Chant d'Automne

Chapter Ten: Turn and Face the Strange

**

“Remind me again why this is necessary?” Kakashi groused.

“I know, I know,” Hinata replied apologetically, combing more dye through his hair. “But you said it yourself: everyone recognizes your hair. And my father won’t let you in the house if he knows who you really are.”

This was undeniably true, Kakashi had to admit. And he had promised Hinata that he would go with her back to Konoha and, somehow, prevent Hanabi’s wedding from taking place. It was a matter of principle, really. What kind of person thought it was okay to marry off his daughter at age twelve? He felt it was—well, not the least he could do, but he didn’t mind helping. However, he hadn’t realized the implications of his agreement until after the fact.

“I-I don’t think you’ll like hearing this,” she had said. “But if you’re coming with me, you’ll… you’ll have to disguise yourself.”

Not too bad, he had thought optimistically. He was just glad that she was her cute, meek, stuttering self again, instead of the scary, yelling one. A genjutsu ought to do the trick.

Now he understood the flaw in his thinking. They were in his kitchen, he with his head held uncomfortably over the sink and Hinata right beside him holding a depleted bottle of “Dark Delights 4” brown hair dye. His hair felt curiously heavy and wet, his neck was cramping and he had to blow his nose.

“Almost done!” Hinata’s delicate, reassuring voice came from somewhere above him. She patted his upper back a few times.

“Do you feel stiff anywhere?”

Oh, lord, she just set herself up for these ones.

“I-I mean,” she quickly backpedaled, the embarrassment at what she had just said evident in her tone. “Oh, you know what I mean. You’re more perverted than a teenage boy.”

He couldn’t resist pulling her leg. “From what I hear, teenage girls can be pretty wild these days too.”

She cleared her throat. “I get the feeling it’s just you.”

A low laugh bubbled up in him. In a sense, whenever he was reading his beloved porn, it was just him—he rarely had anyone lending him a ‘hand’, so to speak. There was a short pause. Then he said, just to see how she would react, “I’m not stiff, in any sense of the word. Thanks for asking, though.”

Above him—he couldn’t see her face—she emitted a small high-pitched noise.

“G-good. Umm… almost done. The dye should set within ten minutes.”

Finally. He started to stand but Hinata’s hand on his neck stopped him. Whoa. Who knew she could be so forceful? Hmm… he should probably stop himself before this idea went any further.

Sighing, he lowered his head back over the sink. This position was uncomfortable and slightly embarrassing. Bending over like this made his ass stick out, not that it was oversized or anything, but he felt that any blatant display of body parts by either of them was inappropriate and to be avoided at all costs. He was pretty sure he had noticed her checking out his butt at least once before. As the teacher, it fell to him to be a role model, and conform to what they had agreed to: their relationship would be strictly professional. They both knew what the other thought now, and knowing the attraction was mutual… it was almost harder than before, when they had skirted the matter altogether. So far, though, they had both had the good sense to keep their distance, maintaining politeness and decorum. He was starting to realize just how many ‘perverted’ comments he mad in one day (those would have to go,) and the way Hinata tended to freeze up whenever he initiated any physical contact between only reminded him how she felt. Maybe he was being completely stupid about it. She wanted him, yet he continued to refuse her. Why? He could just have her for a night or two, maybe three, depending on how well she did… and then what? There would be repercussions. What kind of relationship could they have? She was on the brink of becoming independent, and then to be saddled with the likes of him. If they were together just for a few nights, though… Fuck, this was going nowhere. He would just have to deal with the fact that he was attracted to a girl over ten years younger than him, and he couldn’t have her, even though she wanted it too. It had only been one day, so it should wear off within a few days… right?

In the meantime, he was getting his hair dyed, not for the first time in his life, bent over his kitchen sink, wearing his oldest clothes and no mask. While he usually felt naked without a mask in front of most people, it had somehow become routine for when he was with Hinata. Perhaps it was because she was so non-judgmental. Yes, that must be it, not the fact that something in his sub consciousness was trying to seduce her by appearing to let down his barriers. It didn’t hurt that he was handsome.

“Would you like me to read aloud while we wait?” She volunteered, interrupting his strange, meandering thought process.

“Yeah. There should be a book on the table with a green cover.” It was probably one of the tamest things he owned, unless he wanted her to recite the ninja Code. But to find a copy of that, she’d have to search his bookshelves, which were full of porn—books, magazines, and, of course, his Icha Icha collection. Speaking of which, the next volume should be out in a few days… that was an exciting thought. There had been a huge cliffhanger at the end of Icha Icha Tactics. He wanted—yearned—needed to see what happened next. Maybe he could get Hinata to come pick it up with him at the Pink Bookstore. She was old enough and he’d had a copy reserved for months in advance, so they wouldn’t have to wait very long.

“Icha Icha Takutikusu,” Hinata began. She sounded a little nervous for some reason. “Lord Nobu, nobleman, gentleman and libertine, renowned for his quick ways with women and drink, reclined in his chair.” There had been a tiny cough at libertine, but she kept going.

Suddenly, he remembered how this book started. It was essentially the same as all the other books, but still… he tended to forget everything else when Icha Icha was at hand. He really shouldn’t make her read this, it went way out of bounds in terms of appropriateness.

“Uh, on second thought, Hinata—”

But she seemed determined to continue.

“Ah, it was a fine night, he thought, sipping from his tumbler of brandy and gazing into the fire. Lord Nobu, or Nobu-sama, as many called him, took pleasure in the finer things in life, so it was good that he had the means to finance this penchant for earthly delights. Yes, he liked fine liquor, a large, well-appointed house and a beautiful woman waiting on him hand and foot. Currently he had all three.” Here she paused and snorted. “Well, it’s certainly clear which demographic he’s targeted.”

“Huh?” He had just been getting into the story, now she was adding her own commentary?

“These books are written to cater to men’s fantasy lives, Kakashi-sensei.”

“But you’ve only read half a page!”

“N—well, yes, but…” She grumbled, but continued. “‘Yes, he liked fine liquor--’ no, I just read that. Oh, here.

