Hinata and Itachi are in a weird place right now. She's becoming increasingly frustrated. At moments, when he thinks she isn't looking, she sees the way he stares. Its intense and longing, beautiful. There are moments when they are alone that he seems unable to stop himself from touching her: a thigh pressed against her own, gentle fingers tucking her hair behind her ear, a bit too harsh of a poke to her forehead.

It's in these moments the air becomes charged, so overwhelmingly thick with tension that Hinata tries to make a move, or convince him to do something. A magnet pulls at them, their lips a whisper away when something closes down and he moves away, asking her to leave. Hinata can't figure out what is stopping Itachi from taking what he wants when she's so blatantly giving herself to him. Why won't he let himself be happy, let her be happy when he's obviously in love with her.

Hinata is getting ready to give up on everything, its nearing her 21st birthday and if she isn't established in a relationship she will finally be open to courting and engagement by a man of her clan's choice. Someone who wouldn't be her Itachi.

They've been avoiding one another. She was gardening, helping him pull weeds when she ended up covered in dirt. He was just going to wipe some of it off when she smiled at him like he was worth something, and he found himself pressing his lips to her cheek, just barely meeting the corner of her mouth. She was eager to push for more, but he pulled away and harshly ordered her to leave. To leave before he let his love consume them both.

When she tried to stay, he called her an immature child wanting to be a temptress. She left crying and he hasn't seen her since. At least until he is woken up in the middle of the night when the door to his room slides open.

Naruto stands in the doorway. Sasuke is on his back, his chakra so low it's a shock he's even conscious. Hinata rests in the blond's arms, head tucked under his chin and a gaudy jacket wrapped haphazardly around her. Then Itachi is assaulted with the stench of iron and he is on his feet, checking over the three.

"What happened," He demands.

"I-We were too late," Naruto's voice breaks at the admission. "Hina she...she tried so hard but we were too late. They all died, even the infants. One bled out in her hands and she just... There was so much blood." Despite being hardened shinobi, Team 7 has pure hearts. They were not suited for such a mission. "I know you're fighting but you're who she goes to when she gets like this so we thought..."

"Hn." Itachi gathers Hinata into his arms. Blood streaks across his chest; she really is drenched in the stuff. They all are. It doesn't bother him, it can't. He slides into his bed. His back goes to the wall, Hinata pressed along his front. Naruto turns to leave when itachi lifts his comforter, providing room for the blond and his baby brother to join in his bed as well. Naruto cries, jumping into the bed and snuggling with his team.

Its when Naruto finally falls asleep that Hinata wakes up. She's warm, almost boiling and her skin feels sticky with dried blood. Fingers massage her scalp through her blood-tainted hair, itachi's scent and chakra shrouding her in comfort. She presses her nose into Itachi's bare chest, tears beginning to wet his skin. Even now she attempts to cry silently to not disturb the sleeping boys.

"I" She whispers, "I couldn't save any of them. There was so much blood Itachi. So much, I've never," She moves away from sensitive territory, "what good am I as a healer if I can't save one fucking child."

"It's not your fault."

"I-"

"Its not your fault. You did what you could. You all did. It's not your fault." Hinata isn't him. He needs her to not feel like he does.

"Naru, Sasuke they were counting on me," she cries. He guides her chin up, so she can meet his eyes.

"Say it with me," he coaxes gently. She shakes her head no and he squeezes her chin in slight warning. She pouts. "Say it with me. It's not your fault."

"'s not my fault."

"Again." He keeps eye contact, not letting her look away.

"It's not my fault."

"Good girl," Itachi whispers. His thumb presses just barely onto her puffy bottom lip. He presses the softest kiss to her forehead. "You're exhausted. Sleep."

"Mmmhmm." Her weepy breaths slow as her eyelids flutter. She tucks herself back into him careful to not knock Naruto or Sasuke off the bed. "You're always taking care of me," She mumbles half asleep. "Thank you."

