I live! And even more amazingly, I write! It might have taken me a record four months (!) to update this story but damn it, it feels good to be back to working on a story again. And contrary to what some people may have feared (and a few others may have hoped ;), this 'fic is back on track. I spent two straight weeks writing and re-writing this chapter, since trying to generate conflict in this story turned out to be a difficult task. (Though granted, starting a multi-chapter story with no real plan was pretty much asking for problems of that nature to pop up...) But in any case, this chapter is finally done and I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing Itachi as a Magnificent Bastard Who Knows All And Speaks Only Cryptically. I'm going to miss him when the spot-light inevitably falls on the other men in Hinata's life that will soon be driving her batty.

In any case, though it's been months, I hope that the wonderful reviewers I've had before are still interested in reading this story. Thanks again to every wonderful person who's read and reviewed this so far! I wouldn't have worked through the writer's block if it wasn't for your past encouragement.

And so, without wasting any more time, we may as well get to the fic already.

Title: Lords and Ladies, Chapter 5
Fandom: Naruto
Series: Lords and Ladies
Characters/Pairings: Itachi/Hinata, Sasuke/Hinata/Gaara, Cast
Rating: R
Summary: Hinata had expected that her life would change after being married to Sasuke in a sham marriage meant to throw off the chains of their respective families. But she had no idea that the greatest of worries was only now coming...
Note: This chapter features a few traces of a dubiously consenting sexual situation. There's nothing graphic, but please tread lightly if it's a personal trigger.

One of the least well-guarded secrets in modern Konoha-- right behind the fact that Lord Jiraiya had what could charitably be called a high sex drive and more accurately enough perversions to fuel the brothels of the land indefinitely-- was the fact that Hinata was, in many ways, a grave disappointment to her family.

At first glance, such a classification might seem unfathomable to most. She was, after all, an exemplary modern-day princess in most of her aspects, precisely the sort of ambassador that lesser clans would love to have representing them to the outside word. She was lovely (in a humble way that played well to hockey moms and house-wives), intelligent (in a soft-spoken way that didn't discomfort men), well-mannered (without the usual giant rod up the rear that most of her family suffered from), and kind-hearted (especially in the midst of a media frenzy). She was, in short, the perfect figure-head for an ancient clan that wanted the public to believe that the Hyuuga had their best interests in mind, never mind their habit of dipping from public coffers to fund their lavish lives. Had Hinata been born to the Uchiha family, they would have used her very well in that regard indeed.

Unfortunately, when she had been born, her family had not been interested in fostering a model princess or cunning diplomat or sympathy-rousing figure-head. They had wanted a strong heir and flawless practitioner of the Jyuken form of martial arts that clan Hyuuga was renowned for, that stemmed from the application of their blood-line limits and a fair degree of vicious artistry. And unfortunately for Hinata, she had not fit that bill in any way. The very qualities that made her so natural a diplomat-- her natural warmth, her gentle character, her extremely photogenic empathy-- made her weak in the eyes of the elders in her clan. All too often, she had hesitated to strike when they had wanted her to and could not bring herself to execute actions that they found necessary. And naturally, it did not help that her own cousin, Neji, and her younger sister, Hanabi, could have served as models for the sort of bloodless ruthlessness the Hyuuga clan had cleaved to for hundreds of years.

When compared with her genius cousin and rising-star sister, Hinata's virtues in the battlefield and the political field-- her patience, her cunning, her inability to back down when she truly believed in her cause-- paled considerably in the eyes of her family. But the truth remained, however, that Hinata would have been considered a formidable kunoichi and political warrior by almost any clan other than her own.

And when she extended a Jyuken strike towards Itachi's bare throat now, her fingers burned with long-suppressed power and her all-knowing eyes could picture his death easily.

She knew as soon as this battle began that she would be defeated eventually. Though Hinata considered herself optimistic, she would have to be more short-sighted than the average member of the Inuzuku clan confronted with a bitch in heat to believe she could triumph over the man many considered the most lethal noble in Konoha under the age of 40.

No, she had realized ahead of time, she wouldn't be able to defeat her former lover in any form of hand-to-hand combat. Frankly, if she had even managed able to brush him briefly with a Jyuken strike she would have surprised most people, including herself. But if she could use the element of surprise to maim him just a tad--

As it was, however, there were more surprises than she believed possible coming to surround her swiftly.

