The shiver through his spine rankled to his hips where he sat on Chidori’s back. The gelding shied from the thunder only slightly. Beneath his hoofs mud splattered and made wet sucking noises hardly audible over the pounding of the rain.

It was not fear that drew his silence and his hesitation however. Being an Uchiha there were few things he feared. Still, the guest house, long abandoned on the outskirts of their large property was much like a thing from a horrible tale.

It sat hunched against the rain, with shutters drawn in places and the porch dark. Sharp points of brick and mortar rose on the roof in shadows that he recognized as chimney tops though none puffed with smoke.

It had been a cold and miserable ride to the guest house. Over an hour he had struggled with Chidori through the fray and more than once had had to tame the beast down when the lightning screamed.

Less fear and more rancor made the gelding rise on back legs, teeth working at the bit with a sort of passion rarely seen in horses. He wanted to fight the rain, the wind, the lightning and thunder. It was one of the things Sasuke loved the most about Chidori. Nothing but his own shadow seemed to give him pause.

Letting out a heavy breath he dismounted. Patting his horse’s neck with a gloved hand before tying him to the bannister of the front steps.

The guest house shook at the boom of more thunder, and he watched with growing trepidation as shutters long broken by time danced in the frolicking wind, slamming and banging against the outer walls of the house he thought had once been painted white.

He could just imagine the racket. It would be shaking the entirety of the building inside. What chaos the girl must be enduring. There would be no sleeping in such a gale. The house itself would be mourning the beating it was receiving and with all it’s moaning and groaning the single solitary occupant would surely be frayed at the nerves.

There was no point in knocking and so he pushed inside through the complaining door into the darkness of the entryway.

Once the guest house had been a place of summer holiday. Behind it a well stocked lake, framed by lilies and long curtained weeping willows gathered warm drafts to sweep up onto its banks.

Long ago before his own father’s time it would have been a lovely thing to visit the guest house. Here picnics would have been had in the sunshine and late night bonfires with hot tea and roasted apples would have welcomed the night.

Those days were past, however. The house was not just decrepit, it was senile. Inside he listened to the festering drip drip of raindrops having found their way in and the shudder and shake of the house’s bones.

Wall paper peeled in curly cues from the walls and the flash of lightning lit a spotted mirror at the end of the hall where his shadow loomed frightening and large.

Drawing a breath he hurried towards the stairs, skipping over the bits of hollow ground where the floorboards had caved and only dank air and blackness had replaced them.

Each step creaked and protested his weight and more than once he wondered that he did not die right there on the stairwell before reaching the landing where the only light and warmth in the entirety of the house beckoned.

He almost rushed forward, feeling the itch of the eerie on the back of his neck and the urge to inspect his surroundings lest a ghoul jump to take him from the shadows.

But he had the happy luck to have receptive ears and he paused at the sound not of rain or of thunder but of a voice small and calm, melting through the cracks of the door frame like the butter yellow light.

“Sleep my child and peace attend thee,

All through the night

Guardian angels God will send thee,

All through the night

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping

Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,

I my loving vigil keeping

All through the night.”

It was not the voice of an angel, though it sang with the sort of confidence that came from thinking one is alone. It was the emotion in the words that really gave him pause. There was an earnest honesty that was delivered with the melody and only when she drew a deep breath did he move to peer through the crack of the door and the frame.

The room was lit by a single oil lamp sitting on the middle of a wooden floor. A ratty old carpet had clearly been there recently as the stain of it’s reddish coloring had marked the floorboards in a giant dusty square and in the background among the shadows the roll of the rejected carpet sat in a haphazard pile.

By the light, with arms wrapped tightly around their knees a small body sat. Sasuke was puzzled by the sight for though it was clearly a young woman’s voice he had just heard there was a boy sitting there. Trousers and a shirt that fit poorly covered his curved back and boots clearly too big were adjusted by small hands. A hat sat on the small head where it lay on his folded arms.

