Disclaimer: So bad, I do not own Itachi and Kisame (well its ok if i do not own him), both characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
LOVE ME NOT
Storm rages as the furious lightning strikes the forest. Itachi was surrounded by a group of Anbu who were ordered to assassin him. He starts to cough blood and grasp for air as he struggle with the group of Anbu. His eye vision is deteriorating as he gambles to use his mangekyu saringan, then he loose his consciousness.
"Where am I?", he asked himself as he open his eyes and see his surroundings.
The place is quite small. It is an old wooden house with nobody seems to live. Nearby to place where he lie down, is a table with a pot of tea and a tea cup. Itachi tries to get up from the mattress as he notice the bandage wrapped around his chest. While he was still thinking of who may do those things to him, he sensed that someone is approaching. He hides himself near the door and prepares a kunai on his hand.
As the door opened, he saw a girl around his age carrying a basket of medicinal herbs. She has a very gentle face and demure posture; she looks so fragile that if anyone would attempt to harass her, she got no chance to defend herself. He quickly loosens his tight grip on the kunai and hides it.
"Are you the owner of this house?", he asked.
"Yes, I am.", the girl replied walks toward the table to place the basket.
"Why did you help me?", Itachi asked.
"Every time I sensed that someone beyond my reach needs me, I always came to help.", she replied as she take the herbs one by one on the basket.
"Why are you being chased by those men?", she added.
Itachi's atmosphere suddenly changes.
"I have to go. Thank you for helping me.", he said as he walked.
"You can not continue your journey in your situation. Your three ribs are broken and your chakra is so weak. If you insisted to leave, death is waiting for you.", the girl replied.
Itachi is quite impressed on what the girl tells him. "Are you a medical nin?", he asked.
"A girl like me can not become a medical nin. As you can see, I'm blind, but I'm working with the town people as a lady doctor.", she said.
Itachi could not speak for a moment, he only knew a few people who could treat deep wounds like what the girl in front of him does and it is so ironical to know that she is a doctor that could not heal herself. To test whether the girl is saying the truth, he used his mangekyu but it doesn't work.
"I think you're right, I will take your advise not to leave for this moment.", he said as he look at the premonition of the grey sky that lies ahead.
"You haven't tell your name, mister.", the girl asked while she prepare food.
"Itachi, that is my name.", he replied as he watched the girl chopping the cabbage. "Nice to know your name, Itachi-san. You can call me Hanami.", she replied.
Silence was observed at the place. They didn't talk to each other even after they eat dinner together. Itachi feels a sense of security in the place. He does not need to be so cautious about his surrounding, since the only person that is near to him is only a helpless blind girl. He doesn't want to interfere with Hanami's life and put it on danger that is why he wanted to leave her as soon as possible, but based on his condition, he can not. Early in the morning, Hanami will leave the house and will place a small pot of tea at the table and an onigiri. She will go to the nearby town to work as a lady doctor. Itachi just stayed on the old house for a week.
One afternoon, due to his boredom of resting for the whole time, he went to the town and tries to find where Hanami is working. Hanami is walking at the market place carrying a basket of apples when suddenly a man bumped to her and the apples rollover the street. Due to her blindness, she tries to find it using her bare hands. Nobody helps her while struggling to pick the apples.
When Hanami returned home, she went to the kitchen to wash her hands. When she sensed Itachi's presence, she greeted him and offered the apples that she brought home.
"Why are you doing all these things?", Itachi asked. Hanami is so puzzled on what the handsome shinobi is talking about.
"I do not get what you are trying to ask.", she replied.
"Why are you so kind to other people when the truth is that they are full of hatred towards you.", Itachi replied.
"Because to help them is the least I can do. They do not hate me, they are just afraid that the feudal lord will know that they are helping me.", she replied.
"You sure did not know how to tell a lie. Even telling your secrets to a stranger like me.", said Itachi as he picked an apple.
"It is my father, the feudal lord, who took away my sight when I am young, scared for the things I might have cause to this village.", Hanami replied.
"What are you talking about?", Itachi asked with curiosity. "I am born in this darkness, I am an abandoned princess. My mother died after giving birth to me. I was raised by my step mother until I was a child. Seven years ago, my step mother planned to kill me since I am the heir of this village. I was a young kunoichi undergoing medical nin training during that time. I try to fight the assassins that she sends to kill me but I slay them all unconsciously. I know that it is my step mother who planned it, so in my anger, I hunt her and killed her without knowing that my father is around. Because of what happened, my father is so afraid that he put a seal on my eyes saying that I have the 'eyes of death' that could even kill him. He expels me from the mansion into this forest alone."
