Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Seventeen
Sunrise109
It was now time for her to hear the truth.
Itachi gazed back at two apprehensive, translucent eyes, less than a metre away from his face.
Wide. Expectant. Longing to help heal his past wounds by sharing the burden of the truth.
For the first time in his life, the Uchiha heir's mind went completely blank. As though it had forgotten how to breathe. Like a painted canvas that had been wiped clean.
Wiped clean and waiting for the Hyuuga to write a new story on it. Perhaps one of hope. Dreams. Potential.
Like a pendulum that had struck a gong, and shattered the confusing paralysis, reminding him of who he was and what he stood for, Itachi's intuition kicked back into gear, breaking free of the net of the Hyuuga heiress' concern.
What had he been thinking?
In reality, only several seconds had passed whilst this interior conflict ensued, his years of conditioning to suppress his emotions raging against his newly awakened openness to the movements of his affections for this woman; Itachi weighed up and debated the consequences of speaking and acting on emotion, rather than pure logical and well-thought out sense, and this warped suffering was clearly evident to his otherwise oblivious companion.
"Itachi… is everything alright?" Hinata began levelly, noticing vulnerability, for the first time in her knowing the Sharingan user, arising in his oddly perplexed expression.
What had happened on the day of the Uchiha massacre, and the events preceding it?
Itachi beheld the potency of his emotions, drawing him into unknown, potentially dangerous territory. If only she knew how much of a strong influence she had developed over him in such a short space of time–how would his armour look like, which he had carefully amassed over thousands of days of silence on this matter, when she was finally done with disarming him?
Remember you are human… Itachi reasoned with himself. Mistakes can happen. One must only correct them…
Like an Anbu sliding back on his secretive mask, Itachi promptly let go of her hand, which had been desperately clenching his this whole time to the point where his heart nearly betrayed him and refused to let hers go; a painful pang struck deep within his core as he forced himself to say the following words to her, smoothly, without batting an eyelash:
"Maybe next time."
A fleeting memory, the expectant face of his younger brother, before the clouds of darkness and hatred had consumed his innocent heart, illuminated Itachi's conscience, like a ghoul he could not escape from.
Not this time, Hinata. Maybe one day.
I have a duty to Sasuke. I owe it to him to one day tell him the truth, before anyone else, before my death. Before even someone as beautiful as you, who has nearly utterly destroyed all my defenses, bar one.
And with that, opalescent eyes watched his figure dissipate into nothingness, the only trace of his earlier presence a slight shift in the atmosphere around her in the still, quiet room, and the aftermath of the tingling sensation of his fingertips brushing against her forehead in a regretful, soft and solemn poke of departure.
~.~
Two days later…
"Time to party!"
The outburst of joy on the Hoshigaki's expression really made Itachi question if it hadn't been fairly recent since his last impromptu holiday and not a millennia ago instead…
Kisame's glistening blue features, ever youthful, radiated unmatched enthusiasm and strength.
It was daybreak. They both stood on the brow of a hill, about a mile or so away from Lord Shiguma's okiya.
It was the third and final day of their mission.
Taiyou Bridge destroyed by Kisame. Complete.
Lord Shiguma's rivals incapacitated by Itachi. Complete.
Hinata to personally guard Lord Shiguma until the end of their mission in a few hours' time. In progress.
Still dressed as an unassuming civilian, in a striking black and white yukata, Itachi's gaze trailed over the vacant countryside, calmness painted across his regal features, as the sun reflected on the tips of his eyelashes and made his features glow.
"A party, Kisame, in the middle of our mission?" Itachi began. "We still have today left."
"Oh, don't tell me, it's because the Hyuuga princess is still guarding that wimpy nobleman, Lord Shiguma, was it? And you're not willing to let your guard down until she's completely finished?"
Itachi shrugged at Kisame, not providing any explanation or defence to his bold accusations.
