Softly blowing by, the wind seemed to add on to the early morning scene. The trees were blooming with cherry blossoms, the sun was at a perfect temperature, and everything seemed peaceful and quiet. It made today a lazy a day. Lying on her back was Ichiko; she was on her rooftop and staring at the clouds hover on by in the blue sky. The wind sent chills down her spine but she enjoyed the chills; it was an amazing sensation. Her head was resting on top of her linked hands and she had one leg pulled in towards her chest while the other was lying flat against the tiles. She had on some black tights that hugged her body and showed off her curves while wearing a baggy tank top with a design of a white dead tree on the back. The word death was written on the front in red letters. She had her hair pulled in two low pony-tails while some of it was still lose and covering her face a bit. Her bluish-grayish bangs flowed with the wind that blew around her. She was thinking about the one and only that she loved. "Naruto...when are you coming back?"
It had been about two and half years since he last left with Juraiya to train. To get stronger and more skillful. He wanted to do it to be a better shinobi and to get the villagers to respect him. He didn't want to be thought of the nine tailed demon fox. It was something he didn't ask for, like her. She was the eight tailed demon. A bit more weaker than him and yet he hasn't found that put about her. It was strange that all this time that they've been close friends, he hadn't found out about her secret yet. "I wonder when he will though. I'd like to see the look on his face when he does." She smirked at the thought of him in shock, "Not to mention that I'm in love with him also, geez." Before he went off for his training, she had given him a kiss on the cheek and he had promised her that he would be back as soon as possible. But that was years ago and he still hasn't came back. She started getting a bit worried about him and wondered what he did everyday to be so busy. She yawned and stretched then rolled to her side and pulled her arms to her chest. "I want to see him again. I want to feel his touch once more and to fill my nose with his loving scent." "God, how I miss him." She closed her eyes half-way and stared at her fingers, "But how would he react once he does find out I love him...he'd probably reject me and push me away, making things awkward between us." She sighed and turned back around onto her back letting her hands rest on her stomach; rising each time she took a breathe. "It wouldn't mean anything if he did. I mean, I've been rejected by everyone before so what difference does it make? I should be use to it by now" but she wasn't. She hated the fact that once, everyone she knew hated her in some way. It was the most unpleasant memories she's ever had. "Oh well." She decided to not lay around anymore and sat up with the support of her arms; putting all her weight on her elbows. Ichiko looked around her and found that no one was around. "They must be doing chores or something." She got up and stretched once more before jumping off of the roof and landing on her feet. It didn't hurt when she landed, she'd gotten use to it by now. She stood and started walking to the ramen shop in the middle of the village. She grabbed her right arm behind her back with her left and looked down at the ground while walking. Different things went through her mind with each step she took. No body was around to accompany her and she was alright with that for she didn't really mind being alone. She preferred being alone rather than having someone there with her and trying to keep the conversation going. It sorta irritated her in a way.
On the way, she stopped by the praying temple they had in the village. She wouldn't do the usual tradition where you threw a coin in, shook the rope, and prayed. Instead, she would just kneel down next to it, clasps her hands together softly, and pray with her eyes closed. It was one of the only times where she found peace. Her life was too chaotic at the moment and she didn't seem to find any time to herself at all. The things she prayed about were the typical things that most people would. Love, life, and wealth. But she just prayed about love and life, never on wealth; it wasn't all that important to her anyway. Ichiko imagined Naruto there with her doing the same thing. He would always try to make her life whenever they were at a place like that, he never liked seeing her be serious for a long time. She smirked at the cherished memory and had finished by that time. She got up, and looked at the statues that surrounded the little shrine; it was as if at night they would come alive and no one would know, that amused her having things come alive when they're not supposed to. She took a step forward and gently touched the smooth surface of a Buddha statue; it was a man dressed in robes that looked like it was trying to speak out to people by the way it was positioned. Architecture seemed to fascinate her greatly, she liked to make objects out of different materials and then once she's finished with it she displays it so to show it off. Naruto seems to enjoy watching her make these things and look at them after. She's made little things so far: cups, bowls, rings, bracelets...but she plans on making something out of the ordinary.
Time was passing by quickly and she didn't realize it was turning into the afternoon already. She dropped her hand, turned to leave, and started walking to her destination; the only reasons she would really go to the ramen shop would be because either Naruto invited her to go with him or just for the hell of it. She liked Ramen too, but not as much as him. She went back to her position of holding her arm behind her back and looked towards the ground until she heard someone call her name at a distance. Ichiko lifted up her head and looked ahead of her to see a girl running towards her waving her arm in the air to try and get her attention. "Sakura" She stopped right where she was at and let Sakura catch up to her. She must've been looking for her all over the village because when she caught up to Ichiko she was out of breath and bending over to try and control her breathing; her hands were leaning on top of her knees to give her support to stay standing. "Ichiko...I've been...looking for you...all morning..." Ichiko cocked her head to the side, "Wow, she's not kidding." "Well, since you found me, what can I do for you? Does Tsunade need me to do something for her." she asked in an irritated tone. Sakura gained enough of her breath to be standing but was still panting pretty hard. She didn't do anything but look at her without an expression on her face. "No, I came to tell you that Naruto is back." Ichiko was surprised to hear that he was back and thought it was joke but then thought against it. There wouldn't be anyway that he'd be back already. She laughed a little and smiled at Sakura,"No, really. What do you need?" Sakura was annoyed since she didn't believe her. She thought that Ichiko would be jumping for joy when she heard the news but this is expected from someone like her. "I'm telling you the truth. I thought you would be happy to hear this." "Look, I don't have time-" "If you don't believe me, then come and see for yourself." Ichiko looked at her long and hard and thought about what she just said. "What if she's not lying to you, what if he is back." "After all this time? It couldn't be." "It couldn't hurt to see if what she's saying is the truth." "Fine." After having a mental argument with herself, she decided to go with Sakura to see if she was actually telling the truth. Sakura led the way while Ichiko followed beside her but a little bit behind too so that they wouldn't be right next to each other. She liked Sakura and all but never was really the greatest of friends with her; she just didn't really seem to get along with the girls the same way she got along with the boys. Before Sasuke left the village, she would always be talking to him and they would have fun together; despite how serious he could get at times. But that was all in the past when he was still there with them, now everything has changed. People are dieing or leaving their homes for, sometimes, the stupidest of reasons; it's like the world is finally coming to an end. "I'd like to live here, shit." She thought sarcastically. The whole time they were walking, Ichiko had no idea where they were going and had no idea what to expect, "So, if what she says is true and he is back...then what? Nothing's going to change but he would be back and maybe just maybe things would change between us." She sighed as they finally reached their destination. They had arrived at the same gates where she bid Naruto fairwell on his training, it saddened her a bit to be there but she didn't let it show. She looked around and noticed that no one was there, not even the gate keeper, it was only her and Sakura. "Ok, Sakura, if this is some kind of joke, I'm not laughing." Sakura looked at her with confusion in her eyes, "No, he was here, I swear. I told him to stay here while I went to go look for you, but I guess it took longer than expected and he might've left." "Bullshit." She smiled at her and nodded as if she was telling her she understood. She brought her hand behind her head and started rubbing her throat slowly. "Look, I completely understand and to tell you the truth I'm not really in the mood to be standing around here wondering where he could've possibly gone off to, so I think I'm just going to go get something to eat and go home." She looked at her with a threatening look in her eyes. Sakura nodded once in agreement and looked guilty, "Ok, but uh, sorry for bothering you then but I'm sure you'll see him somewhere else in the village." She bowed down a bit in apology and dropped her gaze to the ground then immediately stood up and gave her a small smile. Ichiko sighed and closed her eyes in irritation, "Yeah, if what you say is true then hopefully. I'll catch you around then." She didn't wait for her to reply back for she already started walking away from her. She held her hands behind her back and looked towards the sky, continuing her walk to the ramen shop like she was doing before. She didn't believe Sakura for a second, there was no way that he would be back already. Sure its been two and half years since he went off in his training but she didn't exactly expect him to be back already. By the time she finished thinking things through, she had already reached the shop and ordered a regular ramen. It was already prepared so she didn't have to wait all too long for them to give it to her. She began eating and looked around at her surroundings until she felt an unusual chill go down her spine. She felt like she was being watched from somewhere but when she looked around her, no one was there with her but the cooks and two other men sitting besides her. She just shrugged off the feeling and continued eating while eavesdropping on the mens conversation, since she had nothing better to do. "Did you hear what's happening at the sand village?" "No, what's happening?" "You haven't heard that the Kazekage had been kidnapped just yesterday?" The old man he was talking to seemed to be in shock to hear the news; apparently he's a little late than usual. "Really? Did they say by who?" "They say that the one of the members from the Akatsuki took him away in a flying clay bird and the Kazegage's older brother went after them." The old man still didn't seem to be believing what he was hearing. She didn't want to listen to them talking about the current events anymore, it sorta sickened he in a way. She couldn't accept how much a lot of the village's defenses were weakening, including hers. Her appetite was gone and paid for her food then got up and left; leaving her bowl half full. She slid her hands into her pockets and headed towards her home, she couldn't put her finger on it but it seemed to be a tiring day and she was feeling weak. "Maybe a small nap will help." She yawned a bit and reached towards the sky while walking; trying to get a stretch out of it. This day was like any other day practically, besides the fact what had happened with Saukra, everything was normal.