"As I suspected, your hands are tainted with blood. You are thinking that through helping others, you could repay what you have one to those who attempted to kill you.", Itachi replied.
Every time Itachi tries to leave Hanami, he always holdback for no reason. He doesn't find any reason to stay since he has fully recovered from his damage but still, something is suppressing him. He doesn't whether he is just feeling pity of leaving the girl or is it because he is finding a sense of sanctuary when she is around.
One day, as Itachi wanders, he saw a meadow of cosmos and lavender. But what caught his attention is the daffodil planted near a big rock under the tree. He remembered his past, giving a daffodil to his lover as a birthday present, then receiving a complaint that he should give a bunch of daffodil since a single daffodil means misfortune, but still, his lover appreciated it. As memories revisit him, he can not help it but to give a smirk of the good things that has happened to his life.
"Am I forgetting who I am?", the thing that crossed his mind.
It is nearly twilight when he returns at the old house and expects Hanami is there, but she's not. Itachi got a bad feeling that something bad had happened so he quickly searched for her.
He found a group of shinobi beating the helpless girl. Without any hesitation, he uses his saringan to torture the bandits until he killed them all. He carried the girl and rushed to her house.
"Are you alright?", Itachi asked worriedly.
He just received a nod from the girl that has bleeding head and bruise on the face. Itachi is full of anger of what the bandits do to her though he already killed them. He gently clean her wounds and places a bandage on her head.
"Can you move by yourself?", he asked as he handed a yukata towards Hanami.
Itachi turn his back as a sign of respect not to see the girl's modesty as she change her clothes. Afterwards, she tell Itachi that it's fine for him to face her.
"Why did you do it for me?", Hanami asked while lying down with closed eyes.
Itachi doesn't answer her inquiry. He is also thinking, why is he so attached to the girl that he doesn't want anything bad will happen to her. Hanami made a confession why does the group of bandit attack her that surprised Itachi. Hanami told him that she is instructed to kill Itachi in return for her eyesight since she can not be affected by the saringan. When the news reached the anbu captain, he sent the group of shinobi to beat Hanami yet not to kill her since she is still the daughter of the village feudal lord.
"Don't waste your life for a man like me.", Itachi said coldly.
Hanami's tears fell on her cheeks as she tries to hide it from Itachi by moving sideward not facing Itachi. "At first I thought of killing you, but something urges me to keep you. I believe behind your dark mask is someone different."
"You don't even know who I am. You have no idea on what kind of person am I.", Itachi said convincing Hanami to hate him.
"There is something that the eyes could be deceived but the heart could feel.", Hanami replied as she tries to rise from lying and tries to reach Itachi's face.
She touches the handsome shinobi's face and smiles a bit. Itachi started to pity the girl again for trying to visualize how he looks. "You are a fine-looking guy, aren't you?", she asked.
Itachi hold Hanami's hands away from his face and hug her. "Love me not, not even in your dream, Hanami...", he whispered as he hold her in his arms.
Early in the morning, when Hanami opened her eyes, something is strange. Her surrounding is not as dark as before. She could see things yet it's quite blur. At the table is a pot of tea and an onigiri. She also noticed a bunch of daffodil beside it. She quickly get up from bed and ran outside trying to find Itachi with her vision adjusting on the place.
When she opened the door, her vision became clear; she saw a fine-looking shinobi with black hair and crimson eyes wearing a black cloak with red clouds printed on it. Beside him is a very tall man with a bluish skin and carrying a big sword on his back and wearing the same kind of cloak with the first one. The later walked away, while the fine-looking shinobi do not move from his place looking at her.
"Love me not, Hanami…", he said as he vanish in front of the girl.
"I expect that it will take a long moment of telling her that you will leave.", Kisame said teasing.
"Leaving her like that is the best way to do. She has no future with me.", Itachi replied.
"Why not leave Akatsuki and build a contented life with her? Given the fact that you release her from her eye curse.", Kisame asked.
"I release her from the seal so that she can protect herself from the future since she has an ocular power like me. I do not like to hurt her if she will know that I could not live any longer.", he said as they leap from tree to tree.
"Is it because of your desire to get killed by your little brother?", Kisame asked bluntly.
"No, my foolish little brother can not kill me even if he like it bitterly, you will know what I am talking after I die.", Itachi replied with a smile.
"You're such a crazy shinobi, aren't you?", Kisame commented.
"Just don't forget to tell Sasuke about Hanami when I die.", Itachi said.
END