Nevermore

Rain splattered up against old windows, smearing the glowing panes in beads of pale blue. The storm had come in around ten that morning and now, even at six that evening, it showed no signs of letting up. Hinamei sat in her mother's old room, untouched up until that night. A trash can stood at her left knee and in her right hand she clutched a small bag that was lost in the bottom of her closet until now. It took a while for her to work up the nerve to even enter her mother's old room but now that she was stranded alone in her old house she found no more excuses as to why she shouldn't. "She had so many pretty clothes, it's a shame she never wore any of them." The bed was covered in untouched dresses, some still with tags on them. Two piles were separated, a pile to give away and a pile to keep for when she grew into them. She rubbed between her fingers a silky material, the color of pale ice on a winter's eve. The kimono was spotted in white blossoms that gathered at the bottom and thinned out as they approached the hip. "I remember when Tou-san got this for her, she said she'd wear it all the time." Hinamei sniffed and dropped it in her pile. "He really should have taken her out more."

A clash of thunder shuddered the lights out for a second and she stilled, whimpering until the lights flickered back on. She hated sleeping alone, now that she had nearly adjusted to sleeping at Itachi's house every time she stepped into her house she felt that chill of loneliness that only her house gave her.

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"I don't understand why you can't just sleep here," Itachi looked at her with one eyebrow raised as he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. He sat on his bed while Hinamei fidgeted on the floor with a spare kunai Sasuke had been playing with. "You did it while I was gone, what's the problem?" He nudged her with his foot until she looked up and gave a sad sort of smile.

"What would Kaa-san think if she came home and realized no one was home? I bet she wouldn't be too happy." Her eyes strayed past Itachi's face, knowing full well the expression that had just overcome him.

"Hinamei-" he started but pinched his mouth and cut off his own words. With a shake of his head he let his hands fall, a sigh left his mouth and he slid off the bed till he sat next to Hinamei. "Just remember, if you want to come back don't hesitate." He looked away uncomfortably and fidgeted a kunai between his fingers. "I mean, I don't always have time to play with Sasuke, so he likes having you around."An awkward silence washed over them and both sat looking away from each other.

"Well I-"

"Don't you-"

Another awkward silence followed until Hinamei spun over and wrapped her thin arms around Itachi's neck. "Thank you Ita-chan, you really are a good friend even if you won't admit it." She pulled away from his neck and gave him a short kiss on the cheek to which he answered to with a short, 'hn'. "Anyways, I'm gonna head home. I'll try to come see you tomorrow if I'm not to busy alright?" She grinned and Itachi snorted in response, looking up at her as she stood.

"You don't have anything to be busy with, stupid." She waved her hand in dismissal and walked out of the doorway, grumbling as she did so. One day she was sure Itachi would learn to appreciate her. The walk home was quiet and as she looked up she couldn't help but notice the dark clouds rolling in over the mountains out north.

"Maybe I should have stayed, if the storm does come I don't know how I'll be able to sleep tonight." Her step broke into a run and she managed to get to her house within six minutes. Under the first shaking board of the porch was the spare key she never carried around, opening the door she stepped into the dark house, surrounded by nothing but dust and old memories. "Oh Kaa-san, please come home already." She shut the door behind her and slowly made her way to her bedroom. It was just as she had left it, the katana Shisui had given her lied flatly in the center of her bed, sheathed and covered in a thin layer of dust. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you," she sat down next to the tall blade and picked it up gingerly. "No one's had time to teach me how to use you, without them you're pretty much," she tossed it back down with a sigh. "Useless." She sat around her room tinkering for about an hour and a half till she found herself itching for some water. Slowly, she walked out of the room and into the hallway, throwing a short glance behind her.

Her mother's door was cracked open, just as it had been the last time she had touched it. When her mother had been home last. Hinamei glanced towards the kitchen before changing her mind and stepping towards the empty room. Her fingers trailed the peeling wallpaper, dragging with them a fine layer of dust as she walked. "You're not ever coming home are you." She said out loud as her eyes went out of focus. A blur of light crossed her vision and she blinked, clearing away the hot tears. "I miss you so much Kaa-san, and you too Tou-san. I'm sure you'd be proud of me if you were both still here." As she stepped towards the bed she caught sight of an old picture frame that had been carelessly tossed aside during her mother's rage. Her mother couldn't have been more than twenty and her father looked no younger than twenty five, in her mother's arms was a sweet faced baby with hair like chocolate and skin like snow. Her finger traced a line over her mother and she placed it back upright on the shelf. "I hope you guys are happy, wherever you might be now." A small smile found its way to her lips and she sunk back against the ruffled sheets. They smelled like dust and chamomile. As she hugged the blankets closer she found herself drifting farther and farther away from her body. Everything seems so much easier to handle when you're asleep, like nothing can harm you ever again.