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened at the village, the kids still went to the academy everyday and out, the adults worked at their shops, and the mothers did house chores while their husbands were raising money. She was surprised she hadn't killed herself yet out of how boring it was there; but that was life. After a few minutes of walking she was more than half-way to her home; she suddenly got the familiar chills from earlier and was getting a bit irritated. She looked around her and no one was there, no one was following her or watching her...or so she thought. Annoyed that the feeling wouldn't go away, she picked up her pace and held her head high in a threatening way. Ichiko eventually couldn't stand walking so she started to run the rest of the way to her home, this time the run wasn't so enjoyable as she had liked it to be. She finally got home, unlocked her door, got in and slammed it shut; leaning her back against it. She was breathing a bit hard but was not out of breath. "What the hell was that? Freakin..." She viewed her home and took in her surroundings; everything seemed to be "normal", nothing out of place, everything was how she left it that morning. She let a heavy breath escape her lips as she pushed herself off the door, locked it, and headed towards her room. Walking past the pictures on her walls, the kitchen table where nothing was left resting on top of it, and her prized possession. It was her father's kunai knife before he had died, when she went back to the ashened scene after she left Gregory's home, she was looking through the mess and had found that knife. His name was engraved in it and she decided to keep it so to have at least one memory of her old life. It rested in a box with a cushion but the top was transparent so you'd be able to look through it. She never took it out of that box ever again after she placed it in there. As she walked down the hall she felt the same chill going down her back and now she was starting to get even more irritated and figured out that she wasn't the only one in the house. She slowed down her walking and was more cautious, not letting her guard down. She came to the first door which was the bathroom and kicked it open; no one was in there. It was like this for the second and third door which were guest rooms and hall closet. Ichiko was starting to think that she was overreacting until she heard and small noise come from her bedroom, someone was in there. "Man...this late in the day?" She walked so quietly that it didn't even seem like she was moving anymore. She approached the door and found it opened a bit, enough for her to look through and see what was going on inside. She saw someone in there looking through her belongings,"Oh, hell no." Before thinking out what to do next, she kicked open the door, jumped inside, and got into her fighting position. "What do you think you're doing in my home?" She asked the back of the human that was standing not too far off from her. It seemed to be a male from their body structure and the way they stood. He didn't answer and she asked the same question again. Still he didn't answer her and Ichiko got really mad at that point; she approached him and swung him around, finding that this boy was nothing but a mere doll. Across its forehead was written,"I wanted to see you again." She wasn't surprised to find a doll but what was written on its forehead threw her off guard for a second."What the fuck?" Before she got to find out the answer to her question, something warm, and smooth went over her eyes; it felt like hands and fingers. She was about to elbow whomever it was in the gut until something else wrapped around her arms and waist so to prevent her from trying to do anything. She started to squirm and was going to kick them but then heard him breathing in her ear,"What yah getting all freaked out for? It's just me." She stopped trying to fight against him and stood still. She heard him speak and couldn't believe who it was,"Naruto?..." When she said that name he released her and at first her vision was blurry but soon came into focus after a couple of seconds. Ichiko turned around and faced the one she loved; Naruto was really back. He stood there in front of her and looked different since the last time she's seen him. Before he looked like a child but now it seems that he's grown up after all this time and looked more mature. She noticed his body changed in so many ways; he had gotten taller than her, he was more masculine, his face features changed making him look older and his pinch-able cheeks were gone. She still wasn't able to believe that this boy standing in front of her was Naruto; he was a boy no more but instead turned into a man. She even noticed that he was wearing something different and had gotten a new head protector. There wasn't anything about him that was the same but his fierce blue eyes and blonde hair, she loved those eyes and would be able to recognize them anywhere she went.
Naruto just stared at her and waited for her to do something expected of her but instead she just stood there in shock,"Um, Ichiko? You ok?" All of a sudden she came back to reality and threw herself on him; wrapping her arms tightly around him. She didn't say or do anything else but hug him there in the middle of her room. How she yearned for his touch and his body heat to be combined with hers; god how she missed him after all this time. For some reason that she couldn't quite explain, she felt a deep emptiness form inside of her again. She recognized the feeling from awhile ago and thought that it was gone but now it came back. Ichiko ignored the feeling as she held Naruto in place and didn't move from that position. What she did made Naruto think everything through again, he didn't really seem to believe that this was happening. He decided to go with it and hugged her back tightly; letting her know that he wasn't going to leave her again any time soon. He loved her so much and there was no way that he'd do that to her, he just hoped that she wouldn't do that to him either. They held each other for a while longer more and then released each other. Ichiko held on to his jacket with her fists and looked down towards the ground; she didn't want him seeing her like that. He grabbed her waist and used his other hand to lift up her chin so she was looking up at him,"What's the matter? I thought you'd be happy to see me again." She couldn't say anything to him, she wasn't able to. She was still taking this all in. Finally, she shook her head to clear her mind a bit and answered him,"I am, it's just that I didn't expect you to be back so soon. I mean after being gone for this long, I didn't expect you to come back at all. I've missed you through out this whole entire time." He bent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek then whispered into her ear,"I've missed you too and you were the only thing I could think about. I would always worry my butt off every night trying to convince myself that you were ok out here. I guess I was right." He pulled away and stood up straight while looking down at her; his hand rested on her cheek, stroking it comfortingly. She brought her hand up and gently grabbed his wrist while she took in the feeling of his touch against her skin. He couldn't help but smile at her while she looked up at him with those heart-warming eyes of hers. He finally dropped his hand from her cheek and let go of her waist, taking a step back to get a good look at her. He noticed that she changed in many ways but not all. She still had her baby face but her face features were more sharper than before and she had the body of a woman now; full chest, well built arms, and great looking legs. Her hair and eyes were still the same but he didn't really care because no matter what, he'd love everything about her; even the tiniest of flaws. "What?" She asked him. He just smiled and rested his hands on his waist shaking his head a bit, "You've changed but not really. You still have your baby face, the same hair, and eyes." This made her a bit embarrassed but a little irritated at the same time. He just told her that she didn't change a bit while he did; she wasn't going to take that. "Look you, just because you go off for almost three years and come back all of a sudden doesn't mean you can start making fun of me. Besides, you're one to talk." She crossed her arms across her chest and smirked at him. He just chuckled and walked towards her, not showing a single hint of fear. Naruto patted the top of her head gently and smile his goofy grin of his, "I was just joking, you don't have to get upset, dork." Her cheeks started turning a bit rosy and she turned away from him so that he wouldn't see her like that. "Freakin Naruto, making me blush at a time like this." He looked at her and then an idea popped into his head in an instance. He took her by the hand and started dragging her towards her bedroom window, "Come on. I'm taking you somewhere you love to go." She was a bit surprised but got back to bringing her guards up, "Where would this be exactly?" "Don't worry about it, just trust me." He said those words so carelessly, as if they didn't mean anything but he doesn't know that she wasn't able to trust anyone so easily anymore; she wasn't even sure if she could trust him even though they were the closest of friends. After climbing through the window and been given some support they finally reached where he was planning to take her; the rooftop. It was true that she loved going up there when she wanted to be alone or wanted to sit and think her thoughts throught but she was pretty sure that no one knew about this little fact so it surprised her a bit when they ended up there. He let go of her hand and stood a couple of steps away from her with his hands on his waist and looking towards the setting sun, "Why did you bring me up here?" He continued to face the sun,"Because I know you like coming up here when you want to get away from it all. It seems like this would be the only place where we could catch up on things..." "How did you know-" "Ah, enough questions, lets just start talking." He turned around and walked towards her so they'd be face to face; then he sat down while she was still standing. Ichiko looked down at him and sighed then layed down next to him.
