Hmm...I can guarantee that this chapter isn't gonna be dark...but read it anyways!
I'm not going to be using the Japanese honorifics like -san, -chan, -kun, etc. I might use it from time to time, but it's only because I seriously don't know how to use them properly .
Kana silently helped out Mikoto in preparation for dinner as Mikoto talked about her family. Kana's mother had been very good friends with Mikoto; Mikoto would frequently ask Kana to come over and keep her company while her mother was out on missions. Kana had been a very weak ninja to begin with; she had even tried to work at a medic-nin but her family, who were all at ANBU level, told her that she was useless and that she wasn't cut out to be a protector of the village. So Kana's job is to just come by the Uchiha manor and chat with Mikoto about nothing.
"Nii-san is home!" Kana shot up her head and turned in the direction of the door as Sasuke quickly bolted down the hallways just to see his brother. She slightly blushed but ignored the older male as he walked past the kitchen with Sasuke and quietly went to his room. Mikoto eyed Kana with suspicion and slowly stopped cutting the vegetables as she stared.
"Just a small question, but I've been noticing that you have been eyeing Itachi very...oddly. Care to explain?" Mikoto placed her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow as she smiled. Kana blushed and placed a hand over her left cheek as she exhaled.
"I-...no, umm...what do you mean by that?" Kana pathetically asked as she stared dumbly at Mikoto. Mikoto gave a small laugh.
"Don't play games with me; I know you know what I'm talking about. Ne, you like him, don't you?" Mikoto gently nudged Kana's arm as her smile grew a bit more.
"Um…no, not really…" Mikoto gave her a look which read 'yeah right…'
"Is it that obvious? How do you know...no wait...does he know that I...?" Kana nervously backed up, but quickly resumed cutting the vegetables in embarrassment.
"To me it is obvious; it's just that you act differently around him than with me and other people. But I don't mind that you like my son, it'll honestly be very nice if he had a girlfriend, especially one that Sasuke would approve of." Mikoto laughed as she began to cut the vegetables as well.
"No way! I may be attracted to him, but I'm almost positive that we would never be together. Besides, he has known me for a long time; I'm more like a sister to him, but not a lover!" Kana waved her hands in defense; she began to notice that she has been sweating just from talking about him.
Kana smiled as she continued her work, she suddenly began to recall her past memories with Itachi and when she first met him. He always had a cold demeanor, even when they first met. But now he is neutral with her, just like how he is to his family and friends.
"But mom, I don't want to go to their house! Aren't they the family that is strong and powerful? I don't want to meet another kid that could beat me up!" A 10 year old Kana whined to her mother. Her mother just sighed and continued to carry her towards the Uchiha manor.
"I've met them before, and Uchiha Mikoto is very nice! She doesn't have a daughter and I've spoken lots about you; she'll absolutely adore you!" Kana's mother pecked her on the cheek and slowly reached the street Mikoto lived on. Before any of them reached the house, Mikoto was already waiting outside with a baby in her arms.
"No mom! Don't tell me I'm only here to babysit this baby while you two chat?" Kana pulled on her mother's shirt and stared at her wildly.
"No silly, that's Sasuke, you're going to be playing and getting to know her other child, Itachi." Her mother quickly waved a hello to Mikoto while Kana clung onto her mother's shirt.
"Hi Aiko! Oh my, is this Kana? She's adorable!" Mikoto whispered happily as she ran her fingers through Kana's black hair.
"Yellow-green eyes like her father...she slightly resembles a cat to me." Mikoto smiled and gently pinched her cheeks. Kana stared blankly at Mikoto as her mother placed her on the ground.
"Come in, come in. I'll get Itachi for you so you two can play." Mikoto quickly called out his name as they took off their shoes. Itachi slowly walked down the hall, gave a quick glance at Kana and walked to his mother's side.
"Yes, mother?" Itachi said quietly.
"This is Kana; she will be your buddy from now on. Now go on and have fun!" Mikoto quickly scooted Kana close to Itachi. Itachi nodded and slowly led Kana down the hall and to his room. Itachi sat on the floor and Kana followed. They stared at each other for a long time.
"Umm...I'm Kana." Kana gave a quick bowed and continued to stare.
"Itachi..." He gave a polite bow and continued to stare as well.
