It was not often that they fought. Unlike most siblings Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha had an overabundance of brains between them and fighting was beneath their faculties. Instead Sasuke preferred to seeth, plotting ways in which to make his brother sigh and roll his eyes which was the equivalent of losing his temper.

Itachi mostly did it for show. It allowed the problem to pass by more quickly and peace to be restored.  

“She cannot stay here.” Sasuke whispered as they walked rapidly down the hall. On either side the windows their mother had acquired last made them feel as though they were half outside. The grounds had been sprinkled in a confetti of branches and wayward leaves, bits of evergreen ripped from trees. The storm had been a furious one and it had left it’s mark. Already the gardeners were out and about, raking up the chaos.

Itachi adjusted the sleeves of his blazer and shirt, opening the door for his brother before entering the foyer himself.

“Where do you propose she go?”

“Home.” Sasuke threw it like a rock and regretted it much like he would have regretted breaking a window. Closing his eyes he waited for his brother’s reprimand. A thing he waited for often, but rarely felt the sting of.

With only their steps to echo in the foyer he rolled his eyes to look at Itachi who was frowning only slightly at the floor as he walked, his silence more telling than anything else he could have done.

“Fine, perhaps home would not be the best place.”

“Would you be agreeable to marrying a cousin?” The question was unforeseen and Sasuke’s face crinkled with displeasure.

“We have no female cousins.”

“How about a sister?” Itachi continued, shoving his hands into his pockets which to most people would seem like a calm subtle movement but for Sasuke was a signal that he was clenching his fists. The twist of Sasuke’s lips said enough in response and Itachi nodded. “Of course not. There is a reason it happens so rarely now.”

“It is not our business.” Sasuke put in finally, stopping before the entrance to the dining room where his father was likely having his midday meal and waiting impatiently to speak to his sons.

“It would appear it is, since she is in your room right now.” Itachi tilted his head at his brother, waiting for him to see reason.

And of course he did. Sending her home, giving her back did not seem a viable option for not only would there be consequences for her there would also be for both of them. No young lady of her station should spend time unaccompanied with two young men. It was unseemly.

The image of Mikoto and Fugaku’s faces at the revelation of what their sons were up to made his stomach twist experimentally inside his torso, as though contemplating how to invert itself.

“She is trouble of the most catastrophic kind and I do not appreciate her presence.” Sasuke snapped, shoving a finger into Itachi’s shoulder for emphasis. “I do not appreciate it.”

Itachi smiled, hearing the silent agreement to tolerate the situation as he opened the door and stepped through.

Fugaku was indeed waiting. His plate had been cleared. A saucer sat ignored beside him, and a newspaper spread out on the table top. On either side of him two place settings sat pristine and ignored.

There was a tension in the air that only their father was capable of infusing into oxygen. A sort of melodramatic electricity that made the hair on the back of their necks and arms rise on end. If they had known they had the same frightening ability perhaps both boys would have been less rebuffed by it but not having had much course to use it they swallowed and slid into their respective seats as quietly as possible.

“Father.” Itachi began, smiling at the server who politely began placing tiny sandwiches of varying kinds on his plate. “Good…afternoon, I suppose it is now.”

“Yes.” Fugaku nodded, eyes still trained on his paper and coffee sitting ignored by his side. “Nearly late afternoon.”

Sasuke watched as Itachi shifted the food on his plate with his fork carefully. A move which meant he was searching for the proper way to go about entering into the conversation that would soothe their father into calmness.

Of all the people Itachi wooed with ease their father was the one Sasuke had been able to detect he struggled with the most. It amused him as much as worried him for everyone loved his brother, and only his father seemed capable of feeling anything other than affection for him.

Strangely Fugaku made the most sense to Sasuke. He was a man of simple needs. He wanted his wife happy, he wanted his sons respectful and strong, he wanted his family heritage preserved.

So Sasuke spoke, “I made a mistake last night.”

His father looked up, eyes unreadable but interested enough for Sasuke to continue. “I had wanted to see if perhaps Chidori would be difficult to manage in the storm.”