Itachi is gone when she wakes up, Shisui watching over the three in his place. The smile Shisui gives her is apologetic. Nobody mentions the sound of her heart breaking as they all wash up.

Itachi cannot find peace in her presence. Yet, the unrest he feels when she is gone makes it impossible to exist without her. She rules over his mind, his body desiring to touch her at every possible moment. He feels like he is going insane. He needs to break things off before it's too much, before they consume one another.

"What happened to all those promises, how much you seemed to care before the war. What did I do to make you push me away, am I really worth so little?"

"You misunderstand my intentions. You are important to me because you are important to Sasuke. Nothing more." The words hurt; he wants them to. He wants her to get over him so she can see she deserves better. She deserves someone whose very being does not taint her soul. She deserves someone like Sasuke.

"How can you be so cruel." Hinata pounds her fists on his chest. "You've, you've never...I thought maybe-" Hinata can't catch her breath, can't get the words out. She thinks she might throw up. Itachi has always been kind to her, she never thought he could hurt her so bad. Her eyes are glistening, cheeks wet and splotchy with tears. He cannot hold her gaze. His mouth curls into a frown. He wants to comfort her, he needs her to leave.

Hinata grasps his arm, placing his hand against her cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Look me in my eyes and tell me I mean nothing to you," Hinata says. She's giving him an out, if he wants her gone from his life he has to be man enough to be honest with her. They're close enough he can smell the sweetness of her breath, the wet hitch to her breathing as tears quietly fall. His eyes fall shut, he can't do it. Instead, Itachi Uchiha finds himself running away. Hinata is left with the lingering tingle of his lips on hers.

He disappears for a month. So, when Shisui lets her know he's home she marches over. She can feel his chakra inside. Calm, melancholy as always. She knocks and he doesn't make a move to open it. In fact, he starts moving to the back, readying for an escape.

"Itachi Uchiha. If you don't open this door right now I will never, ever forgive you." She wants to be angry, but the crack in her voice betrays her. She's hurt. Itachi doesn't want to open the door, he wants her to hate him. But his body betrays his mind, his need to comfort her greater than his want for her to leave him alone.

She wants to scream at him, but when he finally opens the door. All her fight leaves."You kissed me." Hinata hates how soft, how vulnerable she sounds.

"That was..." Itachi pauses, carefully choosing his next words, "a momentary lapse in judgement. It will not happen again." They both know he is lying, its not the first time and it won't be the last. He cannot help himself when it comes to her. Every ounce of his control slips when she is around.

"Oh it won't?" Hinata steps forward. Itachi wants to move back, but the heat of her body against his keeps him rooted in place. His eyes fall to her lips before he forces himself to look her in they eye again. "Because right now it seems like you're holding yourself back." Itachi's tongue comes out to wet the sudden dryness on his lips. He's leaning toward her, magnetized to her. "You want to kiss me." Yes he does. "And I want to kiss you." She's a breath away.

"It...it's time for you to leave." His eyes close. He looks indifferent but she knows him better than that.

"Please." She begs. "Why do you keep doing this to me. To us. Itachi you deserve to be happy. You deserve to be happy with me."

His hand wraps around her throat and she is suddenly pressed between him and the wall. Red eyes bore into hers, wanting and failing to threaten her. She can feel his hand tremble as he battles with himself.

"Hinata," his voice is low, gravely. It sends thrill through her body to know she is the reason his control slips. "Do you understand what you do to me?" He squeezes her a bit tighter but all she does is smile, so soft so understanding. She never fears him despite what he's done, what he could do. "I cannot control myself when you are near, yet I cannot live when you are away."

"Then don't." She says it like it's that simple. For once, he wants it to be; for once he dares to dream. "Itachi," Her hand caresses the one at her throat. "I'm yours."

He moves to cup the back of her neck. There is nothing soft nor gentle about the way he kisses her this time. He wants to swallow her whole, to merge her into his being. Uchiha love is nothing but intense he wanted to protect her from him. Instead, she meets him with the same fire. She has never shied away from him. Her lips, her teeth, her everything she pours it out to him and she happily takes everything he has to give her.