“‘He had just hired a lovely new girl as a maid and instructed her to bring him a platter of fruit and cheese. She returned in a few minutes, her lovely ash-blonde head bowed. He unabashedly surveyed her luscious young form as she made her way across the room. There was no reason to disguise his intentions any further—she was his, to do with as he pleased—’

“See what I mean?!” Hinata burst out after this, sounding dangerously similar to how she had when yelling at him a few days ago.

“You can stop reading if you want,” he said equally.

“No, it’s fine. I just… don’t get it, I guess.

“‘This was going to be fun. As she set the plate down on a low table next to him, he grabbed her thin, delicate wrist in his large, manly hand.’” He heard her voice tremble slightly, but then regain its strength.

“‘Her doe-like brown eyes flicked up in surprise.

‘Nobu-sama?’ She asked, her voice trembling. A lock of her long, soft hair had escaped like a flighty bird from the loose chignon atop her head, and come to rest on the flawless alabaster skin of her neck and chest.
‘Lord Nobu set down his tumbler and reacher his other hand over to play with the silky strand. He let his hand tanatlizingly brush the skin and then looked her in the eye.

‘His directness caused her to close her dewy eyes against his steely, cold blue chips of ice.’” She snorted again, apparently amused by Jiraiya-sama’s purple prose.

“‘Now the innocent maid realized h-his true… intentions, but it was too late.’” Hinata stumbled over the words but kept going.

“If she didn’t comply with his w-wishes, she would surely lose this job, which she couldn’t afford to do—she needed the money. She would just have to let—let him have his… way with her. Oh, how cruel! Sh-she was saving herself for Hideki, her beloved, the stable boy. Well he was a v-virgin too, he wouldn’t know the difference.

“At this point, Lord Nobu could no longer ignore the savage… b-burning in his… loins.”

Kakashi felt the air in the room suddenly get very close, and the temperature seemed to rise considerably.

“‘Th-this beautiful girl was defnitely prettier than the average. Her… breasts were heaving—’ Oh, for God’s sake, breasts don’t heave!” She exploded, as savage as Lord Nobu.

He couldn’t help himself. But, why, why did he say these things? “Yours are heaving right now.”

It felt as if there was no air left to breath. The room was completely empty, except for their two bodies.

“Y-you… I…” She lapsed into a short coughing fit.

“Nevermind, Hinata. Forget I said it. Please, keep going.”

She needed no more prompting; they both wanted to extract themselves from this awkward situation before it led to something.

“‘Her breasts were…heaving… over the low-cut top of her plain gown, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment’—like me!” She added with a laugh. “—but it could be …a-arousal.”

Kakashi felt his chest tighten and a pulse run through his groin. Hinata, flushed with arousal was easy enough to imagine—he had seen that before, and she got embarrassed about something or another pretty much every day. But imagining her being both at once, maybe laid out on his bed, both of them totally naked in front of each other for the first time… no, wait. This was a highly dangerous track of thought. It was hard to shake, though, hard to know exactly what he wanted, where it was, how to get it, but not be able to have it. He tuned back in, the next few sentences oddly appropriate to what he was thinking.

“No matter. He was an experienced lover. By the end of the night he’d have her throat raw from screaming his name in passion.”

A sharp rap at the door interrupted Hinata’s shaky recitation. Kakashi wondered what might have happened had his old friend not chosen this moment to pop in.

“Oi! Kakashi! You here?” Shiranui Genma was not known for having a sense of timing, but in this case maybe it was for the better.

The special jounin let himself in and stepped jauntily into the kitchen.

“What the fuck?” Genma stopped short, taking in the strange scene.

“Hey, Genma,” Kakashi said, sounding rather resigned.

“Hey…” Genma flicked his senbon and raised an eyebrow. “Uh… sorry. I didn’t think you’d have anyone here.” Now his eyes were blatantly roaming Hinata. From her sudden tenseness and the uncomfortable pause, Kakashi could guess what was happening.

“Genma, don’t even think about it.” His commanding tone was undercut by the fact that his butt was in the air, facing a guy who was quite possibly more perverted than he was.

“Oh, so are you two—?”

“No!” They both said at the same time, more forcefully than necessary.

“Right,” Genma drawled. Kakashi could practically hear him smirking.

“Um… the, uh, dye should be ready now,” Hinata said quietly.

“Okay—agh!” He gasped and squirmed as a blast of cold water hit his hair and seeped through to his scalp.

“S-sorry! We have to rinse out the extra dye.”

“Dye?” Genma had ambled into the kitchen and was poking throught Kakashi’s refrigerator. “You guys role-playing?”

Trust Genma to come up with something sexual.

“No,” Kakashi answered. “We’re going to her father’s house and I can’t have him recognize me.”

“Why—oh, I remember! Yeah, that time you did that girl in the middle of…” Genma’s cackles ceased as he caught sight of Hinata’s tomato-red face. “…So why not use a genjutsu?” He selected a beer and opened it.

“Takes too much energy to keep up for a long time.” Just pretend that idiot hadn’t started discussing his sex life in front of a student, just breeze past it. He waited as Hinata turned off the tap and squeezed the excess dye and water out, then stood up and accepted the dark green towel she handed to him. Rubbing his hair dry, he turned to Genma, momentarily forgetting that his face was uncovered. The other jounin choked on his swig of beer. Even though they had been close for years, Genma had never known his friend to let his guard down so easily. Kakashi valued his privacy above almost everything else.

“So, uh… what are you doing here?” Kakashi addressed Genma. Their hair was now almost the exact same color.

“I came to give these videos back.”

Oh, yeah. A few months ago he had loaned out a bunch of his porn tapes. Genma had taken quite a few, but now there were only two out on the table. ‘Kunoichi Gone Wild: Land of Babes’ and ‘Seduction no Jutsu 4.’ Hinata pretended not to notice, having closed Icha Icha Takutikusu and placed it neatly on the counter.

“I haven’t finished the others… Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Who? Oh. Genma, this is Hyuuga Hinata, my current student.” He ignored his friend’s look of surprise and moved on. “Hinata, this is my old friend, Shiranui Genma.”

“N-nice to meet you, Genma-san.” Hinata bowed.

