[Closed] All is quiet

[gentledheart]

Where: Konoha, a quiet spot outside.
When: April 22.
Notes: Itachi wants to pick her brain about Sasuke.

Considering the vagueness of Itachi's note, Hinata was understandably unsure of when exactly this conversation about Sasuke was going to happen. She'd merely filed it away that he would like to have one whenever he found himself able to return to the village. As such Hinata was in the park enjoying the mid April weather for a short stretch before going on with the rest of her day. A short break after morning training was exactly what she wanted before an afternoon of clan politics and errands.

She was just finishing up when she got the feeling that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was earlier. Looking around she smiles and remains seated beneath the tree the remains of her bento sitting on the grass beside her.

Comments

[dangodragon]

Itachi wasn't exactly having a good month. Between Ashiko, his regrettable inner turmoil, and Obito's promise to talk to him about it, he was feeling a little stretched. Training with Sasuke was an excellent distraction, though he was probably being much too hard on the boy. Itachi played hard and rough, and he wanted to know if Sasuke could keep up.

He was meeting Hinata on a break, which meant he was a little dirty, and had a bruise on his cheek from a lucky hit. Itachi gave Hinata a small smile and then a bow. "Thank you for allowing me to impose on you, Hinata-san."

[gentledheart]

Looking up at his approach she offers him a smile. "It's quite alright. Please have a seat." she says motioning to the empty spot beside her in the grass. He looked a little more worn around the edges than the last time she had spoken with him. She'd rather not have him keel over.

"How did you get that bruise?"

[dangodragon]

Itachi's lips quirked, the very special little smile he usually only pulled out when he was talking to Sasuke or about him. "Sasuke, actually. We've been..." Trying to kill each other? Demolishing a training field? Almost starting forest fires?

"Spending some time together, which is what I wanted to talk to you about." Itachi folded himself down onto the ground a respectable distance from Hinata, but close enough it was obvious they were having a private conversation. "You've been his teammate for several years now, and have watched him grow in way I haven't. You know his weaknesses and where he struggles the most." Itachi paused.

"I am...considering recommending him for Jounin soon, and I wanted to know what you think his weakest points are." Itachi had already found a few things he wanted Sasuke to work on, but he thought Hinata might have valuable insight.

[gentledheart]

An eyebrow goes up at the smile but she waits without saying anything, even when he pauses searching for what he and Sasuke have been doing of late. Though she can't quite suppress the amusement that causes her lips to twitch into a small smile that Sasuke left a mark of their time together.

She sobers even as she feels a bubble of pride well up that someone other than the team has noticed the progress Sasuke has made. Just where does she start?

"You. He measures himself against your accomplishments. Which probably isn't anything new for you to hear but that's usually one of his biggest stumbling blocks. If you've already done and set some sort of record he feels he needs to meet or surpass that record." She pauses her fingers curling around a tuft of grass.

They've touched on this before, and she's sure Itachi's heard it plenty of times before as well from Obito at the very least. There were other things but that one always seemed to jump to the forefront when she spoke with the elder of the two Uchiha boys. She had to remember he wanted an honest view of where Sasuke stood and as such she forced herself to look more critically at her teammate in the intervening silence.

Nooo, I thought I had tagged this. DX

[dangodragon]

When it came down to it, Itachi had always been pleased Sasuke wasn't a genius. He didn't have to grow up fast, and no one would push him through the ranks too quickly. He could be a child and grow slowly, carefully. Sasuke's normality (and he wasn't really at all average) had held Itachi in awe at a young age, and made him seem precious.

Now, of course, Itachi was aware how the differences in their...growth had strained their relationship and cause other people to compare them. Itachi was intimately aware of the pressures and pitfalls of being a genius Uchiha, and he would probably never tell Sasuke how glad he was the boy had grown up and a more normal pace.

"And that is one thing I'm not sure how to fix." Itachi shook his head. "Obito could probably talk to him about that with more authority and an idea of what that was like than I could." He'd had a low key rivalry with Shisui, but that was more to prove Shisui hadn't wasted his time teaching him, and to hit a level of skill where he could help his cousin instead of hindering.

Shisui had been a better brother to Itachi than Itachi had been to Sasuke, looking at how things stood now. Shisui had definitely been around more for Itachi than Itachi had been around for Shisui.

It's okay dear.

[gentledheart]

She frowns a little, she isn't really sure that is something that can be fixed or even if it should be. "I don't know it can be fixed or even if it should. That need pushes Sasuke to improve, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing." Unless of course he had a particularly bad day and didn't measure up to his ridiculously high standards and then things could get a little frustrating. Sasuke wasn't exactly a fun person to be around when surrounded by a shroud of gloom.

"Further he holds himself to incredibly high standards. It's never pretty when he fails to meet them. He could probably brood forever if left to his own devices and no one gave a swift verbal kick in the pants to snap out of it."

Yes she has had experience with this and she does not enjoy it. If only because seeing Sasuke questioning his capabilities hurts. This is the boy that studied with her through their academy years after all. She'd much rather see him happy and still trying to ignore Naruto, than brooding over something he had no control over in the first place.

Re: It's okay dear.

[dangodragon]

Itachi was aware of these problems peripherally, these were things he wasn't sure he could fix. Experience might teach Sasuke how to learn from his mistakes instead of being beaten down by them. Itachi had always had Shisui to keep him from brooding, though most of that was knowing that all problems could be taken to Shisui for resolution, no matter how small.