They talked for what seemed to be like hours but neither one of them cared, they just enjoyed one another's company. She found out many new things about him; that he learned a new technique called Rasengan, and many others, like walking on water and he was able to control his chakra more. It seemed that he had a good time on his trip with Juraiya; she was happy that he did. He also learned quite a few new things on what was going on in the village: Tsunade was the new Hokage, she was training Sakura now to be a medical ninja, and that Sasuke left the village. He was surprised by it all and wasn't really able to comment on it too much since he was shocked. They stayed like that for a little while longer, staring at the now darkened sky that consumed the Earth. It was getting late but neither one of them seemed to notice until Naruto yawned and stretched. She giggled a bit and turned so that she was lying on her side; looking up at him, "Tired?" He turned only his head and looked at her while his hands were behind his head, "Maybe, just a little bit." "Well then, I guess we should head back. I'm getting tired too." "Alright." They both got up together and he helped her through her window as he jumped in behind her. Ichiko walked to the middle of the room while stretching, she was tired and wanted to get some rest. She turned to face Naruto,"You want to crash here for the night?" He grinned at her,"Sure, if you don't mind." "You know you're always welcomed in my home so don't worry about it." He laughed in his throat a bit and followed her as she walked out of the room into a guest room. She opened the door and stepped inside, turning on a light behind her. The room wasn't all that empty, it had a couple of posters, a few pictures, and some books lying around but it was still comfortable either way. He always felt at home whenever he came to her house; he didn't like leaving because then he would go back to his isolated apartment and do nothing but sit in silence. He wished he had a family he could go home to but there was no one. He came back to reality as Ichiko had just finished making the bed for him; she looked over it to make sure that it would be comfortable for him. She stood up and let out an exhausted sigh, "Well, I hope this'll do." She was about to turn around and face him until she felt his arms wrap tightly around her waist. She was surprised by his action and couldn't really move for she was unsure on how to react to this. He breathed on her throat and smiled a bit, whispering, "It's fine. Thank you." She managed to blurt out 'no problem' but it didn't come out as clear as she hoped.
He couldn't believe what he just did. When he saw her standing there and speak, the only thing he could think of doing was pulling her close to his body. He was surprised that she didn't pull away but was now worried that it would make things awkward between them. Naurto cherished the moment as much as he could before nuzzling her throat and saying 'good night' then letting her go. She swallowed and said 'good night' back to him before turning around and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. He watched her as she left and couldn't help but smile and slap himself on the forehead before undressing and settling in.
"What just happened?" Ichiko was stunned for the first time in a long while. She was a bit shocked that he did something like that and wanted to go back inside the room to hold him in his arms but thought against it. She felt stupid that she just left the room like that without saying anything but 'good night'. "Wow, real nice one there, Ichiko. Smooth." She gave an aggravated sigh and slapped the palm of her hand on her forehead, letting it stay there afterwards as she walked off. She brought her hand down as soon as she entered her room and got ready for bed. Ichiko undressed, slipped on her sleeping wear, and got into bed. She turned the light off but didn't fall asleep immediately; she was unable to unfortunately. Things were going through her mind that she wasn't able to make sense of. "Damn...what a day." After Naruto coming back, she doesn't know what she should do now; she doesn't want to be just friends, she wants to be more than that if it's possible. "I mean, come one. It's be nice if he had his first girlfriend already, I'm pretty sure he's ready for one already." Ichiko rolled over so she was laying on her side and stared at the wall, trying to make shapes out of it. She wanted to tell Naruto everything, how she felt towards him, what happened in her past, and what she really is...but she didn't know how he would take it. It would probably be too much for him to handle since he already has everything else going on in his life. Ichiko sighed and rolled back so she was facing the ceiling with her her head resting on top of her hand. She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep but every time she would try it, she would always end up waking up again. This time when she closed her eyes, instead of trying to drift off, she tried imagining that she was lying next to Naruto and he was holding her in his arms, keeping her safe from harm. Ichiko felt nothing but happiness and all of her emptiness went away, didn't feel sad or lonesome when she was like that with him. Even though it was just a fantasy, she wanted it to last forever but not every dream can come true. A sharp familiar chill went down her back as she was day dreaming about all the things she would do to him. She opened her eyes quickly and sat up, looking around the room to see if anyone or anything was there. Something wasn't right and she could feel it, she's felt that chill before and knew right away what it could be, "It couldn't be..." She looked away from her room and out the window, viewing the night sky, "There's no way it could be him...nah I'm just imagining things." She scanned the room one more time before laying back and pulling the cover over her chin. She couldn't help but think that her past was coming back to haunt her and this time it would take her back to the old days, "Don't be stupid, there's no way that he'd take me back...and there's no way I'd go with him." This time when she closed her eyes she didn't wake up again and dreamnt of all the people's lives that 'he' had ended.
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Walking through the darkened forest to Konoha, he had his mind on one thing and one thing only. To bring Ichiko back with him. To make her rejoin Akatsuki once more and to experience all those horrific things with him again. Itachi hated the fact that he was the one that had to recruit her, unfortunately for him, they needed her with them again. "Bring her back, yah know I miss the little cutie." Deidara would tell him. "Dammit, if they want her back so badly, why don't they get her themselves." "Just because I was her 'partner' back then, geez..." He shook his head lightly and continued on walking, making sure he was quiet so that if anyone was in the area, they wouldn't hear him walking by. He hated doing things like this. They always made him do irritating tasks like this because the idiots were too 'occupied' with something else but one has to do what he's told at times. "Might as well not argue with it." He was more than halfway to the village by now and it would only take him about an hour or so just to get there. Itachi doesn't really know where she lives but he would always able to track her down no matter what, "It was never that hard to find her." He sighed and continued on, it would be odd returning to the village, even if it was for a short visit. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he arrives and when he tells her why he went. "I'll finally get to see her beautiful face again." Sarcastically speaking to himself, "Oh joy." He just wanted to get this 'chore' over with already and be out of there.
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To her, the morning seemed to have came too quickly and the night was too short...but then again, it was always like that with her. Ichiko woke up and stretched but she stretched too far and ended up pulling a muscle in her leg. She cringed at the sudden pain and clenched her teeth, "Too freakin early in the morning." Resisting the urge to grab her leg tightly, she clutched the bed sheets and waited for the pain to pass. After a fer seconds, it went away and she sighed tiredly, "Smart move." Getting up, she walked to her door and opened it, finding Naruto's door open. She tip-toed past it and went to the bathroom to use it. When she finished, she flushed, washed her hands, dried them on a towel, and left the bathroom heading towards the kitchen. On the way to the kitchen, she suddenly smelled something that she loved, "Is that...grilled cheese?" It was. Not knowing if it was Naruto making it, she walked into the kitchen and found him standing in front of the stove taking the sandwich off the pan and placing it on a plate. He turned around and spotted her right away. He gave her a wearily smile and offered her the plate, "Hungry?" She gave a small smile and walked towards him, "Yeah, big time." "I made your favorite." She took the plate out of his hands and looked at it admiring that he would do this for her. "Thanks, you practically know all the things I like. It's like you've been keeping a close eye on me or something." He just shrugged and grabbed his plate of eggs and bacon then walked with her to the table where they sat across from each other. She couldn't help but notice that he was in nothing but his boxers and undershirt. It seemed like he was comfortable like that and she thought the way he was right now was sexy. She started chewing at the edge of the warm, crusted bread and looked away from him for she was getting too distracted. She was aware that he was looking at her eat, it made her feel a bit uneasy. It was quiet between them for a little while but then he was the first one to break the silence, "How's the food?" She was a bit startled when he asked her that and replied right away making her seem a bit nervous and too eager, "It's good. You're a really good cook" He winked at her, "Only for you, love." She knew he was joking but it still made her form butterflies in her stomach when he would say things like that to her; she loved that feeling, "So, what's on the list today?" He put down his fork and crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair, "I actually have to go back to my apartment and unpack. Yah know, get settled in again. It's been so long since I've last been home, it's probably all dusty and dirty." A small smile formed on his face as he looked at her, "Do you need help with that?" He shook his head a bit, "Nah, it's ok. I can handle this on my own, so don't worry about it." She felt bad that she asked that question and it obviously showed on her face. He noticed it right away and looked concerned, "But thanks anyway, we'll hang out later, alright?" She was a bit embarrassed and nodded. He then got up and grabbed her plate taking it to the sink and washing it. Naruto dried his hands off on a small towel hanging and turned around to face her, "Well, come on. Let's get ready, I have to be heading out." He walked to her side of the table, grabbed her hand, and pulled her off the seat. She followed him as she had no choice since he was holding on to her, and he took her to her room. As soon as they were inside the room, he let go of her hand and faced her, "You know I care for you right? And that I'd do anything for you, no matter what. That's how much you mean to me, Ichiko." She stared at him with no facial expression, "And so would I. I love you so much, Naruto but why are you telling me this?" He sighed and rubbed the back of his throat gently, looking a bit nervous, "Ah, no reason. I just wanted to tell you that, I had to get it off my chest." She smiled and walked towards him, pulling him into a tight hug and whispered, "Thank you." He was thrown off guard but quickly got back onto his feet and wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. He took in her scent and loved the way she smelled; it was sweet like vanilla. She let go of him and stood on her the tips of her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She then went back to her normal standing stance and looked up at him. He couldn't do anything but grin his goofy smile of his. She giggled a bit and soon enough, he left her in the room to get ready for them to leave.
