Team Harmony

P15: Farewell

Hinata woke up the next morning feeling as though her hands were on fire. She'd overdone it the previous afternoon and now she was dealing with the consequences, but she couldn't find it in herself to regret it at all. She applied the Hyuuga's special healing salve—she had yet to make it correctly but she was doing her best—and wrapped her hands and fingers in bandages to risk irritating it any more than necessary. As she was getting ready for school, she avoided looking at her dresser, more specifically at the pictures framed atop said dresser.

Pictures of her and her mother, her and her sister, her and her best friends plus Itachi, and then finally, the one that would hurt her the most, her and Shisui. It was taken the afternoon he'd stopped by for some tea and to get to know her better as they'd only met a few times with the Uchiha brothers and sometimes Naruto. She found that she truly enjoyed Shisui's company as he made her laugh until her sides hurt and she was crying. It was a simple picture. They were sitting side-by-side in the tearoom and the garden was in full bloom behind them, and the smiles on their faces were wide.

Without looking, she put the frame down and turned away from it. Shisui's death, and the manner in which it happened, hurt her greatly. She was too exhausted to tackle those feelings and opted to deal with them at another time. Besides, she was not the only one hurting and she needed to remain strong should any of her friends, or her fiancé, need her.

When she met Neji outside, he greeted her with a warm smile but she could see underneath it. That he knew about Shisui, and she was grateful he didn't mention it. Neji understood her that way. She returned his smile as a thank you and they waited in silence in front of the compound gates for the Uchiha Brothers.

Hinata smiled at them when they came around the corner before it turned into a frown upon seeing Sasuke's face.

"What happened?" She asked, gesturing to his mouth.

Sasuke shrugged. "I was just practicing a new jutsu," he said.

Hinata looked at Itachi and sighed softly when he nodded. "You have to take care of yourself," she said. She dug into her school bag and took out a small container of the special salve and a couple of bandaids. "This will help you heal faster."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"It's my family's special salve. It is very helpful," she explained. She handed her bag to Neji and opened the container. The tips of her fingers were not bandaged so it made it easier to scoop some of the salve up and gently apply it to what looked to be small burns marks and irritation around Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke's face went red at her touching his face, but he didn't move to stop her or mention that he could do it on his own. He tried to justify it to himself by thinking that only a Hyuuga would know how to apply it correctly. Hinata was so engrossed by her task that she didn't even realize or turn red when he started looking directly at her. Usually, she was so shy, but he thought that she looked better when she was so focused and determined like in the midst of training or during her schoolwork. He supposed he was weird like that.

Itachi watched the moment with a barely contained amused smile. Sasuke was rigid and Hinata didn't seem to notice as she was too busy caring for his little brother. His little brother who had the biggest crush on the Hyuuga standing before them. The same little brother who would never admit it to himself even when he realized it. His foolish little brother.

Neji stood off to the side, huffing inaudibly but couldn't help but be amused by the younger Uchiha's transfixed gaze as well as the blush on his cheeks that didn't look to be irritation. He looked away once again, deciding that this was more of a private moment between the two of them.