For one, Itachi did not move out of her way at first-- at least, not immediately. Hinata had the distinct pleasure of believing, for about 2/1000ths of a second, that her tips of her bloodied fingers might actually make contact with her former lover's throat, paralyzing him from neck to knee.

And then Itachi, bastard that he was, smiled, snapped her wrist to the side and averted her strike, quickly following that with a blow to her temple that was strong enough to spin her around and leave her staring wide-eyed at the nearest wall--

She had only one dazed second to think that he might actually knock her unconscious and put her out of her misery when his slender hand gripped her neck and slammed her face so hard against the fine, floral wall-paper of the room that she could barely cry out in misery.

Well, Hinata found herself dazedly thinking afterward, a sluggish stream of blood already leaking from one nostril, at least I now know I ought to treat those training sessions Sasuke keeps offering me more seriously.

"If you hadn't warned me ahead of time," Itachi noted dryly behind her, his pattern of breathing barely disturbed, "that strike would have been far more effective. Really, Hinata, that was the mistake of a rank amateur. Has my time with you taught you nothing?"

Huh. I hate to admit it but I think he's actually making a valid point here...

Any more musings she had on the subject, however, exited her head abruptly as she felt Itachi sigh after a moment, and then relax the iron grip he had on her nape... only to compensate by moving himself closer to her, using his far more substantial figure to pin her down like a butterfly in glass, his fingers like needles as they pressed her shoulders to the wall, slender but coldly unyielding.

"I thought you had grown up yet more in the time since we were forced to part," he whispered, his lips brushing the curve of one quivering ear. "But I look at you now and all I see is a child that doesn't know she's a child, one that wishes to put off adulthood completely."

Close, close, he was so gods-damned close-- so close it stole her breath easily. So close that their bodies were connected as though they were lovers once more, the curve of her arched back meeting the slope of his slender chest, his thighs pressing against the back of her body, as though he expected to once more have--

As though he was embracing--

And when he spoke again into the ear she had turned to him, his voice was curious, almost husky, the timber of it trailing up and down her spine due to sheer physical proximity. "Did you actually believe that would work, Hinata? That you could somehow overtake me?"

Yes. No. She had had her hopes. She knew his skills vastly outdistanced hers, but for one long, beautiful, achingly sincere moment, she had closed her eyes and thought of him being at a disadvantage for once, thought of him knowing how powerlessness would feel--

Hinata whispered her next words quietly, forcing herself not to tremble, forcing herself to remain as still as she could under the binding circumstances he had her in currently. "N-no, my l-lord. I m-merely took this for an... an unorthodox t-training exercise. A-and now that you see m-my Hyuuga training is no m-match for you, I'm assuming you'll r-release me...?"

She could almost hear his huff of frustrated laughter press against her aching shoulder, as though he were amused despite himself, and less angry than he wished to seem. "Please, Hinata. You could at least do me the honor of offering a plausible excuse. I'm not quite the colossal fool you believe me to be. And if I let you slip past me just now, you would simply turn back around and attempt to cleave my head off again with your fair little fingers. What use would that be for me?"

Damn it. She hated to admit this... but her Hyuuga pride had never been enough to keep her from acknowledging reality when it (literally) pressed against her this starkly. So, swallowing a thousand years of high-and-mighty breeding, Hinata forced herself to admit what even a Rock Lee inspired by words of love and courage would have to agree with the truth. "A-after what you've just shown me, m-my lord, I doubt I could get the n-nerve to try for another r-round. Fighting you is f-far beyond my abilities."

Oddly enough, though, this didn't seem to convince Itachi in the least. If anything, it led the hand that had been gripping at her neck previously to resume it's position... and his other hand to curve lightly against her hip, stroking the shivering skin under fine cloth there slowly. "Ah, yes. Of course. I keep forgetting what an enormous coward you are, my dear. Remind me... when, exactly, was it that you lost your nerve? After you attacked someone who could slaughter you with one hand forced up any given orifice? Or tried to deceive the most powerful elders of Konoha as to what delicate emotions rule you in the presence of your beloved husband, such as he may be?"