Outside the door, Naruto walked to his room and closed the door behind him while leaning against it. He rested his head on the door and looked up at the ceiling with his stunning blue eyes, "God, I love her so much...and yet she doesn't know it, yet." He sighed and pushed himself off the door to start dressing. After about a half an hour, they both were done preparing themselves and were facing each other in front of the door. He couldn't really say anything to her as he stared into her gray-bluish eyes; oh, how he wished she would kiss him. She looked into his blue eyes and winked playfully. He cocked his head to the side in confusion when she did this. Ichiko rolled her eyes and inclined her head to the door, he got the hint and started to walk out the door before Ichiko grabbed his arm and pulled him back inside, "No, silly. Let me at least walk you to your apartment." "Oh, right. Sure why not?" They both left the house locking the door before they left and started heading down the road to his apartment. It was quiet for the most part until she started talking to him about any random thing that popped into her head. The talk lasted for the whole entire way there and when they were nearing his apartment, he started laughing and looked at her, "What's up with the random subjects?" She shrugged and looked straight ahead as they walked, "I don't know, I guess I just like talking to you about anything. Is there something wrong with that?" "No, I was just wondering." She smiled and finally looked at him, "What? Don't like tal-" She was cut off and stopped dead in her tracks as she looked up towards the roof of a building next to them. She spotted the familiar shape of her old comrade and couldn't believe that it might be him. She didn't want to believe that it was him, she didn't want her past to come back for her. He stared down at her without an expression on his face and sharingan eyes carved his name into her; making her remember who he was. "Itachi..." Naruto looked at her in confusion, "What?" The wind suddenly picked up a bit and blew her hair in her face, forcing her to turn away for a second but when she turned back he was gone. She couldn't take her eyes off of that spot that but remained calm for she didn't want to worry Naruto. Yet, it wasn't really working because he was getting a bit concerned since she didn't answer him, "Ichiko...what just happened? Who's name did you say?" She barely heard his voice before coming back into focus and shook her head to clear her mind, "Nothing, I just thought I saw something but I guess it was just the wind playing it's tricks...sorry. Let's keep going, we're almost there." Ichiko didn't wait for his response and instead turned and started walking without looking back. He stayed there a bit longer and looked at the rooftop where she was looking, "Did she say Itachi?...no, I'm just imagining things again." Naruto turned away from the building and ran to catch up to Ichiko.
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He finally arrived at the village and found that there was no guard keeper, "How odd..." He ignored it and kept on walking without being noticed by anyone, "This seems to be too easy." Obviously he didn't trust his old village being this quiet, it sort of irritated him that there was no one at the gate but he didn't care all that much. Not wanting to be seen, he leaped to the top of a building and looked around, remembering his once home. There were so many things here that he's done that he would never forget but he did forget the unimportant things. Not wanting to spend too much time there, he decided to start tracking down Ichiko; he needed to find her as quickly as possible. Using his sharingan, he concentrated and looked past everything. It took him only a couple of seconds before he found her walking with someone; it was the nine tailed demon fox. He was a bit surprised that she would be hanging around someone like him but then again they're one in the same. He wondered if she's told him her secret yet, if not then when. He sighed and shook, "Lets show her a glimpse of her past again." He started to leap from one building to the next until her was on the rooftop of the building next to them. Itachi could tell that she noticed him right away for she stopped walking and looked up to him, "Yes...it's me little girl." The wind had started to blow harder and she turned away to get her hair out of her face and he took that chance to disappear. He hid in the shadows and watched her as she looked up again and found that her was gone. It was almost too easy scaring her. The demon fox known as Naruto said something to her and she responded back apparently but then started walking away. He looked at her then at the top of the building and ran to catch up to her. He decided not to recruit her right now, he wanted to follow her a bit more before he said anything to her just yet. And so, he followed her to keep an eye on her and made sure that he wasn't seen.
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She was getting a bit nauseated that she saw him-again, she was sure of it. "But what would he be doing here? What does he want? I thought he was gone, the bastard." "ko...Ichiko..." She heard a voice from a distance but ignored it, she didn't want to be disturbed right now, "Chiko...Ichiko...ICHIKO!" She finally realized that she was standing in front of Naruto's apartment door and he was the one that was calling her name for the past minute. She looked at him with a dazed look in her eyes and it made him worry about her. "Are you ok?" She placed her hand on her forehead and looked down at the ground, "No, not really. I feel somewhat nauseated...but I'll be fine, I just need to rest a little while." He placed his hand on her shoulder so as to try and comfort her, "You sure?" She looked up at him and nodded, dropping her hand to her side, "Look, I'll come by later on today so we can go out to eat, alright?" "It's a date then." She smiled and giggled a little bit, despite how she was feeling. They hugged and went their separate ways until later that night when they'd see each other again. She decided to walk home and get some rest; she was getting pretty sick and wanted to lie down for a little bit. On the way to her house she tried looking up at the sky but that made her feel worse so she just looked towards the ground. While walking she was stopped by Shizune, Tsunade's assistant who seemed to be out of breath. "Um, what's happening, Shizune?" She was bending over trying to catch her breath and it looked like she doesn't really get out to run often. She finally caught her breath enough for her to speak, "Tsunade would like to see you right away, Ichiko." "Today?" Ichiko seemed to be somewhat confused as to why Tsunade would want to see her today, it was her day-off. "Yeah, right. With her, I never get a day-off anymore." "Alright, I'll go up there right now then. Thanks for the update." Shizune stood up straight and bowed then turned and walked away. Ichiko sighed and started leaping from one building to the next just to get to her office. Despite the condition she was in, she managed to get there within a minute or less. Ichiko walked down the long, familiar hallway to her office and dreaded every step that she took. She didn't really like seeing Tsunade at these kind of times, but had to anyway. She finally reached the office, opened the door, and walked inside. Ichiko automatically closed the door behind her and stepped forward so that she would be a few steps away from the desk. The room was messy as usual but it was still pretty homey and comfortable. Tsunade was facing the window when she came in, "Ichiko, I have to talk to you about your files." "Yes, what about them?" "I understand that you have already done everything you needed to do with academic and your fighting skills wise, but I also noticed that you've done some extra training with Kakashi, right?" "Yes, that's right." "Do you realize that you're way ahead then most of the kids around your age?" "Obviously." Ichiko didn't answer so she continued, "You've almost surpassed Kakashi but not quite. You don't really have all that much time left, yah know." This made her puzzled, "What do you mean?" Tsunade turned around in her chair to face her, "I've gotten word that one of the members from the Akatsuki is coming to our village." "Alright, that's nice and all but what does that have to deal with me?" She looked at her in a serious way, "They're coming for you." Ichiko just stood there without giving a response. Somehow she wasn't surprised that they were back and that they were going to try and take her back with them. She just saw him earlier that day. Tsunade seemed disappointed by her reaction and continued, "Look, Ichiko, don't forget what you really are inside. Naruto and you are one in the same and they're after you two but they seem to have taken more of an interest in you than they do for him. That's what puzzles me, why they want you more than him." Ichiko shrugged and didn't respond again to her comment; but she knew why they were more interested in her than Naruto. It was because she was once a member of their clan. She was partners with Itachi back then and those were the 'good old' days, where everyone feared you and got out of your way. But she left them for she wanted a different life and she didn't want to be considered a murderer like them; she didn't want to remember what happened back then. She was so use to seeing death that she wouldn't really care if she was the one who caused it but now she can't stand the thought of killing someone again. Those were the times, she still has deep, deep scars from that time. "And my master thought he brought me up well...bah." Now that she thinks about it, they did say that they were going to come back for her one day. "We'll be back for you one day, keep that in mind."Irritation filled her face as she looked away from Tsunade; she noticed something was wrong but didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, "Do you have some connection with them?" Ichiko continued to look away from her but shook her head at the same time, "No...that was a long time ago..." she mumbled to herself. "Excuse me?" Tsunade asked her since she couldn't hear her. She sighed and turned away from Tsunade, walking to the door. She was surprised that she was walking away from her so she decided to stop her, "Wait! Ichiko, if there's something you think I should know then tell me right now." She stopped right in front of the door and stayed silent. She was looking down at the ground but then brought her head up, looking straight forward, and turned her head slightly to the side, "I think it's best that you shouldn't know. I don't want anyone knowing what I've done in the past and how I've gotten these scars. Besides, it's better if you don't know, I'd rather you not getting hurt by anyone because I told you some things about my past." With that, she turned her head back forward and opened the door. Shizune was standing in front of Ichiko when she opened it and had her hand extended out as if she was going to turn the knob. Ichiko didn't look at her as she walked past her and down the hall with her hands inside of her pockets.