Her hands find his hair and she tugs, pulling him closer into her. Her teeth bite down, tugging at his bottom lip. He groans, slipping his hand under her shirt to squeeze at her waist. His fingers leave fire in their wake. His tongue presses against her lips, swiping until she lets him invade her. It's exciting to feel him come undone to break composure because of her.

His lips, his tongue travel from her mouth, her jaw, to her neck. He nips and sucks until he finds somewhere tender. She moans and his thoughts streamline onto one point. Hinata. "Itachi, please" his name flows from her mouth like the sweetest water. He wants to ravage her, needs to consume her thoughts like she does him.

"I love you." He whispers between kisses. He bears his soul and she takes it all in stride. He knows this is the point of no return, but as she tears at his shirt, he can't think of anything he wants more.

The next morning, Itachi leaves before Hinata wakes up. Yet, this time he leaves a note.

Stay. I will return.

She chooses to stay.

Itachi is pacing in Shisui's living room, two newborns with Shisui's curls and Fuu's warm skin nestle in his arms sleepy. They drool on his shoulders, reminding him fondly of baby Sasuke doing the same. It helps ground him from the swirling thoughts all surrounding the woman he had left undressed in his bed.

"So let me get this straight. You finally got over yourself and confessed, slept with her, and instead of waking up with a beautiful woman who loves you, you chose to come here and burn a hole into my floor?" Shisui pinches the bridge of his nose, both amused and irritated at how socially inept the smartest man he knows manages to be when it comes to his feelings.

"I cannot think straight when she is near."

"Right, because you're so composed right now." Shisui teases. He stops Itachi in his tracks, taking the babies from his hands and putting them down gently. His kind eyes stare through his best friend, assessing him. "Itachi, you haven't done anything wrong when it comes to her. What are you so afraid of?"

"...I am not deserving of someone like her." Shisui smacks him across the face, mouth curling down into a serious frown.

"Itachi, you are one of the kindest people I have had the pleasure to know. You were born into a world that took that away from you. You were a CHILD forced to take on the burden of an entire village. If anyone deserves to be loved by someone like Hinata its you, you stupid self-sacrificing idiot." He tugs Itachi into a tight hug. "Let yourself be happy for once, you've spent enough time being miserable."

"I should go...be with her."

"Yes, you should." A shiver runs down Itachi's spine at the evil smile Shisui sends him, Killing intent leaking for just a second. "Remember, you've slept with my baby sister so if you break her heart now I'll have to kill you."

"Hn."

A dangerous spark of possessiveness curls through his being when Itachi walks into his Kitchen. Kisame's hulking figure takes up space at the stove as the man stirs something that smells immaculate, chortling at something Hinata must've said. She is stomach down, resting on top of one of his massive shoulders. Itachi wonders if she wishes she could do that with him too, wishing he was taller, bigger.

He holds up the spoon for her to take a taste. "Mmm. Kisa, you're big, strong, a good cook, and you can breathe underwater. You're such husband material." He laughs. She means it, but as she's gassing him up she goes to put something in the pot. Something that doesn't belong in food. Her feet kick in the way they do when she's trying to do something naughty. Kisame notices too, a hand coming up to pinch the back of her exposed thigh.

His chakra flares, and he clears his throat. He's not sure what this feeling is; this urge to remove Kisame's hands from his body. He takes a few steadying breaths, face blank.

"Itachi!" Hinata cheers, turning to give him the sweetest expression. The next second, her body is plowing into his. She pauses for a second, lips pursing before she decides to kiss his jaw. "Welcome home." His hands settle on her waist, lips twitching. Pleasure flutters in his belly at the sight of her in his shirt, the flush on her cheeks from him. Not Kisame. Not anyone.

Kisame guffaws at the two of them, deeply amused by the dark look Itachi levels him with. He just raises a blue eyebrow, looking between the two with a fanged grin. "Wow, you guys totally fucked."

