He didn't know yet if he liked it or not. Liked the fact that she was there, just a mere child, watching him with wide eyes.
He ignored her the first few times, because he thought she'd leave once he actually came and practiced. Instead, she didn't flinch away from the sharp weapons- he actually thought she became more excited, if that was the word.
Itachi shut his eyes, shooting up into the air, performing that somersault in mid-air and conjuring shuriken from his holsters, calculating angles, not with his eyes, but with instinct.
He landed on the ground, gracefully. Perfectly.
"Uhm…" He was surprised, for the longest time ever, that the girl with her hair coiled in buns on either side of her head, was finally speaking. Instead of lurking like a ghost.
There was something that rattled him. Strange. He'd never thought he would be rattled by a girl… but he was. It was the fact that, unlike many others, she didn't hedge around him; she didn't lower her voice or throw caution to the winds like many others did. Especially after Shisui's suicide note.
She was obviously stupid and ignorant.
He turned an uninterested gaze to her plain face. It really could have belonged to anyone.
Apparently, his attention was an encouraging indicator, but he doubted she had needed it.
"That one's off-centre," she pointed out to the target that had actually been the nearest to him. He would have scoffed if it wasn't for the fact he didn't do such things.
Itachi spun on his heel, inspecting the target. A flash of red was briefly in his eyes, but they quickly remained their dark colour. He had never been off a target before. He did everything flawlessly. He was a genius.
And here was some nobody girl, pointing out his faults.
"Okay," he managed to say, bringing himself to talk to her.
Itachi could see a shrewdness in her dark eyes that wasn't present in the eyes of anyone her age. He also noticed that she was exceptionally tall for her age- and he didn't need sharingan to predict that she would still continue to grow taller.
She just offered him a smile. "If you're going to do a good attack, you need to do it perfectly. Even if it is a single degree off angle, that's the difference between a Ke… Keup…"
"KeupSoh," Itachi supplied plainly. He knew there could be a degree of difference between hitting a vital point or a minor point. However, he was surprised that she knew it too.
The girl's face became a little embarrassed. She had hoped to at least… she hadn't really known what she had wanted. Perhaps to impress him with her knowledge?
"Why're you still here?"
"Why are you?" Tenten retorted back, but she decided that she should go now. He no longer needed her company.
Itachi pulled out the shuriken. He was rattled. But he had at least made a decision.
He perhaps liked the fact that she was there, just a mere child, watching him with wide, but shrewd eyes. Picking up on details that his eyes failed to supply him.
After all, nobody, not even Uchiha Itachi, was perfect.