"ICHIKO!" Tsunade called out to her hoping that'd she come back but it was obvious that she wasn't going to turn back around. She let out an exaggerated sigh and slumped back in her chair. Shizune stayed standing in the doorway for a couple of seconds as she stared at Ichiko walking away with her mouth slightly open. Once she was out of sight, Shizune let a small amount of air escape her lips and closed the door as she entered the room. She looked up at Tsunade who was resting her head on her hands with her eyes closed now. She noticed that she was rubbing her temples from the stress of it all. Shizune approached her desk, "Didn't go so well, huh?" "No. She's so stubborn." Tsunade responded without looking up. "Well, you know that's how she is. I mean, when she first came to this village she was a whole other person. She didn't trust anyone and couldn't stand being in a room with someone else. But ever since then she's changed so I think that you shouldn't complain." Tsunade finally looked up at Shizune and placed her hands gently on the desk, "Yeah, you're right, but still. I just don't understand the kid." "No body does. Naruto's practically the only one that knows almost everything about her, he understands her the most out of everyone here. There's no one else that she's closed to than him." "That may be true but something's telling me that she hasn't told Naruto that she's like him." Shizune cocked her head to the side a bit, "What? That she has a demon inside of her?" Tsunade nodded and leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, "But what I don't understand is what she told me just now." Shizune looked at her quizzically so she continued, "Well, when I asked her if she had some connection to Akatsuki, she pretty much told me not to worry about it and that I wouldn't really want to know about her past. Apparently, she doesn't want me getting hurt." Shizune nodded her head slightly in understanding, "So then, she really might've had a connection with them." "Meaning that she could be an ex-member of Akatsuki."
She found herself walking home by herself after having that odd conversation with Tsunade, "Why would she even want to know anything about what happened to me before..." She exhaled heavily through her nose and looked down at the ground with her hands in her pockets. "So would that explain why I saw Itachi earlier? No, there's no way that, that was Itachi. I guess I was just seeing things again." After convincing herself that he wasn't back, she started feeling a bit cheerful for she was bothered by what Tsunade said to her, "Don't forget what you really are inside...they seem to have taken more of an interest in you than they do for him." That little quote still echoed in her head. "It's because I was once a member...but nobody knows that about me." "And I plan on keeping it that way." "Keeping what, what way?" Startled by the new voice that spoke to her, she stopped walking and instantly knew who it was. "Itachi..." She could sense him behind her but she didn't move to face him. He gave a small smile as he looked at the back of her, "It's been awhile." "Fuck off." "I see that you still have your attitude." "What do you want?" She said to him making sure that there was venom in each word. His smile disappeared, "Now, aren't we eager to get to the point?" "Itachi..." exaggerating his voice a little. He let out a tired sigh, "Follow me." He turned and leaped from building to building towards the buildings that were behind the village. She was about to go after him but then stopped to think about it. She didn't want to go after him if it was a trap. She wasn't sure if he's changed or not from the last time she could remember him. Slapping herself on the forehead she decided to go after him because she figured that he came here only because the clan forced him to; he would never do something like this, he hated doing things like this...especially if it involved her. Leaping from the ground and onto a building, she followed behind him. She was still able to keep up to him, it almost reminded her of how it was before; she almost missed the old days. A few leaps later, they came to a stop in the middle of the woods and stood apart from each other. He took a moment to make sure no one had followed them and no one was around there before he started speaking, "I guess you're wondering why I came here." Ichiko crossed her arms across her chest and nodded without saying anything to him; she didn't really want to speak to him. He continued, "Irritating as it seems, the clan wants you to come join us again. I'm here to recruit you." She wasn't surprised by what he said and gave no facial expression but instead closed her eyes and breathed in, "What do they need me back for?" Opening her eyes, she gave him an aggravated look. Itachi shrugged and sighed, "Unfortunately, they need to you for who knows what." She stared at him as if he were stupid, "You don't know why they need me?" This made him angry and he gave her a look also, "No. The idiots didn't tell me anything, you of all people should know how they are." "I'm not surprised that they wouldn't tell you. Now that I think about it, they never really told you quite a few things. I feel sorry for you." He shook his head slightly, "Same old Ichiko, always feeling bad for everyone else other than herself. You haven't changed at all, you little runt." Ichiko was a bit angry by then but she didn't let it show, "Well, Itachi, you should know that I'm never going back. Never going back to any of those terrible experiences again, I'm not going to go through it again." She hesitated before telling him her response, "S-so I'd like you to tell them to fuck off." Itachi was quiet when she said this and stayed like that for a few minutes. Ichiko looked at him with anger in her eyes, "What else do you want? I don't see why you're still here." He continued to stay silent and looked at her. She was getting more and more angrier by the second, "Loo-" "You're not telling the complete truth." She was shocked about what he said to her, "Of course I'm telli-" Continuing to cut her off, "Ichiko, I can see right through you. You miss the old days and want to go back. You know I'm right too." She didn't know what he was talking about; wanting to go back? Missing the old days? What old days? There was usually never a time that she enjoyed watching her own 'partner' killing someone in front of her. That was one of the reasons why she had left them in the first place; she wasn't able to handle all the killing anymore and eventually snapped. Sure they were a bit confused as to why she had snapped and walked out on them but it was what she decided and it turned out for the better. So maybe she didn't exactly always enjoy her life at the village but it was better than what she had before. There's actually people at the village that doesn't fear her and no one really knows what she's done. He was right on one thing though, that she had thought about going back to them.
When she was with them, she felt protected and felt like they were her family even though they did all those horrible things. There were days that she woke up thinking that she was back at the hideout and soon realized that she was living in Konoha. When she realized this, it saddened her deeply because she knew that she would probably never see them and would never have something like that again. That's why she hesitated earlier when she was giving him her answer but told him no because she's already done too many things for Konoha and the people around her. It's not like she would be able to betray them, if she did than they would never forgive her. They'd most likely not accept her back into their lives again either. Not to mention that she didn't want to leave anyone behind, especially Naruto. She's fallen in love and made tons of new friends, most of them are really cool and she enjoys spending time with them. She was so lost in thought that she didn't really realize that he had something to her, "What?" Itachi looked annoyed, "This is probably the only opportunity you have to return to us. After walking out, the clan never forgave you for that and has always held it against you but now they've decided to reconsider it and let you come back." She looked at the ground and shook her head, "No, it's wrong, there's no way I can go back. I-i just don't want to go back to th-" "Yes you do." "No, I don't" "Then why can't you look at me when you answer?And you're also backing away from me." She hadn't realized that she was taking steps backwards; she even noticed that she was shaking a bit and starting to get somewhat sweaty, He needed to leave now, "Look, Itachi, I-i think you better leave. I'm pretty sure you don't want the Hokage finding out that you're here." She was right and he knew it. It would cause some trouble if anyone found out that he was there, he really hated it when she threatened him, "Shit." It was no problem for her to tell the Hokage about him being there since she was "so close" to her, "Alright, I'll leave but keep this in mind Ichiko. No one can replace you. It's YOU who we want...no one else. Just remember all the times we spent together, maybe that'll make you change your mind. Just know that I'd always take you back as my partner. There's no one out there like you." He turned and gave his back to her, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I miss you, believe it or not.Make the decision quick and if you do decide to go back, you know where to find us." He disappeared instantly after telling her that; leaving her in silence and to her thoughts. "I miss you..." "Great, what am I going to do now?" Obviously she shouldn't go back but something inside of her wanted to be with them again. "I need some time to think this over." Shaking her head hard so that she could get some sense back into her, she turned around and headed back to the village. It didn't take her long to get back but she seemed to be getting tired rather quickly for some strange reason, "Lack of sleep, I guess. I'll just go home and doze off for a bit." She decided to go home and lie down until she felt better. By the time she reached the village, it was already the afternoon and that meant she had to meet Naruto soon to eat. She hurried on home. locked the door, and passed out instantly.
