Was this cruel of her?
It's what Hinata wondered every time she acted like everything was fine. She felt like she was horrible for wanting to steal happy, oblivious time with Kisame, but she wanted every moment of it before she had to tell him. She wanted every study session, every walk home, every morning to complain about a new bruise and every lunch where he would happily eat what she made him.
Would Kisame be more upset with her knowing that she sat with the information? Would it be easier to let her go if he was angry with her? That's how she was justifying it to herself. She wanted him to want to forget her when she left because her heart might be able to handle the pain if she thought she deserved it.
Hinata kneeled down, waiting for Samehada to decide if he was going to let her pet him today. Kisame's apartment was small but utilitarian. Almost too small for him and his cat. Despite her initial horror that he was using a rice maker to cook dumplings, right now, she would trade everything for living in this little place with him and his cat instead of being shipped away.
Kisame settled down cross-legged in the middle of his futon. It was the one thing that didn't make him look huge. "This little shit keeps finding mice. I didn't even know I had mice."
Hinata got one good pet to Samehada's head before he decided he would rather curl up beside Kisame than get pet by her. "He's a good boy."
"Maybe if he would eat them. He just chases them until he has beat them to death or given them a heart attack and then leaves them by his food bowl." Kisame waved his hand at the dishes. "I've tried to catch them to throw them outside, but I am only good at catching one mouse."
Hinata giggled as this his turning purple from his own joke. "At least he is getting some exercise."
"I guess I should be glad he's not leaving them in my bed." Kisame flopped back on his futon.
Hinata crawled from her spot, sitting on the edge of his futon, to the side of Kisame that Samehada wasn't on and laid her head down on Kisame shoulder with a comfortable sigh.
Kisame froze up as Hinata closed her eyes and draped an arm over his chest. Kisame's arm came around her to place his hand on her shoulder. It was warm and comfortable and flooded her with the smell of him that she knew she was going to miss. She wished she could stay here forever.
Hinata sighed in front of her apartment door and rubbed her eyes. She knew the fight that was waiting on the other side, and she didn't want to hear it, but there was no avoiding it. Kisame insisted on sending her home after he realized that they had napped right through her curfew. She would have been happy to stay the night and get all the screaming done in the morning, but they had school the next day, and she knew that it didn't look great if she stayed the whole night, which was what Kisame was worried about.
Hinata ignore Neji's scowl as she took off her shoes and jacket. Her stump was more than sore from sleeping on her bad side. She needed to stop taking naps with her prosthetic on. "I'm sorry I know I am late. I fell asleep."
"Fell asleep?!" Neji roared.
"Shh." Hinata hushed him harshly. It was late, and she had no idea if her uncle was in bed, but she didn't want to wake him or the neighbors over this if she could help it. "Yes, we fell asleep. That's it. Kisame-san woke up and realized how late it was and took me home."
"You are never going there again." Neji waved his finger at her. "You shouldn't be going to a boy's apartment to begin with."
"I will go where I please." Hinata snapped back. She was not giving up any of the little freedom that she had left.
"You are going to realize that he is a mistake too late." Neji followed after her as she stalked for her bedroom.
"The only mistake I made was not staying." Hinata slammed her door behind her and felt the tears well up before she could even get to her bed. She leaned against that door as her chest was wracked with sobs. She was being horrible again. She didn't want to push Neji out too, but she just wished he would stop telling her the things she didn't need to hear at the moment. She didn't want to hear what Kisame knew people would think about them, what her father would say about them if he knew.
A light knock came on the other side of her door. "Hinata-sama…?" Neji's voice softened on the other side. Hinata whipped her face. If he stood on the other side of the door, she was sure he could hear her crying.
Against her better judgment, she inched the door open, and Neji's expression twisted when he saw her miserable face. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you."
"You won't have to worry much longer," Hinata admitted. Neji's opened his mouth to ask the question, but he didn't. "My father's sending me abroad after graduation. You'll get what you want then."
Neji's mouth dropped open as he understood the implication. He pushed the door open to reach for her, and Hinata took the hug as she broke down again. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry."
Kisame flopped back in the middle of Itachi's living room and covered her purple face. "I am surprised her cousin didn't come at me the next day with a harpoon."
Itachi chuckled. "Aren't you two adorably domestic? You're going to have no problem living together."
"Don't joke about that. We haven't talked about it." Kisame grumbled. "I doubt she will move out until after university anyway."
"It's unusual for people like us to move out before we are married." Itachi teased.
"Don't tell me that," Kisame whined, pressing his hand into his face. "You moved out."
"For school, this is considered temporary. It's a minor loophole that I am not going to be able to abuse much longer." Itachi sighed. "Has she decided where she's going yet?"
"She hasn't said anything about it." Kisame flattened out. "I hope she has. It's getting late. Though I guess she could take a year off if she wanted to since she skipped a year."
Itachi tilted his head. "She hasn't mentioned it at all?"
"No. I think she's not sure what she's allowed to do. She said something a while back about not really getting much choice, but her uncle seems like a good guy. I am sure he would let her do what she wanted." Kisame rolled himself back up.
"Well, just because he would, doesn't me that he can. Hinata was the heiress of one of the biggest public companies in the country. Old money like that has an image to uphold." Itachi explained.
"I don't think they should get a say after tossing her to the side." Kisame got hot in the face just thinking about it.
"That's not how it works." Itachi frowned. "I just hope that they don't decide they need her now."
Kisame's eyebrows knit together. "Can they even do that?"
"She's not eighteen yet." Itachi reminded him. "And on top of that, families like ours know how to bend you to their will."
Kisame shook his head. "I'm sure it will be fine. If she were being forced into a major, she would come to complain about it."
Itachi didn't look so sure.
Deidara bounced up and down as he held up his phone. "I was accepted, yeah!"
"To a university?" Hinata wondered, trying to hold his phone still to see.
"To an edgy art show." Sasori rolled his eyes.
"I am getting my on section, and I get to set off a splatter paint bomb, uh." Deidara scrolled to show her the section on him.
"Is that legal?" Kisame wondered, squinting over her shoulder.
"It's only a small explosive, yeah." Deidara defended.
"I don't think a mess is art." Sasori wasn't jealous, was he? He wouldn't be interested in this type of art show. Maybe this was just his way of showing his support by prodding Deidara into confidently hyping himself up.
"It's better than you're shit, uh." Deidara shot back.
"Hey." Hinata scolded. "You're both good at what you do. Comparing it is like comparing a pastry chef to a saucier."
"A what, uh?" Deidara asked.
Hinata sighed. "Never mind."
"This is going to be great, yeah." Deidara went right back to being excited, proudly looking at his phone.
At least everything was going great for somebody.