First Day of Spring

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It was the end of Winter. Snow started to melt, everything looked alive again in
Konoha.
Hinata sat beside the window. Outside, Neji was training with her father. The ANBU
captain had just came back from a mission with Naruto, Sakura and Lee. He seemed to
have changed a lot in these four and a half months... The shy Hyuuga heiress
watched his cousin as she twisted her fingers. She wished she could be as strong as
Neji, to make her father proud... but she could never meet Hiashi's expectations.
The pale-eye girl sighed as she turned away from the window.

Hinata tied up her long, silk like hair and sliped out of the house, although not
knowing where she would go. Maybe some training will do me good... she thought and
walked towards the training grounds.

"Hinata!" A pink-haired girl called after her.

"Sakura-Chan?"

"Is Neji..." the medic-nin blushed as she mentioned Neji's name.

"Yes. He is cu-currently training with my father." Hinata stuttered.

"Thanks, Hinata!" Sakura hurried off as the Hyuuga girl watched her with a little
smile, also with a bit of envy... wishing one day, she could find a boy who care
about her, look after her... An image of Naruto then popped into her mind, Hinata's
face turned into a deep shade of red...

She wandered absentmindedly to the training grounds.

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Itachi and Kisame stood on a cliff, towering over the peaceful country.
"They defeated that girl..." Kisame murmured.

Itachi ignored his partner, he simply dissapeared in a swirl of leaves, though

himself was thinking the same thing. It seems the Kyuubi has even more power than
we had imagined...

The sharingan master walked through the familiar forest of Konoha, half expecting
his foolish brother to jump out from the bush and shout 'I-WILL-KILL-YOU'. But
instead of Sasuke charging at him with an attack, he sensed a strange presence.
This person is very weak... Itachi didn't even bother taking out any weapon.

"WOAH! YOU ARE THE CHICKEN-HEAD'S BROTHER!" A short girl with red hair surprised
him by pointing at this cold-blood murderer.

Kisame raised an eyebrow.

"You look just like chicken-head!" The girl laughed, "but your hair is like, way
cooler!"

Both the Akatsukis were pretty amazed that this girl could talk to them in this
manner... though not for long, since Kisame was ready to kill this brat.

"Ran! Hurry, I want to see Neji-kun as soon as possible!" Another girl grabbed this
crazy red-head and pulled her away.
Itachi and Kisame froze. That's the girl they met at the forest of Azrael!

"You are..." Fantasy stared at Itachi with great interest, "Uchiha. Itachi."

The long-hair man was surprised that she still remembered his name, "Hn."

"Hah hah!" Ran laughed even louder, "You sound like Chiken-head-kun, too!"

"Come on, let's go." Fantasy ran off with Ran.

"They are heading towards Konoha," Kisame shrugged in annoyance, "This is going to
make our mission a bit complicated."

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Neji was extremely surprised to see Fantasy. But he was also busy hating Sasuke for
kissing his girlfriend this morning. He left the ramen stand as fast as possible
and went off to train with Tenten.
When he heard that he had to go on a mission for two months, he felt slightly
angry... he still haven't got to know Sakura well enough, yet they have to part so
soon? He had to admit, he also didn't want Sasuke to steal his girlfriend... but
Neji really didn't want to leave...

When he finished training and went home, he laid on his bed, unable to sleep.

Things have happened so fast between Sakura and him, he didn't understand why he
cared so much about this girl.

-knock-

Neji opened the door, Sakura hugged him, "I'm sorry..." she whispered.

The ANBU captain smiled and kissed her tears away...

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Hinata woke up quite late the next day, she opened her window, Neji wasn't training
with her father... She paused for a moment, then realised Neji went on a mission
this morning.
"The Cherry blossoms bloomed..." Hinata murmured to herself, "So beautiful..."
Spring had come...

The Hyuuga heiress walked out of the house and headed for the training grounds as
usual, but she saw a familiar figure beside the Konoha gate.

"Sakura-Chan?"

Sakura quickly wiped off her tears and gave Hinata a big smile, "Hinata! Hi!"

The shy girl could easily tell that Sakura was sad because Neji went away on a long
mission, "Um... Do... do you want to come and tr-train with me?"

The medic-nin had a huge grin on her face that looked so... unnatural, "sure!"

Hinata was a very nice girl to be around with... she never talked much, always
listening... It's warm to be around her, though her shyness can sometimes get on
one's nerves. Sakura liked Hinata, a lot. She even wanted to help Hinata to get
that stupid Naruto to notice her... But often, things never turn out the way you
want them to be...

On this first day of spring... she met him.

It was pure coicidence. The Hyuuga girl was taking a little walk in the forest,
picking flowers and pretty plants for her favourite hobby - flower pressing.

She saw a little bunch of forget-me-not and gave a little squeak of delight... she
loved these tiny blue flowers, they looked so simple, yet far beyond the simplicity
on the surface... She carefully picked a few delicate flowers, as she turned with a
satisfied cute smile, she saw a dark figure.

Itachi and Kisame were resting in this part of the forest. The Uchiha prodigy soon
sensed another presence. Hoping it's not the freaky girl and her crazy friend, the
tall man went to have a look; normally, he won't be bothered to check, but after
encountering the strange girls today, Itachi decided to not take any chances. He
saw a dark haired girl leaning over something. The long-hair criminal walked
closer, since his eyesight isn't so great, but the girl suddenly turned around with
such a bright little smile... though the smile immediately dropped as she saw who
was in front of her.
Fairytale

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Itachi wasn't surprised when the girl looked so scared. He always had this effect
on people. This girl looked as if she would faint any minute. The Uchiha genius
turned and left in a blink, as mysterious as the way he appeared.
Hinata's heart was racing, she thought she was going to die. After all, everyone
knew how Itachi mercilessly killed his family and left his little brother full of
hatred and despair... She felt very relieved when the tall man left without a
word... he didn't even really GLANCE at her!

The Hyuuga heiress difinitely wasn't in the mood of picking flowers any more. She
jumped through the branches and went back to Konoha as soon as she could. Should I
report this to Hokage-sama?

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-knock-
"Come in."

"Ho-hokage-sama..." Hinata stuttered, "I... I just saw... U-uchiha-san in the fo-

forest..."

"Sasuke?"

"N-no no no..." the shy girl waved her hands frantically, "I-itachi-san."

Tsunade's expression changed at once. Sasuke has just returned to Konoha, he SEEMED
to have got over the 'I-must-revenge' matter, but they still can't risk letting
Sasuke know this information. The hokage eyed the girl in front of her, "have you
told anyone else yet?"

"N-no... Hokage-sama."

"Good." the blonde woman paused, "Thank you, Hinata. You may go now." And Itachi
must be here to capture Naruto... she sighed, so much trouble. Tsunade called an
ANBU meeting, that is... every ANBU except Neji, Tenten and Sasuke. Neji and Tenten
just left on an important mission this morning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi didn't feel like killing today. He's not as blood thirsty as everyone
imagined, but sometimes he liked to pretend he was and scare other people. It was a
quite childish thought, really, but Itachi need some amusement in life. Frowning
everyday was tiring, and to keep an emotionless face was certainly not helping,
neither. The Uchiha felt he was turning into a rock.
When he returned to where they rested, he saw Kisame facing a white-robed man,
discussing something.

"Itachi-san." Kisame grinned when he saw his partner, "This is Yuu-san, from the
'White Wolf'."

Itachi nodded slightly as a greeting.

"I would like to kill the Dojutsu users in Konoha, so I'm asking you to delay your
attack for a few weeks." Yuu told them politely, though he was thinking, and I'd
also like to kill you, Uchiha.