After a few hours, she woke up to a loud knocking on her door and someone calling out her name. She ignored it at first but the irritation wouldn't go away, so she decided to check it out. While getting up, Ichiko was sore and aching which made her moan in pain. She didn't want to get out of bed but forced herself to do so. The knocking and yelling continued on and she was really getting annoyed. As soon as she reached the door, she flung the door open and was about to cuss out whoever it was until she saw that it was Naruto this whole entire time. Naruto sighed in relief as soon as he saw her, "Good, you're home. For a second there I thought you might've had left without me." "Left?" Naruto looked at her as if there was something on her face, "Yah know, to eat? We always go out to eat together." She blinked a couple of times as his words slowly processed into her head, "Oooooh, right. Yeah, I'm sorry, I sorta fell asleep when I got home." "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we can do this tomorrow, if you'd like." "No, it's ok. I had to get up anyway and I am pretty hungry. Just give me a second to get ready." He nodded as she allowed him to enter her house. She walked off to her room and got ready rather quickly and came out in seconds; when she came out into the room, she found Naruto on the couch with his eyes closed, "He must be tired from unpacking and settling in all day. Poor thing." Ichiko walked around the couch and stood in front of him before bending over so that she'd be face to face with him. She studied every inch of his face and butterflies started to form in her stomach. He was beautiful when he's sleeping, she loved the way he looked at that exact moment and suddenly got the sudden urge to kiss him. She was going to lean in until he unexpectantly opened his eyes which made her yelp a little bit and fall to the floor. Right away Naruto got up and tried helping her up, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were standing in front of me so I didn't expect this to happen." He offered his hand to her but instead, she looked away from him in embarassment and started to turn a rosy red, "No, it's my fault for standing so close to you like that in the first place." She took his hand and he pulled her up onto her feet in one quick move. He grinned and gently patted her on the head, "You're so cute when you get embarassed. Your cheeks start turning pink and it makes you want to pinch them." She pouted at his comment to her and hated the fact that he was treating her like a little kid, "Shut up." She said playfully to him, "I'm not a little kid." He took his hand off her head and brought his hands up in surrender, noticing that she was getting annoyed by the way he was treating her. "Ok, ok. My bad. You don't have to get all defensive though." She stuck out her tongue at him, "Sure, sure. Now come on, lets go get something to eat." He nodded, grabbed her hand, and pulled out the door.
This time they went to another shack that served all types of foods; obviously Naruto chose something close to ramen since they didn't have any and Ichiko got some seafood. They talked and laughed while they ate and when they were done they paid the check and headed on home. Naruto suggested that they should hang out at her place for a little bit and she agreed to it. Through out the whole entire evening, Ichiko stayed quiet as ever from what happened with the meeting with Itachi. It was bothering her and she couldn't get his offering out of her head; she couldn't even believe that she was considering to go back. Naruto noticed that something was bothering her but didn't want to say anything while they were eating but now he couldn't hold in his curiosity any longer, "Is something wrong? You've been quiet this whole entire time." She looked at the ground and didn't respond right away to his question. He felt that he might've done the wrong thing by asking her that, "If you don't want to answer me, it's alright. It's none of my business after all." She could tell that he was really worried about her and he wanted to know what was going on but she wasn't really able to tell him much, "I'm sorry for making you concerned. There's really nothing wrong, so you don't need to worry about me. I've just got a lot on my mind lately is all." A fake smile formed on her face but he wasn't buying it. He knew something was wrong but if she didn't want to talk about it then he'd understand. For the rest of the way home, they made some conversation but not a lot and soon arrived to her house. It was getting late and he decided that maybe they should hang out some other time; he didn't want to keep her up just because he wanted to come in. "No, it's quite alright if you want to come in for a little bit." "No, I better not. I don't want you to be dead in the morning cuz of me, you need your rest." "But-" "No buts, I told you already ok?" Already knowing who was going to win this argument, she nodded in agreement, "I want him to stay longer though." He opened up his arms to give her a hug and she walked right into them; wrapping hers around him tightly. She didn't want him to leave so soon, she always felt lonely when he wasn't there with her. 'Don't go yet, Naruto. I want you to stay a little longer, I was having such a good time with you." She whispered to him. He shook his head no, "You know that I can't. I have training tomorrow and need to get plenty of rest." He said quietly to her. She didn't respond to him so he let her go and told her "good night". Naruto turned to walk away but then suddenly she grabbed his wrist and wouldn't let go. He was a bit shocked but didn't do anything to make her release him, "Ichiko..." She looked down at the ground and walked couple steps towards him so that she was standing right behind him; gently placing her hand on the middle of his back, "Please, Naruto..." He laughed a little, "What's with you? You've been acting weird all night. Is-" "I love you." It suddenly grew quiet between them as those three words escaped her lips. He heard her correctly but wasn't believing it, "What're you talking about?" She immediately regretted saying that and let go his wrist turning away from him, "I understand, you don't feel the same way towards me." She was about to turn the knob to enter her house until he grabbed her from behind and pulling her away from the door. He wrapped his arms around her torso and kissed the top of her head then leaned his head in to her ear, "I love you, too. I always have." She couldn't speak or move, it was all so overwhelming for her. His finger started slowly running up and down her arm, making sure that she was enjoying it. He nudged her head to the side a bit and started to kiss her throat; nibbling parts of it also. She leaned her head back with her mouth partly opened and let out a small noise as she was enjoying what he was doing to her, "Naruto...I can't-" He stopped her by turning her around and making her face him, then all of a sudden he started to lean in slowly with his lips parted. She hesitated at first but then closed the gap between them and locked lips with him. His kiss was sweet and tender, it made her feel tingly inside. They broke away soon after and stared into each other's eyes, "Wow." He said without knowing it. It made her giggle, "What?" He started to turn red, "That was amazing and also...it was my first kiss too."He started to rub the back of his throat nervously and looked away from her. All she could do was smile, "Well then, I'm glad I was your first." He laughed a little and nodded, "Me too." She pointed to the door, "So want to come in now?" He nodded and smiled at her while taking her hand and linking fingers. She couldn't help but be happy about what happened just now. Sighing happily, they both went inside, kissed and held each other on the couch while talking about all of the memories they made with each other. Soon after, they fell asleep in each other's arms.
A week passed and they were one of the happiest couple in the village.Each day, they would do what they needed to do and at night, they would sleep over at each other's places while playfully messing around with each other and sneaking kissed from one another. They loved each other so much that it seemed they wouldn't separate at all. Throughout the whole entire week, she had eventually forgotten about Itachi and his offering to her but then on the last day of the week, everything changed.
She was walking home from a day's training and humming to herself in a low tone. "I can't wait to see Naruto. I wonder what we'll do today." She smirked at the thought, "I've got a couple of ideas." Ichiko laughed to herself and suddenly, everything turned black. Her head started hurting like crazy and her hands grabbed it immediately. Ichiko started to moan a bit and tried shaking her head but that just ended up making it worse. Neither the pain nor the darkness would go away no matter how much she willed it to; she could handle it though but she didn't know for how long. Teeth clenching together, her vision started to get blurry, and the pain worsened. She knew who was doing this technique to her and hated the bastard for knowing this type of skill; Itachi. "Goddammit..." She looked towards the ground with her hands to her head still and knew what he wanted her to do. He wanted to cry out in pain but she wouldn't give in that easily and he should know that by now. Ichiko managed to get use to the pain so she was able to stand up straight and look around her surroundings. Bringing her hands down to her sides, she called out, "ITACHI! I KNOW YOU'RE THE ONE DOING THIS, SHOW YOURSELF DAMMIT!" Nothing happened for a minute until he appeared before her and it looked like he was smiling at her in amusement. Angrier than ever, she started for him until the pain in her head made her stop mid-way; she held onto her head once again. Looking at him, she asked, "What the hell do you want now? I already told you I'm not going with you..." Itachi shook his head lightly and smirked at her pain, "Silly little girl, they won't take no as an answer. So you either go or we force you to...you wouldn't want anything happening to your precious loved one now, would you?" She glared at him and spit at his feet, "Don't you dare get him involved in this. He has nothing to do with-AH!" The pain was worse than ever before and she still was standing; she was bent over a bit though at the same time almost about to fall to the ground. She hated it when he used this against her like this, he would only use it to force her to do something or for punishment but then pain never got this bad. Itachi simply stared down at her as she fought against it; it was no use, if he made it hurt even more she wouldn't be able to handle it. So he released it and the pain in her head went away instantly. She stopped clenching her teeth but was still grabbing her head until she fell to her knees and her arms dropped to their side; she was looking down at the ground while breathing faintly. He walked up to her, grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and pulled her up towards him. Her head fell to the side and was staring to the side of them with pained expression on her face. That one little thing that just happened brought back so many torturous memories that she felt like she was reliving it all. He grabbed her face roughly and turned her face to his and made her look into his eyes. When she looked at him, he was still using the sharingan, she was surprised that he was still able to move after using that much chakra for such a long period of time. He could tell by the look on her face that she was going through some phase right there and then; it only encouraged him more, "Enjoying the experience? You remember that don't you? All the pain and torture you went through is coming back; it's making you weak again isn't it? Now you remember the pain you went through when you disobeyed what I told you to do at times." He let go of her face and she remained staring at him; not being able to take her eyes off of him. He smiled and gently let released her from his grip. She slumped forward a bit and stared at the ground, trying to calm herself down after what happened. He turned around and walked a few steps away from her then stopped and turned his head slightly to the left, "Remember, Ichiko, I can't force you to make a decision but if you choose the wrong choice it'll be your ass in the end. So I hope I'll be seeing you soon..." With that, he vanished and darkness instantly disappeared with Ichiko kneeling on the ground. She wasn't moving but was still breathing very faintly until finally she took in a deep breath of air and sighed loudly. She fell forward landing on her hands and looking at the ground, smiling. She started to laugh in a very low tone until suddenly it got louder and louder by the second; she had finally lost it. Again. "When was the last time I've felt this pain before? When was the last time he did this to me?" Sitting up straight she clutched her stomach and started to laugh hysterically, there were tears forming at the corner of her eyes. It would've caused some attention if anyone was around but she didn't give a shit if anyone noticed her laughing in the middle of the road. After a couple of minutes, she started to calm down and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She finally stopped laughing but continued to smile a bit; almost as if she didn't have a care in the world, "Hmmm...this is going to be interesting...returning to them again. What joy." She suddenly stood up slowly and stretched off everything, "Ok, note to self: never laugh like that again." "Fuck, man." When Itachi causes her that kind of pain, it always makes her laugh because he doesn't know what she's capable of doing and handling. "Might as well head on home, I'm pretty sure that-" Her eyes widened in shock, "Shit! Naruto!" Apparently she had barely remembered that Naruto and her were going to stay home and cook, tonight they were going to his apartment. Panicking a little, she started to run through the town and everything on her mind had went away by the time she gotten there.