“Some of the staff mentioned there were signs that you had both left the house during the night.” Fugaku replied in encouragement. Itachi watched as still as a bird facing a cat, eyes flashing from his brother to his father.

“Yes, my attempts to clean up my mess were less than satisfactory, unfortunately.” Sasuke admitted, stirring the soup in his bowl slowly before taking a sip. “I was hoping for a bit of a fight for the reigns but Chidori was hardly fazed by the storm. We got wet and muddy and a bit out of breath but nothing as exciting as I hoped.”

“Hm.” Fugaku hummed, leaning back to place a hand on his coffee. The shift of the liquid within the teacup wafted with the scent of roasted coffee beans and the underlying tang of liquor. Fugaku’s face softened minutely into a contemplative mask.

. “I did want to ask you how I should go about speaking to the stable hands.” Sasuke continued, watching Itachi’s brows pull together with displeasure. Cooly, he ignored it.

“The stable hands?” Fugaku’s face was placid and smooth. “About?”

“Well, I was able to sneak into the stables, saddle and ready Chidori and take him out without so much as one of them stirring in the loft. I thought that the reason we housed them was for the safety of our horses. Had I been a thief-”

“Perhaps they did see you.” Itachi put in sharply, his fork clattering to the plate. “Perhaps they saw you and felt it best to let the son of the house go about his business without disturbing your privacy.”

Fugaku glanced at Itachi but focused once more on Sasuke after a pause.

“Itachi, make sure to ask if they saw anything. Based on that reply Sasuke will know if he needs to approach the stable hands with his concern, think you not?”

“Certainly, Father. A good solution.” Itachi nodded, while Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“Must have been some sport being out in that gale though.” Fugaku put in more lightly in the quiet and Sasuke smirked, remembering the flash of lightning that tossed Chidori to his back legs.

With it came the memory of Hinata’s small arms snapping around him tight, her breath hot on the back of his neck as she cried out.

Blinking rapidly to clear the image from his mind Sasuke nodded. “Yes, it was most interesting, for a short time.”

“I appreciate that you had the sense not to go out into it, despite the temptation.” Fugaku sipped at his coffee, watching Itachi over the rim as he ate. “Your Mother tells me you are ill again.”

“I did not think getting soaking wet sounded all that amusing, honestly.” Itachi soothed. “And I am fine. You know how Mother worries.”

The rest of the lunch was had in relative silence while Sasuke and Itachi spoke with their eyes.

“Did you get anything?”

Itachi nodded, lifting the cloth napkin he had pilfered from dinner and stuffed with the last of the biscuits and cheese from lunch when the maid had dashed to the kitchen at his request for tea. “You?”

Sasuke shrugged. “It is more difficult in the kitchen with all those eyes but I said I was likely to need something since I missed breakfast and the cook said she would send a tray to my room.”

“It has been the most difficult part.” Itachi admitted glancing back over his shoulder down the hall to check they were not being watched or followed. “I never realized how little I interacted with food until I needed to feed someone other than myself.”

“Until you needed to steal it, you mean?” Sasuke grumbled. His mood had not lifted despite the meal. Still in knots his insides fluttered and danced in ways he was not accustomed to. At the sight of his bedroom door he winced, noting the muddy mess he had smeared all over the stone in an attempt to hide his tracks. There would be more maids later to clean that up.

Too many eyes. Too many windows in their house.

Together they paused at the door, and feeling strange Sasuke knocked.

“Hinata?” Itachi called. “May we come in?”

The door was flung open only a second later and the brothers slipped inside to find HInata hiding behind it, eyes wide and shoulders tense nearly to her ears. There was mud on her face still. Her hair had dried in a disarray and in Sasuke’s clothes she looked the beggar for sure.

Still, Itachi grinned at the sight of her, pressing a hand to her head. “A bath is in order, I think. You must miss those.”

Flushing a red that threatened to pop the vessels in her cheeks the girl stuttered and stammered through what might have been an apology for her general appearance although Sasuke stopped paying attention halfway through her attempt to speak.

“I pilfered some breakfast.” Itachi explained, spreading out the napkin on Sasuke’s desk. “Sasuke was more clever and will have something warmer for you later. He requested a tray in a bit.”