Until the storms roll in and you're all alone.

She woke with a start to the sound of raging thunder, her body shot up stiff and a shrill scream escaped her mouth. Looking around as if someone had disturbed her she found herself still alone and she slunk back under the covers. Shaking with fright she held herself close, hoping one of the boys would come and check up on her. Who was she kidding, with weather like this no one in their right mind would be out on the streets. She made to turn the lights on, looking around her mother's old room and finally realizing it was a mess. The same as ever. "Well," Hinamei pulled her hair back into a quick bun, "I've got nothing better to do." After stifling a yawn she pulled the trash can from the kitchen into her mother's room, dug through her closet until she found a small bag to put keepsakes in and set off to work to clean.

She worked relentlessly until the storm got worse, the lights refused to stay on but still she persisted. All of her mother's drawers were open, one by one getting emptier as the minutes passed. Finally with a sigh, Hinamei crouched on the floor and swept the loose fringes of hair back that had fallen in her face. She never realized how much stuff her mother had till now. As she sat against the dresser she looked around, surveying the area as she did so she caught sight of a stack of folded papers loosely thrown under the bed. She wasted no time in diving under and retrieving all of them. As she opened the first folded piece of parchment she smiled, they looked like they were all love notes.

Her eyes skimmed the first piece of paper, her smile growing wider and wider as she did so until a peculiar piece of information caught her eye.

"Tsukiyo, my dearest, I know this isn't what you wanted and I'm sorry that it's forever due to be like this but know I'll stop at nothing to make you happy. You can blame me all you like but remember that what happened was out of love, and I'd have it no other way. Don't listen to your father when he tells you what a mistake you've made, he knows nothing about us, nothing about love like we do. And whatever you may feel towards me just remember that I genuinely love you. More so than any other man ever could. And if you ever have any doubts just tell yourself, what we did wasn't bad. We did what any two lovers would do, and it will all be worth it the minute you see our baby's face for the first time. Your father will have us wed when he finds out, don't be scared it's all for the best and-"

Hinamei put the letter in her lap, her eyes unmoving from the glossy windows. They married, because of me? She shook her head and tossed that letter aside, taking the next one in her hand she opened it feverishly and began reading.

"Tsukiyo, you've been avoiding me. Is it something I've done or has your father said something to change your mind? I swore on my life I'd fix this but how can you expect me to fix anything when you won't even look me in the eye. As the days go by I can see you're not happy with what's happened to you, they're going to find out darling, you can't hide it forever. Shiska told me but a day before that your father had prior plans to marrying you off to another man, and that's why your father doesn't want me around you but I can't help that I love you so. You must tell him soon, before it's too late! I don't know what I would do if I lost you-"

Frantically she reached for the third letter, opening it so fast the crease tore. Her eyes darted from left to right trying her hardest to understand.

"You met him before you met me, I understand, I was only a distraction from the inevitable marriage you didn't want. Now look where you've landed yourself. I went to see your father today, I told him of the things we had done and the child you were burdened with. As I expected he threw me out, telling me he would die defending you and insisting the child was your new husbands. He told me to get out of your life, you know me, I have always respected your father but this is out of his power. Tsukiyo, what is it that you want? Leaving these letters underneath your window sill while you sleep is getting old. I need to know, are you still in love with me?"

Shakily, she picked up the last letter and opened it. This changed everything.

"As an Uchiha I've always felt strong and proud but now I'm here feeling lost because of you. This will be my last letter to you, I wish you and your new family a happy and long life, I will refrain from seeing my child but in return I'm leaving the village. I cannot bear to be here whilst she walks around calling another man father. So this is farewell my love, know that wherever I am my heart goes out to you. It always will despite how you may feel towards me. We were young and foolishly reckless, I hope you raise our child with better morals than we had. Don't come looking for me, I promise, you won't ever find me where you are again, my love.

