Distant Echoes

5 - Faded revenge

- Shall we eat? - Hinata asked him that day in mid-January, putting down the book he was reading.

Sasuke nodded. Training with his students and reading afterwards always made him quite hungry.
You must have noticed, given the doses you increased.
- Hmm - Sasuke mumbled. - I'll be out tomorrow, so we'll train later» he told her, pouring water into the glass.
- Tomorrow I won't be here or at practice,» said Hinata, lifting her eyes from the book and crossing her eyes. «My father asked me to go with him to a place. I'll be back in two days...» he took a deep breath, passing his fingers in his long hair.
Only some time later, Sasuke realized why at the moment she had said those simple words to him he had felt oppressed, as when the minute after killing his brother he had realized he was the only survivor of his cursed clan.
And if she only knew what she was going through, she would have locked her in that library, kept her from moving. But he who was always careful not to make any sense of interest, said only:
«Don't take too long, you could lose points in the next workout» his voice came out loud and scratchy, but inside he had an intricate web that almost seemed to block his breath. A web of threads that he silenced only, telling himself that in the end she would be back in two days.
But Hinata didn't come back after two days.

At the beginning when three days had passed, Sasuke Uchiha had thought, albeit with annoyance, that Hinata Hyuuga had taken one more, to rest properly, because perhaps, after months spent as a nurse, Training partner and nurse had also stewed and now enjoyed the well-deserved holidays.
She had grinned in a sinister way at that pondering, thinking that from the height of her availability, that phantom woman had only to thank for having been lucky enough to be worthy of her presence.

But then the days became four, and she still didn't come back.
To discover that deep down he regretted not having anything to bind him to himself made him crazy, more than he already felt. He certainly could not write and order her to return, He had no relationship with any member of that clan who had always hated his.
The habit that she had become unwittingly, for him was a harvester with sharp teeth that chewed your time, spitting on him a venomous nostalgia. He couldn't even tell himself that he didn't care and that he might never come back, because he didn't have a habit unlike you.

On the fifth day she was still absent, Sasuke, looking at the tree where she used to be, discovered that there was nothing worse than framing someone in themselves, to the point of becoming a daily ritual.
Hinata Hyuuga was a fragrance, a time, a wait of a few minutes, a faint noise of steps in a corridor or in the woods, a new and melodious voice, a spontaneous smile, a hurried greeting, a sequence of modest excuses, a clear look as a naive child, A wise rebuke, when he would tell him to review his ways.

On the sixth day, while he was sitting in the bookstore, Sasuke noticed that his fingers had tingled in the pages of the book, Her eyes without her even realizing it slipped on the door waiting for her to come in and kick out that guy from her clan who was replacing her.
His tight mouth told him that his nerves might be about to skyrocket.
Her body rebelled, and Sasuke Uchiha cursed her head that if she had to absorb a concept from a book she would unravel, thinking about what she would say, the considerations she sometimes did. And more importantly, if there had been any of those symptoms, they would have appeared.

On the seventh day, Sasuke discovered with relief that the only way to feel comfortable was to sit in the place she used and close her eyes for a few moments.
That chair smelled like lavender and vanilla.
When she opened her eyelids, blowing a puff, she stood up and left the school. In the early evening he went to visit Naruto, agreeing to go with him to the ramen kiosk.
«I was pleased that you came to visit me on your own initiative, I recommend, do not disappear. And by the way, I am proud of you!» said the blond, smiling at him.
Sasuke shook her head, barely lifting her lips.
Being an idiot was good in some ways, because it allowed you to live happily ever after. However hard he tried, he would never have been able to regress so much, nor would he have liked to say it all.
Finding the impatience of a few hours before it rained again on him, with a rhythmic pace, he walked in the direction of his house, stopping the pace, as soon as he noticed two boys sitting on the bench.
Concealed by the shadow of the alley, he recognized Hinata Hyuuga's two friends and prayed for her frustration and waited to hear what interested him.