Despite herself, Hinata found herself shivering at that last sentence of his, the way he had felt it out, as though tasting every word-- especially that of husband-- for rare flashes of sweetness before he had let it leave him completely. "Y-you seem to spend a great deal of time on my-- my alleged doings, my lord. W-without Saskuke and I by your side, are you so lonely for company?"

She had thought to anger him; but if anything, the thought of being lonely seemed merely to amuse Itachi even more. He simply a considering noise and then leaned into her further, his lips brushing closer to her bloodied face than Hinata thought fair. "And if I was, my fair princess? Would you take your handsome swain in hand and come again to visit me?"

When dealing with Itachi's supernaturally calm mein, even Neji would be hard-pressed to tell if a smile of his was open and honest or merely a prelude to something considerably more sinister. Knowing she had no way to tell if that hint of longing in his voice was real or not (though how could it be? this was Itachi!), Hinata demurred from answering the question momentarily. "I-it would not be my place to dictate terms to you, m-my lord, my-- my brother." (That, at least, managed to gain a soft, almost mute gasp from him, Hinata's keen ears savoring that surprising sound from her erst-while captor.) "And-- and Sasuke and I have-- have been busy as of late. A-as-- as newlyweds, we..."

Her brother-in-law made another noise again; but far from savoring this, Hinata felt a distinct pang of fear beginning to develop in her. "Ah, yes, I remember it as much. The infamous passion that the two of yet may or may not have consummated yet, given how shy and delicate your courtship was. Tell me-- is it truly true that the two of you spent three days in bed together when you were first wed? Or was it merely something your clever mind fashioned to throw all of us off of your heels?"

Internally, Hinata cursed every single strand of DNA that may have been handed down from one Uchiha to the next to create the infuriating bastard who was still holding her hostage in her own home. It was just like him to know how to go for the throat in any encounter he found himself in, against any enemy. Externally, however, she arched one defiant eyebrow up at him, even as her cheeks found themselves flaming. "D-do you really believe your brother to n-not be a-attractive enough to inspire so much f-filial devotion, m-my lord? I find him quite f-fetching myself, r-really."

Well, she told herself pathetically, as Itachi's eyebrow rose to match hers, that wasn't exactly a lie, even if her increased stutter didn't exactly make it sound convincing. It really hadn't been much of a hard-ship to camp out in bed with her new husband for three days during their first week of marriage as they tried to look besotted with each other-- even if her elders had still seemed suspicious afterward. Damn it all, if only they hadn't been squeamish about spilling a little bit of her blood to make things look a bit less tidy...

"And here I thought you were more attracted towards blonds," Itachi responded dryly, sending another rush of blood circulating to the tops of her cheeks. "Or have your romantic peccadilloes changed so quickly? If you keep changing your mind from one man to the next, you might be accused of faithlessness easily."

If she had been in better form, she probably would have responded to that ridiculous accusation in some way. Quipped that at least the blonds in her life had never held her hostage in her own home, perhaps. Or sweetly murmured that she had learned the art of faithlessness from the best-- or at least, from the man holding her currently. Or simply used the moment of distraction to pivot around and direct her knee to her captor's quite unguarded family treasury.

And that small, proud part of Hinata that clung to her Hyuuga pride might very well have done all of that and more, refusing to yield so easily to a cheap blow from a very calm and bitter enemy.

She would have continued to fight back. If only--

(that small little face enveloped in blankets, in his father's arms)

If only she hadn't seen Naruto and his newborn son just this morning.

(that life that she would never have, that another woman had stolen quickly)

If only she hadn't been reminded of what she had tried for and already lost.

(the ring on her left hand that suddenly ached)

If only she didn't have to remember how-- and why-- she and Itachi had ended.

("You don't need me in your life, do you, princess? You've another suitor calling.")

If only he didn't make her always feel so inadequate.

("I-- my lord-- please-- Itachi! No, I don't. Not anymore! He's-- he's already... I didn't know but he and Lady... and y-you... you can't... you can't also leave me...")

If only there wasn't a part of her that almost wished--

("Strange, that those eyes of yours could still be so blind. What else, I wonder, don't they perceive?")