When she reached the front door, she noticed Naruto right away in his orange jacket of his, "Shit!" She jogged the rest of the way and stopped right in front of him; her breathing was steady as she looked up at him without saying a word. He looked at her in a suspicious way, "Yah know, you're kinda late." She waved her hand at him and looked away, "Yeah, I know. I was stalled on the way over here so that's pretty-" He stopped her talking with his sweet kiss. She was caught off guard but didn't care, she was just glad that he was the one giving her the kiss right now. She inhaled deeply and sighed out happily in the kiss. He pulled away from her with a smile on his face and grabbed her hand as they headed on inside. She blushed a little and let herself be dragged into his place where they cooked dinner together and ate at the table. They talked endlessly and only stopped to take a bite out of the food; after they were done, it was Ichiko's turn to wash the dishes. Pouting, she took his and her dish and started washing them as he cleared the table. It didn't take her long to finish washing and drying them but before she was done drying her own hands, Naruto turned her around and made her face him. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever but in reality it was only a few minutes. He broke the silence by kissing her lightly on the lips and whispering in her ear, "What do you want to do now?" She kissed his ear and whispered back, "Lets watch something for a little bit." He nodded in agreement and picked her up bridal style and carried her to the couch where he playfully swung her around. She squaled and clung to him not wanting to fall out of his arms by mistake. He put her down and they both flopped onto the couch wrestling each other for the remote; in the end he was the one who won. She was pretending to be mad at him and turned away; he thought he did something wrong and took it seriously, so he brought his face next to hers and looked at her with concern. She didn't do anything for a few seconds but out of nowhere she jumped on him and started to kiss him on the throat. He started to laugh a bit and she shushed him for she didn't want anything to ruin the moment or the experience that was going to happen.
She started to kiss the base of his throat and worked her way up to his lips; her hands running up and down his sides. She kissed him sweetly at first but then it got rougher. Having a leg on each side of his hips, she rested one hand on his chest and the other found one of his and they both linked fingers. Nibbling at his bottom lip, Ichiko's goal was getting him to let out a loud moan; so far it seemed to be going well. She unzipped his jacket and took it off, throwing it across the room. She ran her hand underneath his shirt and played with his nipple; at last, she finally got him to moan. She smiled within the kiss and enjoyed how he was responding to her touches. Breaking away from the kiss, she opened her eyes and looked into his stunning, fierce blue eyes for only a few seconds before getting off of him and pulling him to his feet, "Come on, we're going to go somewhere a bit more private." she said to him in a low sort of tone. He eyed her curiously and a small smile formed on his face. He could already tell that he was going to enjoy the rest of the night. Before they reached the room, he wasn't able to wait and wanted her so he pulled on her hand and spun her so she would face him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and kissed her fiercely, "I'm horny for you." she heard him whisper in her ear. She couldn't do anything but smile and allow her cheeks to turn a rosy red. They walked while holding one another in each other's arms and when they reached her bedroom door, he pushed her against the door and pinned her there, making sure that she wasn't able to move. He smiled as he noticed that her cheeks were turning red, "She's so adorable.." She struggled a bit trying to get free but there was no use in attempting it, "Don't even try it." Before she could respond, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips and worked his way down to her stomach while they were both still standing up. What he was doing to her made her wet and her breathing turned a bit ragged; he lifted up her shirt with his hand and kissed the center of her stomach, he knew that was one of the most sensitive spots on her body and attacking it there would send chills up and down her spine. He started to lick and suckle that area and caressed her breast gently, a moan escaped her lips. "Perfect." He left the area and stood up again and kissed her while still caressing her breast. In the kiss she told him, "Lets take this in the room." He grunted softly and opened the door where they both fell on the floor with him on top and her on the bottom. She giggled a bit without breaking the kiss and she could feel him smiling. Naruto broke away from the kiss, stood up, picked her up bridal style and gently placed her on the bed. He took off his undershirt and climbed over her; letting her touch his bare skin with her warm hands. He shivered at the touch of her and started to suckle and nibble her throat. "Ugh, freakin clothes are in the way." He grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulled it over her head, and threw it to the corner of the room. Looking down at her body, Naruto breathed in as he looked at her loving body and eyed the bra curiously. "So, you actually wear one of those things?" Glaring at him irritably, "What's that supposed to mean?" Realizing that he shouldn't have said this he shook his head and looked away from her, "Um, nothing never mind..." She cocked her head to the side and stared at him, "Yah know, you can take it off if you want to." Naruto didn't respond back to her but instead, he looked at her, then the bra and leaned in towards her, taking a strap in his mouth. Pulling gently, he smiled at her while reaching underneath her and unhooking the terrible thing. He let go of the strap but went in between her breasts and bit the middle of her bra; pulling it off of her chest and letting her arms slide through the two holes. Throughout the whole entire process, he had his eyes closed for he was embarassed but didn't know why so when he finally took it off, he still refused to open his eyes. "Naruto." Not reacting to her calling she touched his cheek gently and rubbed it with her thumb, "It's ok to look. I want you to look at my body and rub yours against it. Admire what I'm offering to you...please open you eyes." Still holding the bra in his mouth he blushed furiously and slowly opened her eyes but what he saw was what he least expected.