-Tashiro

"W-what? Tashiro? Who is Tashiro?" Hinamei staggered upwards, her hands instantly rising to intertwine through her hair. "Kaa-san, what did you do?" Her voice became shrill and she bent over, breathing violently into her knees. "This can't be true, it just can't!" Without even thinking Hinamei ran to her room, she grabbed whatever her hand could clutch at and shoved them in a bag. It was impossible after finding out her father was not who she thought he was, she couldn't stay in this prison any longer. She grabbed the sword and made a makeshift holder to tie around her back and she stormed out through the front door, leaving the wind to throttle through the house. But she didn't care she had no intentions on coming back for a long while. The wind surged around her, making the rain like tiny bullets assaulting her delicate skin, but none of it mattered.

Nothing made sense anymore and at this point, she would gladly take the pain over nothing.

Her legs carried her throughout back alley ways, no one was out and she took this chance to yell and shout as she pleased. They wouldn't be able to hear her anyway. Her heart was breaking, everything she knew crumbled down around her and she was no longer able to decipher the lies from the truth. What else had her mother hidden from her, feeling like Hinamei wouldn't ever need to know. She worshipped the ground her father walked on only to find out that man was not her father at all! It wasn't fair! Loudly, she stormed up the three steps that led to Itachi's front door. She must have looked like a mess, hair matted down to her pale face, eyes tired and dark with exhaustion and hurt. But it didn't matter, she brought her fist down on the door as hard as she could. She made it to the third strike till the door flung open and she was faced with a very confused looking boy. "What-" Itachi began but was cut off as Hinamei raised her voice so the whole house could hear.

"I've changed my mind, I want to stay here!" Before Itachi could respond she dropped her bag and threw herself at him. Her arms weaving around his neck and pulling her wet body close to his warm one. "I've had the worst night Itachi, I'm sorry." She whispered into his neck as she sobbed. Itachi closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. Not only did she interrupt dinner she had made him soaking wet along with her. But strangely, he couldn't bring himself to scold her like he normally would.

"Fine, but get off of me, you're getting water everywhere." He said quietly, turning around before he got a chance to see a flicker of a smile cross her face.

"Hina-chan!" Her dark eyes flashed up and she watched as Sasuke waved a chopstick around frantically, despite Fugaku's scolding he slipped from his seat and ran to greet her. "What're you doing here so late? Are you gonna play with me?" His mouth was upturned into a wide grin and she couldn't help but smile.

"Only if you finish your food!" She gave a nervous giggle and pushed him back towards the kitchen, feeling both Mikoto's and Fugaku's eyes drilling into her. Before they could talk she slipped from her wet shoes and ran down the hall towards where Itachi had headed. She found him in his room digging through a dresser. He picked up one blue shirt and shook his head, casting it aside and digging through more. "Thank you Ita-chan, I'm sorry to just burst in here like this. Your father must hate me."

"Trust me, their all quite used to it by now." Hinamei blushed and Itachi threw her a shirt and some shorts, both black and too small for him. "Get dressed and then you're going to tell me what's so important that you had to run through the rain to get here. Hurry up." With a huff Itachi left the room, sliding the door shut as he did so and leaving Hinamei to slide out of her wet clothes. How would she tell Itachi, normally he couldn't care less what upset her, just as long as she didn't involve him. She took her time with getting dressed, nudging her stuff into the closest corner and brushing her fingers through her tangled hair. As she was finishing up with her tresses a steady knock intruded. Itachi didn't wait for an answer before he opened the door and glowered in. "Ready yet?" She stiffly nodded and scooted over towards his pillow, watching as Itachi seated himself across from her. The one thing she hated most about talks with Itachi is that she always got the impression he was judging her. She desperatly wanted to cry and let it all out but she knew Itachi's patience didn't stretch that far. He always wanted her to be brave and hard but she worried that this time she wouldn't be able to. Her fingers drummed against her knee.

"What would you do if you found out your Tou-san wasn't really your Tou-san?" She asked quietly, looking up through her long lashes carefully. Itachi blinked and then shook his head.

"What?" This was going to be more difficult than she needed it to be. She sniffed and looked away, how else could she put it without being blunt and careless with it. Even that pushed her to the edge. "I don't understand." As it was Itachi's patience was getting thinner, his voice was cold and he didn't relax his eyebrows at all so it seemed as if he was still glaring. But she wouldn't put it past him. With a sigh she continued.

"I found some letters that my Kaa-san had hidden away. They were from a man I don't know and they said he was my real Tou-san." She bit back her lip and looked back up at him. That did it, his eyebrows were upturned now and his glare had turned into confusion. "She lied to me Ita-chan. The man that died from the kyuubi, he wasn't my real..." her eyes drifted out and she looked away hurriedly. She couldn't cry, not now. Not while Itachi was still looking. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this." But something happened then that she never expected. Itachi's small hand reached over and gently, he placed it atop hers. And when he spoke, it was warm and comforting to hear.