Curious and a vexed Sasuke pushed through the door, making the hinge ring an alarm that had the boy scrambling to his feet so fast he knocked the lamp over.

The darkness bloomed for a moment before the fire surged to fight it. Oil and heat exploded where the glass had cracked and Sasuke cursed sharply as he moved to stomp the flame that rose so readily on the dry abandoned wood.

The boy gave a cry, high pitched and startled before reaching for the abandoned carpet and chucking it over the entire mess nearly knocking Sasuke over in the process. It was a heavy piece of fabric and made heavier by the moldy damp that had so clearly been the reason for its rejection

Grunting, the younger Uchiha stepped back to watch the boy stomp hard on the carpet and lamp mound. Smoke and the stench of burning wood and moldy fabric permeated the dark.

“Itachi, y…you gave me a fright.”

Sasuke whirled at the sound, at the voice and the words.

The boy who was not a boy lifted his head from where he stood catching his breath with hands on his knees. The glare of lightning flashed through the window pane and kicked the air from Sasuke’s lungs.

Her face was delicate, a small nose, a smattering of perfectly placed freckles, full lips and wide eyes of a gray so pale they could only be from one family tree.

She took in his face at the same time he took in her own and the shock was almost as great. Stepping back as though stung, she worked her mouth though no sound came forth.

“Who are you?”

They gasped the sentence together and her flinch was as strong as his wince. Unsettled, Sasuke studied her panicked gaze some more. Dubiously he wondered at his uncontested faith in his brother and the possibility that it was madness.

Her voice had abandoned her, it was clear from her gasping breaths and so he ground out, “I am Sasuke Uchiha. Itachi sent me.”

Her eyes, already impossibly large widened at his name. “His…you are his brother.”

“And you?” He frowned in response to her soft expression, annoyed with the familiarity that she used to address any thought of his older sibling. “Who are you?”

The girl swallowed again, as though the name clawed inside her throat to stay from her mouth.

“I am Hinata.” She rubbed her hands lightly on the baggy trousers hugging her hips, her fingers fiddling with the hem of the long button down shirt hanging off her shoulders awkwardly. “Hinata Hyuuga.”

Two things occurred which caused Sasuke an unfair amount of feelings for a young man who was rather uncomfortable with such things.

One was that he realized she was wearing his old clothes, probably ransacked from the back of his closet by his treacherous older brother when he was not looking.

The second was that this girl, wearing his clothes was the daughter of another prestigious family. A powerful, large family who had been bickering on and off with his family for so long it was almost an affectionate sort of spite they now held for each other.

Almost.

It would certainly get less affectionate the moment they realized where she was.

“Oh Itachi.” Sasuke closed his eyes and hung his head for a moment to brace himself against the headache searing through his brain.

“What have you done?”

---

Her attempts to convince him that this was not Itachi’s fault were as surprising as her reluctance to hold on to him as they rode.

There was evidence of a rider in her simply from the way she settled in the saddle behind him. She was cloaked in his jacket for he had not thought to bring another, a thing he was most vexed by considering the downpour and the task his brother had appointed him.

“Please,” She half yelled into his ear against the rage of the storm they were fighting to return to the Uchiha house. “I have been a most horrible imposition on your brother. Please do not hold it against him.”

“Hold what against him? The fact he has been lying to me all along or the fact that he’s likely started a feud by housing you?” Sasuke strained to look at her over his shoulder. The hat she wore had been knocked off. Her hair fell in a mess of darkness along her face, black as oil in contrast with her skin.

Chidori skipped uneasily beneath them and Hinata balked, distracted from replying as the gelding side stepped what looked remarkably like a snake among the grass in the shadows.

Focusing once more on the lead Sasuke patted the horse’s neck. “Easy, boy. It’s a branch for heaven’s sake.”