Just like that, the fight that had led her to fling herself momentarily vanished, leaving her sagging in the arms of the man who had seduced and thrown her away, leaving her with almost insulting ease. And small part of Hinata even found a secret, furtive joy in the startled breath her former lover exhaled as he suddenly found his arms full of her curves and his vision covered by a cloud of her inky hair, as she let herself rest against him, his again momentarily.

And from the way his arms came around her again, Itachi wasn't quite as unaffected as he clearly wanted to be, despite his cruel words now and from before, despite the way he seemed to enjoy toying with her as though she had meant nothing. And if he wanted to so desperately hold her again, then he was welcome to. It wouldn't be anything she hadn't offered up to her previously.

This had to be some sort of power-play on Itachi's part, after all. Simply a way of asserting his will over another way-ward member of his family for some obscure Uchiha purpose.

He'd toy with her momentarily, and taunt her about upcoming troubles, and leave her alone with her thoughts soon enough.

They all did, eventually.

But for now, at least, she would let him hold her with appalling ease, resting his chin against the rigid jut of her shoulder and pressing himself against her once more, as though he remembered the placement of her every wayward freckle and follicle, corralling her curves easily. And in turn, she would pretend she was not bothered, closing her eyes and taking in the fall of his breath, the warmth of his back, his almost comforting solidity.

No one else had ever held her like this. Naruto had never bothered and Sasuke had never offered, and she wasn't sure if there was anyone else out there that could do this for her without substituting her for someone else they wanted more desperately.

And finally, after she had had her fill of him, she pressed her damp, moon-pale face against the wall-paper and felt him take a step back from her, as though he found something about her repellent suddenly.

"Do you mind," she managed to whisper, taking advantage of the moment of freedom to wipe the blood from her face, "p-please explaining why my lordship has been in my h-husband's room for the last half-hour, taking a-advantage of his absence to have some r-rather unacceptable liberties?"

Instinctively, she knew that if she turned around, she would have seen those uncanny Uchiha eyes open wide at her, illuminated by some strange, inner lighting. Itachi's voice certainly wasn't exactly devoid of emotion when he responded to her question slowly. "I shall explain as soon as you begin by telling me how a woman who once pledged herself to me ended up marrying my brother with such ease."

She was too tired to raise her voice, but the venom from days past still entered it, as though the words themselves were contaminated, rising from some strange wound in her psyche that had never healed properly. "I d-don't ever remember making such a p-promise. And w-we could go on for some time with this... this game, couldn't we? I could ask why you even c-care, when you left me f-first, and you could ask if I'm actually happy being s-sloppy seconds for somebody."

Another intake of breath from him; another sign that he was nowhere near as unaffected as he passed himself off as being. "Is this what you see yourself as, my lady Hinata? A trinket possessing little true worth, except for the dowry of prestige and power you could bring to whoever choses you expeditiously?"

His fingertips extended to trace the white curve of her neck; those fingertips had once traced patterns onto the blushing curves of her breasts, as that voice of his hand once whispered and curled up as he made insinuations of eternity... "I-I never said that was my view of m-myself... I think you r-reveal far more than you c-conceal on the subject of what I am to you, m-my great Lord Itachi."

His fingertips retreated as he gave an indolent sigh that would have made Casanova proud. His moment of strange tenderness had apparently passed quickly. "Are we descending into games of Freudian interpretation already? Now all we shall need to do is connect last night's dreams to phallic imagery and the drawing room farce you insist on perpetuating in reply to my questions shall finally be complete."

"The o-only farce here," she whispered, edging her entire body around to look directly at that strange, frightening, once-longed-for face, "i-is the one my l-lordship is now conducting. S-surely you haven't traveled here m-merely to terrorize me, sire. So w-why have you come here?"

And then, apropos of nothing, Lord Itachi of the Uchiha let his lips curve into a smile... a smile that had his one-time lover now pressing herself desperately against the wall behind her, like a rabbit that found itself facing a far larger predator without an exit strategy.

Nothing good, she knew from nearly a lifetime's acquaintance, could ever come from a smile of caliber. It never had before and from what she'd seen of Itachi and the rest of his family, it likely never would. It was lupine, lovely, just the slightest bit limpid-- precisely the smile he had given her when he had broken her heart previously.

And, even worse, precisely the smile he had given her just before he had almost fractured her skull a few minutes ago.