Hinata snorts, grinning brightly even though her cheeks burn with embarrassment at being called out so quick. "Is it that obvious?"

"From you, no. Itachi however" kisame waggles his eyebrows, looking pointedly at Itachi's hands still holding her hips. Hinata lets out an aw at that. She likes that Itachi is holding her, is unable to hide how he feels about her. She slips her hand into his, dragging him to the dinner table. Itachi is a bit too quiet during dinner, his responses a bit too cold. He can't keep his eyes off of Kisame, annoyed about how muscular the man is.

Said shark-man is unfazed alongside Hinata who fill the dinner with idle chatter and ideas for new moves they want to try. When Kisame leaves Itachi is still sitting at the table, looking too caught up in his own mind. It scares Hinata just a bit, hoping he isn't regretting choosing her.

"Itachi?" She places a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly. "You wanna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Whatever's been putting you in a pissy mood."

"Hn."

"Are you, do you...I mean, is it about...us?" Her hands flex and unflex over and over, face scrunched in nerves. She looks so submissive, so insecure. It's wrong. Itachi sighs deeply and she flinches. He pulls her into his lap.

"No, I do not regret making love to you." Pink dusts across her cheeks prettily. Itachi looks to the side, his brows furrowing. "Would you....prefer me if I were...bigger....If I looked stronger?" The sentence is hard to get out, he's embarrassed about feeling insecure for the first time in his life.

"Eh? Is this about what I said to Kisame earlier?" A soft, chiming laugh escapes before she can stop it. Her hands squish and pull at his cheeks. She finds him extremely cute at this moment. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry i'm not trying to laugh at you. You're just so cute when you're jealous." Itachi can't even deny it. "I love you exactly how you are." She kisses along his jaw. "Let me show you how perfect I think you really are," Hinata purrs.

Hinata struggles to get up for her shift at the Hospital in the morning. When she tries to get out of bed, Itachi wraps his arm around her, tugging her back into bed, conveniently right on top of him. His lips start kissing along her neck. "Tachi-haha-I have to go to work."

"Not yet." His morning voice has her stalling. "I want you."

"You can't say things like that when I'm supposed to be leaving."

"Then stay."

"So clingy. Fine, 15 minutes mister. Then I do have to go."

"Hn."

Hinata shows up late for her shift, her hair pulled back in a shitty ponytail and her scrubs on backwards. Ino raises a perfect brow at the disheveled sight, a knowing smile on those pouty lips.

"You and Itachi totally fucked."

"Wha-" Hinatas eyes go wide, cheeks flaming. A large, pleased smile keeps creeping on her lips at the thought of their morning. "How can you tell, do I look that different?" Ino's finger hooks on Hinata's shirt, tugging at it.

"You're shirts on backwards, your hair's a mess, you're way too happy and," she taps at Hinata's neck, "You have a giant hickey." Hinata doesn't even have the nerve to look sheepish about showing up to work with a love bite. Actually, she pets the spot, happy. There's no way Itachi didn't do it on purpose.

Said Uchiha comes during her lunch break, Ino whistling at him when he shows up. He nods in greeting. The blonde points to where you headed off to and Itachi says his gratitude. He finds her at a vending machine, waiting for a coffee. At the feeling of his Chakra, Hinata turns around and is met with her back against the machine, his lips on hers. With a quick sunshin they're in her office.

"You left too soon." He bites down on her bottom lip and she gasps.

"I was already late." She keens, wrapping her legs around his waist arching into him.

"Were you?" He humms, pleased. The asshole.

"And look what you did to me," She tilts her head, giving him a full view of the dark bruise blooming on her throat. "everyone saw. I've been getting teased all day." Long fingers ghost over the dark mark, pleasure churning in his gut at everyone knowing she's his.

"Why don't you get even." He smiles at her through those long, sultry lashes.

"I think I will," she humms, her lips going to his jugular. He likes everyone knowing he's hers even more.