“Oh… thank you. I… I’m so sorry.” Hinata began again, snatching a biscuit to nibble on before she lost her nerve. Flopped on his bed Sasuke watched as she tucked her ridiculous mane behind her ears as best she could with nervous fingers.

Everything about the girl was nervous. Her eyes never settled, her nibbles were squirrely and her shoulders tight. He frowned slightly and caught the look Itachi was giving him.

“So. How did you end up in this mess?” He crossed his arms, leaning back on his pillows.

Hinata swallowed hard, picking at bits of biscuit with her fingers. “Neji told me about Naruto.”

Itachi sat at the edge of the bed then, interested in the fact that she was now willing to talk about how she had come to be at their property at all. Weeks they had gone through together, sneaking about and surviving in hiding but never had she felt like sharing her reason for ending there, at the door of the Uchiha home.

The only thing that Itachi had known for sure was that she could not go back to where she once belonged and that he could not let her stay out in the rain.

“Naruto?” Sasuke’s frown deepend.

“Neji goes to the same school as Shisui, I believe. The same school Naruto attends.” Hinata swallowed dryly. “He told me about how you both helped him…and I… I thought…”

“Hinata.” Itachi whispered, drawing her eyes up to him. “Did Neji send you here?”

Blood, brilliant in her pale face rose so her freckles lit bright and her eyes clenched shut. “N-no!” The lie was strangled and shamed she hid her face in her hands. “No… I don’t… I don’t think he…not on purpose. Not directly.”

“But he knew you would consider it.” Sasuke snarled. Suddenly Neji’s face was clear in his mind. The similarity to his cousin was only vague but he remembered him now. Tall and arrogant as all Hyuuga were prone to be, he had introduced himself icily at the school when Itachi and Sasuke had gone with Shisui to get a tour.

“It was clever. If asked he would not be able to say with any certainty where she was but he offered her the best chance he knew of. We did not expose Naruto and we did set him up with a better living situation.” Itachi shrugged. “Perhaps he thought we would be compassionate.”

“You.” Sasuke muttered. “He thought you would be compassionate.”

Itachi smirked. “True. You did give Naruto a black eye.”

Hinata lifted her head with a snap and Sasuke bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile. “I am not going to punch you.”

Pressing her lips into a very thin line the girl shakily stared back, a thing he noted must have taken much effort.

“No, he is not. Eat, Hinata. You’ve barely had anything for days. You should have a bath after and hopefully more food will be on the way. Meanwhile we have to go on a mission.” Itachi rubbed his hands together as he turned to his brother.

“A mission?” Hinata took the words right out of Sasuke’s mouth.

“To find you clothes that actually suit you.” He waved a hand at the oversized pajamas she was still in.

“No.” Sasuke snapped, shoving himself to his feet abruptly. “No. I am not going to steal from Mother.”

“It’s not stealing, it’s borrowing. And anyway.” Itachi waved a hand. “She has things from before she was married, things that would fit Hinata. She cannot be left in those pajamas. It’s ridiculous.”

“No.” Sasuke continued stubbornly.

And he kept saying it even after they were walking down the hall in the direction of his parents private chambers.

“Say,” Itachi submitted after listening to Sasuke ranting about how much he despised their current situation. “If I asked you to help me bury a body…?”

“If you are trying to be humorous,” Sasuke grumbled, avoiding making eye contact with a passing maid as they traversed the wide shining floor of the Main entrance. “, you are failing miserably.”

Itachi’s smile was restrained enough that it did not draw any unnecessary attention. “Well, I’m certainly enjoying myself.”

It was with contempt that Sasuke placed the items they had pilfered from their mother’s closets on his own bed. Never in his life would he have imagined a time when his bed, still disastrous and unturned would be covered in women’s clothing.

Itachi seemed entirely at ease with the quest they had undergone and successfully returned from. There were a handful of skirts of a fashion that he thought would suit their charge. There were blouses, and jumpers, shawls and boots. Of undergarments they had found they could neither of them dare a hand and so that was rather lacking.  The idea of taking Hinata to their mother’s closet and having her pick these things out was quickly put aside even as it bloomed inside their heads at the same time.