Another flash of lightning screeched across the sky. There was no time to count between it and the thunder anymore. They rumbled and rolled together, making the very earth beneath them seem to tremble. This was a war the sky was fighting with the earth. Sasuke clicked his tongue and urged Chidori faster through the mud, his mind heavy with the possibility that they would be collateral damage in the battle.

The next roar of thunder startled Chidori properly. He reared low, tossing his head so Sasuke had to fight for control and behind him Hinata cried out, finally grabbing hold of his waist in a desperate attempt to stay seated.

“Easy.” Sasuke growled, clenching his teeth against the massiveness of Chidori’s bulk. The gelding wanted to spring. All the muscles of his body poised to run as was his breeding. There was danger for them here, in the thickness of the wood with the skeletal trees all reaching for the electric bolts above, taunting the heavens with their height.

“Can you ride well?” Sasuke cried over the rainfall, unable to deviate his attention from the reins and Chidori’s snarling fight with the bit.

“I…I yes. But I.. I’m sorry I will have to hold on and- ah!” Hinata screamed as Sasuke let the animal have his way. Nearly torn from their own skins they held on for dear life as the beast, finally free tore a path through the fray.

They were a sore and messy pair skulking through the dark of the Uchiha house. Dripping mud and rain, pungent with ash and smoke they snuck through the back door where deliveries were made and up a winding stairwell pitch black with night.

No amount of windows would be of help with no moon to shine her light. After the third soft grunt from Hinata tripping over the uneven twisting steps of the spiral staircase Sasuke grabbed her arm and urged her on blindly.

He knew the steps like he knew his own face. Any amusement to be had in the house had to be snuck. That often meant wanderings to look at the stars on hot summer nights or pre-dawn pillaging of the kitchens.

Itachi had taught him all the secrets. When the servants slept and when they rose. What door creaked loud enough to wake the dogs. Which window never sealed properly and could be opened from the outdoors.

Using all this ingenuity the younger Uchiha brought his charge to their bedroom corridor. Thankfully on a completely separate wing from their parents sleeping. Still out breath and sore from the wild ride they scrambled through the dark and past the doorframe.

The heat of the fire hit them like a hot breath. With a sniff and heavy sigh Hinata leaned against the door, shoulders drooping with clear exhaustion.

Itachi had fallen asleep on Sasuke’s bed and although she moved towards him at the sight of the familiar face the press of her cold fingers to her lips signalled her realization not to speak.

Peeling the wet sweater off his body Sasuke watched, a frown so deep it seemed permanent on his forehead.

“He would have gone for you himself, I am sure.” The displeasure was clear in his voice as he rummaged in his wardrobe, throwing items on the chair beside it with frustrated movements. “And I still would have been in the dark, but for the fact he has a fever and has taken ill again.”

“He seems very warm.” Hinata admitted in a whisper to match her host’s. Itachi’s cheeks were pink and although at first she would have said it was the inferno of the fire it became clear that something rattled in his chest with every breath.

“I cannot imagine that riding out to see you every day did much to improve his health.” He would have slammed the wardrobe door but for the fact that his brother slept on, undisturbed by their presence. Instead, with a lot of effort he closed it gently before turning to face her.

Hinata swallowed hard at his piercing glare, hugging her body self consciously. “I…I am so very sorry-”

“Stop.” He lifted a handful of clothes in his hand. “I do not want to hear it. Tomorrow I will ask him what the meaning of all this is. Until then take this, the room right across the hall is Itachi’s. No one will disturb you.”

Head bowed, Hinata received the items offered in silence and slid from the room. In her wake a trail of rainwater and mud glistened.

Sighing deeply Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. They had taken a rather long way to his bedroom and he realized now he was going to have to spend the rest of the night mopping all the floors.

“Madness.” He grumbled, shooting a look at his slumbering brother that softened despite his best intentions.

“Pure madness.”

---

They were under siege.

Waking as though barely escaping drowning the Uchiha brothers sat bolt up in Sasuke’s bed. Hair tousled, one flushed to redness by his lingering fever, the other blanching white at the sound of a monstrous thing attempting to take down his bedroom door.