Both the Akatsukis didn't mind at all, this was making their mission easier, as
long as the White Wolf don't interfere with their capture of Kyuubi.

A simple handshake, then Yuu left.

The Uchiha prodigy smirked, I'm sure his next target will be me... But Itachi
didn't feel like pointing this out to his shark partner. The two Akatsuki members
left the country the next day.

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All ANBU were on alert, searching for signs of the Akatsukis. But surprisingly,
through two months' careful investigation, the Akatsukis still haven't appeared.
Hinata was relieved when she heard the news, but also worried at the same time,
What if hokage-sama thinks I was lying? What happened to Uchiha-san? Just as she
was thinking this, Tsunade called the Hyuuga girl to her office.

"Hinata. I'm putting you under strict supervisation, do not leave Konoha and do not
go around without a guard."

Oh no! She really thought I'm a liar! Hinata felt terrible...

"Someone blackmailed me saying they want to kill all Dojutsu users. This is for
your own safty."

The small girl felt almost happy when she heard these words, so it's not because of
the Akatsuki incident! She nodded and left the office with two ANBUs following her.

The door closed behind her, leaving a tired Tsunade sitting behind the mountains of
paperwork. This is so complicated... the Hokage sighed, first some appearance of
Akatsukis, then White Wolf? Can things get worse? Being a Hokage really sucks...
Wait... could there be connection between the two? If these two organisations are
working together... Tsunade felt she really needed a holiday. I hate all these!

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It was really uncomfortable being followed by all these ninjas. Hinata would like
to be free... she wouldn't mind if the guards could give her a bit of personal
space... but... Oh well, ONE good thing about this is, Naruto was assigned to
protect her! Hinata felt so happy when she saw the blonde boy entered the Hyuuga
minor, huge smile pastered on his handsome face... well, at least Hinata thought
Naruto was quite handsome.
"Hinata! Want to train together?" The kyuubi vessel offered.

"Sur-"

"Hyuuga-san, for your safty, you shouldn't..."

"Come on... it's just some training!" Naruto jumped in front of the guard,
"Besides, Hinata is a ninja, too!"

"Uzumaki-san..."

"Stop the whole 'san' thing! It's really annoying... just call me Naruto!"

The blonde argued with the guards, after two hours of arguement, it was decided
that Hinata can train with Naruto in the Hyuuga mansion's training area.

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The pale-eye girl laid on her bed, looking at the ceiling as if it was extremely
interesting... this is so boring...
Maybe it's the whole teenager thing of wanting to do the opposite of what's
right... maybe it's because the pressure that she was always getting finally broke
down... or maybe it's simply curiosity - Hinata carefully masked her presence and
climbed out of the window.

It was late, only two jounins were on the look out for intruders. Hinata paused to
think of a plan. She put on a dark mask, and ensured her long black robe looked
suspicious. Then the Hyuuga girl spread her locks of hair over her face... after
walking several paces away from her window, she turned and started walking back to
her room.

The jounins saw the dark figure, and stopped her, "What are you doing? We will not
let you get in!" they posed into a fighting stance.

Hinata pretended to be frightened and 'ran away'. For perhaps the first time, she
smirked... that was quite fun!

The night breeze blew on her soft features, she took off the mask and wandered
aimlessly. She was happy... she felt freedom.

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The Akatsukis and the White Wolves' agreement was due. It had been quite a long
time since they met the white-robed man. Itachi and Kisame headed back to Konoha...
on the way, they encountered quite a number of ANBUs.
"What did the White Wolf do?" Kisame got quite angry after killing two more ANBUs
and disposing their dead bodies.

Obviously they made Konoha raised their guards. Itachi sighed.

Moonlight shone on the two... Kisame lit a small fire and made sure it won't be
noticed by the Konoha ninjas. Itachi left to get water.

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Hinata walked to the river and followed the clear stream... wondering what to do.
The water rang like music, quiet, but calm... light scattered like broken silver on
the surface of the river, the reflection of the moon glistened... the Hyuuga girl
always loved water, they resemble herself quite a lot...
Someone else was standing beside the river, watching her. Hinata was about to greet
him, but when she walked close, she saw the Akatsuki whom she met two months ago...

This guy AGAIN? The Hyuuga girl wasn't scared, she didn't understand why... perhaps
it's because Itachi didn't look so threatening... only lonely, like herself...

The two stared at each other. Hinata laughed on the inside somehow... this is like
the ancient fairytale... the girl meets the love of her life near the river of
Lethe... except, she really wouldn't call Itachi the 'love of her life'...

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The fairytale wasn't as well-known as 'Snow White' or 'Sleeping Beauty', but Hinata
always loved this little story when she was young... and she would always cry when
her mother told her how the girl lost her memory and couldn't recognise the boy
anymore... The Hyuuga girl thought the fairytale was quite sad though in the end,
they still lived happily ever after...
Waters of Lethe... the river of forgetfulness... Hinata continued to stare into the
dark orbs of Itachi's... thousands words seemed to have past between the two yet
none of them said anything...

The sorrow...
Dreamcatcher

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Itachi saw a girl in the distance, he knew this wasn't another ANBU; because from
her presence, the Uchiha prodigy could tell that she was about Chunnin-to-Jounnin
level. Though Itachi couldn't see the girl's face clearly from afar, her pale eyes
were very obvious... A Hyuuga? Looks like that Yuu failed killing the Dojutsu
users... how weak.
The girl kept walking closer to him. Itachi wasn't in the mood of leaving, so he
watched... he saw the girl stopping as soon as she saw who he was...The Akatsuki
man observed...

Those pale eyes locked with his own dark ones...

The river was like a clear ribbon that was decorated with diamonds, reflecting a
tranquil light on the two.

So peaceful...

So calm...

So... quiet...

Hinata felt herself getting intoxicated in the magic...

Suddenly, Itachi dissapeared again.

The Hyuuga girl felt despair and emptiness... though herself wasn't quite sure why.
All the enchantment hovered around her, but the mysterious man was gone... The
river was still the river. The moon was still the moon... the tone of the water
rang on her heart like a light sob. She felt lonely... she wanted to cry. Nobody
ever understood her feelings, she was tired of smiling, she was tired of being
afraid -
But before she could think of anything else, a Kunai stabbed through her frail
body...

Blood... Hinata's eyes widened, she slowly turned her head and saw Itachi's
emotionless face... He... is killing me?

The pain...

She flinched from the sight of her own blood... dripping down the front of her
cloak. More blood trickled down from her mouth, her world fell into darkness...
Itachi's stoical face simply became a shadow in her mind...

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The Hyuuga heiress woke up in the hosipital. Sakura sat by her bed, very worried.
"What happened, Hinata?"

"I... Don't know." She didn't feel like telling anyone about her second encounter
with the S-rank criminal. Last time she told the Hokage about it, but no one could
do anything.

"What do you mean you don't know?" the medic-nin was angry for Hinata, "I'M GOING
TO KILL WHOEVER DID THIS TO YOU!"

The pale-eye Chunnin girl simply smiled and looked out the window...

"You were in the hospital for two weeks, for kami's sake!"

Two weeks?

"If the kunai was one centimetre closer to your heart, you would've DIED!" the
pink-haired kunoichi was nearly in tears now... she was obviously afraid that she'd
lose Hinata.

"Don't cry, Sakura-Chan..." The Hyuuga girl comforted her in a soft voice, "I'm
fine..."

"... Al...Alright then..." Sakura sniffed, "You should rest now..." She left the
room.

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Sakura didn't know what came over her... it was like an emotional breakdown. She
was worried about Hinata, but she was even more worried about Neji. The ANBU
captain still wasn't back yet, though the pink-hair Kunoichi waited for this boy
everyday under the cherry tree as they've promised each other...
Seeing Hinata getting hurt only made Sakura felt worse. She wanted protect those
she cared for... Neji-kun...