"If you want to cry then cry. I won't look." She slowly looked up. Just as he had said his eyes were focused on the opposite wall, blinking and trying hard not to look at her. "If it helps you at all ask yourself, who was more of a father to you? The man you never met or the man that was always there for you? Should it really matter that much?"

Any second now he should burst into flames, his heart was sure to melt with as nice as he was being. She blinked the tears away and put a finger to her lip. Now that he put it that way it made a little more sense. A small smile relinquished itself and she placed her other free hand atop Itachi's. "W-why are you being so nice to me?" Carefully, Itachi turned his attention back towards her, frowning as he did so.

"I'm not being nice, I just don't want to listen to you cry anymore." His eyes got wide when he realized his words had no impact and he looked away, pulling his hand back and crossing it over his chest. "You're annoying." But her smile told him he had already lost and given himself away.

"Thank you Itachi. That helps more than you know." Hinamei smiled sweetly and stood up, leaving the room just as Sasuke ran down the hall exclaiming he was done with dinner. He took Hinamei's hand and pulled her into his own room. Itachi sat on his bed and listened in, curious as to why she was so dependent on him being there for her. And why he didn't mind as much as he used to. The boy leaned back until his head hit the pillow and he closed his eyes. It didn't make sense at all.

"Will you sleep in here with me? Nii-san doesn't like to, he says I talk too much." Sasuke turned his bright eyes up towards Hinamei and clenched his fingers tighter around her hand. "Please." She couldn't help but give in. Sasuke talked her into playing till his bed time and he whined until Hinamei followed suit and went to bed early. Neither of them had seen Itachi since Hinamei spoke with him. The wind spun around the house, beating against the windows loudly. Apparently, it was easy for Sasuke to overlook the noise as he fell asleep nearly twenty minutes into the night. Hinamei lay against the cool grey pillow and hummed to herself. Despite what Itachi may have told her, the fact that her mother lied to her was the biggest open wound of all. The more Hinamei found out the more her mother looked less and less human. The glass rattled and Hinamei looked up at the windows startled, sleep needed to come soon.

Itachi lay awake in his bed, eyes transfixed on the ceiling above him. By now the house was quiet, save for the storm outside, everyone else was asleep but him. The third part of the chuunin exams were coming up, it would be his only chance to excel and take charge and become the shinobi he had worked so hard to be. Not only that but Shisui had recently become involved with the ANBU, trying his hardest to convince Itachi to join to. His mind flitted back to the silver haired captain, he had told Itachi to come when ready. Aside from that, he didn't need to be told he met all conditions. Itachi turned on his side and closed his eyes, unable to shake the feeling still that Jin's eyes were boring holes into his back. And Kai, feeling as haughty as to use Itachi's last name as reason to defend him. It made him sick. Tomorrow he was going to have to meet up with his team, or what was left of it anyway. He almost dreaded seeing his sensei, Jin had always been his favorite. Itachi's eyes shot open and he furrowed his slender brow, apparently he wasn't the only one awake at this late hour. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, slowly inching towards his doorway. As he opened the door his room lit up with lightning followed by a clash of thunder close by. A small frown quivered on his lip as a small shaky scream came from Sasuke's room. "Hinamei?" He creeped in through the doorway and saw Hinamei curled up under the blankets, shaking every time thunder rang throughout the house. "Are you crying?"

A small voice came from under the covers. "I didn't wake you did I Ita-chan? I'm sorry." Another bang and she held herself closer. Itachi looked behind himself, irritated. He couldn't exactly leave her like this could he? With another sigh he crept up to her bed and gently pulled the covers up to peek under. Her face was wet and her eyes were clenched shut.

"It's just thunder, it's not anything to be afraid of." He said softly, laying a single hand on her quivering shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him pleadingly.

"You don't understand," was all she said and her eyes fell back shut as the room glowed blue with electricity. Itachi mumbled something before slipping himself under the covers beside Hinamei, wrapping his arms round her shoulders to stop her shaking. "Will you stay?" She mumbled into the sheets. Itachi's eyes looked out the window, the storm wasn't letting up anytime soon.