Genma smirked around his senbon and executed a strange half-bow curtsey thing. “Likewise. Kakashi and I used to be on a team together.”

“I-is that so?” Hinata seemed like she might keel over dead from any sudden movements around her. He’d better stop this before it got out of hand. Like Lord Nobu, Genma was known for his quick ways with women and drink, although it was unlikely he’d make much headway with Hinata.

“Yup.” The senbon-chewing jounin tipped the bottle back and drank the last of its contents before setting it on the table. “We had some wild times, didn’t we?”

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. “Sure, Genma. Just keep the horror stories rated PG. She’s underage. I’m going to get cleaned up. Try not to frighten her away.”

Genma grinned. “Since when have I been the one to scare off the ladies? If anything it’s you! You look so calm and stoic and mysterious on the outside, but then they find out that you shriek like a girl when—”

“Genma,” Kakashi gave him the most menacing glare he could and then stalked out of the kitchen, saying to Hinata over his shoulder, “Call for me if he gets too annoying.”

**

Hinata desperately wanted to ask Genma what made Kakashi shriek like a girl, but was too shy, and afraid of the possible answers.

“So…” Genma sidled up to her. “Kakashi’s student, huh?”
Hinata nodded, not sure what to say. She remembered this man from the chuunin exams. Back then, even though she had been far away, in the crowd and asleep for half of it, she had gotten the impression that this guy was pretty cocky and self-assured. Then again, he had given Neji some decent advice and made sure that Naruto didn’t get killed. Maybe he was more sensible than he looked.

“You must be pretty amazing, for him to have taken you on in the first place.”

“Oh! N-no, not really.” Urk. This was not going well. Kakashi probably didn’t want anyone knowing what had happened between them, not even his friend—especially not this friend. “S-so, um, you were in ANBU with Kakashi-sensei?”

“Sort of,” he answered shortly.

“You can’t talk about it?”

“Nope.” He took the senbon out of his mouth and twirled it deftly in his fingers a few times. “So what exactly is going on between you and that grey-haired old pervert?”

She could feel her face turning red.

“I-I…uh…you mean Kakashi-sensei?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Uh… his is kind of more—silver than gray.”

Genma raised himself to his full height and stood in front of her. Though not quite as tall as Kakashi, he still had enough height to achieve the menacing and intimidating effect.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Y-yes…”

“Hn.” The jounin quirked an eyebrow at her and turned away. “I can see why he likes you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Kakashi. He likes you, wants to do you.”

“Um…”

He made a noise of smug understanding. “Ah. Let’s see if I have this straight.”
Hinata listened rather helplessly as he began to rattle off bits and pieces of what had gone on between her and her teacher, both the events and conflicting emotions.

“Am I right?” He finished, the smug look still in place.

“I… why are you interested?”

“Dunno,” he shrugged. “I like screwing in other people’s business.”

She was about to answer disingenuously, ‘really?’ but realized that he was now avoiding her question. “Is it because you’re friends?”

Genma snorted. “Why else would I be here?”

“Kakashi said to call him if you got too annoying,” she replied, surprising both of them at her devious tactics.

The senbon was flicked from side to side a few times before he said, “Look, the old guy likes his privacy—kind of freaky, really—anyway, he doesn’t let very many people in, if you get my drift. Don’t screw it up.”

Hinata nodded, eyes wide. Genma took this as an opportunity. “Now, how ‘bout something for my troubles, hmm?”

“Wh-what did you have in mind…?” She asked tentatively, dreading his answer.

Sure enough… “Guess.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, grinning.

Admittedly, he was rather handsome, and his confidence attracted her to him, on some level. But… no. Just no. She recognized this feeling of uncertainty, from when Kiba had convinced to do this sort of thing.

“Can I get you anything to eat?” She suggested, in place of whatever act he had in mind, feeling bad about being so uncooperative. It was none of his business, but still…

“Sure!” He pulled out a chair and sat at the table. He had been remarkably easy to persuade—perhaps he hadn’t been completely serious about his request.

“What would you like?” She started looking through drawers for cooking utensils. Most of them were empty, but in one she came across a ‘Ninja Babes!’ calendar and a mostly-empty box of Shinobi Strenght Condoms—for all you longest, hardest missions!

“Hey, is that Ninja Babes ’07?!” Her companion asked as she removed it gingerly from the drawer. In an instant he was by her side, a leering smile on his face.

“Here.” She was happy to hand it over—the woman on the cover was bare-breasted, kneeling on the beach with a kunai held suggestively between her pouty lips. Not Hinata’s cup of tea by a long shot.

“Nice,” Genma said appreciatively to the calendar.

“Ahem,” Kakashi cleared his throat behind them.

“Why was this in a drawer?” Genma asked shrewdly, now going through the calendar with a critical eye.

“Ah… redecorating.”

Kakashi’s friend pointed to the box without looking away from his new interest. “You’re running out of condoms.”

“Thank you, Genma,” Kakashi said dryly.

Hinata’s first thought was along the lines of ‘that’s a lot of condoms’. And, following logically, that meant… her sensei had a lot of sex. She snuck another look at the box. Two-fifty count. But it was almost empty, which meant… wow. His stamina must be formidable.

“Well, Hinata?” Kakashi held out his hands, a gentle smile on his face. With his hair darkened, his face and Sharingan uncovered, he bore little resemblance to the Kakashi most people would describe. When they had discussed the disguise on the way back to Konoha it had been his idea to forego the mask, and she had to agree, it was pretty clever. Few people actually knew what his face looked like, so going without it would be hiding in plain sight. As for the Sharingan, he had insisted that a simple genjutsu would do the trick, although she was worried that it would sap his energy.

But aside from all that, he still looked like basically the same person to her. Something was amiss. Then, it clicked.

“Your eyebrows! We forgot to do your eyebrows!”

Genma turned to his friend with an appraising look. “She’s right. And may I say, brown is quite a fetching color on you.”

“Shut up.”

“Uh… sensei?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you go lie down on the couch please? And put this towel under your head.” She tossed him an old, raggedy one with an abstract pattern on it.