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Itachi stayed by the river for quite a while after the Konoha medics were gone. The
sight of the girl's blood made him satisfied. He wondered if the girl would be able
to survive, but that was really none of his bussiness. It was interesting how
himself could think 'I-wonder-what-Deidara-is-doing' when he was murdering that
Hyuuga girl, then again, he was so used to assassinations and killing, his body
never react to those kind of things any more... after lingering a bit longer around
here, Itachi finally took the water back to where they rested. You could never have
an intellectual conversation with a fish...
"What took you so long?" Kisame grinned, unaware of what his partner was thinking.

Itachi didn't even bother to answer.

The shark-man then saw the slight blood-stain on the Uchiha's robe, "You went
killing without me?" a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Hn." Itachi brushed the dry blood off indifferently.

They didn't talk much, in fact, they didn't talk at all. They went off doing
everything out of habit, cooking, eating, rolling out sleeping bags... Kisame knew
he was in charge of guarding for the first half of the night.

The Uchiha man fell asleep as soon as he laid down.

Sasuke stood in front of him... pleading. But he killed the whole clan right in
front of his little brother... he ignored the little boy's beseeching eyes...
Itachi knew he had betrayed everyone... everyone who loved him, and more
important... the only person he cared. But he never regretted his decision...

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Hinata stared at the white sheet on her bed. Thinking the same thing over and over
again... Why... why did he do this to me? Her heart still aches, but she wasn't
sure either it was because of the wound, or because she was simply sad... yet she
didn't understand why herself felt so sad... after all, it was normal for a S-rank
criminal to stab her through the chest like that.
The dreamcatcher above her bed swayed, as if reading her thoughts.

Hinata took the dreamcatcher with her everywhere she goes... it calmed her. It was
almost like an imaginary friend to the timid girl...

The Hyuuga heiress opened her diary, pages and pages... secrets hiding in every
line... she took out a pen, after hesitating for a long time, she only wrote one
line... perhaps, I never understood myself.

Suddenly, Naruto burst through the door, "HINATA!"

The girl yipped in her little voice, closing her diary in a hurry and turned...
Naruto's face was only centimetres away from her own... Hinata felt her face
burning, then she fainted.

"HINATA!" the blonde boy panicked more, "Sa-kura-chan! Hinata fainted!"

Sakura crashed in, followed with a heavy punch on Naruto's face, "BAKA!"

Kiba, Shino and other members of the rookie nines all entered one by one, just on
time to watch Sakura beating the light out of Naruto...

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"Hinata... are you sure you are okay?" Kiba asked again.
Hinata gave him another reassuring smile. She was glad that she had such great
friends, but she was also troubled because she could never show these friends her
true feelings. After all, she was the heiress of the Hyuuga family, and she must
behave in a noble way...

Does behaving in a noble way means one must keep all feelings to herself? Does
being an heiress mean enduring the loneliness and keep your heart away from
everyone else's? The pale-eye chunnin asked these questions to herself once and
once again... sometimes, she wished she knew someone who isn't from Konoha, then
she'd be able to be herself, no need to worry what this person would think of the
Hyuuga family... Then the idea struck her... Did Itachi kill his clan because of
this? He was the heir of Uchiha!
Butterfly

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Naruto was quite worried about Hinata, though he didn't show it... a few weeks ago,
Sakura told him about the Hyuuga girl's feeling towards him. Though Naruto acted
pretty normal after that, but he secretly paid so much more attention to the timid
girl... to his own surprise, he felt that himself was falling for this girl more
and more everyday.
"Hi-nata-Chan!" the blonde looked very happy when he saw Hinata finally woke up.
The girl blushed, as expected. Naruto chuckled on the inside, so cute!

"Na-Na-Naruto-Kun!"

"Wanna go for a cup of Ramen-"

"BAKA NARUTO!" Sakura hit the poor 'future-hokage' on the head again, "she's not
well! Ramen is definitely too unhealthy for a patient like her!"

"awwwwww..." Naruto's tears hang from his clear blue eyes as his hand touched the
HUGE bruise which Sakura had just, uh, charmingly gave him.

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"Give us two more weeks." Yuu requested, white hair blowing in the wind.
They didn't answer.

Is that a yes or a no? The White Wolf leader wondered.

"You are interrupting our mission." Kisame grinned and drew his sword.

"But-"

The shark man pointed his huge sword to Yuu's throat, "No."

"We can work togethe-"

Kisame swung his Samehada.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu! (Bringer-of-Darkness)" Yuu formed a genjutsu handseal.

Itachi sighed, "Kisame, stand back." he closed his eyes for a second, they
immediately turned red as he re-opened them, "Sharingan."

Damn... I forgot this guy is an Uchiha! Genjutsu have no effect on him... The
white-hair ninja did not panick, "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu! (Dragon Fire Technique)" a
fire dragon roared towards the tall black-hair jounin with blazzing heat and light.

"Katon: Karyu Endan. (Fire Dragon Flame Missile)" How foolish... Itachi was the
master of fire jutsus, the dragon was nothing compared to his own techniques. A
single beam of fire was shot towards Yuu, cutting through the dragon, aiming
straight for his heart.
The wolf-masked man dodged the attack, and threw five kunais as decoys as he moved
around Itachi.

Yuu knew he was at disadvantage. After all, his specialty was genjutsu and fire
element jutsus, and these two types of attacks happened to be Itachi's advantage.
Yuu thought about the situation carefully in his head... looks like I have no
choice but to use 'those' techniques... Here goes nothing...

"Soul Perish!" He haven't mastered this jutsu, so he never used it in a battle

unless it was absolutely neccessary. Yuu's childhood friend taught him this
technique. When the two were only around six, they somehow discovered an ancient
cave with strange carvings in them. His friend immediately recognised these
drawings and explained them to Yuu. She understood those scripts easily, but she
wasn't a ninja, so she didn't know how to control her chakra... Black flames pulled
Yuu back from his memories, at first, he thought they were flames from his Soul-
Perish, but soon he realised these were the power of Sharingan.

"Damn." the masked man cursed under his breath and jumped away from the flame,
"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)"

Itachi dodged the attack at an unthinkable speed, and appeared behind Yuu within
the blink of an eye, a kunai stabbed through the white-hair man.

-puff!- it was replaced by a log.

Yuu stood behind Itachi with a sword through the Uchiha's chest. A smirk appeared
under his mask, "It's over."

"Mangekyo Sharingan." Another Itachi stood in front of the first one, "Is it?"

The masked man closed his eyes at once, and as he did so, Itachi flung a kunai
towards his throat.

In blur, Yuu turned... the kunai scratched across his shirt, a trace of blood
appeared.

The soul perish costed him a great deal of chakra, the Yuu drew a deep breath,
collected the all of his remained chakra, "Scatter." another technique that he had
learnt from his old friend... thousands fragements of blue spread across their
battlefield, cutting everything that comes in contact. Itachi frowned, trying to
dodge the flying blue lights... but there seemed to be endless number of them,
coming from all directions.

One flew close to his face... The Uchiha man admired its beauty... it was a tiny
blue butterfly...

Itachi spinned, drawing wind around himself and repelled the butterflies...

-...

Both of them were tired, but the Akatsuki man was pretty sure that he'd win.

"If we work together, we'll both get what we want!" Yuu still tried to reason with
them, he knew he'd lose to Itachi the moment after his soul-perish failed.

"If we can kill you, that means you are too weak to help us." Kisame's grin grew
wider.

Yuu clapped, fifty white-robed men surrounded them.

"Oh." the Shark-man's smile dissapeared, "So, we have a deal..."

