Forced Paths

Fireworks

There was a tension lurking under every movement in the house. And it was mostly her. He was as usual in his moderately irritated self but for her it was a feeling she couldn't shake. Every time she opened the door, a panic overcame her being and stood still for some minutes with eyes closed to search for any foreign sounds. If she returned late and he was there she jumped ever so slightly and her eyes wondered on the house for clues. In that days she walked firstly in her bedroom without any reason to, only to give a chance to whoever might be there to escape. She believed that after their fight and the way he angrily made his point, he wouldn't repeat the same mistake. And still she continued to feel uneasy. It was irrational for him to be angry, since he brought the woman to the house but she had learn by now that Sasuke was not a rational man. He would explode for things she could not understand and gave the impression she could not question further. And yet for other that seemed more important, he would accept them without second thought. They never talked again after that night about the source of her stress and the truth is, she was glad. It would only further her embarrassment, since only the thought of the image made her squizz her stomach. She wasn't used to people displaying affection, even more to be intimate like this. She knew that here things were different from home. She had seen on the streets people holding hands, a man offering a woman a flower, little gestures to show their closeness. But back at the Hyuga clan not even couples that had been married for years would behave like this. It was something secretive, almost a taboo, a moment that was meant to happen behind the closed doors of their house. She would not be sure that there was any intimacy even there, if she had not heard the maids whispering of words that was not meant for her ears. But Hinata was a ghost in that house, almost invisible to the eyes of the people around her if her father wasn't there. And as history tends to repeat itself, she was not seen as a whole person in here. Not if he was not with her. Unlike the woman that had come in their house. She probably had passed her on the streets in the past but as she was not familiar with her face before, she didn't remembered. Maybe the woman knew her even then and she observed her in her oblivion. Or she hid and looked her from afar the woman married to the man she desired. Hinata thought as the girl walked with grace on the busy street and men stopped to watched her beauty, women bowed to her when she slightly nodded with a passing blink of her eyes, if she loved her husband. Sasuke had said that love wasn't a feeling meant from the people he didn't share the same blood as him. Maybe the woman didn't share this belief. She imagined her crying in despair as he was leaving to marry another woman. She feared that she hated her, even if she knew that it wasn't her fault. In that possibility she began to quickly walk away from the girl with the pink hair, everytime her eyes caught her presence. And she wasn't someone that could be ignored. She was tall, taller than her anyway, her hair so unique as the spring had touched them, her slender figure matching the silks that covered it. She hid and looked away in the fear that their gazes would be met. Her worry became a reality the day they met face to face and she looked at the emerald eyes with no way to hide. She bowed nervously not able to break the contact and she watched the woman nodding her head to the left and forming a smile. She responded with a smile of her own only for the girl to bypass her as if she was never there. She sullen on the interaction but as the day of the festival was closing the work she had to do was piling up. She focused on that to keep her mind busy. Around noon Izumi came like she did everyday to take her for a break. She was grateful for her company but there was a part of her that suspected it was more of an obligation. They walked to the shade one of the few trees offered and Izumi had claimed it was their spot. Sometimes Shisui came to say some greetings only to leave quickly afterwards. The girl had told her that he was busy with clan matters as his father was a general under the head. He was old as Shisui was a late child and if conflict broke he was in no position to fight. So his son was trained under his guidance to be able to fulfill a duty he might not be able to perform.
The girl took a bite of her food and shot a side glance to her. Hinata hoped that she didn't seem too distracted by the morning incident so that the woman had noticed and asked about.
"So is Sasuke coming to the festival?" She asked making Hinata turned to her.
"He never comes not even with his parents." She added.
Hinata found it odd since it was a festival dedicated to the fallen. It was a way to honour his brother and pray for his soul that had left this world.
"I don't know." She answered truthfully but quickly regretted. He was her husband so if anyone she should be the one that knew.
"Did you ask him?" Izumi said without a worry about her little panic.
"I haven't had the chance. He is too busy." It was a safe way to answer. Everyone knew that he was and even if he didn't came she could blame it on his busy schedule.
"Ask him. He should accompany you." The girl sounded more strict than before. "Since he decided to be married he should fulfill his duties."
Hinata wanted to say that it wasn't a decision he wanted, no more than her. And that it was unfair to be judged by that. But she just nodded not wanting to lie anymore since the truth was too risky.
"Will you come Izumi-sun?" She drifted the conversation away.
"Yes of course." The woman eagerly nodded. "I come every year. It has a mystical atmosphere as if the souls coming back only for this day to participate too. The candles burning in the evening, the smells, the chanting of the women. I love everything." Her eyes sparkled. "But my favourite part is the fireworks at the end. There are a few and they serve to guide the souls back to the sky. It's out of this world. You will see." She stopped. "You and Sasuke." She added to point at Hinata that she didn't forget it.
Hinata smiled and once again questioned the girl in another attempt to make her drop the subject.
"Will you come with someone too?"
The mole under her eye moved as her excited smile from before disappeared.
"Yes." She said in a monolectic answer.
She didn't miss the change in her attitude but she didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking more questions about it. She frowned as she was thinking how to proceed.
"Don't worry. It doesn't suit that cute face of yours." Izumi rescued her. "It's just that... Unlike Shisui and Itachi, my parents aren't wealthy. My father has a tiny rice field and my mother used to work as a maid. They haven't have much and they want me to marry well. They always say that they are thankful that I'm pretty because they don't have more to offer for a suitable candidate. They worry since most girls my age have already been married or at least engaged. So..." She looked at the cloudless sky above them.
"Do they have something arranged for you?" Hinata said with a soft voice understanding the dispaire all too well.
"Yes. Not an engagement or something like that. There is a guy who's mother knows mine and he is interested to find a wife, but he is shy as I heard and his mother arranged a date with mine. I could decline of course but I didn't want to hurt my parents. So I will go. Maybe I will like him." She sighed like she didn't believe the last part.
Hinata inhaled the air around her. At least she could decline.