“Where is my eldest? Where is my Itachi?”

Turning like mechanical dolls the boys edging on men looked each other in the eye and pronounced with varying degrees of worry, “Mother.”

“Sasuke, where is she?” Itachi gasped, shoving himself out of the bed as fast as his limbs would allow. It was significantly less quickly than his younger brother who had already thrown a robe over his pajamas and was tying it as he marched disheveled to the door. “At the door, evidently.” Sasuke snapped.

“Not Mother.” Itachi snapped, for once biting the sentence with impatience. Sasuke stiffened, realizing that if his mother had looked for Itachi in his bedroom then…

“We have a problem.”

“I might die.” Itachi explained calmly, attempting to keep his head. “I may very well never see you past this morning.”

Hissing with distaste Sasuke glared, shoving him back into the bed and tucking him in as they formulated a plan with no words. “If you do end up six feet under, I will be happy in the knowledge that it was not by my doing but by your own foolishness.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

Sasuke tried not to sneer too fiercely with disbelief.

“Where are my children?” Mikoto’s voice rose in panic and growing irritation. “Where have my offspring gone? Sasuke, why is this door locked?”

“Appear sickly.” Sasuke instructed with couple sharp slaps to Itachi’s cheeks in an effort to bring forth more of a flush.

Itachi gasped and flung him away. “Ouch. Stop that nonsense and open the door.”

“He’s here!” Sasuke yelled, marching over. The moment the latch was moved the door snapped and he sucked in a breath to dodge the blow that might have broken his nose.

“Why is this door locked?” Mikoto asked conversationally as though she had indeed not been attempting to knock it down by sheer force of will.

Sasuke blinked at her as though in surprise at the question. “I did not realize I did that. I apologize mother.”

“Itachi’s door was not locked.” She continued, waving away the apology she clearly detected as fib. “But why should it have been when he was not even in the room?”

Itachi lay limp on the pillows, letting out a long breath that rattled like paper crinkled in his lungs. “Forgive me, Mother for the fright. I was not feeling well and I ended up coming to seek Sasuke’s company.”

“It was unappreciated.” Sasuke threw in. “He kicks in his sleep.”

“I did not mean to fall asleep.” Itachi explained, moving as though to sit up in the bed.

“Oh my children.” Mikoto sighed, lacing a hand through Itachi’s hair and feeling the fever burn her finger tips.

A frown, real this time and not the exaggerated drama of before filtered through her face.

“You burn.”

“It is going down.” Itachi held her hand to dislodge it from his forehead. “I feel much better today.”

“Well, when neither of you came down for breakfast I thought surely something was wrong. And then one of the maids asked about the halls being left smeared with mud and a mop in use and I thought…” her eyes slid dark and beautiful but more importantly clever from one face to the other. “…my boys would not have dared to go out in the storm. My boys are wise and would have known not to cause their mother such anxieties. Am I not correct?”

There was a long pause in which Itachi looked at Sasuke and Sasuke looked at Itachi, both waiting for the other to assuage her fears. In a panic now that neither had said anything they both jumped in head first.

“Mother, of course not.”

“Did you actually think it was us?”

Attired in her usual simple black dress, well made and elegant in it’s simplicity Mikoto managed to conjure a picture of the Black Death as she looked from son to son.

“Speak.”

“I…wanted to ride out in the rain.” Sasuke threw in before Itachi could get a sound out of his open mouth.

“I took Chidori out and got extremely filthy I tried to clean it but evidently I am not as good a mopper as I am a rider.” He clenched his hands behind his back. “I am apologize Mother. I asked Itachi to stay in my room to be sure someone knew when I got back. When I found him asleep I did not want to wake him.”

It was unlike Sasuke to divulge so much conversation so early in the morning. Itachi stared with a sort of impressed shock from behind his mother’s turned back.

