In sickness and in health - ItachixOC ff

1. HINAMI

It was a normal day for Hinami Sato.

She woke up exactly thirty minutes before dawn and fed the few handfuls of chicken she owned. Then the whole hut (which barely consisted of one tiny bedroom, an even tinier kitchen, a bathroom and a small lounge) was cleaned spotless like everyday. She had even managed to make a small breakfast for herself. The clothes that she had washed yesterday were dry now and she ironed a couple dresses, keeping in mind to iron the rest by the end of the day. By the time she was finished, the sky had started to turn light, the stars disappearing from her sight but there was still a dark blue hue in the sky, signalling that it was barely six o'clock. There was nothing unusual.

But there was a voice in the back of her mind that kept nagging, telling her that something was about to go wrong. Shaking off the weird feeling, she left for the small stream near her house, carrying a small bundle of dirty clothes that she had worn yesterday in a basket woven out of dried bamboo.

Her small house was located on a small hill which was part of a large chain hills and mountains that ran between Konohagakure and Iwagakure. The rest of the hill was surrounded by thick forest and at the foot of the hill was a small shinobi village called Wanigakure. The path provided by this mountainous terrain was used by many travellers, especially those who wished to avoid going to villages or towns. Unfortunately for Hinami, these tye of people weren't...exactly the ideal kind...of citizens. Fortunately, this meant that she had a steady source of income by just providing food, water, and sake. These 'travellers' also knew the importance of such isolated taverns and mostly left Hinami and her property alone.

The stream was deeper near the village so she would have to enter the forest to go to the shallower part. It saved her from the pain of being in the village but unfortunately to reach the stream, she had to pass by the village and was always forced to go down and endure the silent stares everyone sent towards her. That or she could try finding it by using an unfamiliar path and risk getting lost in the jungle. Hinami quickly moved along the waters, into the thick forest. The sky had started to become light blue and she could see a few villagers already working in their farms. A few kids were even running around.

Inside, the trees were so thick that you could barely see anything but the area around the stream was a little less dense so enough sunlight was reaching Hinami to be aware of what was around her.

The deeper she ventured inside the forest, the more prominent that uneasy feeling in her gut became. She could feel the hair rising on her skin as she continued to move further away from the village. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from the deeper part of the forest.

Hinami halted in her tracks, unsure of what to do. The more sensible part of her was telling her to go back but she was also curious. She wanted to know what was the source of the noise. In her boring life, she had always been anticipating some sort of excitement and she felt like this may be a chance for her to feel something more thrilling than watching some drunk missing-nin fight over who was carrying the largest bounty.

'You could also end up getting killed. y'know?' The sensible part said.

'Yeah...and what exactly do we have worth living for?' Hinami thought while taking a hesitant step towards the source of noise.

'...' Hinami racked her brain to find an answer but couldn't think of anything. She was almost shocked by the pang of sadness she felt in her heart when she realised that there was nothing.

'This is not a good time to drown yourself in self pity, Hina.' Deep inside, she knew didn't have the guts to just...die. She knew she was a coward. There was a reason why she chose this path everyday, why she didn't turn her house/tavern into an inn, why she sometimes stayed up at nights when the winds howled a little louder than normal, why she chose to live near a human settlement rather than somewhere no one could find her, why–