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Hinata brushed her hair and looked into the mirror... she hate mirrors, because in
the mirror, she sees someone who isn't herself... The Hyuuga girl turned away and
looked out the window out of habit... Neji still haven't returned.
Sakura was waiting for her boyfriend under the cherry tree as usual.

A tiny blue butterfly flew to her, the pink-hair kunoichi reached out her hand to
let the little creature land on her hand. The butterfly gently closed its beautiful
wings; as it contacted the medic-nin, it vanished, leaving a deep cut on her hand.

"Ouch!" Sakura healed her hand immediately, what was that...

Hinata was walking towards her, Sakura waved, but immediately shouted out, "DON'T
TOUCH IT!" as she saw the Hyuuga girl trying to touch another blue butterfly like
herself did. Hinata immediately retreated her hand, but the butterfly followed
her...

"Sa-Sakura-chan? What...What should I do?"

"I don't know..."

"OUCH!" Naruto complained.

"BAKA NARUTO!" Sakura shouted.

The Hyuuga heiress can't help it but smile, "Let me heal you, Na-Naruto-kun..."

The blonde scratched his head sheepishly, "ah, thank you, Hinata!" He tried hard to
hide his blush when Hinata's hand touched his face, where the butterfly had just
cut. Hinata was in a deep shade of crimson, though she still insisted healing the
boy she loved... Sakura chuckled, they actually look pretty cute together...

The blue butterflies were everywhere, though after a few minutes, they all
dissapeared.

Tsunade was very worried, she had just sent nearly half ninjas of Konoha to help
Neji on his mission... If the Akatsuki attacks now, Konoha might be doomed! She
rubbed her temples
Tears

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Kiba banged on the Hyuuga minor's enormous gate, tears welling in his eyes,
"HINATA!"
Hiashi came to the door, a frown on his face, obviously angered by the dog-lover's
rude behaviour.

"Kiba-kun..." Hinata appeared behind her father.

"The hokage asked me... to... to tell you..." Kiba forced those words out of his
mouth though they were hurting his throat as he tried to say them, he sniffed.
Akamaru was quiet, snuggling against his master's chest... Kiba wiped his eyes,
"Neji... He's... gone."

"Neji's missing?" Hiashi tensed, forgetting about the dog-lover's rudeness earlier.
He knew Neji went on a two weeks mission a few months ago but still haven't
returned... but this was unexpected.

"No..." Kiba answered quietly, "He was killed."

The plain words struck Hinata like lightening, she fainted at once.

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"HINATA!"
"Hinata-chan!"

"Hinata-sama!"

A few blurred faces appeared in her vision as she slowly opened her pale eyes, What
happened?

"Are you alright?" Naruto reached out a hand to help her get up.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" The Hyuuga girl blushed, then suddenly remembered what happened
earlier... "Ne-Neji-nii-san... he..."

Kiba nodded solemnly, a glint of sadness in his eyes, and so did the others who
surrounded her.

Hinata's small hands covered her mouth, she tried hard not to cry... words and
tears were caught up in her throat, she covered her face...

"We are going to say a final good-bye to him..." Shino told her quietly.

The Chunnin girl nodded, "..." nothing came out, she tried again, "I..."

Naruto and Kiba supported the girl from each side and took her to the cherry tree
where Neji laid underneath... wind blew through their hair, like a silk ribbon
wiping the tears off their faces...

"Ne-Neji... Nii-san..." Hinata buried her face into Naruto's jumper, soaking it
with her tears.

Sakura stood next to her boyfriend's cold body, beautiful jade-eyes dull, still
couldn't accept the fact that he left...

After the final words, the teams left Sakura to be alone with Neji... Hinata didn't
want to leave, but the others pulled her away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hinata..." Naruto watched the girl's frail form, "Maybe we should go back now..."
The Hyuuga girl shook her head gently, "I want to stay here a bit longer."

"You'll catch a cold."

Kiba tucked the blonde boy's sleeves, "come on, she wants to be alone for a while."

Hinata sat down after the boys left, she let the water ran through her fingers... I
can't be depressed now... everyone are sad, they'd need someone to comfort them...
I shouldn't be a burden... I must be strong... her shoulders were shaking from the
despair, but she stuck out her stubborn jaws. Neji-nii-san wouldn't want everyone
to be so sad because of him...
Dark eyes watched her.

Hinata didn't understand what made her to turn around.

Her lips quivered, but her eyes remained strong, she stared at him, "you... were
you the one who killed Neji-nii?" the timid girl did not stutter, facing the
criminal with all her courage.

Itachi did not answer, Who's Neji? And who is she? She looks familiar...

"Why did you stab me?" Hinata's voice grew louder, the sadness turned into anger,
and she wanted to take everything out on this stranger... all the loneliness, all
the despondency... I don't want it... LEAVE ME ALONE! The darkness was swallowing
her mind... she screamed in her thoughts...

The Uchiha man turned to leave, I thought I sensed the Kyuubi's presence earlier...

"WHY?" Hinata struck a kunai at the man who had his back to her.

The tall man dissapeared in a flash, She wants to fight me?

The Hyuuga girl looked through her tears, Itachi was holding her own kunai to her
throat.

A Hyuuga?

"Why..." Hinata whispered... closing her eyes for her death.

Yuu had an agreement with them... they'll help the White Wolf to capture the
Hyuugas while the White Wolf will help the Akatsukis to capture the Kyuubi. Itachi
stared at the Hyuuga girl in front of him, he wasn't interested in capturing a weak
girl.

"Go."

Hinata was confused.

"No."

The Uchiha man frowned, are all girls this annoying? I'm letting her live but she's
not appreciating this...

"Don't order me around..." She never meant the 'no', all she wanted was to do
something at her own will for once... she didn't want to obey any more.

Itachi glanced at the stubborn girl with a sigh, then he remembered, "you are that
girl..."

He JUST remembered? He nearly killed me and he didn't even remember me?

Seeing the girl's shocked face, the tall man blinked, "you are weak."

"I am..." Hinata admited, "but you are not so much better... did you kill your
family because of your own weakness?" the words sliped out, though she never wanted
a conversation with a criminal.

"No." Itachi knew exactly what the girl was talking about. Being Noble always meant
loneliness, keeping all feelings to oneself, being the heir of a noble family
simply meant keeping one's heart away from everyone else's... Itachi understood...
He somehow felt sympathetic to the young girl who stood in front of him in tears...
but she was wrong, "I killed them because I wanted to test my power."

"Test your power?"

"Yes."

"And it's more important than your family's life?"

"Hn."

That was neither a yes or no... Hinata found a tiny smile finding its way on her
face, somehow being with Itachi made her relaxed, which was a very strange thing...
The Uchiha man saw this, he gave her a rare smile, too.

"Why are you still pretending when it's already over?" She asked.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, "Why are you still pretending when you could've
escaped?"

"Escape? How..." she murmured.

"You have potential." Zetsu had Tobi as his appretiance, I'm sure the Leader
wouldn't mind me finding a Hyuuga heiress as my student. She has talent.

"..." Hinata hesitated. To run away from everything? It was very temptational.

"You don't have to leave Konoha." The Uchiha man dissapeared.

Heartstrings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi wanted to help Hinata... because in her, he saw a younger version of himself
-at least he thought so at first. But the more he got to know the shy girl, the
more difference he saw...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was dark. There wasn't a cloud in the night sky, which twinkled with diamond-
like stars... It was a great night for lovers to meet at the river-bank; telling
each other secrets, and pluck each other's heartstrings... Of course, the situation
was slightly different with Hinata and Itachi... The mysterious man was going to
visit the girl, however, not to "confessing-his-undying-love-to-the-girl-of-his-
dreams"... It was just a regular night... learning, teaching, and maybe training...
Though themselves would never admit this, but they were friends.
Hinata opened her window, making sure her teacher could get in her room unnoticed.
When the clock struck 12:00, Itachi turned up, arriving exactly on time. Sometimes,
Hinata wondered if the Uchiha man simply waits outside her window in a dark corner
and comes in not a second late, just to show off... But she knew Itachi wasn't that
kind of man.