Sasuke thought that likely the concept would make the girl faint. Itachi thought that he would be unable to pronounce the word ‘undergarment’ before Hinata at all.

With a sheepish knock on the bathing room door and a stilted explanation of what awaited her in Sasuke’s room should she wish to come out to inspect it, Itachi stressed how he and Sasuke would be in his own room waiting for her before rushing away.

Sitting rather impatiently together in his chambers the brothers glanced at each other on and off as they pretended to read or write as Itachi was doing.

“It has been some time.” Sasuke finally put forth, snapping his book closed.

Itachi who had been trying to focus on the page in front of him but had only managed to splotch it with dripped ink from his pen sat up.

“Yes but I daresay I don’t know how long it takes a girl to dress.”

His neck brightened to redness that Sasuke found amusing enough to smirk at widely and leaning back in the chair he had been occupying by the fire he let out a soft bark of a noise that might have been a chuckle.

“Nearly twenty years and still flushing at the concept of a girl dressing?” He dared, catching the sharp look his brother threw at him with another teasing smile. “You have been with her alone for weeks, are you not madly in love with her?”

Itachi did not smile as he had expected, but turned back to the page before him with a frown that was unusual for his smooth young face. “No, I am not. She needed help. Is that the only reason you would believe I would reach out to her?”

“You have not told me the circumstances.” Sasuke replied a little more seriously, feeling the chaffing of Itachi’s hurt feelings. “I was just jesting, anyway.”

“It was pouring. Do you remember? It had been pouring for days.”

Still, so as to better listen, Sasuke watched his brother gazing at the door which Hinata would hopefully be crossing soon.

“She was just on the street, just a little shape straight and stiff in the cold and I could not fathom leaving her there.” He blinked slowly and Sasuke could tell from the faded glaze of his gaze that he was back there in the moment. He was feeling the heat of the fire in the sitting room, the coolness of the storm outside sighing through the glass window and in the distance just clear enough for him to see through the gates of the property a shape, soaking wet in the growing dark.

“You know how Mother and especially Father are.” Itachi whispered. “Well meaning but obstinate and I just thought… if this girl- this person comes with trouble that is of an unusual kind she will not find any help here. Not by normal means.”

“What a strange thing you are.” Sasuke interrupted, drawing his brother from the story to look at him. Frowning only slightly Sasuke shook his head. “Who else thinks of such things? I certainly would not have.”

“Of course not.” Itachi’s remark was filled with knowing and Sasuke paused in realization. That, and only that reason was why his brother had said nothing. It was why he had lied.

“So,” He prompted, to steer his thoughts and his brother from the concept that Sasuke was like his parents while Itachi, perfect esteemed Itachi was not. “You found her out there.”

“She hardly spoke the first day, but when I asked her if there was anyone I could call to aid her she was adamant there was no one. I knew that was not true, of course.” Itachi shook his head as he thought, rubbing at his bottom lip with his thumb. “Her eyes tell a story of her origin that she cannot deny. She was so cold, and drenched. Bringing her inside was not an option as you were waiting and I had no plan. So, I saddled Susanoo and we made for the guest house.”

“And you managed to get yourself bronchitis.” Sasuke put in irritably.

“I had a bit of a cold before that.” Itachi waved away his frustration with a flap of his hand. “It is not her fault.”

“Well, if I am suddenly ill due to the exploits of the previous night I will certainly blame her.” Sasuke snapped, crossing his arms stubbornly. “I will let her know it too.”

“Sasuke, if I did not know any better I would say you are jealous.” Itachi smiled wide, watching with growing delight as his brother’s cheeks darkened to a pink hue. “Now, the question is; are you jealous because I have got to spend time privately with a pretty girl or because the pretty girl is taking your older brother’s attentions for herself?”

“You are ridiculous.” Sasuke snarled, shoving himself to his feet. “Utterly ridiculous.”

“H..hello?”

The boys froze at the sound of her voice through the crack in the door and it occurred to them both at the same time that they had no way of knowing how long she had been standing there, listening.