“Hm.” Mikoto rose, walking in the silence of the morn to plant a kiss on her youngest’s forehead before continuing out the door.

“If your Father finds out there will be…unrest. Best you bring it up yourself. In a way that he might find acceptable. Something about how you wanted to test yourself against the storm.” She threw over her shoulder.

“Well, that was the idea.” Sasuke replied, watching with mild amusement as she turned and gave him a knowing look. “Oh certainly.” She nodded. “Of course it was.”

And without another word, she closed the door.

They waited. Breath held to burning in their lungs and faces pinched until finally they could remain still no longer.

Throwing the blankets off and ripping the door open they scouted the hall and slipped together into Itachi’s room.

Light flooded the chamber in golden beams. The storm had beaten itself to silence by the time the sun began to rise and with the curtains parted the light turned the room into a glowing gold.

His bed was a mess of unmade covers and a pillow on the floor where he was certain he would not have left it.

“Hinata?” Itachi hissed, spinning in a circle to look for the girl. “Hinata where are you?”

Softly a muffled voice let out a whimper. “Is it… is she? Is she gone? Is it safe?”

Together the brothers glanced at each other and then crouched, peering beneath the bed where Hinata lay on her stomach, eyes wide and cat-like in the shadows.

“Yes.” Itachi let out a soft laugh, reaching a hand beneath. “Come on out. The floor is freezing.”

Shoving himself to his feet Sasuke stood with arms crossed, watching as the girl scrambled out and upon righting herself threw her arms around Itachi.

“You’re all right.” He soothed, rubbing her back. “She did not see you, yes?”

“All right.” Sasuke cut in before Hinata could give her shaky answer, drawing both their faces towards him with the seriousness of his tone. “What is this?” He waved a hand impatiently at them. “What is happening? I am now complicit. I deserve to know.”

Itachi glanced at Hinata then, watching as color and tears rose to her face in rapid succession. Staring at the floor, she pressed her fingers together before her, blinking hard to keep from crying.

“I would like to know also.” Itachi admitted, offering Sasuke a weak sigh as he rubbed Hinata’s back. “She has not told me.”

It took effort not to let his mouth fall open, but Sasuke managed it. Instead he closed his eyes, pressing two knuckles to his forehead. “Are you telling me that the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga has been living on our property for days and you do not even know why?”

“I…I ran.” Hinata offered shakily. “I ran from home.”

“Clearly.” Sasuke threw a glare her way, aware that although he had had few enough conversations with females this one was getting on his nerves in a way he had not thought possible. “But why did you-?”

“My mother died recently.” She offered then, and she swallowed. “I did not realize how much… I did not know that she…” wincing she drew a breath and forced her words to come.

“My father and uncle have intentions about the future of our family, and the division of our land had become a dispute.” She shivered. “They are twins.”

“Yes. I think I recall that.” Itachi murmured, brow furrowed. “But, Hinata what-?”

“They decided that to keep our estate whole…” she shuddered, and buried her face into her hands. “Neji.”

Jaw dropping open Itachi sucked in a long weary breath. “No.”

It took a moment for Sasuke to catch on. He had never cared for family politics and more importantly had never been interested in the politics of the ruling class in Konoha. The county was a mish mash of different kin all vying for more power or influence through merit, money or marriage.

Even his marriage was not important to him however. His parents would decide and hopefully the woman would be quiet enough to tolerate and not terribly ugly. It was all he really had to bother himself with.

So when he recalled with some effort that beside the two daughters there was also a cousin named Neji he let his brows rise.

“They wish for us to marry.” Her chin wobbled and Sasuke felt Itachi’s long enduring stare on his face, judging the look there for compassion.

Grudgingly Sasuke placed both hands on his hips, blinking hard through the surprise and disbelief. “All right.” He admitted after a moment, waving at Itachi with impatience. “You were right.”

Itachi did not smile with victory however, just rubbed Hinata’s back some more. “As I usually am.”