"Longevity, Sharingan-san, is realising when the real work is done, and the rest of the mission is just filler time. Pain said to finish in three days. Well, our parts are done, Hinata is merely babysitting–probably falling asleep in boredom–until the mission is over in a couple hours' time. Let's use this rare opportunity of free time to finally enjoy our lives!"
A playful smile graced Itachi's features, otherwise his closed eyes and folded arms gave none of his amusement away.
"I know of a private hot springs facing a forest just a few miles north from here. We may have a few hours of recreational time in the afternoon only on one condition."
"And what might that be?" Kisame poked, a skeptical yet expectant wide-toothed smirk gracing his shark-like features.
The grass around them shifted lazily as the warm daybreak breeze surged around them. Two birds launched off from their shared nest in the tall bamboo treetops in the distance, skirting through the sky with strong outstretched wings.
"Hinata must join us too."
~.~
That morning…
"Did you sleep well?"
The question rolled smoothly off her lips, nonchalant, purposeful.
Hinata's features were dignified, like that of a woman who knew that her disguise as a maiko did not in any way detract from her sense of self-worth and self-assurance.
Long indigo hair, tied back in two regal buns at the back, and a long neutral-coloured kimono adorned her figure, her feet clad in simple yet poor quality tabi socks for ease of movement on the smooth wooden floorboards.
The nobleman's rugged, tired features as he stood at his doorway, staring down at his attendant, aka ninja bodyguard, reminded Hinata strangely of a child in an adult's body.
"I did," Shiguma gushed, trailing a hot hand through curly black hair. "Because it was comforting to know that you were on the other side of my door last night, a skilled Hyuuga at that. I felt safe."
At her lack of response, Shiguma merely chuckled. "Would you mind joining me for some breakfast after I take a quick bathe?"
Hinata pondered the invitation.
"I am happy to be present, Lord Shiguma, but not as your guest. That would be unnecessary."
As if to emphasise her point, the female Ninja activated Byakugan, the protruding veins forming a circuit around her temples. It had been an hour since she'd last scanned for anything out of the ordinary several kilometers away from them.
"I won't be long." He promised, ducking behind his door and closing it shut.
Satisfied that they were both safe, Hinata leaned against the wall adjourning Shinguma's room door, only mildly tired, since it had been customary for all Root Anbu to train their bodies to stay awake for up to a week at a time, if need be.
Shrugging off any memories of Danzo's antics, Hinata cast her mind to the mystifying encounter she'd shared with Itachi two nights prior. He had brought her to a training room to spar, things became romantic, and he abruptly ended their meeting, in which he had come close to revealing to her the events that had preceded the Uchiha massacre.
It was now around nine o'clock, the low morning sun illuminating the traditional okiya, and causing the translucent shoji sliding screens to glow.
He had changed his mind, as though it had been a mistake to utter those words in the first place, and left.
Hinata sighed. If it was meant to be for her to know his secret, she would know it one day. If it was not meant to be, that was fine also.
As the saying goes: Tomorrow's winds will blow tomorrow.
A few minutes later, Lord Shinguma reemerged, ready to be escorted to breakfast. It was already well past nine, and close to the end of her mission…
~.~
Three hours later…
It was now around midday, the Hidden Grass Village's countryside and clear oceanic sky an alluring contrast to the confining, pale screens of Shiguma's grand okiya.
Mission now complete, a thousand green ryo paper notes were resting in the breast pocket of Hinata's Akatsuki cloak, as the Hyuuga had earlier ditched her maiko disguise once her mission guarding Lord Shiguma had finished, in favour of her black cloak with red clouds. Shiguma had offered her payment on behalf of her whole team.
A crow cawing nearby drew her attention towards the towering sasa trees shooting up into the heavens round about her in the Hidden Grass countryside.
Fresh, pollen-tinged air filled her lungs and she savoured the feeling of the wind blowing and trailing its fingers through her free-flowing indigo strands as she walked purposely in the direction of the Hidden Rain village, back to the mystifying location of the Akatsuki base.
The lush green grass shuddered under her feet as she made her way through, one step at a time.