Suddenly, she was all too aware of how still and silent the rest of the house suddenly felts; gods, where was Sasuke?

"Would you believe," Itachi murmured as he brought that smile of his closer to her trembling face, "that I came by to see how my new sister was doing?"

The first rule of war-fare, Hinata remembered reading once, was to never let to allow your enemy to choose your battle's territory.

Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly advice she could adhere to currently. If love and whatever came after it was gone was a battlefield, she'd long since found herself ambushed by Itachi. Even if she had been the one to initiate their short-lived and much-regretted affair, he had largely been in control of what had gone on within it. And Itachi most certainly had been the one to decide when to terminate their liaison, giving her only that cryptic message about her other possible suitors that had eventually led her to marry Sasuke as much out of spite as any other reason.

(Not that she'd framed her reason for marrying to her husband in that way. As far as he knew, she had done it for the same reason he had: sheer convenience, the ability to spend their life with a tentative friend rather than a family-chosen stranger, and a way of squirming out from under the thumb of their overbearing parents. That it also constituted a quiet but definite fuck you to her husband's brother was something Hinata was quite happy to keep from Sasuke.)

Much of what had happened in Hinata's pathetic excuse of a love life since the end of her first affair had happened in reaction to Itachi's obscure and cruel actions. So far, their present conversation had led to her dancing to his strings in much the way she'd done so much else. But if there was one thing Hinata knew about Itachi, it was this.

There was nothing he hated quite as much as being personally humiliated. And if sharing his bed and learning the ins-and-outs of his true nature had taught her nothing else, she had learned quite a lot about exactly how to get under his skin efficiently.

---

Hinata's voice was very nearly prim as she started answering her jailer's question in a way that couldn't have been more false if the devil himself had sprang up on the spot to begin editing her story.

"I-I'm doing perfectly well, thank you," she began in a soft, husky whisper, her eyes deliberately and insultingly raised to her superior. "I can't complain at all about being m-married. E-especially when it comes to S-Sasuke. He might occasionally s-snore in bed but his c-creativity when conscious on i-it makes up for a g-great many failings."

Judging from the soft noise he made at the back of his throat-- and the way his already hooded eyes lowered to meet her pale lips-- this wasn't the answer he'd been expecting from his hunting expedition. Not that that, of course, was nearly enough to deter an Uchiha. Even if she didn't have the experience of marrying one and bedding another, Hinata would have expected persistence from anyone in the family.

"Ah," he murmured, and the terrible and dexterous hands that hand temporarily fallen off her flushed form found their way back to her hips. "That's a very credible answer. And given how endearing my brother has historically found woman-kind, I'm assuming you'll now tell me that the two of you rut from dawn to dusk like a pair of over-heated rabbits?"

She hesitated only a second before pressing now; now that she had started to spin her lies, after all, she could hardly take them back without showing yet more weakness. "Oh no," she finally replied, pursing her lips and looking demurely away from her brother-in-law, as though they were discussing a mere question of manners. "I a-afraid your brother's level of-- of activity would give even you pause. You were almost... lethargic in bed when compared to h-him. And c-certainly you n-never greeted me as e-enthusiastically after a m-meal."

Itachi made a noise of sheer, concentrated incredulity, which quite offended Hinata on behalf of her husband. After all, given the fact that she'd never actually had sex with Sasuke, everything she had just said might even be true... though Hinata admitted that her husband would have to have the stamina of a jack-hammer and the tenacity of a entire hutch of rabbits to even come close to matching his older brother.

Still, even if her words weren't exactly founded on her personal experience , at least it caused the small, smug smile curling around Itachi's face to strain just the slightest bit. Anything that could cause a crack to form in that smooth, perfect facade made Hinata's heavy heart cheer.

His voice, however, remained smooth and mellifluous as he went on, as though her words were sliding off of him without causing the slightest iota of doubt or regret. "How pleasant for you, my dear. I remember how sweetly insatiable you used to be. I can only be glad the mere presence of marital bliss apparently hasn't dampened your... adventurous spirit. Matrimony can be such a trial to some, unfortunately."

The rush of blood to her already slick cheeks came automatically at her words; it was all she could do not to turn away from those knowing eyes as she remembered just what adventures he was referring to. "W-well, we are newly-weds. And I-I can be quite creative on occasion."