The question was, would being Jounin complicate the problem, or soothe it? Itachi had been more focused on whether Sasuke was physically ready for the rank and hadn't thought much about whether he was ready mentally or not.

[gentledheart]

When you aren't around often you tend to miss these things. Sasuke has grown plenty physically but she does worry about his mental readiness as much as she worries about her own. (Which is why she isn't chasing anyone to recommend her for jounin, she doesn't feel she's ready.)

But considering her companions silence, she figures he's waiting for her to add something else. Something more profound or maybe he's looking for her to say nothing as he takes in what she's said so far. She isn't entirely sure, she hasn't spent enough time with him yet to be able to read him nearly as well as she does Obito and Sasuke.

"I made mention of a number of things when we had tea. I'm not sure what else you'd like to know. I don't think you're interested in how I think he can be an incredible brat. Or that more often than not spoken communication isn't really necessary when on a mission with him." She shrugs tilting her head back. Might as well build him up a little too, she'd been doing an awful lot of tearing him down just now and that doesn't sit well with her.

[dangodragon]

Itachi lips quirked. "I am aware he's a brat." Well aware, though he usually got the best side of Sasuke when he chose to spend time with his little brother.

Itachi sighed. "What I want is assurance no one can give me. I don't want to rush Sasuke into anything he's not ready for, but holding him back when he is wouldn't be fair to him. You've grown up with him and seen a side of him I haven't seen, or that I can't see. What I want..." Itachi paused for a moment. "What I want is your opinion. Do you think he's ready?"

[gentledheart]

Hinata dips her head, yeah he probably does.

"I think he'd do well." She finally says after a long moment. She has so many worries of what it would mean for Sasuke to become jounin, even when she knows it will make him immensely happy. It's because she's known him so long though that she had to pause before saying anything one way or another. "I think the only thing that can be done is to give him the chance and see what happens."

And she knows just how poorly that sits with her and she could just imagine how Itachi might feel about the idea. Still she doesn't want to sabotage her friend just because he has control issues. He'd either learn to deal with them and or mature or they'd eat him alive as a jounin. All the same she feels that something will come out of giving Sasuke the chance.

[dangodragon]

"Like throwing someone into the water to see how well they swim." Itachi realized how ungrateful and grumpy that sounded and sighed. He was almost certain Hinata knew at least partially how he felt, as she was close to Sasuke.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san." Itachi gave her a wry smile. "You're right. I've been holding my approval over his head for a while, and he needs to move beyond that. Maybe this will give him a chance to spread his wings and find his place." Somewhere not in Itachi's shadow.

Or he would crash and burn, maybe literally. Itachi predicted many sleepless night ahead. Many.

[gentledheart]

"Exactly," she murmurs shifting a little and patting his hand. She understood in her own how he felt, she and Sasuke were fairly close and in a lot of ways he's like a brother to her.

She smiles, her expression brightening considerably. It's about time that he's come around to how his actions have played a role in Sasuke's development. Granted, they both knew that it was entirely up to the ninja to work out such hang ups in order to grow, but being a child of a prominent clan sort of left you a little behind the eight ball in that department it seemed. Or maybe that was just her peer group.

"He'll be fine, you'll see. Have faith."

[dangodragon]

Itachi wondered if Hinata would have patted him on the head if he were shorter. From anyone else he might have taken the gesture as mocking, but from Hinata, he knew it wasn't meant that way.

Iatcih rarely had faith in anything, except that everything that could go wrong would go wrong. Did he have faith in his brother's abilities? He wished he could respond with a solid "of course", but he wasn't sure. He'd seen how out of hand things could get, and it only took one lucky shot to bring even the best down...

"I supposed if I get few grey hairs, people might take me more seriously," Itachi offered lightly.

[gentledheart]

Height has very little to do with it. It was more that patting his hand allowed her to convey her understanding and reassurance without excessively overstepping her bounds. Besides to pat him on the head felt like it would convey more intimacy to their relationship than she believed there was.

She laughs and shakes her head. "If you do, I'll help you dye them so no one is the wiser."

[dangodragon]

"The chance of being mercilessly teased by my older cousin's for vanity might be worse than actually having grey hairs," Itachi reasoned with a sigh. "It might make me look more distinguished."

It would probably make him look like a badger.

[gentledheart]

"I'm not sure that's something you really need to worry about." She knows how that sounds and that wasn't necessarily the intent.

[dangodragon]

Itachi quirked an eyebrow and smiled just a fraction. "I'm glad you think I look distinguished."

[gentledheart]

"Well I," She shrugs and dips her head, "There are a number of young women in the village that find you such."

[dangodragon]

"So my aunts keep telling me. And then I have cousins who tell me several young men find me so as well." They were slowly wandering off course. Itachi was actually very easily diverted from talking about Sasuke's promotion prospects. If he decided Sasuke should wait, what would be the boy's reaction.

Itachi gave his head a little shake. "Thank you for meeting with me. I won't say my mind is at ease but it is...better."

[gentledheart]

Her eyebrows go up, she had not expected him to share such a detail with her. But it made a certain amount of sense that several men may find him attractive. But isn't sure what she can possibly say that wouldn't sound ridiculous so she remains quiet on the topic and allows the conversation to move on.

"It was not problem. I'm glad I could help you feel more comfortable in what your decision will be."