"Today, genjutsu."

Itachi always tried to use as less words as possible. Compared with Hinata, Itachi
was even less talkative.

The Hyuuga girl nodded. These two could never hold a conversation... in fact; they
never even tried to have a conversation. But Itachi trained her two times a week.
On Fridays; the lessons would be in Hinata's room, because he would always teach
her theories. There wasn't any point risking the two of them getting caught out of
Konoha, where they had the practical lessons.

The Uchiha man handed her a scroll, "read." Then he patiently sat down and started
reading a scroll of his own.

The two of them sat opposite each other across the table. Occasionally, Hinata
would get distracted and glance at her teacher, but quickly turn her attention back
to the scroll when the scary Akatsuki glares at her.

They had been seeing each other for quite a while. It was a good thing, because
Itachi gave her lots of work, which diverted her depression that she felt for her
cousin's death...

"He's dead. He won't hear you."

That's what Itachi told her when she suddenly cried for no reason a few weeks ago.

"I'm... not... crying."

Hinata didn't want to give in to this man; she wanted to show that she's strong!

"Hn."

That was all Itachi said. He didn't say things like "but-you-are-crying" or any
comforting words like what a normal person would do... "Hn" was all... actually,
now when she thought about it, Itachi never said she was crying in the first place.
He gave her a statement, not a question... that was one interesting thing Hinata
found out about the Uchiha man- he never ask. He simply KNOWS.

Hinata shook her head and tried to concentrate on her work... it was hard; Itachi
gave her S-rank scrolls to read though she was only a Chunnin.

"Um... Uchiha-San..."

Dark eyes looked into her pale ones, the Hyuuga girl lowered her head to avoid his
gaze.

"I... I've never heard of this genjutsu before..." She pointed to one of the
paragraphs in the scroll.

"Forbidden technique."

Seeing the girl's puzzled face, Itachi explained, "Konoha is too peaceful, so they
never teach the ninjas the most powerful techniques such as this," he paused, "you
can't get truly strong in this village."

Hinata was about to open her mouth to defend her beloved village, but bit her lip
and fiddled with her fingers instead. She has learnt that Itachi could be stubborn
sometimes, though he never shows it. There was no point in arguing with this
Akatsuki man... Besides, he hated loud or talkative people, so Hinata kept reading
the scroll without saying anything.

Itachi was glad. Most women talk too much and they are often very annoying - in his
opinion. That's why he never had a girlfriend... he always felt an urge to kill a
girl when she tries to act cute. The whole Female kind is stupid. That was Itachi's
conclusion after years of experience. The way they PRETEND to be innocent is
disgusting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seemed like an eternity since they last had a practical lesson. Hinata was
really glad to get out of the house... though that's what she always tried to tell
herself, but sometimes, she started to wonder if she was simply glad to get out of
Konoha.
"You are Jounin level." He said blandly, as if it was the most normal thing in the
world.

"O-Oh... Thank you, Itachi-san." But she was very excited.

Itachi realized she was using "Itachi-san" instead of "Uchiha-san" now...

Hinata was very happy. In just three months, she was Jounin level! A small smile
appeared on her face without her knowing it. Her Akatsuki teacher observed. Then he
remembered, they've met before... once, in the forest. She had the same little
smile...

"Byakugan!" Hinata went in her fighting stance.

Itachi and her were going to have a more proper fight instead of the usual teacher-
student ones today.

"Sharingan."

Itachi never let Hinata use the Byakugan when he taught her. He states that she
shouldn't rely on her bloodline limit too much; otherwise she will be weak in other
hands.

"Kaze no Yaiba! (Blade of wind)" The Hyuuga girl formed a few hand seals and
summoned wind as her ally... This blade of wind was almost impossible to block due
to its intangible nature.

With a flicker, Itachi disappeared, "Not bad." He reappeared behind the girl. She
knew this was going to happen, so she swung the wind-sword behind herself.

-Poof-

A log lay in several pieces.

"Don't go easy on me." Hinata was slightly frustrated. She knew Itachi said the
"not-bad" just to warn her of his presence.

"Hn."

The voice echoed around her.

Oh no! I'm trapped in his genjutsu! The pale-eye Chunnin tried not to panic, "Kai!"

"Katon: Haisekisho. (Fire Release: Ash Product Burning)" Hinata didn't even see the
tall man doing the hand seals, hot ash spread around her... she tried to dodge
them, but unlike other fire techniques, the hot ash remained in the air, making it
very difficult for her to move around.

A kunai was flung towards her, she turned, "Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho! (Protection
of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)" The Hyuuga heiress emitted a constant
stream of chakra from her palms, creating sharp chakra blades... her arms became
blurs as she moved faster and faster, hitting the hidden kunais and Shurikens which
Itachi threw at her way. The girl then drew a deep breath, knowing Itachi was about
to come out, she increased the size of her chakra beams, the larger, arc-shaped
beams was spread out across the battle field.

Itachi was definitely very impressed. He had never seen Hinata use this technique
before.

"Katon: Zukokku! (Fire Release: Intense Pain)"

The fire burnt the whole field except a small area around Hinata's absolute
defense.

"Good." VERY good. But she won't have enough chakra left soon...

His prediction was accurate. Hinata felt her arms getting heavier as she tried to
sustain her defense. I must think of a way to attack... without using so much
chakra... I can't use any genjutsu on him... I've tried ninjutsu, which didn't work
well; maybe I should try taijutsu now...

"Juken! (Gentle fist)"

The Akatsuki man dodged the first few strikes, slightly surprised at Hinata's
sudden attack.

"Shikumi no Jutsu. (Death Foreseeing Technique)" He released a genjutsu.

Hinata froze at once in fear...

Itachi watched the girl shudder, then collapse.

Maybe I overdid it... He went to help the girl up and released the genjutsu
quickly.

Hinata panted from exhaustion.

"Thank you. Itachi-san."

"Hn."

Being so close with him made her heart race... she didn't understand why, since her
heart belonged to Naruto. She had to admit, Itachi was handsome, but his good looks
wasn't the thing that attracted her...instead, it was his eyes. There was something
in those eyes, making her mind overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions and
feelings... Perhaps the eyes indicated his personality that was hidden behind his
cold expression? Hinata closed her own pale eyes... she listened to her own heart
beat...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata didn't know what happened, she was lying in her bed.
I must've fainted after that... then... Itachi-San carried me home? Hinata turned
and saw her window open... She stood up and closed it quietly. The night sky was
like black paint, wiped across the darkness... Stars glowed softly, as if
whispering to her...she blinked, I've never realized this before... but whenever
I'm around Itachi-San... I am... free
Change

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata's opinion towards Itachi slowly changed. Though Itachi still seemed cold,
Hinata didn't panick around this handsome criminal as often as she used to. It had
beeen two years since Itachi first started teaching her; now the cherry blossom
were blooming... every year, there'd be one purple cherry blossom which blooms
bigger than any other flowers, sending sweet fragrance to the girl who treasured
this memory. Sakura... Hinata's heart ached when she remembered what happened to
Neji, she shook her head and sighed.
The Hyuuga heiress shivered a little as she walked out of the mansion. She was
already a jounin thanks to Itachi's teaching.