That tugged a thoroughly unwholesome smile from her former lover. "I couldn't forget that attribute even if I tried, my lady. Not that the pleasant memories we've created have given me a such reason. Tell me... do you still have all the paints you used to smear all over me? Or is my brother a little more fastidious than I was when it came to your artistic achievements?"

His fingers had been tightening around her hips more and more as his voice had gilded on, and now it felt as though she could not so much as shift from her place without him holding her to him even more possessively. Clearly, attempting to slither away from this situation by giving him the information that he said he wanted was accomplishing exactly nothing. Gritting her teeth, Hinata decided to move on to a more direct attempt at confrontation.

"I could go into a f-feature by feature comparison but I-I'm afraid there aren't enough h-hours in the day. So, m-my lord, if you would just t-tell me why exactly y-you're here...?"

But instead of prompting him to give her a straight answer, it only led to Itachi's lips twisted in a terrible little smirk, one that seemed to mock both himself and her simultaneously. "Such distrust from my own family line! Why must you assume that my position as heir to the Uchiha precludes my taking an interest in your welfare as a part of your new family?"

There were many, many answers Hinata found she could give to that question; after a moment's silence born from her sheer incredulity, she contented herself with responding that if God himself had swung by in a gold chariot to ask her how her day was going along so far, she'd find it less unlikely.

Itachi simply shrugged her comment off, fingers gliding elegantly to her waist as he did so. "You always did have something of a talent for incredulity. And though you apparently find me perfectly unfeeling, I truly do care about my brother's life and welfare, however monstrous I may otherwise seem. And as one of his guardians, I am party to quite a lot of information about what might soon imperil his apparent state of wedded bliss. And thus, when I must, I try and do my duty as a brother to gently intervene."

Now this was an answer she hadn't expected from him at the least. What on earth could he possibly mean? "I-imperil his state of w-wedded bliss? I-I'm not sure what e-exactly..."

For some strange reason, something Naruto had said to her earlier this morning sprang to mind easily. "Huh. So you wanna go back to the court after only a few months of marriage? I guess with Sasuke, it's a wonder you even stayed this long in the manor the first place..."

But she hadn't wanted to go back to court, new emperor or no. Even though her marriage might have been a sham, it had been surprisingly pleasant to spend a few months living in her own home, away from her family and with a husband who knew enough to respect her privacy. And though she hardly felt any sort of grand passion for Sasuke-- she didn't, she couldn't-- he was still a friend of sorts, and one who she had chosen to marry.

What on earth could possibly come to imperil any marriage of theirs, given what a smashing success it was in the eyes of the public?

Who could possibly interfere?

And what could possibly drive Itachi himself to come and warn her personally?

Unless...

"I see you may be starting to catch on," Itachi murmured in response to the sudden gleam in her eyes, his hands adjusting to touch her trembling chin briefly. "Let us see you rise to this occasion more swiftly. Being from one of the more mercenary clans of Konoha, disregarding their pretensions to nobility, should make it easy. That delicate hand of yours, though its been grasped temporarily by my brother, seems to be on the market for another swain entirely."

Oh gods, please let this be something other than... "I... I don't know what you mean..."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at her, and his fingers curved around her white neck a little more roughly. "I wish I could say I was surprised, my lady. But then, given the delicate sensibilities of your father, I doubt you were consulted anymore than I was." The slight tightening of his left hand on her hip was the only sign that this upset him more than his voice indicated currently. "And my brother of course-- well, Sasuke could not be more blind if you were cuckolding him in his own bed nightly."

Deeply offended-- more so than she cared to even admit to herself-- Hinata scowled reflexively. "Whatever else you may think of me, my lord, I am n-no adulterer. I have b-been far more t-true to your brother than you have been to me."

Was that a flash of brief guilt in his eyes? Or merely the play of uncertain light on his face, a sign of her own hopes and fears? "No," Itachi murmured after a moment, moving one hand up to cup her damp cheek. "That isn't in the least hard to believe. You always were more faithful than the men around you deserved. I wish that your father would understand this more clearly."