The dyeing of the eyebrows took only a few minutes, which Genma occupied by telling them dirty jokes. Hinata felt embarrassed about laughing at some of them, especially since Kakashi was right there, but when she saw that his mouth quirked, trying not to smile, she lightened up.

Finally, it came time for them to leave the safety of Kakashi’s small apartment. Genma had been gone for a little while; his parting acts had been to slap Kakashi on the back and throw Hinata a saucy wink.
Hinata kept going over what he had said to her while her teacher had been in the other room. What was going on between them? Not exactly what she wanted, that was for sure. And all those things he had said about no relations between students and teacher and how people wouldn’t like the idea that they were together. Yet he hadn’t said anything about pure, no-strings-attached sex. For a second, she considered ending their deal, but came to her senses. She couldn’t give up this opportunity just because of one instance of hormone-fueled weakness. Yes, he was stunningly attractive and thought she was passably good looking, plus they got along well. But that was more grounds for a relationship, not fuck-buddies, and as far as she could tell, he would allow neither.

**

Walking across town to Hyuuga House, they reviewed The Plan one more time.

“…and since he’ll want proof that I really can do it again, he’ll probably come up with some sort of test, but as long as we’re prepared—”

“Hinata,” Kakashi put a heavy, steadying hand on her shoulder, but took it away quickly, noticing her reaction.

“Hmm. Well, I was going to say, everything will be fine, but it won’t if you freak out when we see your family. Isn’t it one of Byakugan’s traits to pick up on fine details?”
Hinata nodded and squared her shoulders. “Right… so our story is that you’re Higa Ichiro, my…”

“Fiancé,” Kakashi put in, sounding much more cheerful than necessary. Hinata felt like she was walking to her own execution.

“Right, fiancé. We met through a friend, you’re a special jounin who can’t talk about his work, we plan to get married as soon as he gives his consent, which will probably never happen, so we have nothing to worry about. Did I miss anything?”

Kakashi gave her an odd look. “Are you always this anal about planning?”

She was preparing an outraged retort, but realized he was right. She was anal about planning, because she hated when things went wrong. But he didn’t have to be so smug about it.

“Anything else,” he repeated, brushing his face with one hand and seeming surprised not to feel anything there.

“I don’t think so… do you feel uncomfortable? Without your mask, I mean?”

He shrugged. “Sort of. What should we tell your father if he asks whether or not we have sex?”

“I- I- I… um…” She felt her face turning redder and redder. Why did he always spring these kinds of questions when she was least expecting them?! “Just… tell him—no. He doesn’t believe in, uh, thingy—you know, before marriage.”

“Thingy?” Kakashi sounded confused. “C’mere.” He pulled her off the park path onto a small stretch of grass under a tree. “Hinata, if you and I were to have sex—” he put delicate emphasis on ‘sex’; her breath caught in her throat. “—you would need to feel comfortable with what we were doing, at least enough so that you could talk about it.”

“O-okay.”

The walk to Hyuuga House passed without further incident, Kakashi having already practiced all the simultaneous illusions and partial transformations he would have to use. One would make it look as if Hinata had Byakugan and could activate it at will, another would give her the appearance of using Jyuuken, in case she was roped into training. And then for himself, one to hide the scar that ran down his cheek an another to disguise his Sharingan if he had to take off his hitae-ate.

Hinata wondered—worried, more so—if Kakashi would be okay with this constant output of chakra. He had mentioned before that he didn’t have the greatest chakra reserves. She was already asking him to do so much—making him faint because of her overtaxing demands would be poor payback for his kindness.

Soon the white walls surrounding the Hyuuga property came into view. If she remembered correctly, they were closest to the west entrance, so they went left, following the dirt path lined by trees and shrubbery. It was all familiar to her, and each step dredged up memories of a childhood spent running after her cool older cousin and, when she grew up, gathering all the best flowers, or taking long walks through the park, just to clear her mind. Nervousness had resurfaced as well. Even though it was a beautiful, sunny day, her hands were clammy and she couldn’t shake the idea that her father would see right through their little ruse and deny her contact with the family forever. And that would leave Hanabi to carry on the family line, forced to bear scores of children at a ridiculously young age until one day, in her early twenties, already ailing of health problems, she would realize she had completely missed out on life and promptly keel over dead from exhaustion and regret. As far-fetched as this scenario was, Hinata still fretted about it. Her worry must have shown, too, because before they approached the west gate, Kakashi stopped her and asked, “Are you okay, Hinata? You look pale.”

“I’m fine. I’m always pale.”

This brought a devious look to Kakashi’s face, but he smothered it quite quickly.

“Everything will be fine,” he said softly. Something in the way he said this, something in his eyes, in the way he smiled at her, was so sincere and gentle, it took her breath away. For all his pervertedness and annoyingly high standards of ninja-hood, he truly cared about his students—about her. This realization sent a wave of emotion through her. She felt like hugging him, but knew he would see it as inappropriate, so settle for a simple “I know.”

“Good.” Her teacher’s moment of moving mentorship was over. “Now, take your place by my side as the future Mrs. Higa!”

“Huh? Who?”

“Higa. That’s me, remember?”

“Oh, right, okay.” She wiped her hands on her pants. They were right in front of the gate. All they had to do was ring the bell to call for the attendant. She lifted her hand and gave the cord to the left of the door a firm tug. A single, deep note issued from the bell just inside the wall. Soon after, the wooden gate opened and a pale-eyed young man in an almost-white yukata bowed to them.

“Good afternoon. Do you have business—” He cut himself off in surprise when he took in Hinata’s eyes, his formal accent gone. “Hinata-sama!”

Hinata bowed in return. “Hello, Niko. May we come in?”

“Yes, of course!” Niko was somehow related to her, as a cousin twice-removed, but she couldn’t quite remember. Father’s lessons in family history had always been excruciatingly boring.

Kakashi—no, Ichiro—followed her inside, looking quaintly charmed with the small garden courtyard they were in. Through it ran a small stream and everywhere there was elegant, green vegetation. A wall of the house, which was set on short stilts above the ground, bordered the garden to the left and ahead of them. To the right a small path led off around the side of the building.

