Five years ago…..
A quiet ringing filled the silent air, signaling it was time for dismissal from the academy. I stood quietly by the oak tree, waiting for my younger brother to show up amongst the throng of other kids. When he finally did show he was talking animatedly with Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, and some other kid I didn't recognize; however, that didn't mean much, my brother was such a kind hearted person that everybody loved him and he made new friends almost every day. Sighing quietly, I started walking towards the small group dreading when I finally was in their presence; I didn't understand why my younger sibling was friends with Naruto, that kid annoyed the living hell out of me.
The moment I was within range of hearing their conversation all I heard was a loud, "Believe it!" coming from Naruto. Unable to help it I cringed slightly and gritted my teeth; I couldn't believe my mother sent me to fetch my brother from Academy; he was big enough to walk home on his own.
"Kishi," I called out to my younger brother when I was a few feet away from his group.
At the sound of his name, my brother's head whipped around to look right at me. His aqua colored eyes shone brightly, and the sun caught his hair just right giving the pale brown a lustrous glow. A giant smile was plastered across his face at the sight of me, and I smiled back at him weakly.
"Hey Ayano, what's up?" He asked as he sauntered up to me coolly.
"Not much little brother. Who's the new kid you're hanging out with?" My tone was light and curious.
"Oh," Kishi glanced back at the group, "His name is Kiba Inuzuka, we just met today. He has a dog named Akamaru."
Now that my brother had said something about it, I noticed a small, furry white puppy dancing through Kiba's feet. "Interesting," I murmured softly.
"Yeah, nice kid. So, what are you doing here?"
"Mom sent me to come and get you," I looked at the ground as I said this. Even though it was our overly protective mother who sent me, I knew my younger brother would be mad at me.
"Seriously? And you agreed? Why would you do something like Ay? I'm old enough to walk myself home," he protested loudly.
"Yeah, I know, I told her that but she insisted," my response was swift.
"Well, I want to hang out with the guys so tell her I had to study and you didn't see me or something," he pleaded with me softly.
I cocked an eyebrow at him and feigned shock, "You mean you want me to lie to our dear mother?"
He rolled his eyes at my little act, "Yeah sure, you're a good liar I've seen you do it, like, a thousand times. Besides, I'm her favorite so she'll forgive me by the time I get home anyways."
Silently I weighed my options, because I knew he was right. However, the only problem was that I also knew she wouldn't forgive me for not bringing him home right away, like she wanted; not that it really mattered, because it seemed no matter what I did, I was constantly disappointing her.
"What do I get in return?" I questioned him; hell, if I'm going to lie I might as well get something for it.
"I'll do your chores for a week, so you can work on training more,"
I mulled this over for a few minutes before I replied to him, "Make it two and you have yourself a deal."
He grimaced slightly at my new proposal, "Fine, we have a deal."
Smirking slightly, I stuck my hand out to him and he shook it weakly.
"Sweet, cya at dinner," I yelled over my shoulder as I walked away from him.
"Thanks sis," he called back to me.
As I made my way out of the court yard back onto the street, my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Chances are I'd have to come up with something elaborate, but kind of simple too. If it was to elaborate, Kishi would get confused and get us caught if mother decided to question him, not that she would. I couldn't exactly tell her that I didn't see him, because she would know right away that that would be a lie. I was too good a ninja to not spot him, even in a large mass of people such as that; maybe I could tell her that he went to the library to study, she might be slightly suspicious but I guess it wasn't too out of the question. Chances are that in the end I'll just tell her that he got in trouble for talking during class and had to stay after, because that would be the most likely thing to happen.
Once my mind had finally decided on what I was going to tell her, I was able to relax. Now that I was in the street and not really thinking, my senses were assaulted by the new surroundings. The court yard by the Academy had been shaded, but now that I wasn't under the protection of the trees the sun beat down on my tanned skin, and a warm breeze ran across my body. My ears picked up on the quiet conversations going on around me, friends trading their secret crushes name, slight giggles, and merchants trading with one another and bargaining with customers. Bright summer colors moved along in front of my eyes and I drank in everything silently as I made my way home.
Even though I wasn't really thinking, I wasn't paying that much attention to those around me either. My being was drawn more to the sights and smells that surrounded me, threatening to swallow me whole. Every now and then I would see a face I might recognize, and, to be polite, I would wave and say a simple hello. It wasn't until I was about half way home that I finally saw him; Itachi Uchiha. Just the sight of him caused me to blush and smile like a fool. Itachi, was perhaps my biggest hero, and not to mention my biggest crush.
At the age of thirteen, only two years my senior, he was already captain of the Anbu Black Ops, plus he had so many other achievements that it would take some time to name them all. It was surprising that I even knew this about him, since we had only conversed briefly before, but my mother was a big gossip, so I heard things.
Not knowing what possessed me, I called out to him, "Itachi-san!"
At the sound of my voice, the older Uchiha looked around and I waved at him, jogging up to his side. Normally I was a cool, calm collected person like they had taught us to be at the academy, but when I was near him, my stomach would form tight knots and I would become so nervous that I felt like I could vomit.
When I was almost by Itachi's side, he smiled easily at me, "Ah, hello there Ayano-chan."
My heart clenched the moment he said that, "You called me chan," I whispered softly.
Itachi chuckled softly, "Well yeah, we're peers; I don't expect you to call me san. I'd rather you call me Itachi-chan or just Itachi."
"Oh okay, I guess. So, Itachi how are you?" I had to force myself to call him just Itachi.