To retrieve a secret scroll? The nineteen years old girl read her mission task
sheet, with Sa...Sasuke? Soft but icy breeze brushed against her skin; the timid
girl gripped her backpack a bit tighter and started searching for her mission
partner. I hope Itachi-san doesn't visit me at the usual times; Sasuke-san will
deffinitely get very mad if he sees Itachi-san...

"Hinata." The raven-hair chounin smirked.

"Sa-Sasuke-san..." He looks a lot like his bigger brother... The Hyuuga girl
stuttered while fiddling with her sleeves.

"Let's go." Sasuke flung his backpack over his shoulder.

Just as they were about to leave, a voice rang behind them.

"Hinata! Sasuke!" Tenten panted as she stopped in front of the two.

"Tenten-san?" Hinata gave the weapon-mistress a little smile.

"Be careful..." The brown-hair girl told them.

"Huh?" The Hyuuga girl gave her a confused look when she saw a trace of tear
welling up in Tenten's eyes.

"The temple of blue fangs... where you are going..." Tenten's voice trailed off.
Sasuke coughed gently, bringing Tenten back from her memories, she continued,
"Ne...Neji and I went there on... that mission..." She bit her lower lip and turned
her head, "Just be careful, bye!" then she hurried off.

Hinata and Sasuke knew very well of what she was talking about. Neji was killed on
the mission with Tenten which was to retrieve a secret scroll from the same temple.
The Hyuuga heiress understood very well why Tenten was so worried, because though
the leader of the White Wolf died quite a while ago, this organisation was still
targeting people with Dojutsu Bloodline limit like herself and Sasuke.

"Thank you, Tenten-san." Hinata murmured.

A dark figure followed the two as they walked out of Konoha.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-days later-
Hinata and Sasuke tried their best to protect the secret scroll.

"Hinata!" Sasuke threw the scroll to his teammate, "Go! I'll catch up!"

The Hyuuga girl nodded and ran without another word.

"Chidori!" The raven-hair boy's hand glowed from the lightening-like chakra.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" A water dragon roared towards Sasuke as more ninjas
appeared. Sasuke dodged the fierce dragon, but another one appeared behind him and
sent him flying through the trees...

...-A little girl with white hair sat in the trees and smiled... It's happening all
over again... these two young ninjas in battle said the exact same words, did the
exact same things as what happened years ago with two other young ANBUs...-

Damn, where did they come from? Sasuke wiped the blood off his face. More Kunai
were flung to him, white-robed ninjas surrounded him.

...-The white-hair girl seemed to see a shadow of Neji behind Sasuke, it was as if
she was seeing Deja vu, as if time was repeating itself...-

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" the dark-hair boy blew, but felt his chakra slipping away
as he used even more of it, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he sat most of the enemies
on fire with the huge chakra blast.

"Team two and three, chase the girl. We'll take on this guy." One of the opponents
signalled to his allies.

...-The girl in the trees was very amused... big brother... I hope you are watching
this... I'm sure you'll find it very funny... She giggled, a drop of tear traced
down her pink cheeks, I will kill all the Dojutsu users, just for you, Yuu-nii-
san...-

This is my last chance... "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke drew a deep breath and
gathered his last supply of chakra.
Blood dripped from the his mouth, he used up all of his remaining chakra.

"Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!" a chakra net protected Sasuke from a few more
shurikens. The Uchiha boy turned to see Hinata standing behind him, panting and
limping towards him.

"Hinata." Sasuke collapsed, "where's the scroll?" these were his last words before
he fell, unconscious.

"I've hidden it." The Hyuuga heiress answered as she watched Sasuke faint. There
were still at least five enemies left, and her vision was already blurring... I
can't die here...

"Sharingan."

Sa-Sasuke? Hinata rubbed her eyes with her bleeding fingers... no...

"Katon: Karyu Endan."

I... Itachi-san? Hinata struggled to keep her eyes open and stay strong.

"Die."

With the point of a finger, all the remaining enemies were caught in the Akatsuki
man's strong genjutsu.

Hinata smiled in relief... knowing Itachi's here, she knew she was safe from ANY
harm...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi didn't plan to interferre, but seeing Hinata was about to die, he had to
stop these White Wolf members. He briefly treated Hinata and Sasuke's wounds and
hid in the dark again before they woke up.
Hinata blinked and sat up. She saw Sasuke lying beside her... Was that a dream? I
thought I saw Itachi-san... then she felt pain down her ribs... This is... bandages
were wrapped neatly around her. She felt her face getting very hot as she blushed
even more, I-Ita...Itachi-san...

"Hinata?" Sasuke looked at the Hyuuga girl questionly, "you did ALL of this?" she
defeated all the enemies AND bandadged us both? Sasuke was very impressed and
amazed.

"Uh..." Itachi-san probably left because he didn't want Sasuke to know..."yes..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her slow answer.

Hinata was never a good liar, she looked away under her teammate's gaze.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pale-eye jounnin have recovered from her mission. She sat on her comfortable
bed and waited for her teacher to arrive.
The clock struck 10:00. Itachi turned up.

This is the first time they met again after he saved her...

"Thank you, Itachi-san." Hinata gathered all her courage and gave Itachi a warm
little smile.

He didn't say anything. They left Konoha for the practical training...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi, was still the same Itachi who massacred his clan. Hinata, was also the same
Hinata who loved Naruto deeply... no matter what happened between them, he was
still the man who used a simple "hn" to express all his feelings, she was still the
girl who blushed at the every presence of her favourite blonde boy...
"Itachi-san..."

His long dark hair blew in the wind, dark cloak showing his power... red ring
symbolising blood. She stood next to him, pale eyes showing she was born in the
most noble Hyuuga family... the two stood in silence, both unsure of what to say.

All Itachi ever wanted was just to have someone who is strong enough to defeat him,
so he has locked all of his emotions deep within himself... no matter happy or sad,
only a simple "hn" settling everything. He was a criminal, therefore he was heart-
less, this is all that people thought of him. Who knew he'd slowly fall so deeply
in love to a most noble heiress?

"I... have a date with Naruto-kun... so I can't come next Friday..."

The Uchiha man didn't even give her a small nod.

He had always being in the dark, supporting her, caring her, protecting her,
willing to do anything to help her, even if all of these can only exchange a simple
glance from her, or a little "thank you". He never regretted any of those, a little
"hn" pouring out thousands of affections then dissapears in swirls of leaves.

"I-Itachi-san?"
He never talked much... in his opinion, all those words were a waste of time...
this was his style, doing whatever he liked and never depended on others... he
would do everything within his power to help Hinata by his ways... but he was a
criminal, even though he loved her so much, he could never tell her... he would
always be in the darkness...

Hinata fiddled, she wasn't sure if the Akatsuki man heard her or not...

"Hn."

Itachi dissapeared.

He knew he and Hinata was never meant to be. He never put any expectation in this
love, he loved her, but didn't need her to love back.

Sometimes he regretted killing his clan. Perhaps, if he never did that, he would've
had a better status to give her a better love. Itachi knew Hinata was curious of
why he became a criminal, but he didn't want to tell anybody, it was a secret that
he'll keep in his heart...
Simplicity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The date with Naruto wasn't as brilliant as she expected, but Hinata still tried to
convince herself Naruto was simply unexperienced in this area. She waved good-bye
to the Kyuubi vessel and returned to Hyuuga manor. She slowly opened the door to
her bedroom, Itachi was reading behind her desk.
"I-Itachi-san?" She jumped in surprised, but gasped in a small voice.

Itachi looked up, "I forgot you have a date."

"O-oh... I...I'm sorry!"

"What are you sorry for?"

"Um..."

They stared at each other, Itachi smiled, which surprised Hinata even more. She
blushed. It was quiet, but the silence between them wasn't awkward at all, since
they were both quite used to each other's quietness.