“We’d like to speak with Hiashi-sama, please,” Hinata said, wondering if she was acting too authoritative. After all, what standing did she have left with the family? Although, since her father believed in birthright anyway, it didn’t make sense that he could disown her, if he believed she was destined to inherit the family titles and fortunes. Oh, well. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t. But as far as Hiashi was concerned, his word was law, even if he contradicted himself.

Niko had mounted the steps onto the long, wide porch, then slid open one of the doors and disappeared inside. Before anyone came back, Kakashi grabbed her hand, like they were two teenagers on a date. When she looked at him, wondering what he was doing, he just smiled and winked at her.

Just as he did this, an ominous clacking came from the direction where Niko had gone.
Ah, yes, her father’s geta. If Genma was orally-fixated, Hyuuga Hiashi was tradition-fixated. Not only did he always insist on traditional clothing, he enforced his beliefs in the decoration and upkeep of his house, as well as his manners and personal conduct.

Wearing a full kimono in understated two-tone grey and cream, Hyuuga Hiashi approached his eldest daughter, his face cold and blank. Hinata squeezed Kakashi’s hand, his warmth and presence comforting, even if it was just an act. When her father stop a short way in front of her, relinquished her teacher’s hand and made a deep bow, then waited for her father to acknowledge her. Her legs felt weak and the rest of her body was tensed with nervous adrenaline.

Finally, he inclined his head shortly and spoke. “You have something to show me?” Clearly he was asking her if she could use Byakugan again.

“Y-yes.” Damn. She had mostly gotten out of the habit of stuttering around Kakashi, but it seemed as if she would never achieve that with her father. Now, pray to the higher being that Kakashi was paying attention and that no one would see through this, so to speak.

“Byakugan!” She felt Kakashi’s chakra wash over her, like a peculiar light breeze brushing over her skin. For a second, she thought she could actually do it again, could see through her father’s clothes, where he concealed a jutsu scroll of some sort—but, eew! See through her dad’s clothes like some pervert—this case of nerves was obviously affecting her more than she realized. Not only was she imagining that she could actually do the impossible, she was using her imagined powers to peek under her father’s clothes. Not once, in her entire life at Hyuuga House, had she seen her dad with anything more than his shirt off.

Ugh. This line of thought was clearly not going anywhere.

Hiashi’s expression had not changed since he had come out: he still looked supremely unimpressed

“Am I hiding anything under my kimono?” He asked solemnly.
Her first, irreverent thought was ‘Yes, a hot bod,’ but she quickly quashed this, not wanting to ruin her one chance by giggling at an inopportune moment.

“It depends what you mean by hiding,” she answered carefully, looking for some sort of sign in his face as to whether or not he was telling the truth. But she couldn’t seem too hesitant—that would give them away. Impulsively, she added some details, basing them on what she had apparently imagined seeing. Anyway, it wasn’t unlikely that he actually had a scroll somewhere on him.

“But you have a scroll that says ‘bright water.’”

The head of Hyuuga House barely showed his surprise. Instead, he lowered his eyes in silence.
For one, awful moment, she thought he had seen through their whole scheme, and had even realized who Kakashi really was.

But then he spoke, in a very low, formal voice.

“I would be honored… if you would rejoin the Hyuuga clan as my daughter and successor.” After this pronouncement he let out a huge breath, as if it had been very difficult to say.

Oh, thank God. “I… um… accept,” was all she could manage, wanting to turn and give Kakashi a bear hug, but restraining herself in the presence of her father.

“Now,” Hiashi said, still imperious but much more business-like. “Is this man your attendant?” He nodded to Kakashi who, upon hearing this, stepped forward in what Hinata considered a very bold manner—almost too bold for when dealing with her father.

“No, sir, I’m her fiancé. We’re engaged!”

Kakashi was being altogether too casual about their pretend engagement for Hinata’s comfort.

“Ka—Ichiro!” She started to say, but Hiashi silenced her with a look, then addressed Kakashi.

“Please let me introduce myself. I’m sorry to have been so rude earlier. My name is Hyuuga Hiashi.”

Kakashi bowed, looking delighted and matching Hiashi’s man-to-man attitude.

“Higa Ichiro, and please don’t let it concern you. I understand the importance of family matters.”

“Do you now, Higa-san?” Her father repeated, ushering her teacher into the cool, shadowed house. Hinata practically melted in relief, standing there in the hot courtyard. Stage One of The Plan was complete. Now, she really had to see Hanabi, but had no idea where she might be.

“Hinata-sama?” A white-eyed, dark-haired maid approached her.

“Yes?—Oh! Haruhi!” She immediately recognized the young woman who had doted on her and Hanabi when they were younger. Her face was sweet and open, just as Hinata remembered, but now held a hint more maturity.

“Please follow me. Your father expressed a desire that you stay here during the wedding celebrations.”

“But I—oh. I didn’t bring any of my clothes.”

Haruhi snorted. “As if your father would let you wear any of them here.”

“A-all right. But…” She lowered her voice, wondering if it was taboo to talk about Hanabi’s wedding. “Can you show me where my sister is first?”

Haruhi’s eyes softened. “Of course, dear.” Though the woman wasn’t much older than her, she had always acted like it, giving sage advice and offering comfort. The maid-turned-big sister kept up a constant stream of chattered information as she led Hinata into the house and through the sunlit halls. Almost all of the partitions were closed so Hinata assumed that there were a lot of guests. She was correct, as it turned out. Haruhi whispered dramatically as they passed one closed-off room, “In line to be the next feudal lord of the Fire Country. Very great man.”

Finally, after what seemed like a ten-minute walk, they reached the East Wing. It was much less occupied here. Light and air passed freely through the opened partitions. With a start, Hinata realized that she didn’t know where Kakashi was—she had completely forgotten in the wake of The Plan’s success. And now he was possibly in peril, in her father’s clutches.

“Hanabi’s room is just down there,” Haruhi pointed down a hallway bordered on one side by closed reed partitions and opened ones leading to a courtyard on the other.

Hinata made her way down the passage apprehensively. She worried that Hanabi was being kept against her will, subjected to taking tea every few hours with some boring dignitary.

Thank the lord, no, as it turned out.

Entering the space, Hinata found her sister looking much the same as ever. True, they had both matured, in appearances and personalities, but as sisters, they would always hold the basic same image of each other, as they had been as children.

