in a box of things my mother left me. I thought it was interesting. It was on a big ribbon. I think it was probably used as jewelry over a kimono."
Shino held it up to the light. "It will get more use on your keys than in a box."
That's what she thought. Hinata rubbed the ring on her finger back and forth. What was the point of keeping all this in a box she was never going to look at? This way, she could remember her mother every time she looked at her keys.
"That should do." Shino held the set up by the new clasp. Hinata put her bag on the counter, and Shino clipped it on. "There, brand new."
Hinata thumbed over the symbol. "I wonder what it means." It was either stylized or not Japanese because she couldn't read it. It might have been just a souvenir, and it meant nothing.
A thunk in the backroom made them both cringe. "I'm okay!" Kiba called.
"I am going to go see what he did." Shino rolled his eyes.
Hinata sighed with a smile, picking up her bag to put it behind the counter. She tossed it over her shoulder and heard a hiss behind her. She turned her head to apologize, but instead of an upset customer, the lamp-post-man gripped his shoulder like it was wounded.
Hinata reached out to help, but his eyebrows knit together with distrust, and he disappeared.
Itachi watched from the ally across the street as she looked for him in the shop. Pain. He hadn't felt pain in a long time. Did he ever feel pain? He removed his hand to reveal a glowing curved burn straight through his coat. What did she do?
It seared into his skin like a brand. He wasn't sure it would heal. Could it heal? Could he scar?
Itachi looked back up to find that she found him, staring unguarded with concern. Whatever she did, she didn't do it intentionally. But why was she concerned? Why worry about him, or was she frightened now?
She was scared he would retaliate. That made more sense.
Itachi ignored the pain and disappeared from the ally.
Maybe he misunderstood her, underestimated her. Maybe she did know what he was and was protecting herself. That would explain why she watched him. She saw him as a threat.
But then, what was she?
Her bag felt like it hit something. So he was there. He was physically there, despite every other sign that he was just in her head. This time she hit him with something.
But that gave her more questions than answers. If he was really there, then what was he? If he wasn't just in her head, then why was he following her? Was she really going to die?
Questions that didn't come with answers because that was the last time she saw him for weeks. She looked over her shoulder, in reflections, out of the focus of her eyes, under lamp posts, but he was gone.
Who thought a ghost would be fended off with a purse?
It was silly, but she missed seeing him. His presence distracted her from the ghosts that followed her heart, reminding her what she was. Maybe that's what happened. He saw her for what she was, and he ran.
Kiba bumped her shoulder, breaking her stare blankly out the window. "Lover boy, incoming."
Hinata's eyes focused on a bright smile and blond mop of hair as it came through the door, and Hinata shrank. Would they ever let that go?
"Hey, guys." Naruto greeted, rolling in his bike. "The chain came off. I can't get it back on. Can you look at it?"
"Sure." Kiba came around the counter and rolled the bike toward the back, giving Hinata a raised eyebrow and wink.
Hinata covered her face as it turned red. She said he was cute… once… two years ago. She turned red every time Naruto came in because it was the one thing Shino and Kiba agreed with each other to tease her about. Yeah, he was cute. Yeah, he was sweet. No, she wasn't planning on asking him out.
Naruto tilted his head down to her. "Got anything new?"
Hinata waved him off to the far rack. "Everything this week is over there."
Naruto hopped over to dig through the rack. "You guys get the best stuff."
Hinata made a noise to agree with him, but the corner of her eye caught black. She whipped her head around. It wasn't him. It was the blue man, but this time she got a better look at him. Hinata rounded the counter to try to keep sight of him before he rounded the corner. Did he know if lamp-post-man was okay? Hinata called over her shoulder as she ran out the door. "I'll be right back!"
Hinata rounded the corner, hoping he didn't disappear like before, but he was still there and hard to miss. She ran after him, but someone bumped her shoulder. She turned to apologize, and when she turned back, he was gone. Hinata huffed in frustration as people passed her in the middle of the sidewalk.
She returned to the shop in defeat. What did she even think she would do when she caught up with him? If she could hit them with her purse, could she grab them?
Hinata sat behind the counter in a huff. Maybe she was going crazy.
"What was that about?" Naruto peaked his head above the racks.
Hinata waved her hand. "I thought I saw someone I knew."