With that knowledge in their heads there was no avoiding her entrance to find two very red faced uncomfortable Uchiha blinking at her in surprise.

She had found a black ankle long skirt of a thick sturdy and dependable material that cinched at her waist with a belt over a white blouse that buttoned to her collarbone. With her hair braided tightly out of her face they could see that indeed she was from a high born family.

Out of the oversized clothing of before her movements were hesitant but graceful. Certainly she seemed less scared and more uncertain. Carefully smoothing the skirt with her hands she leaned on the door to close it, looking back and forth worriedly.

“I…I’m sorry… did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” Itachi managed first, his words half laugh. “You look refreshed! Are you feeling alright? You were in the rain for some time again last night.”

“I am fine.” Hinata nodded, eyes dancing to Sasuke who flopped himself back into his chair with book in hand, looking bored despite the red sheen on his cheeks.

“Great, we can do some planning now.” Itachi smiled, swiping the papers on his desk away before picking up a roll of parchment from the shelving above.

“Planning?” Hinata and Sasuke asked together before glancing at each other. Annoyed was Sasuke’s expression and Hinata’s surprise was quickly wiped away by sheepishness.

“Yes.” Itachi spread the soft roll of paper out. “You cannot stay in that shoddy old shack in the woods. One more good storm and it might come down. You could fall through a rotten bit of landing and we would not know about it until one of us got to check on you which is unreliable. You will have to stay here.”

“Here?” Sasuke was the one to gasp this time, although Hinata’s round mouth displayed her shock with equal measure. “Among the servants and our parents?”

“Yes, hence the planning.” Dipping into the inkwell Itachi tucked into his desk. “We know our own schedules. Now what we need is the schedules of everyone else in the house. It will be an enormous game of chess. All we have to do is keep Hinata away from everyone. We know all the tricks of getting in and out of the house unnoticed.”

“At night, when everyone is sleeping.” Sasuke shook his head. “Not during the day.”

“Consider it a challenge.”

“You plan on doing this for how long? Eventually the Hyuuga are going to come knocking. They are probably in an uproar looking for their heiress even now.”

“I plan on doing this for as long as we need to figure out a solution.” Itachi was intent on his parchment where a calendar was being drawn with both their fencing lessons, riding practice, tutor appointments being slotted through each day.

“A solution?” Sasuke had stood once more, throwing the book he was unlikely to read back onto the chair. “A solution for what?”

“For what?” Itachi looked up at him quizzically, surprised by the absurdity of the question. Hinata watched in silence as the two young men studied each other, speaking in rapid fire through their stares.

You cannot do this. Even for you this is too much. She is their heiress, it is their family. Her marriage is their decision and you cannot hope to intervene and come out on the other side alive.

Itachi let out a long breath and straightened. “Hinata?”

Surprised to even be addressed despite being the topic of discussion the girl turned to him, hands clenched at her sides.

“What would you do if we were to hand you back to your family? Would  you marry your cousin?”

Sasuke turned to watch as she closed her eyes, lowered her head and absorbed the pain that exploded in her chest, burning hot and vivid as her heart beat.

They listened together to her quiet breaths, the slow forceful way she threaded her will through the air to make herself calm enough to speak.

“This….I feel so strongly that this is not something you, either of you, should endure. I was not thinking when I came here. I am so very sorry and I-”

“Hinata.” Itachi interrupted softly. “What would you do?”

Fists clenching rhythmically at her sides she looked out the window to the brightness of the blue sky now clear of clouds and thunder. So strange it was to gaze at such possibility of beauty and joy when inside nothing but the roiling darkness of the storm still raged.

“I would die.” There was no stutter as she whispered, picturing her cousin’s face. Kind as he was, Neji was her brother. Some things simply could not be endured.

“I would die, one way or the other.”

Turning her gray eyes, intending to plead forgiveness from Itachi she felt herself snagged by Sasuke’s undiluted stare.

There was no animosity in it, neither was there gentleness. Flat and unrelenting he examined her and caught by surprise she let him.

Whatever he searched for he must have found. Flexing his jaw tightly for a moment before turning away he sighed grudgingly at his brother.

“What did you have in mind?”