She expected that her teammates were already back at the base, so it would be a good idea to meet them there and present to them the mission money.
It was logical to choose a slower countryside route, after all, she told herself. Choosing to go through public pathways out in the open as she make her way through the Hidden Grass, towards the Hidden Rain, and eventually the Akatsuki base somehow, could expose her to unwanted attention.
But really, she just loved being in nature.
It didn't take long for Hinata to notice that another form was slowly approaching her, just after she'd had those exact presumptuous thoughts.
Not changing her course of direction, uncertainty gripped her heart, but after a few moments, it quickly morphed into joy.
The form of a pleasant-looking Uchiha became more defined as the distance gradually closed between them, a glass of water and two dango sticks clutched in either of his hands.
Itachi.
His handsome features betrayed none of his mood or convictions, the two thin lines painting his cheekbones a familiar sight. Neither did her expression give away any of her emotions either.
"Itachi-san," Hinata greeted.
"Hinata," He responded.
They were now meters away from each other.
Apprehension warmed her body as moments of wordless silence passed between them, but nature continued its course, the calm grassy environment around them and slow winds paying no heed to the two humans in their midst.
It was funny to behold when her stomach audibly rumbled. Afterall, Hinata hadn't joined Lord Shiguma for breakfast, which she now realised might've been an arrogant move.
"Here," Itachi started, pushing towards her the water and dango sticks.
At the same time that he passed her the food and drink, Hinata gave Itachi all the money Shiguma had rewarded their team with.
"Captain," Hinata said, passing him the thousand ryo from within her inner breast pocket.
"Thank you for this surprise treat, Itachi."
A warm feeling filled Itachi's chest as he watched her eat and drink with gusto. For the past two days, a large amount of guilt had weighed down on him for unexpectedly attempting to reveal to her the truth about the Uchiha massacre, and then bailing. He wanted to make it up to her with this small gesture.
"May I have some too?"
A half smirk pulled up at the corner of his mouth as he watched her regard him, delighted at his request.
"You're sweet-toothed, hm?"
Itachi came closer and, pulling her against his chest, he grabbed her glass of water so that it wouldn't spill; with delicate fingers, the Hyuuga pulled off one squishy dango from one of the sticks and carefully pressed the sweet dumpling to his lips, like she was feeding a child. He consumed it whole, not breaking eye contact with her. He licked his lips, drawing her eyes towards them.
"Am I forgiven?" Itachi asked her, moments later.
Knowing he meant about not telling her his secret yet, Hinata shyly nodded, her eyelashes brushing the nape of his neck exposed at the movement.
"Thank you," Itachi said, leaning forwards to capture her lips in a kiss.
They remained there for a few moments longer, then sighing, he parted from her and gave her back her glass of water to finish.
"Kisame is waiting for us by the Hakone Hot Springs. Let's go there for a while before it's time to return to the base and report in the completion of our mission."
Hinata smiled at her increasingly intimate companion, slipping her hand into Itachi's palm which had been outstretched towards her, inviting her to accept it.
Hand in hand, they gracefully moved through the tranquil noon Kusagakure countryside towards Hakone Hot Springs, savouring the warmth of the midday sun on their skin, and the fresh, calming breeze which graced their bodies.
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A/N: Alright, that's chapter seventeen!
So happy to be back and welcome back to you all, my lovelies! I must admit, since it's been two years since my last update, I had to read back a little to refresh my mind on all the intricacies of the storyline etc.! Haha, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of you had to do the same after this update.
Ah, what a chill chapter that was . … are you guys enjoying the romance unfolding between Hinata and Itachi? What did you enjoy or not enjoy about today's chapter?
Really can't wait to hear back from you after so long… Time flies!
A special thanks goes to: I-Love-Trunks1, Itachi's Queen, KagomeMarie, santamaria1, fanofthisfiction, Guest, 98leahcullen and Vinay-kox01 for your thoughtful reviews to the previous chapter, I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoyed this update! :)
Until next time!
Sunrise109