Hanabi’s sly wit and dry humor were still in place as well, Hinata was glad to find. Ever-cheerful on the surface, Hyuuga Hanabi could come up with cruel barbs to pierce even the thickest armor in the pompous society around them. However, her only criticism of her older sister was: “You’re too modest, Hinata! If anyone around here should be a stuck up prick, it’s you! You’re going to be in charge of all this one day!”

For now, though, she was too surprised to see her older sister to make any smart remarks.

“Hanabi!” Hinata rushed forward and pulled her sister into a tight hug. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What’s happening with the wedding?” All these questions and feelings bursting out would have embarrassed her in front of anyone else, but she could act honestly with her sister.

“Ack—Hinata! It’s good to see you too. Could you let me breathe?”

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Hinata stepped back and searched Hanabi’s face for a sign of how she was feeling. Right now concern for her sister outweighed any violent emotion she might have felt towards the people causing these hardships.

“I’m…” Hanabi trailed of in a sigh. “Nothing’s really been working out right with this thing from the beginning. Eto had to rush off during one planning meeting because he had a shoot or something—”

“Wait, a shoot?” Before getting to know Kakashi, the few people Hinata could talk to and be completely comfortable had been Hanabi, Kurenai and at times, Tenten.

“Yeah, Eto’s a movie star, apparently. He’s been the lead in all the Icha Icha movies.”

“What? How old is he?”

“Twenty-two? Twenty-three? I’m not really sure.”

“Eew! That’s so… wrong! This is all…” Hinata gestured angrily, her wild hand motions and frowning expression looking very out of place on her gentle, feminine features. This whole situation was just so frustrating. Hanabi patted her consolingly on the arm.

“It’s okay…”

“No it’s not! I’m the one who should be telling you that, but I can’t anyway, because it’s not.” An irritated huff of breath followed this pronouncement.

Hanabi laughed, her eyes sparkling. “But what would be the fun in that?”

Hinata rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you haven’t changed.”

“Thank you,” Hanabi replied, sounding very satisfied. “But I think.. well, from your letters—you’ve changed.” Before Hinata could think about this, her sister leaned in and whispered, “So, have you and your teacher, you know, done it yet?”

What?! Why did people keep assuming that she and Kakashi-sensei were going to have sex? As if that was the only thing on their minds. Well… Hinata had to admit to herself, she considered it quite a lot. She didn’t know about him. Of course, it would be quite flattering if he reciprocated. Wasn’t the statistic that men thought about sex every ninety seconds or something like that? But it wasn’t only sex… maybe if she got rid of that curiosity, they could still be friends. Something told her it wasn’t just curiosity, though…

“Well?” Hanabi reiterated, taking Hinata’s blank look as avoidance of the question.

“Oh…um… no. But this is supposed to be about you! I came here to see if you were okay!”

“Fine. I’m having a crappy time. I’m not okay. Now you know.”

“Well…” Hinata’s shoulders drooped. What could she do about any of this? Hyuuga’s had an almost inbred sense of fatalism. Maybe Hanabi’s approach was right. Hinata decided to change subjects.

“Have you been on any missions lately?”

Her sister shrugged and looked away. Hinata’s mind swirled, trying to understand how Hanabi was feeling. It seemed, since she had been exiled, everything was different. Her little sister now had to face the commitment and responsibility of marriage, while she herself was suddenly the heir of all that entailed of being Hyuuga. Having lived with Kurenai, she knew what it was like to not be ‘noble.’ From what she could tell, the only difference was that noble people got waited on and were generally rude and stuck up. She had often wondered how she appeared to others, to Naruto in particular. Perhaps he had considered her out of his range or something. Ah, well. Now he would probably think she was below him.

In her wandering thoughts, one important one emerged: Naruto would not let something like this go. Even though she had gotten over him, she still respected his determination.

“Hanabi,” she said, her tone uncharacteristically direct and commanding. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, especially not marry this random guy.”

“How do you know? Besides, Eto has father’s permission, which is basically the word of God—”

“Yeah, but—look. You might have to move out. Just go live with one of your friends or something. I got by on my own and I did okay.”

“Hinata, that’s shitty advice. I’m way younger than you were, and father still has legal rights over me. And anyway, you did okay for a while, but now you’re living a life of sordid romance with a guy, like, twice your age.”

“He’s thirteen years older, and be quiet! He’s here and everyone thinks we’re engaged.”

Hanabi made a knowing and rather suggestive ‘mmm,’ which caused Hinata to roll her eyes.

“It’s not like that!”

“Surrrrrre,” her sister smirked.

Hinata narrowed her eyes. “I can see what you’re trying to do, and don’t think it’ll work. I’m going to find someone for you to stay with. And in the meantime, erase any images you have of Kakashi and I—”

At that moment, Haruhi proved her penchant for bad timing, and burst in, causing the two girls to pause, looking very guilty.

“Oh!” Haruhi bowed, apologizing. “I’m sorry. I can come back later.”

“No, no.” Hinata stood up. “We were just finished catching up.” She gave Hanabi a meaningful glance. “Please show me to my room.”

**

Another several-minute walk, and they reached Hinata’s quarters.

“In here, please,” Haruhi ushered her into a large square area and began sliding all the widest screens closed. Soon, a quiet, peaceful room had formed, partially opened at the far end to some sort of wilderness with evergreen trees. The mingling scents of pine and cherry blossom wafted in lightly.

“If you like this space, I’ll get you a bedroll and some fresh clothes.”

“Yes, please.” Haruhi bowed and exited, leaving Hinata alone.

She sank to her knees on the cushy tatami mats that covered every bit of wooden flooring in the house. Now she was the inheritant of all this. Her father would expect her to carry on the family tradition… to seal Hanabi with the cursed seal, one day. To do that to Neji’s children. Yes, money and power came with a very high price.

Just as she was about to get up to go look for Haruhi, the maid burst in, looking excited.

“You didn’t say anything about being engaged!” She chattered, arranging the bedroll and throwing the yukata haphazardly on the long low chestnut table. “He’s very handsome, too! I just saw him talking and taking tea with Hiashi-sama—looks like he’s quite the traditionalist!”