Kana blushed at their awkwardness and tried to engage him in a small conversation, but his answers were quick and simple.
"Why don't you talk?" Kana finally blurted, she blushed at her sudden rudeness and outburst.
"...'cause I don't." Itachi replied as they continued to stare at each other.
"You never know until you ask him!" Mikoto sang as she poured the vegetables into a giant pot.
"I only ask when I feel a connection with others...to me…he has never showed me signs of a lover." Kana said quietly.
"Besides, we're only 13, it's not like I'm gonna marry him." She quietly laughed.
"He also acts like that with everyone and you know very well it's just his nature to do so." Mikoto rubbed Kana's back comfortingly.
"Give it a try; ask him if he shares the same feelings!" Mikoto said out loud.
"...maybe I should...but I will think more about that later!" Kana happily said as the family entered the dining room for dinner.
--
"...and then after that, he said I'm getting better at it!" Sasuke announced gleefully as he quickly stuffed some of the stew into his mouth.
"That's nice...so how was your mission Itachi? I heard you had some difficulty." Fugaku quickly turned his attention towards the older Uchiha brother.
"It wasn't too hard." Itachi stated simply. Fugaku gave a small nod before the entire room went silent as usual. Mikoto poked Kana on the side and winked at her, Kana stared at her in disbelief.
"Come on, aren't you gonna say anything?" Mikoto whispered as she giggled. Mikoto had been very womanly and a strong motherly figure when Kana first met her, but her influence on Mikoto was turning her into a teenager again.
"No, at least not now, there are people here! It would be too embarrassing if he rejected me in front of everybody!" Kana and Mikoto slowly turned their attention towards Itachi who was busy eating. Just as slowly, Itachi turned his gaze to Kana, looking at her blankly as always. Kana blushed and quickly finished her stew as the rest of the family was already done.
"Nii-san, can you help me train?" Sasuke eagerly tugged at his brother's clothing.
"Alright," Itachi walked to the door as Sasuke followed. Fugaku carefully eyed Mikoto and Kana.
"What is this I'm hearing about liking Itachi?" Fugaku smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"What? No I don't like him, just as a brother though!" Kana smiled and furrowed her eyebrows.
"You're a bad liar." Mikoto and Fugaku both commented at the same time.
"Hmm, it wouldn't hurt him if he had a girlfriend..." Fugaku wondered out loud.
"He knows better than anyone how to balance his training time and social time…" Fugaku slowly approached Kana and bent down until his lips were close to her left ear.
"I say, go for it."
--
"I'm off now!" Kana yelled out loud.
"Alright honey, hope to see you tomorrow again! Oh, and don't forget about our little talk today!" Mikoto yelled from the kitchen.
"Mom! I'm trying to sleep!" Sasuke yelled from his room.
"Sorry!" Kana and Mikoto yelled and laughed afterwards. Kana put on her shoes and slowly made her way out of the Uchiha neighborhood. She waved several goodbyes to other Uchihas as she moved from street to street. As she walked, she heard some approaching footsteps in front of her. She brought her gaze from her shoes to the person in front of her.
"Oh, hello Itachi," Kana politely smiled. "I'm off to my home right now, hope to see you tomorrow." Kana quickly bowed.
"Yes, hope to see you too. Goodbye." Itachi politely bowed and began walking in the direction of his house. As he passed Kana, she began to blush even more for no apparent reason.
'God, I'm hopeless...' She thought before she sprinted all the way home in embarrassment. Itachi turned his head around and slightly wondered about her odd behavior that day.
--
"Hi Kana, it's almost dinner time, come in!" Mikoto said as she led Kana into her home.
"I tried to ask him yesterday, but it didn't go out too well..." Kana pouted. Mikoto's eyes went wide.
"Are you saying he didn't feel the same way?" Mikoto grabbed Kana's face and quickly pulled her into a hug.
"I'm so sorry! I should've never told you to do this, now things will be awkward between you two." Mikoto comfortingly rubbed her back.
"…huh, what? No! I didn't say anything to him! I tried asking, but in the end I didn't because I couldn't get it out." Kana laughed at Mikoto's motherly habits.
"Oh! Woops, haha, then nevermind!" Mikoto waved a dismissive hand as Itachi and Sasuke walked into the house after training.