But why would her father need to...? "M-my honored father," she whispered, after another moment of dread contemplation, "has long realized that I have the potential to be a good... no... an excellent political wife. He would not have b-blessed my marriage to the second-in-line to the throne of Konoha if..."

"If," Itachi smoothly interrupted, his voice low and languid and terribly, terribly cold, "he had the chance to procure an even grander son-in-law for his thoroughly dispiriting daughter. Not good enough to inherit the clan and too hopelessly common to even marry off to gain ties to another, more illustrious country... is there any way in which you haven't managed to let down your clan, Hinata? It's as though you take pleasure in being a disappointment to your family."

The cruelty in those soft words... and the way his eyes raked across her face for signs of pain and inadequacy...

If she hadn't hated him already, she could have learned how to do so at this very hour, within this strange meeting. But even with the force of her hate helping her to go on, her voice was shakier and more wounded than she wanted to admit as she went on eventually. "I-I may be a-- a disappointment indeed, my lord... But at least I'm one that-- that my family need not worry about currently. I have been h-happily settled to a r-respectable man and surely even my f-father can have no g-greater concerns about me at this point, other than w-wondering when his first g-grand-child will arrive."

"Ah, yes," Itachi murmured, his eyes gleaming like ink as his cold, reptilian hand stroked her cheek once again, skimming the tear-streaked surface slowly. "Under normal circumstances, your father would likely have allowed all thoughts of you to slip away long away, contenting himself with the knowledge that at least he managed to dispose of you in a manner that didn't bring any more disgrace to his great family. But political winds change swiftly, my dear, and your hand in marriage has once again managed to become a worthy commodity. And because it would dearly strain my own family's position in Konoha-- as well as my dear brother's happiness-- I felt it would be a good idea to speak to you about the current plan to dissolve your match directly."

Her eyes widened. "What do you m-mean?" she whispered, buried to the hilt with disbelief. "Who would be grand enough for my father to d-dare disrupt a marriage to-- to the second in line, the almost heir of Konoha? H-how could he p-possibly offer me to a-any..."

But then her former lover and current tormentor inclined his head and Hinata grasped it all instantly, her mind working at a speed her father would have thought impossible, her eyes widening at the very thought.

"You don't mean-- o-oh gods, y-you can't mean--"

Itachi simply inclined his head and smiled at her, no trace of real humor left in him at all. "For both our sakes, Lady Hinata, I wish you luck with the courting you'll be receiving from Emperor Gaara of Suna shortly. Juggling lovers is never easy-- and you'll have a pair of exceptionally temperamental ones to eventually contend with. And if you should choose in a way that displeases me... well, at least you shan't have to worry about living your life with a Suna barbarian by your side. You shall not even pass the gates of Konoha if I have a say in your future doings."

It was a revelation mad enough to drive any woman to drink.

And so she did, after Itachi had pressed one last, languid kiss to her quivering eyelids and promised that he'd be watching her situation as it unraveled slowly.

When Sasuke found her alone in the room an hour later, his brother having long since departed with one last caress accompanied by his sinister promise, Hinata was drunk, half-nude, wearing her bra as a hat, and giggling to herself about nothing.

Author's Note: Please review if you've read and enjoyed this story. I know a lot of people may have lost interest in this piece because I haven't updated in a very long time... which is precisely why I'd really appreciate it if my readers would drop me a note letting me know if they're still hanging in there. I'm having fun a lot of fun working on this again but my time is really limited now because of school/teaching and if I don't have an audience for this piece, I might drop it and start something else. So please do let me know if you'd still like to keep up with Hinata's mad entanglements. If my readers are still out there, I'll actually try to update within a month next time... cross my heart on it. Truly. ;)

And also, a quick question for audience members who'd like to help me out with some constructive criticism: how do you feel about Hinata in this story? Is she an interesting protagonist? Can you empathize with her? Is she appropriately bashful about certain things, while also mature enough to reflect her 20-something years? I wanted to make her shrewd and sharp enough to pique the interest of my readers... while also keeping in mind that she isn't as bold as a character like Sakura either. So how do you feel about her and her reaction to dealing with Sasuke and Itachi?

(And yes, Sasuke-fans... he's featured prominently in the next chapter. Which will have a lemon warning. After all, what's the use of getting a character drunk and half-naked if you aren't going to be following up on that eventually? ;)