Eh? The Kakashi she knew was not a traditionalist. He better just be playing the part extraordinarily well. She liked the eccentric, imperfect man she had come to understand much more than any slick talker who liked to cozy up to her father.

“I daresay you’ve picked very well, Hinata-sama!” Haruhi was now fussing with her clothes, which she compliantly removed without embarrassment. This woman had changed her diapers.

“Do you know if—” She paused, waiting for Haruhi to slip the plain white undergarment over her head “—if Hanabi’s fiancé is around right now?”

“Yes, I believe he’s in the bath right now. There’s so much to do for the wedding, I don’t understand how either of them can have any free time. Have you met him? He’s quite the charmer, which is to be expected—to be honest, I’m a bit worried that he might stray from your sister at first—because of course they can’t consummate the marriage for a few years.”

“They can’t?” Hinata held out her arms for Haruhi to guide into the wide, baggy sleeves of the yukata.

“No… but I have a feeling the situation may have changed…”

“Oh. Since I got here.”

Haruhi beamed at her. “Sharp as ever, dear. Now, turn around, let’s see how you look.”

Hinata twirled once, feeling a bit self-conscious in such a beautiful piece of clothing. It was periwinkle blue with miniscule curly grey designs embroidered so light they were barely visible. Overlapping sashes of pure white defined her waist.

“Lovely!” Haruhi declared, reaching forward and unnecessarily straightening some of the material. “Just like your mother!”

“Really?” Everyone always spoke of her as an extremely beautiful woman, gracious and kind even in failing health.

“If you were a little taller, you could be her twin.”

“Thank you, Haruhi,” Hinata bowed gratefully.

“It was nothing, my dear. Now, let me just… You have to look good for the reception in the main hall. I think you’re already late.” She descended on Hinata’s hair with a comb and then straightened up. “Let’s see what your future husband will say to this!”

Uh oh. Now she actually had to go around in this thing, and act like she was engaged to Kakashi-sensei. When he saw her all dressed up like this he would probably make some sort of embarrassing comment. What if he thought she had done this to try to impress him?! She would just have to set him straight about that as soon as possible. In the mean time, she would avoid him at all costs.

**

Haruhi led her to a large, high-ceilinged hall where many people were gathered. Most milled around, chatting with others and sipping from small, shallow cups.

“There you are!” Her father seemed to appear out of nowhere. Cutting a wide swath through the crowd, he dragged Hinata behind him, talking as he went.

“…should have come to me before you got engaged and gallivanting off before you were even married. You know what people would have said, if they knew about it? Thank god Higa-san is relatively unknown. But I suppose the damage is done now. Where is your fiancé?—oh. By the way, I’d like to demonstrate the power of our clan in a match against one of your cousins in about a week or so. We’ve postponed Hanabi’s wedding until we can get your situation sorted out.”

Postponed? Oh, happy day. “Um, actually, father… I wanted to talk—” She was cut off when her father greeted ‘Ichiro’ with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Kakashi greeted him back and offered him sake. To her surprise, he took it, telling Kakashi he’d make an excellent son-in-law. Then he strode off, leaving Kakashi smiling fakely and Hinata frowning genuinely.

“My dear,” Kakashi turned to her once Hiashi was gone. “What has you vexed?”

“I’ll tell you if you quit it with that stupid accent,” she glowered.

“It’s part of the persona, though,” he protested.

“But it… um… sounds fake.”

“Fine,” he said, pulling her aside, closer to a wall. “But you have to… let’s see… ah! Option one: take me to the teahouse and perform a tea ceremony with me or, Option two: come with me to the midnight release of Icha Icha Threesomes.”

“Whatever, I’ll do both if you’ll just stop that--!” Hinata said without thinking. But she realized her mistake too late. “… uh… wait…”

“Sorry,” Kakashi said, grinning rather evilly. “You already made your answer—you can’t take it back now.”

Oh, that asshole. She had definitely gotten the raw end of the deal and they both knew it. The tea ceremony wouldn’t be that bad, but what good could come of accompanying him to the Pink bookstore?

“Why are you being so friendly with my dad?” She hissed, not wanting anyone to overhear them.

“I thought it would be easier if he liked us.”

“Yeah, but now people are talking about us like we’re actually going to get married.”

“Who’s saying that? I haven’t told anyone besides your father.”

“Well, it was just my maid, but still…”

They were quiet for a few minutes until Kakashi said softly, “Meet me in the west courtyard at five a.m. tomorrow morning. We’re going to do more training.”

“More training? But Ka—Ichiro—”

“The exposition match. Your father mentioned it to me, and he obviously expects you to win. Anyway, I want an excuse to get away from all this.” He motioned around the room.

“You mean you don’t really like this?”

“Nope! Just getting in character.”

That bastard. She had really thought he was enjoying himself just to spite her, but it turned out he was ‘getting in character.’ Well, two could play this game.

Smoothly, she stepped closer to Kakashi and slipped her hand into his. When he looked at her in surprise, she smiled back at him shyly, her cheeks reddening. Her other hand crept over to rest flat against his chest. He jumped slightly when she brushed over to one side—whoops! Maybe she had accidentally stimulated his nipple. Mmm, his chest was as lovely as she remembered it from their rather heated interlude in the hotel. Back then she’d been a bit distracted, so hadn’t appreciated it fully. Now, however… from his chest, her hand drifted down to his abs. He squirmed a little, protesting, “Hinata!” but did nothing to stop her. When the same hand wandered even further down, to begin playing with the tie on his yukata, however, he whisked her roughly out of the hall.

“What are you doing?” He demanded after closing the partition and ensuring their privacy in the narrow corridor.

“I—I… just, uh… g-getting in character like you said.” She was aware how lame this sounded, especially under his intense stare. Maybe she really had taken it too far this time. “I’m sorry.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his face had softened. “It’s okay. I know it’s—difficult for you right now.” Had he purposely avoided using the word ‘hard’? “I stand by what I said before—a sexual or romantic relationship between us in inappropriate for several reasons, not the least of which is that you’re underage, as your father reminded me.”