Itachi finds himself on his knees, his forehead pressed to the ground in the most respectful bow he has had the displeasure of doing. He is posturing to Hinata's family. Her elders, her brother, her father in order to convince them he is the one most suitable to take her hand in marriage. To protect her, to continue her family lineage. He did not deserve to be an Uchiha, but perhaps he could earn his place as her Hyuga husband. They cannot refuse such an offer.

Before he gives the yes, Hiashi finally speaks. "Hinata is my eldest, my firstborn. What makes you think a man who slaughtered his family deserves to be with her." Itachi doesn't flinch, the vitriol is expected and he deserves a lot more than he has been given.

"I don't. There is nobody quite like your daughter. I would be a foolish man to forsake the love she has given me. I do not take that lightly. The rest of my life will be spent earning what she has freely given me." The genuineness of his words appeases Hiashi. The engagement is approved. All that's left is to ask Hinata.

Hinata is the happiest she has ever been. The world is in an era of peace, her friends are alive, Neji is thriving, Hanabi is free, and she gets to go on a date with her true, official boyfriend. Sure, they've been on many "dates" but they don't count since he was still being stupid.

The sun shines down on them, Hinata bouncing with each step. She holds tightly to Itachi. A radiant smile stretches across her cheeks her eyes glittering with adoration. Itachi is relaxed, a small smile constantly tugging at his lips. The civilians greet them, awing at the cute couple. They usually avoid Itachi, but the normally scary man looks much too cute with the woman babbling happily at his side.

"I'm gonna eat until I'm ready to pop," Hinata says. She pats her stomach for added emphasis. She could die right now, everything is so perfect.

"Glutton."

"You say that like you aren't going to eat an ungodly amount of Dango tonight."

"Touche." Itachi cannot imagine this is how beautiful his life has become. It feels surreal. He is grateful for Hinata every minute. While they eat their sugary treats, Itachi starts to bounce his knee. She looks down at the odd movements, he's nervous. She can't imagine what could be making the itachi Uchiha nervous. That is until he feeds her a dango, her teeth chomping down on something hard. She pulls the metal ring from her teeth and freezes.

"What the fuck, what the fuck." Her eyes shoot from the ring, to his face, back to the ring. "Is this real?"

Itachi takes the ring from her, holding it out to her. She's already crying, nodding her head yes before he can ask.

"My love, there is nobody else out there for me. It would be an honor to be your husband, to have you as my wife. Now and forever, I am yours. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, oh my god, yes." She kisses him, frosting on her face and all. Itachi thinks this might be the happiest moment of his life.

They have a spring wedding, cherry blossoms blooming all around them.

"I have been given a third chance at life because of you. Every breath I have left shall be used for your sake. My responsibility is to you. My mind, my body, my heart is yours now and forever my love." Itachi vows.

"You being here by my side, you choosing me is all I will ever need from you Itachi. I have always loved you with everything I have, and I promise to continue to do the same now and forever. I am yours as much as you are mine, my soul belongs to you. Thank you for giving us this chance at happiness." Hinata barely makes it through before she cries again. She's just so lucky, so happy, so blessed to have such a wonderful husband, such a wonderful life.

Hinata and Itachi have four kids. Two boys and two girls. When she gets pregnant the first time' she passes out, itachi having to take care of her. He's overprotective when she's pregnant, taking no missions and making sure her every craving is fulfilled.

The girls favor their father and the boys their mother in appearance and chakra. Their youngest chooses to be a florist, not a shinobi. And Hinata can't be more proud of the beautiful family they have created. Itachi is a wonderful father, patient and kind yet stern when needed. He is always there to change diapers and wipe away tears.

Thank you for joining me for this story. I have a few more endings planned, but alas the JJK brain rot has happened and in the middle of writing this I wrote like 15k words about what would happen if our hinata met the Satoru Gojo. LMK if y'all want me to post it :)

​​​​​​​I hope I've done itachi and Hinata justice with this chapter.