"Hi Kana! Wanna hang out with me today after dinner? I want to catch up with you. Sasuke calmly asked.
"Sure." Kana replied simply.
"Now lets all go eat." Mikoto clapped her hands together and led them into the kitchen. As usual, the room was silent; Sasuke eyed everyone even though it was common for dinner time to be quiet. After everyone was finished eating, Sasuke quickly dragged Kana outside to the empty training grounds. Kana stared at Sasuke; Sasuke seemed to be a little distraught.
"What's wrong? You seem to be a little out of it today." Kana placed a hand on his head as she waited for an answer.
"It's a good thing I have you to talk to..." Sasuke pouted and looked at his feet.
"What do you mean?" Kana made Sasuke sit on the ground as he was thinking of something to say.
"Nii-san has been acting weird lately...if you've noticed, my father has been looking down on him and he usually thinks highly of nii-san. Just the other day, he was fighting some of the other Uchiha members and it looked real serious..." Sasuke began to play with the dirt on the ground.
"Really? I haven't noticed any of those things...well...maybe because I am always with your mother. Your mother has been talking about him lately..." Kana blushed as she remembered the conversation she had with Mikoto the other day.
"It's not that I hate nii-san...it's that I'm feeling kind of worried and scared that he is acting really different from before. He still cares for me...but I just know he is different..." Tears rimmed his eyelids.
"I don't know how to explain his change, but it's something that teenagers do. When you reach our age, you will probably go through the same thing. Besides, you know he cares for you so that's the important thing, right?" Kana smiled as she ruffled his hair, Sasuke seemed embarrassed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…but there are many other changed I've been seeing! His sharingan was normal…" Sasuke paused for a minute, but soon decided not to say anything about it. "I mean…does this change that teenagers go through make them more violent?"
"Well, it's different for everyone." Kana shrugged.
Oh, okay! Thanks for helping me out! Whenever I have problems, I will go straight to you!" Sasuke gave a small hug. "Since mom doesn't really give me the answer I'm looking for…" Sasuke muttered under his breath.
"No problem! Oh by the way...I have to tell you something...something that you cannot tell anyone!" Kana whispered into his ear.
"Is it bad?" Sasuke seemed a little tense.
"Well, not really, but...it seems like I've..." Kana heavily sighed; she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him her ordeal. "...it seems like I've developed feelings for your brother." Kana finally spat out; her cheeks were in flames and she felt like ripping her hair out for being so shy. Sasuke didn't seem to be shocked at all.
"Yeah, so?" Sasuke looked at her innocently and shrugged.
"What do you mean by that? You don't care that I like him?" Kana's cheeks turned to an even darker shade of red.
"No, I just always had this feeling that you liked him." Sasuke's lips twitch into a smile as he tried his best from not laughing.
"W-W-What?!" Kana yelled a little too loud.
"I'm not too sure if nii-san knows about it either, but one thing is for sure, it's that he doesn't talk much about you…at least not to me." Sasuke held onto Kana's hand to comfort her.
"So you think he doesn't like me, I mean, more than just a friend?" Kana was on the verge of breaking into tears. Sasuke seemed to notice her change in emotions.
"No! I don't know if he does like you or not, but if you were to go out with him, I would be fine! You're nice and pretty, although I think he likes a strong girl as well, but I don't see why he would reject you." Sasuke smiled happily. Kana wiped away her tears and madly blushed.
"I feel so weird for asking a young kid like you for advice and help." She nervously laughed as she helped Sasuke up from the ground.
"You helped me, I helped you!" Sasuke smiled as they both walked towards his home.
--
Itachi sat on a branch not far from where Sasuke and Kana were. If only they were a bit smarter and stronger, they would've noticed that he was watching and listening to their conversation. He watched them walk past him, seemingly talking about nothing important as they foolishly chased each other around before they went straight for home. Itachi closed his eyes and moved his face towards the sky to feel the wind blowing. He waited in that position for a long while before he left off for a walk around the neighborhood.
Gahh! This chapter is fluffy but I promise that next chapter will be a bit darker (and with more romance...sorta).
Review please! Flames, criticism, ideas for future chapters, and etc are welcome!
Even just a review that said "Hi, I read your fanfic...bye!" would make me happy :):)
-wtfreak?!