Regret
If that blond idiot didn't step a respectable distance away from his wife within the next ten seconds, then Itachi couldn't be held responsible for his actions. Cute little brother's best friend or not, there were limits to how close you could get to another man's woman without being kicked in the face. Especially if you were that woman's ex-love. Never mind that nothing ever blossomed between the two or that Hinata didn't encourage the light press of his fingers on her arm.
She'd confessed to him once upon a time.
And that was enough to make Itachi see red.
Though not nearly enough to crack his perfect mask. As he finally reached them, Itachi could feel his face actually becoming more stoic.
"Itachi," Hinata greeted immediately. Her eyes warm and her smile widening by the second.
Beside her, Naruto stiffened, his hand dropping immediately. If he was a lesser man, he would've smirked in triumph and made sure the blond saw it. Thankfully for everyone, he wasn't. Gloating—true gloating, without an undertone of teasing—was beyond him. Too inane for the Uchiha heir... and he doubted Hinata would appreciate it very much.
"Hinata," he replied, replacing his fingers where Naruto's had been not even three seconds before.
"I thought we were meeting in front of the Hokage's building."
"The meeting ended early." He shrugged.
"You didn't have to come all the way out here," she said, fingers brushing the bags under his eyes in worried disapproval. He needed rest. "If you're tired, you should've waited in the Jonin lounge until it was time for us to meet. I know Lord Sixth has been pushing you recently."
"I noticed your chakra," came the simple response. He didn't bother saying that he had also noticed Naruto's chakra and had gotten unduly worried over the thought of them being alone. Itachi figured it was transparent—to the blond anyway, since his eyes widened in realization.
"But still..." she trailed off.
Itachi's hand caught hers, effectively putting an end to her meddling. For now. "I wanted to see you, Hinata."
She looked away, the blush on her cheeks spreading all the way to her ears.
"I—I wanted to see you, too."
And just like that, any envy or anger that had been pooling in his stomach quickly diminished into nothing.
"If you'll excuse us then," Itachi said, glancing briefly at Naruto.
The Jinchuriki jumped at being suddenly addressed, before he nodded and gave a forced smile. "O—Of course. Sorry for keeping her!"
"She has nothing left for you to keep," he whispered to the blond, before pulling Hinata closer to his side. Louder, he told him, "I believe Sasuke is looking for you. He mentioned it after the meeting."
"Y—Yea." Naruto waved a hesitant hand, put off by the threat hiding somewhere in Itachi's perfectly even voice. Sasuke was terrifying when angry, but Itachi was a different league entirely. "I'll go see him then."
Itachi nodded, giving Hinata time to bow cordially, before leaving.
Requested: Naruto's POV
It was harder than Naruto ever could've imagined.
The bruises on his heart; while no longer as tender as they once had been, were still yellow and half-healed. And being forced to cut out the tender rotting pieces where his indigo-haired friend had made a home was just something he had trouble doing.
It was strange that it hurt, since she'd already migrated to another. Even stranger was the fact that he faltered over a romantic relationship that he'd thrown away—out of ignorance. Not out of any real problem with Hinata, herself.
Maybe that was the root of the problem.
They were over before they even had the chance to begin.
He just didn't know back then. He didn't see past the shyness or the grand family name that cemented her as a part of the village. She was a part of something. Even if she did have trouble every now and again, HInata had a little sister to smother, a father to please, and a cousin to skirt around.
That was what he saw.
As a child, Naruto didn't bother with her quiet, unsuspecting beauty. It was too refined, he supposed. Too blend-in-the-background. It didn't pop like others in their generation. Hyuga were meant to stand out for their skills. Everything else was surplus. Besides, focused as he was on Sakura, his friends, and getting the rest of the village to acknowledge him in the same way they acknowledged the members of her clan, he'd completely missed his chance.
It was clear that others didn't make the same mistake.
Something he first noticed when his friends that belonged to clans began talking about their parents forcing them into attending marriage meetings. The conversation had started with Choji wanting a woman that could cook for him, then somehow morphed into Hinata more than likely wedding the neighboring country's feudal lord to strengthen political ties. Apparently, the geezer had taken an interest in her when no one was looking.
Very few approved of Hinata marrying outside of the village, so Uchiha Itachi's sudden interest in her had been both a blessing and a curse to the Hyuga clan. The latter because of the long-standing competition of who was most supreme between the two groups.
As Naruto watched them walk away, Hinata's arms curled around one of Itachi's, her eyes twinkling as she spoke to him about something with a blush decorating his cheeks, he felt like that child on the swing all over again. He'd realized long ago that there was something profoundly sad about hollowness. But today, he found out about the frightening toxicity from being the one left behind.