“Yet he has not problem with Hanabi marrying before her breasts are fully developed,” Hinata muttered. “You know, I think he’s seriously considering letting us marry. You’d better get on his bad side before he gives his consent.”

“It wouldn’t be that bad,” Kakashi said. “Although I don’t really want to get married… by the way, you look very pretty in that.”

“Oh! Th-thank you. And you look very pretty—I mean, um, handsome, I guess, in yours too. Grey suits you.”

“Pretty? You think I’m pretty?” He teased, grinning. “Should I have put on make-up as part of the disguise?”

She rolled her eyes and was immediately rebuked for her disrespect.

“Don’t roll your eyes at the teacher!”

“Sorry, sensei.”

He winked. “Don’t worry about it. And can’t you tell already when I’m teasing?”

“Um, not really…maybe. I guess so, but I don’t want to take the chance of angering you if you aren’t.”

“Not a bad plan,” he commended. “Shall we?” Acting the gentleman, he escorted her outside, where night had fallen. It was still humid and hot, but the darkness and night breeze made it bearable. They were on a long, low balcony overlooking a still pond. The silver moonlight reflecting off of it reminded Hinata of Kakashi’s former hair color. Brown wasn’t bad on him, but grey-silver defined him in her eyes.

“Um… sensei?”

“Yeah.” He was leaning on his elbows on the simple railing, looking supremely content with just being. Hinata, however, was still in constant worry mode and couldn’t get one question off her mind.

“Well, uh… why do you flirt with me even though we can’t… do… uh, anything more?” There. No matter the answer, it felt good because now she wasn’t the only one thinking about it.
Kakashi sighed before answering. “I suppose…. I suppose I thought it would be better than being cold and distant, like I was last week.”

Hinata nodded, understanding his reasoning.

“You know,” he continued brightly. “Genma is a much worse flirt than me—that reminds me—I forgot to ask if he tried to pull anything with you this morning.”

“No, no!” She said quickly.

“Good. Now, we’d better head inside before anyone gets suspicious and comes looking for us.”

“Why would they be—?” She started to ask but then realized that people would think they were off having some sort of steamy garden tryst. “Oh.”

“Right. But before we go…” He lowered his voice and turned toward her, his eyes hooded. “Just to stay in character,” he whispered, raising his hand to caress her cheek. She swallowed and lowered her eyes. Even if she was just playing a part, she could still make it realistic.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, secure in the fact that it was all for a higher purpose. Apparently he regarded it as acting too, and not as a violation of their ‘no romance’ rule. He raised her chin with a steady hand and pressed his lips down on hers.

“Mmm…” she practically sighed into his mouth, relishing the pure heat and electricity that passed between them.
They both knew they shouldn’t be doing this…

Kakashi swept his tongue into her mouth, making more heat rush over her. She could feel the kiss getting heavier by the moment, her teacher’s touch becoming more urgent, more insistent. Now that they had started they didn’t want to stop. This felt like a one-time deal. It seemed as if he concentrated everything he could into this one moment, into her. Scents of sandalwood and sweet spice overwhelmed her. For the first time she could taste him, undistracted by outside forces or her own thoughts and feelings. When she tentatively let her own tongue brush his lips, he responded by drawing her closer to him, aligning the contours of their bodies. The nagging sense of propriety had gone completely out the window. Nothing mattered except to make this fraction of time indelible in their memories.

“Oi! Lovebirds!” An impatient voice jerked them out of their fantasy. Like a fairy tale, with the kiss broken, so was the spell. They pulled apart slowly, and Hinata was amused to note that they were both breathing rather heavily, as if trying to catch their breath. They barely had to pretend to be forlorn and disappointed at the interruption.

“What is it?” Kakashi asked the guy without looking away from Hinata.

“Hiashi-sama wants everyone inside for something.”

Even with his face uncovered by the mask, Hinata couldn’t read his expression. She was still reeling from the kiss, barely processing her own confused thoughts and emotions. He looked disappointed, frustrated, concerned… was it because of their kiss, or because they were interrupted?

The next interruption came from Kakashi himself. “Let’s go.”

She nodded and hooked her arm around his. Should she say something? This play-acting obviously meant more to both of them than they would admit. Pretending it was nothing seemed bad for their mental health.
Inside, her father was making some sort of speech, to which everyone was forced to listen politely. She and Kakashi stood off to one side of the room, still arm in arm, which was beginning to feel like a natural pose.

“…and through my research I found a highly reputable young man—two, in fact—yes, two excellent men, one for each of my daughters. Where are they? Higa-san? Hinata?” Hiashi picked them out so quickly from among the crowd, she could have sworn he used the bloodline limit.

Unable to escape, they were forced to go the front of the hall, and stand looking as if they were happy to be there, while the Tyrant took advantage of his captive audience.

When he finally finished, it was past midnight, and most of the crowd filtered out, yawning and grumbling. Eventually, Hinata, Kakashi, her father, and a few servants cleaning up were the few left in the hall, which now appeared a lot bigger.

“You should get to bed, Hinata,” Hiashi said sternly. “It’s way past your bedtime.”

“Yes, father,” she replied dutifully.

“Higa-san, please escort my daughter to her room.” He commanded. “I know I can trust you not to do anything inappropriate.”

“Of course.” Kakashi bowed shortly and led his student away from her father as quickly as possible, before her father could ensnare them into another lecture.

“Thank you,” Hinata breathed as soon as they were out of earshot.

Nothing more happened between them on the way back to her room, except that at her door he gave her a mocking bow and reminded her not to be late to training or else there would be consequences.

When he was gone, she found herself brushing her fingertips over her lips and cheeks, the memory of their steamy garden tryst, as she thought of it, still fresh in her mind.

**

Author’s Notes: By now, I’m sure most of you know to expect an awfully long wait for the next chapter. On this one, I had major writer’s block, so I’m sorry about that. This chapter was originally going to be about 4-7 pages longer than it actually is now, so I have a fair amount of material on the next chapter already. I’d also like to ask for people’s critical and analytical feedback on this chapter in particular, as I’m not completely pleased with it, and I can’t figure out why. Thanks for everyone’s continuing interest and support in this fic.