"Just this once, next time though you have to learn to be brave." She nodded exuberantly and scooted in closer to Itachi's body. Her head rested upon his chest and she grasped at his shirt like he could slip away at any moment. All these storms did was remind her of her mother. All alone and frightened. She always hated storms too, so much that when her father wasn't home her mother would crawl into bed with Hinamei and just hold her close. Like there was a special reason to be afraid. "Nothing's going to hurt you Hinamei, you're all right now." His hand gently stroked the back of her head and he shut his eyes. He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long while.

Hinamei woke up to the sunlight creeping in over her face, slowly she rubbed her eyes awake and sat up. Itachi was already gone. "He stayed with me," she smiled to herself thinking that maybe she had finally gotten through to him. A soft knock came from the doorway and she looked up alarmed.

"Good, I'm glad you're awake. Feeling better?" Mikoto asked, smiling as Hinamei nodded in response. "There's somewhere I want to take you today, I think you need some place to go to get your mind off things and I know just the place for that! Get dressed, I'll have some tea for you at the table when you come out." Mikoto left and Hinamei sat staring at the door. Itachi and Sasuke were both so lucky to have such a caring mother, stupid Itachi took things for granted way too often. She hurried to get dressed, throwing on a grey and blue sun dress since the sun was hot and it looked like it was here to stay. After brushing out her hair she rushed into the kitchen where Mikoto and Sasuke sat at the table. "Itachi told me what happened, I hope you don't mind." Her large doe eyes looked at Hinamei softly, hoping not to strike a nerve. But Hinamei just shook her head and smiled.

"It's alright, and I'm sorry to have burst in your house like I did. I promise, I'll be more considerate." She waved her hand in dismissal and made it known that she didn't mind. After tea and breakfast the three of them headed out, among the hustle and bustle of the new day.

"Are you going to be living with us Hina-chan?" Sasuke asked as they walked throughout the village. Hinamei gave a small shrug in reply and looked up.

"Maybe for a small while. It all depends really."

"On what? Don't you want to live with us?" Her mind instantly flashed to Itachi and she could feel her cheeks get warm. All of sudden she had a new surge of feeling towards the Uchiha boy, something she couldn't quite place and she didn't know if she liked it or not.

"Of course I do but that's not really my place to decide." Sasuke turned back around and mumbled something. Something that sounded an awful lot like, 'Nii-san would be sad if you didn't.' She frowned at Sasuke's back and reminded herself she needed to get Sasuke off her back. All this talk about Itachi liking her made her nervous and uneasy. Itachi didn't like anyone and reasonably, it probably should stay that way. Five more minutes and Mikoto stopped at a small store, Sasuke tore away and ran excitedly across the street into a shinobi tool shop, giggling as he went.

"Don't mind him," Mikoto said as she entered the store. Hinamei glanced up and read the sign, her heart swelling as she did so. It read, 'Yamanaka Flower Shop' and it held every type of blossom you could think of. "Ohayo Ayashima," she bowed to a thin, blonde woman around her age. The woman bowed back happily. With her hand behind Hinamei she walked the small girl ahead and beamed, "this is Hinamei, the girl I was telling you about." The platinum woman bent down and ruffled Hinamei's hair. "Is today a good day?"

"No better day. After all that rain people are out looking for a bit of a day brightener. We should be busy." She grinned and stood up tall, grabbing a smaller apron from a rack close by. "Here, put this on Hinamei." As confused as she was she was happy to oblige. The shop smelled wonderful and the woman Mikoto had called Ayashima seemed like a walking ray of sunshine. Mikoto said goodbye with a quick kiss on the forehead and went off to fetch Sasuke from the nearby shops. Leaving just Hinamei and Ayashima to themselves. "Mikoto tells me you need a bit of a distraction, I've heard your Itachi-kun's fiancé, is that right?" Hinamei nodded shyly and the woman continued on freshly. "I'm sure he's busy with the chuunin exams and all. So what better way to keep you occupied than to work. And trust me," she bent down and winked. "There's no better place than here. I've got to cut some flowers out back but I'll have Ino come in here and show you around. She's a bit of a loud mouth but I'm sure you can handle her. Ino, come in here please!" At first Hinamei expected someone around her age to come out but instead she blinked awkwardly at the platinum pixie that bolted out from behind the store door. She can't be much older than Sasuke-kun! "Ino dear, show Hinamei around the shop, get her started for the day will you. She's our new employee."