"I'm good, maybe a little stressed and tired, but other than that I'm good. How are you Ayano?" His tone was light, sweet.
"Pretty bored actually, most of my time has been spent training for the upcoming exams. My sensei says I have a great chance at passing and my mother told me I have to pass or she's going to ground me forever," A nasty look passed over my face at the mention of my mother. I also wasn't lying when I said my mother said I had to pass; actually, what she really said was I have to pass and if I fail, I don't get grounded, I will probably end up on the streets.
The boy standing opposite of me just laughed at my facial expression, "Oh Ayano, you wear the most adorable expressions for a young ninja."
His compliment caused the blood in my veins to race to my cheeks, turning them a bright crimson red. I stared at the ground and fidgeted nervously as he stared intently at me; the pressure of his gaze was strangely heavy on my shoulders.
"Erm, thank you Itachi-san," the words slipped from my mouth. My face turned even redder as I realized I called him san again.
Itachi just chuckled at me again, "Well, what are you doing out here on the streets if you should be training?"
"I grew bored with my training session so I convinced my Sensei to let me go early. Then when I got home my mother told me I had to go pick up Kishi from school and walk him home, so now I'm on my way home to my mother," I played with the hem of my dark shirt while I explained this to him.
"Ah, yes your younger brother. How is he by the way?" Itachi's tone was the same as mine had been when I had asked Kishi about his new friend, light and curious.
"Oh, um he's okay I guess, causing trouble as normal," I giggled lightly, still nervous I might make a fool of myself.
Itachi smirked, "Sounds like any young kid. So, you were on your way home you said?"
I just nodded in response, unsure of what to say to him now. Honestly, I had never felt so awkward in my life. Unable to help it, I felt so small and insignificant when I was near Itachi; his presence just seemed to dominate everything around it. Though there was a whole world surrounding the two of us, I felt as if we were the only important things around; just the two of us, hear together, mattered.
"Ayano?" Itachi asked, worried.
While my mind had been wandering, he must have asked a question that I missed. I looked up into his onyx colored eyes, "What?"
"I asked if I could walk you home," he repeated what he asked me.
At his question, my palms grew sweaty, my eyesight dim. Had my crush really just asked to walk me rest of the way home? My heart beat increased to a frantic pace when I realized I should answer, before he thinks I'm dumb or that I'm going to turn him.
"Yeah, sure I'd love that," I stuttered.
The teenage male smiled and headed the direction in which I had been going. Following after him, I tried to think of clever things to say, so we could keep conversing. Unfortunately my brain seemed to have died, because nothing came to mind and even breathing was hard for me. What do I say to someone as cool as Itachi without sounding so childish, I wondered to myself.
All the way to my house, our conversation was stilted, quiet, and almost dead. We seemed so awkward around each other; was that normal for kids our age? Every attempt at small talk was thwarted when only one word responses were given; this was not normal for me, I hated not being able to converse freely with Itachi. It was a shame I couldn't think of some remedy to my shyness by the time we reached my house.
When we got to my house, it felt as if we had walked only mere moments when it reality we had probably walked for half an hour.
"This would be my house," I murmured as we stood silently in front of the tan building, or also my wanna-be-home.
"Oh well, I guess this is where I say good-bye to you then Ayano," Itachi responded, almost as quiet as me.
As he started to walk away, a thought occurred to me.
"Why did you walk me home Uchiha?" I called out to him.
Itachi froze mid-step and looked at me over his shoulder, a small, sad smile played across his lips. Sauntering back over to me coolly, I felt a warming, fluttery feeling creep over my body.
He tilt his head to the side when he stood in front of me; the raven haired boy stood over me slightly so I had to look up to stare into his stormy eyes.
"Well, I couldn't let someone as beautiful as you walk home alone, now could I?" His thumb brushed against my cheek, like a soft, cool breeze on a summer's day.
The beating of my heart became irregular and I inhaled oxygen erratically. Itachi Uchiha, perhaps the most promising ninja of our time, thought I was beautiful? How could that even be possible? Unable to process what I was doing, I leaned in closer to Itachi just as he leaned down. Our lips were just about to make contact when I heard the voice that I despised most days: my mother's.
"Get your damn hands off of her you filthy vermin," she screeched loudly.
Quickly, we pulled away from each other; at that instant my heart broke and I felt alone. Itachi stared down at the ground when he spoke to my mother.
"I'm sorry Ma'am I didn't mean to offend, I just..." he broke off mid-sentence.
"Get the hell away Itachi," she spat his name, "and never let me see your face near my daughter again. If I ever find out you two have anything to do with each other, I swear I will kill you."
I flinched at her words, why would she do something like this? How could she ruin my life like this? Before I had a chance to protest her words, Itachi dipped his head in a bow, mumbled some words of apologies and disappeared.
The moment he was gone I turned a dark glare upon my mother, "What the hell is your problem mother?"
"That kid has an evil aura about him; you need to stay away from him. I do not want him to corrupt you. He's dangerous," she explained slowly, as if she was talking to a little kid who just got caught shoplifting.
"You bitch," I snarled.
"Oh, darling you'll get over it," she cooed happily.
"Fuck you," the words flew from my mouth before I stormed inside.
A/N: So yeah this is my first OC fanfic, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll update it as often as possible, but it all depends on my time and how easy ideas come to my mind. However, if my readers would like to suggest things to that would be pretty wicked. I would really appreciate reviews and tell me what you think.