"I can't leave right now, there are quite a number of ANBUs on your roof." The
Uchiha man told her briefly.

"What?" So that's why he had to stay here after he came- wait, how did he get in?
The Hyuuga heiress was very confused.

Itachi saw this, but he didn't want to explain.

She continued staring at him, as if asking him to tell her.

He sighed.

"I didn't want to be late, so I asked Kisame to distract a few of them when I was
getting in; now these ANBUs all came back, so I assume either Kisame died or he got
bored and ran off."

He didn't want me to wait? Hinata immediately shook the thought away, no, he is
just a very punctual person... he wouldn't care for me like that... though it made
her remember a few times when she caught him staring at her intensely... his dark
eyes were deep, but there was always a glimpse of passion beyond all the coldness
on the surface... I was probably mistaken... Hinata laughed at herself nervously on
the inside, but tiny butterflys fluttered around in her stomach as she considered
the idea... Itachi, loves me?

Itachi wished he could leave. The look Hinata had was making him nervous, which was
a VERY VERY rare thing. I knew I shouldn't have told her how I got in... Itachi
cursed himself... I shouldn't've even came in the first place! How could I
forget... she had a date tonight...

"Um... I'll just... go... uh..." Hinata backed out of the room and went to the
kitchen. One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Seven ANBUs? She
counted the presences around her. No one except Itachi knew her strength.
Sometimes, Hinata felt those friends she used to respect so much are so weak... in
missions, she had to hold back, just to make sure they won't find out Itachi was
teaching her.

The ANBUs paid no attention to the Hyuuga heiress who came back from the kitchen
with a cup of tea.

If I help Itachi-san escape, we can get pass all the ANBUs, but we may have to kill
some of them... She shuddered at the thought. Maybe I should find Kisame-san or
another Akatsuki to help Itachi-san? No... Itachi-san hate asking others' help...
But he asked Kisame-san to... argh... he could've just missed our lesson if it was
this difficult! A part of Hinata screamed in frustration, how could he just...
thoughtlessly... well he's often quite smart...

"Hinata?"

Oh, when did I get in the room? She blushed when she realised she was gripping the
poor teacup so tightly that its content was spilling, "Um... sorry..." She
hurriedly wiped the floor with a small cloth.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kisame was back at the Akatsuki hideout.
Itachi haven't talked to him for quite a while... though they never talked much
anyway, but this is different... Itachi was dissapearing about twice every week,
for at least two years already! He wasn't even taking any of his missions
seriously... The shark-looking man was angry with his partner, and finally he talks
to me, he's asking me to be a decoy and distract some stupid ANBUs? ARGH...

This'll teach him... he won't be able to get out for ages... an evil grin apeared
on the blue-man's face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata was really tempted to ask "Do-you-like-me", but she wasn't that sort of
girl. She's the sort who'd rather to be alone for the rest of her life instead of
asking any boy out on a date... And unfortunately, Itachi wasn't the sort of guy to
express his love for someone, neither. So both of them pretended to be absolutely
absorbed in their books and didn't look up at all.
What if he does like me? Hinata planned ahead, What will I say if he tell me he
likes me? She thought for a few minutes. I like him, too... She smiled at her own
answer. I should've realised earlier... This is completely different to the respect
I had to Naruto-kun... Naruto-kun is a great friend, but he's not someone I'd
always want to be around with... Itachi-san... he cares for me, he protects me...
he... loves me... and I - she remembered all the precious moments she had with
Itachi... suddenly, Itachi's love seemed so clear to her. He, he did all those for
me? He loved me all along?

Itachi's heart was captured by everything the Hyuuga girl did... her little
fiddling, her stuttering, her shyness... she was smart, and most of all, she was
strong, both in strength and heart.

They kissed.

It was quite a shock for them both. Neither of them realised, but something struck
them...

Sometimes, there are just things that could never be explained...

The night suddenly became so quiet for them, all the voices and sounds drowned in
this new magic of love...

Hinata's heart raced, her whole body shuddered at the pleasure... it was a soft
kiss... but no words could describe the feeling...

"I love you..." He whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too..." She murmured, wanting to be held in his strong arms, wanting
to be with him for the rest of her life...

His eyes weren't cold anymore... they were warm, with gentleness as he caressed
her...

Her face was buried in his black cloak, she felt dazed by his scent...

It was then that she felt so scared... she remembered how Neji died... She finally
understand how Sakura must've felt... Hinata knew, she'd never want to lose
Itachi...
Reflection

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi smiled when he saw his girlfriend running towards him like a little bird
flying to its shelter...
"Itachi-kun!" Hinata hugged him gently, blusshing slightly when the tall handsome
man buried his face into her long, silky hair.

"Come... I have a surprise for you." He whispered.

Hinata followed him. they walked slowly, treasuring every moment they have together
though they have being going out for eight months already...

"So what's your mission this time?" he asked her.

Hinata shook her head, "No, I told everyone that I wanted to leave Konoha and train
by myself for a few months. To get ready for the Jounin Exam..."

Itachi gave a light chuckle, "You'll pass that with ease."

"And by using this reason, I won't have to hide my power when I get back!" The
Hyuuga girl clutched tighter to the Uchiha man's dark cloak.

"Very smart." Itachi suddenly halted, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, "Now
close your eyes..."
He lead her onto a twisty path through the woods. She let him took her by the hand
with trust. Whenever there's a rock or a puddle, he'd lift her up gently, making
sure she wouldn't get hurt, treating her like a princess, instead of a ninja.

"Here." Itachi stopped, and pulled Hinata even closer to himself, folding her in
his embrace.

The Hyuuga opened her eyes, and saw a glistering lake, surrounded by snowy
mountains... She was speachless, the view was so beautiful and calm, it soothed her
soul and it was completely beyond what she could ever wish for...

"How... how..." She looked back, and saw a tiny secretive path between the
mountains.

"Alright, time to train." Itachi patted her on the head.

Hinata was dumbfounded... How could he? So romantically found this very romantic
place-and-they-were-having-such-a-romanticmomentandthenhe... this is what he says
to her?

"..." She stared at him.

"What? You need to get stronger." He stated as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

She sighed.

He smiled.

"Byakugan!"

"Sharingan!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She panted heavily, "Juken!" she used up her last thread of chakra.
Itachi dodged it, but he himself was pretty tired, too. She has become very
strong... He thought proudly.

Hinata collapsed with the splash of water.

A pair of warm arms caught her and carried her to a field near the lake, "That's
enough training for today." He kissed her.

Both of them lied there, just enjoying each other's company...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Are you sure Hinata will be alright?" Naruto asked his friends. He didn't want
Hinata to go, he just wanted to look at her tiny cute smile everyday...
"Yea, quit worrying, Naruto..." Shikamaru said lazily.

"But what if she gets kidnapped? What if she gets captured by an Akatsuki? What if
some man falls in love with her and..."

"NARUTO!" all the others rolled their eyes and cut off his sentence.

"Aw..." he whined.
"Why don't you just confess to her already?" Sakura punched Naruto on the head,
leaving a huge bruise.

"Wha?" Naruto blushed violently.

Everybody sweatdropped, he was trying to HIDE his feelings?

"You are SO obvious... Baka." Sasuke smirked.

"With your youthful spirit and passion like fire, you shall succeed, Naruto-kun!"
Rock Lee suddenly shouted.

Very amused, everyone started to give Naruto tips of how to please Hinata.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hinata..."
Night rushed down, and enfolded the earth in its black wings... Diamond-like stars
were lit, scattering soft light onto the lake...

Itachi was sitting next to Hinata in front of a small camp fire.