Like mother like daughter, Ino took but two seconds to take Hinamei by the hand and start babbling. Ayashima had already disappeared behind the door. "I'm glad you came in here today, it's been getting real boring with all this stupid rain we're having. So what's your name? You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before? Are you a kunoichi?" Ino turned on her heel and blinked up happily, her hands held under her chin like she was waiting for something. Hinamei, not knowing where to start simply answered with a faint 'uh' but was quickly cut off with Ino's speech again. "I'm going to be a kunoichi one day, just wait. Are you Sasuke-kun's sister? You look an awful lot like him you know." Her eyebrows twitched and she sighed, not knowing how much longer she could stand to be around the child. And Itachi says I'm annoying?

"No, I'm definitely not his sister. I look like him because we're both of the Uchiha clan. We all kind of look the same now that you think about it, eh?" She tapped a finger to her lip and then looked down, the girl was practically beaming at her. "What?"

"Does that mean you know Sasuke-kun? He's so cute don't you think?" Hinamei gave a nervous laugh and looked away, quickly wanting to bring the conversation to a halt.

"Aren't we supposed to be doing something?" This seemed to work. Ino slapped two small hands to her face and darted off to retrieve two watering cans. Dragging them both back over she giggled and pushed one closer to Hinamei.

"I'll get the lower row, since you're taller you can get the higher ones. After this I'll teach you how to pick the dead flowers out, alright?"

Mikoto wasn't kidding at all when she said 'occupied'. Hinamei sighed and picked up the pail with ease, following down the line she made sure each one was carefully filled. It took less than ten minutes to water them all and she smiled happily when finished. She had never had a job before, it was almost invigorating when she thought about it. She spent the rest of the day with Ino, picking through dead flowers, trimming thorns and wrapping bouquets and finally when the store shopped closed Ino came back and wrapped her thin arms around Hinamei's legs. "You'll come back tomorrow right?" The pixie looked back at her mother who was locking up the shop before turning back with a grin and whispering quietly, "and bring Sasuke-kun with you!" Ayashima smiled broadly as she advanced, scolded Ino for evading other's spaces and placed a hand on Hinamei's shoulder.

"You have no idea how nice it was to have you here, you'll be here tomorrow right? After the week is done if you still like it we can talk about making this a full time job." Hinamei beamed and bowed deeply, thanking her endlessly. The sun was gold on the horizon as they said their goodbyes and she started home. The day seemed to go by so much more quickly and to be honest she felt lighter than she did yesterday. It was only normal she run all the way to Itachi's house with a smile on her face. As she approached she saw Itachi and Sasuke sparring in the front yard, it was interesting, she had never really seen Sasuke fight before. Truth be told, he wasn't that bad. Itachi kicked Sasuke's feet out from under him and laughed when he landed.

"How did you not catch that one? Come on Sasuke, get back on your feet." Sasuke made to stand up till his eyes flickered to Hinamei and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Hina-chan, you're home!" Itachi whipped around and gave a half sort of smile. Sasuke waved and Itachi dived in to take him down. "Nii-san, I wasn't ready!"

"Shinobi don't tell their enemies to wait during battle. You should have said something." He ruffled his hair and glanced as Hinamei approached. "Kaa-san told me you have a job now."

"We'll see by the end of the week, but so far it's wonderful. I come home smelling like flowers and get to meet all kinds of interesting people. Speaking of," she grinned and bent in lower towards Sasuke. "A little girl named Ino-kun talked about you an awful lot today, she told me that you're a cutie and told me to give you this." From her apron she pulled out a small budding tulip. Sasuke took it with a frown.

"She's annoying, Hina-chan don't encourage her." He tossed the flower aside and glowered up at his brother. "Besides, when I become a ninja I'll have no more time for girls. Not even you Hina-chan, sorry." She replaced her smile with a frown, taking her apron off as she wandered up to the porch. "Right Nii-san?" Her eyes flickered towards Itachi and he smirked, making sure she saw.

"Right Sasuke, no time for annoying girls who talk too much." She stuck her tongue out and leaned back against her hands. The sun was setting faster now but that didn't stop the brother's from sparring with each other. "Oh, Hinamei?" She looked over with wide eyes, "Shisui told me to tell you that he's gotten some free time off this month. He'll be over next week to teach you how to use that katana of yours."

"Really?" Hinamei hopped up and grinned, pumping her fists down by her side. "About time, that thing's been getting pretty dusty!"

"I told him to not even bother though, that he'd be dead and gone with by the time you learned how to pay attention to anything." He snorted and Hinamei stuck her tongue out.

But even she couldn't dismiss the grin that touched at her lips.