#zukies

khalid sentence starters  | @zukies

arms hold her close, admittedly, not wanting to let her go. warm hugs were few and far inbetween, especially after long missions. and he’d been gone for nearly a month now. things had gone awry and putting things back in order had taken him longer than he’d liked. with a few new bruises and scars, itachi is grateful to be back home. of course, he doesn’t exactly expect to be greeted so warmly and still, the soft grin that brightens his features can’t be stopped. 

there was a leap in her chest  &  a throb in her cheek.       no amount of makeup,    concealer or powder could cover the large purplish bruise that  bloomed across her porcelain features.   it was large,       dominating in its nature,    much like the beast that had given her such an injury;           brutish.  

hinata made no real attempt to hide it,       the uzumaki woman had already asked ,   and perhaps she already knew the truth.      but hinata couldn’t help lean her head forward,     a halo of obsidian covering her face like a sheer veil.      oh,  how could she explain this?     did she trip and fall straight into a  fist shaped  branch?       no,  karin was no fool.

but the truth was something else entirely,      to admit to it would be to admitting the deepest,   darkest secret that lurked within the hyuga compound.      the downside to living the life as a shinobi,        was that nobody questioned the bruises that marred her skin,    always assuming they had accumulated from various training exercises &  missions.       but in the past month she had been diligent in her duties as heiress,     not once over exerting herself to the point of injury.          did karin even know this?

she considered telling the truth,     she had  failed  as the hyuga heiress once again  &  her father decided to invoke proper punishment on her with a punch to the face?  no,    how could she explain that?   instead,     hinata forced a wobbly smile onto her face,    unknowingly making the bruise moreprominent.       “ just a training accident,   no need for worry,   karin-san!  ”              she would lie,    until her death bed,    she would lie.     

she sits there , pink drink in hand as crimson gaze at the other , questioning silently. yet , hinata doesn’t pick up on the slight concern of her gaze and so she finally speaks up , question carefully thought out as not to come out as rude. she watches the other , doesn’t miss the way that she leans forward so hair covers the bruised cheek ( and she thinks for a minute that hinata is like a bruised peach. she wonders if she presses down if maybe it would bloom even more violently red and purple. )  her head tilts , crimson falling around her face like a waterfall of blood and there’s an eyebrow quirk as she keeps her gaze on the other. it’s not like hinata to lie to her face , and karin knows this because her chakra , nearly pure white with traces of lavender in it -- until she lies , a stain of black swirls in. 

        -- ❝ say, hinata... ❞ a rare HESITANCE to speak creates a pause between words, aware he was treading over possibly really thin ice. the inuzuka knew how much the new position as head meant to her, & how determined she was to do whatever she could to change her clan ( to make up for the loess ). but still-- it was too much for him to just sit by & watch. ❝ ... have you thought about taking a BREAK ? ❞ 

                   “I never see you anymore.”  They weren’t particularly close, but checking in on her and getting to know her had been something Lee strived to do ever since Neji passed.  It wasn’t that he thought Hinata was incapable of taking care of herself, no: It was that Lee was aware of how harsh the Hyuuga clan could be.  Were they letting their new clan head grieve? Were they letting her relax, see her friends?  It was rare that he ever saw her around the village anymore.  Uncertainty twists Lee’s gut as a thought enters his mind.

                    Maybe. . Maybe she found his constant attempts to spend time with her annoying.  Maybe she felt as though he thought she was incapable.  Lee didn’t want that. And so, he burst out his thoughts. “Am I annoying to you?”