"Hm?" She murmured, head on his shoulder.

"Once upon a time... there was a beautiful princess..." he said in a low voice.

She looked up, he seemed distant, but she listened.

"And on the other side of the world, there lived a thief, who was very poor... one
day, this thief sneaked into the golden palace to steal, but accidentally met this
princess..."

"Itachi..." Hinata closed her eyes... she has heard this fairytale so many times...
waters of lethe...

"No one has ever understood the princess like the thief... he understood all her
sorrow, he comforted her, healing the scars of her heart bit by bit... Her
gentleness also soothed the thief. They fell in love... So deeply..." He looked
down and kissed the Hyuuga girl.

"I love you..." She felt Itachi was letting her go slowly, and she wanted to hang
on to him... But he only notioned her to come forward. She leaned towards him, and
followed where Itachi was pointing.

It was the lake... the water was so clear that you couldn't tell which is reality,
which is reflection... Hinata saw Itachi standing behind her, arms around her
waist.

"What do you see?" He asked.

"The mountains... The trees... and... us." She was slightly confused, but he only
nodded.

"And I see the princess and the thief..."

Her eyes widened, "NO! Itachi!"

"Can't you see? You are the heiress to a noble family... I am a murderer, a wanted
man, an assassin..." His voice full of melancholy.
"It doesn't matter! I don't care... Spending time with you have being the happiest
time I've ever had!" She was suddenly frightened.

"Hinata... you understand very well, we could never be together." His voice was
sad, yet determined.

"I... no..." she looked down, through the reflection, she knew well what he
meant...

"We can't hide like this forever, and they will find out, sooner or later."

"I'll run away with you... I'll be a missing-nin..."

"No, Hinata... I don't want you to walk the same path I did. Running away from
everything, always prepared for a fight to death..."

She was silent.

Chapter Ten

Home

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"No... Itachi..." She sobbed quietly.
It broke his heart to hear her crying...

"You'll suffer if you stay with me... You can have a better future..." He kissed
her tears away, still stubborn about his decision, though he felt as if his heart
was being torned into pieces...

The stayed like this until dawn, both don't want to let go...

"I'm ready." She sniffed, face still buried in Itachi's dark cloak, but her voice
suddenly sounded determined. Hinata knew he won't change his mind, and it's better
to get over it quickly.

He whispered something... his mangekyo sharingan activated and spun... faster, and
faster... it seemed like centuries... and the precious memories flashed past her
eyes like a movie...

The way his dark eyes stared into her own pale ones...

The way he looked after her and protected her from the darkness...

The way he kissed her softly...

The way he understood her...

-...

So many beautiful memories...

The freedom...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hinata?"
The Hyuuga girl blinked, only to see Naruto's worried face close to hers.

"NA-NARUTO-KUN!" She blushed and stuttered, stumbling as she got up.

"Why are you sleeping on the river bank?" The blonde boy grinned.

"I... Don't know..." She felt a bit light-headed.

"Come on, let's go back! And how was your training?"

Hinata didn't answer, she stared at the river, watching the water sparkling under
the sun.

"Um... Hinata..." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly and broke the silence.
Where's my note? He panicked, and searched all of his pockets frantically.

"Huh?" Hinata was a bit surprised by Naruto's sudden action.

"Found it!" The Kyuubi-vessel waved a bit of paper happily and read, "Dear
Hinata... Your Byakugan is very cool, nearly as good as the Sharingan! Your hair is
troublesome but very nice! You have a very youthful spirit, BELIEVE IT! Akamaru and
the bugs all like you... and-"

"you IDIOT!" Sakura crashed through the trees before Naruto could finish, and
"kidnapped" him with her super strength.

"Naruto! That was our brain-storming ideas! THIS is what you're supposed to tell
her!" Tenten knocked him on the head after Sakura and handed him a different note.

"Besides, you were supposed to memorise the lines!" Ino sighed. Naruto is so
stupid!

"awwwwwww... I can't memorise so many things..."Naruto sniffed, making puppy eyes

so the girls would stop hurting him.

Finally, after a few minutes lecture, Naruto came out of the bushes.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata blushed.

"Um... Hi-Hinata..." Naruto stuttered with her, "You... I... I really..."

"Just say it already!" The girl's 'whisper' was loud enough to echo through the
forest.

"Want some ramen?" He gulped.

Hinata gave him a small nod. The ninjas in the bush sighed, He is impossible...
they thought in unison.

Dark eyes watched her from a distance... Itachi gave a bitter smile.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the ramen stand, with all the help from his friends, Naruto tried to get as
romantic as possible to Hinata.
"Give this to her!" Sasuke, the love-expert shoved a rose into Naruto's hand.

"Ah- Hinata!" The blonde shoved the rose into Hinata's hand like the way Sasuke
gave it to him, "for you!" he added quickly.

Hinata smiled, "Than-thank you, Naruto-kun!"

Happily Ever After

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata sat with her boyfriend and all their friends, the Konoha Eleven... though
Neji could never be with them any more, they still left an empty space around the
circle as if waiting for his late arrival...
"So how was your mission, Tenten?"

"Oh it was great..."

The girls gossiped, the guys tried to show off their new skills...

"Sasuke you bastard, you killed all the enemies and didn't even leave one for me!"
Naruto complained.

"Pfft... you idiot."

"You guys, stop arguing!" Sakura laughed...

Hinata was happy... with those friends with her, she was truely greatful... but
there seemed to be something missing... something very important... The Hyuuga girl
frowned.

"Are you okay, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"O-oh, i'm fine!" She blushed.

"Let's have a story-telling game!" Ino suggested, "I'll start!"

It was a beautiful story, of an amazing ninja-girl... but Hinata's mind was

wandering all over the place... There's... a lost fragement... in the memory... she
shook her head gently, trying to listen to what Ino was saying.

"And they lived happily ever after!" Ino finished, "isn't it great that those
fairytales always ends with a happily ever after?"

Hinata stared at her.

"Hinata? Would you like to tell us a story?" Ino joked, knowing the shy girl, she
would never-

"O-okay..."

Ino looked at the timid-girl.

"Once upon a time..." Hinata started at once, everyone stared at her... "there was
a beautiful princess..." the aching feeling in her mind grew, but she continued...

"And on the other side of the world, there lived a thief, who was very poor... one
day, this thief sneaked into the golden palace to steal, but accidentally met this
princess..." she said quietly, those shattered memories were coming together piece
by piece...

"No one has ever understood the princess like the thief... he understood all her
sorrow, he comforted her, healing the scars of her heart bit by bit... Her
gentleness also soothed the thief. They fell in love... So deeply..." She looked
up, the dark sky was so mysterious... so deep...

"But they could never be together," She looked down, "because they knew nobody will
ever approve of a marriage between them, and the princess couldn't leave her family
and friends back in the palace..."

Dark eyes stared at her from a distance...

"The thief didn't want the princess to sacrifice everything for him, because he
regretted the path he chose... though it was too late to turn back... So one
night... he led the princess to a beautiful river..." she wasn't stuttering at
all... she have heard this story so many times, "the river was the Lethe... river
of forgetfulness... after drinking this water, the princess forgot everything at
once... including this person who she once deeply loved..."

There was a pause...

"It's sad..." Tenten murmured...

Sakura was sobbing quietly, because she remembered Neji... deeply in love but could
never be together... she understood it too well...

"But..." Hinata suddenly gave a little smile, "after a few years, the princess
found a prince who loved her very much... and they lived happily ever after..."

"That's... the end?" Sakura was quite surprised.

"Yes... the princess never saw the thief again..."

"Did she get her memories back?"

"No... never... to her, the thief never existed..." Hinata murmured to herself,
"perhaps it is better this way..."