He looked down at her half-naked body and couldn't stop staring as he took in every detail. Ichiko had the softest skin Naruto had ever seen, her breasts looked so tender, her nipples plucked up with the cold, and her small, muscled stomach was the most cutest thing he's seen. Wanting to touch her, he closed his eyes and breathed in slowly, trying not to get too excited. Continuing to stroke his cheek, she smiled at him and with her other hand, Ichiko took his and placed on her breast. Naruto opened his eyes immediately when he felt her nipple underneath his palm while struggling to control himself. Realizing what this was doing to him, she placed her hand on his chest and trailed down to his pants where she slipped in and started stroking him softly. He breathed in sharply and allowed a small moan to escape his lips. He clutched the bed sheets and still refused to lose his cool; then she did the most unexpected thing ever. Ichiko grabbed the back of his neck with her free hand, rolled him over so that she was on top, and licked and bit his nipple while still stroking him. It made him harden instantly and she felt it with her hand; making her smile and giggle a bit. It felt amazing how she was handling him; he could feel her warm tongue lick and flick him teasingly and her cold hand sent chills up his spine as she stroked him. The sensation he was feeling was amazing and in the end, he wasn't able to handle it, "Gah, FUCK IT!" He stopped her from licking him anymore and removed her hand from his pants. Then he rolled her over, pinned her down on the bed, and unzipped his pants while looking at her the whole time, "I'm going to give you the ride of your life." Widening her eyes, he took advantage of the moment and licked, bit, and nibbled every part of her body that was visible. Unlike him, she was able to handle what he was doing to her for she didn't want to show him how weak she was. Figuring out that he had to do better than that, Naruto crawled down a bit so that his face was to her pants line and grabbed her zipper with his teeth. She eyed him curiously and was turned on by the way he looked down there. Smirking, he pulled down her zipper slowly and pulled off her pants so that she was now fully naked. "Oh..." he breathed out realizing that she doesn't wear underwear often. "She's beautiful" Naruto never expected to see her like this underneath him; he always imagined it being like this in his wild fantasies but never thought that it would actually happen. Studying her for a bit, he came back to reality and continued on with her; he noticed that she was blushing and it made him form a small smile. Bending down, he started to lick and tease her, running his tongue over the area. Ichiko was about to give in and moan but instead she breathed in heavily and her breathing was getting really ragged. He decided to kick it up a notch if he wanted some reaction out of her and flicked his tongue while fingering her; it worked. She finally let out a cry of pleasure and squirmed a little; shutting her eyes so that she could enjoy how good he was making her feel. "Delicious." she thought to herself as her temperature raised up and beads of sweat formed all over her body. Discontinuing his licking, Naruto kissed his was up to her face but continued to slide his fingers in and out of her, "She's so wet, already." He let out a small sigh and stared at her flushed face. "Naruto...don't stop." And so that's what he did. He kissed her roughly and somehow she had gotten free from his grasp and started clawing at his back gently. Naruto stopped fingering her but rubbed his body against hers wishing that they would melt together. "God, I can't take it anymore." Stopped from kissing her, Naruto sat up, slipped off his pants and boxers, pulling the sheets over them and went back to kissing her. She could feel his erection against her thigh and purposely rubbed against it making him moan. They were both already covered in sweat and breathing hard but they still haven't gone all the way and they both wanted it to happen already. They both wanted to feel the ecstasy and cry out as loud as they could when they came but it seemed that one of them was hesitating. Breaking away from the kiss, Ichiko looked up at him and noticed that he wasn't sure of what to do. Giving no facial expression, she rested her hand on his cheek and he looked into her eyes, "Naruto...what's wrong?" Not being able to look at her he responded, "I don't want to hurt you." A small formed on her face as she heard him care for her, "Don't worry, Naruto. It's supposed to hurt the first time, so please don't hesitate." She sensed that he was still hesitating a little so she leaned up a bit and whispered into his ear, "I want you in me, Naruto. I want you deep inside me and I want us to be connected. Lets melt into one another and make this a night we'll never forget." Laying back down on the bed, she looked up at him, waiting for him to see what'd he do next. After a few seconds of thinking it over with himself, he finally nodded and positioned himself over her so that it'd be easy to slip in, "You ready?" Ichiko nodded and the next thing she knew, she felt him push himself deep inside her. Pain took over and she cried out making Naruto pull himself out immediately, "Ah, geez, I'm sorry Ichiko. I didn't know it was going to hurt that bad. We don't have to go on-" She stopped his talking with her kiss and looked up at him shaking her head, "It's alright, I'm fine. I can handle it, please continue." Not sure if he should continue he did anyway and slid himself back in thrusting against her. Colors went past her eyes as the feeling of him inside of her took over. This was everything she wanted, everything she had hoped for and wanted to do with him. She loved him so much that she didn't want this moment to ever end, he felt so good inside; his length was more than she expected but she didn't mind. At first he started out slowly but once he got the hang of it, he began to quicken his strokes and get rougher. He dug himself deep inside her and realized how amazing it felt to be this deep inside her, "Wow." Grabbing her hips, Naruto furiously thrusted against her trying to get even deeper and breathed heavily. She was the first one to come, he heard her cry out into an orgasism. Thinking of something else to do to her, he stroked her while pushing himself into her. Not being able to handle it, Ichiko closed her eyes and clutched the bed sheets tightly into her fists; her toes curled in and she wrapped her legs around his waist while practically lifted hers off the bed. He wanted her to beg for mercy before he came to and before he knew it she started whimpering and tightened her hold around him. After a few seconds, he cried out in pleasure and fell on top of her-breathing harder than ever. Their bodies were covered in a fresh new sheet of sweat and he licked a bead of sweat of her nose. Satisfied, he kissed her gently and rested his head on her chest; listening to her heart beating. She wrapped her arms around him and looked towards the ceiling; he also held her in his arms and tried to control his breathing.
Neither one of them said anything as they took in what just happened; they wouldn't forget what they shared together as a couple and how it felt to be connected. Ichiko calmed her breathing down, letting her mind wander to other things. Suddenly, the image of Itachi popped into her head and she thought about what he told her, "...I can't force you to make a decision but if you choose the wrong choice it'll be your ass in the end." "...you wouldn't want anything happening to your precious loved one now, would you?" "Dammit...their going to get him involved...shit." She knew that most definitely they were going to do something to Naruto if she didn't come back but she wasn't willing to leave him; not after what they've done together. She didn't want to betray him and yet she felt that that was going to happen. Ichiko wanted to stay with him more than ever and knew that she was probably being selfish but she didn't care. There was no way that they would do anything to him, not while she was around...but then again, look at what happened to Gaara. Somehow, they still managed to capture him even though he had amazing skills and strength; now, he was with them and who knows what they've already done to him. She didn't want anything to happen to Naruto, she wanted him to be safe and achieve his dream to be Hokage one day, even if that meant he had to leave her or vice versa. Not wanting to think about it anymore, she shook her head, "Naruto" "Hmm?" "Thank you." He stayed silent for a second before responding, "For what?" "For tonight and everyday that we spent together. I've had the best times and worst times with you and I wanted to thank you for that." He didn't respond back so she continued, "You know that you're pretty much the only person that knows almost everything about me and the only one that would care for me so much. I want you to know that no matter what, I will be there for you through it all. Even if my life gets tooken away, you'll know that it was to protect you. I love you, Naruto and don't ever forget it...you're my true love, my whole heart, so please don't throw that away. We'll stick together, forever." Naruto looked straight ahead not giving any response and sighed, "Thank you, Ichiko. Thank you for accepting me for me and never giving up on me. You were always there for me when no one else was, so thank you...I love you." He lifted himself a bit and kissed her gently. Without knowing it, Ichiko started crying; tears stained her cheeks as she realized what she was going to do about Itachi's offer. She was going back and she was going to leave as soon as Naruto fell asleep. No matter how much she wanted to stay, she knew that she wouldn't be able to; everyone would soon figure out that she was once a member and she'd be shunned again. Another reason to her deciding this was because she didn't want to hold Naruto back in achieving his dream. He probably didn't realize it but through out this whole entire time of knowing each other, she would always hold him back from doing great things. So she decided right there and then that she was going back...and she would most likely not leave the clan this time. Besides, she always thought about rejoing them again, after all she did have some good times with the members of Akatsuki. Surprisingly, she still had her cloak, ring, and everything else kept in a room that was inside her closet; she guessed that she was never really able to let go of the past. Noticing that Ichiko was crying, Naruto wiped away her tears with his hand and kissed her cheek, "Don't cry anymore, I'm here with you." But she continued to cry silently. He crawled up a bit and rested her head on his chest; gently cradling her in an attempt to make her feel better. He didn't really know why she was crying and decided that it was best not to ask her about it but she cried because she knew that she was never going to see him again. Never going to see his cute goofy grin again or those stunning blue eyes. She loved him a lot and it was going to hurt leaving him behind. They stayed like that for what seems like to be forever but within a an hour, Naruto passed out. Ichiko's eyes were red and puffy from crying so much; she hadn't stopped until just a few minutes ago. Listening closley to make sure Naruto was really asleep, Ichiko sighed and quietly got out of the bed without disturbing him while he dreamnt of wonderful things. She noticed that he was smiling in his sleep and snored quietly; it made her smile a bit. Getting dressed, she looked down at the ground the whole entire time and didn't say a word. Once she was done, she walked to the door, opened it and stood there in the doorway. She turned around to look at Naruto on the bed, passed out and felt a great familiar emptiness within her, "Thank you, Naruto...good-bye...for now." With that, she turned back around and closed the door behind her.
She arrived at her house within minutes and climbed through her window that she opened. Walking across the room to her closet, she pushed clothing aside and moved boxes around until she made a clearing to a door that was covered in seals. She quickly removed the seals without hesitating and entered the small forgotten room. It had seemed that everything was still the way she had left it...nothing was touched, no one had been in there but there was a fine sheet of dust over everything,"When was the last time I've been in here?" Closing the door behind her, she lit the candles that were on the wall and the room was filled with light immediately. The walls were covered in words and seals that she had written with paint after a couple of days of moving in, "Murder...down with Konoha...fill the desire..." her walls said these things and brought back strange memories. She couldn't really remember why she had written half of the things but it didn't really matter to her now. The room was empty except for a fairly large box sitting next to the center wall; it seemed to have a lock on it; that's what she was looking for. She approached the box, kneeled down in front of it, and undid the lock with a key she brought with her. Opening it, she found that all her belongings were still kept inside; her cloak, ring, hat, and the head-protector she wore through out all those murders they committed. Sighing in relief, she stood walked out of the room and came back with a pack that she put all the items inside carefully. When she was done with that, she took one last look around the room, closed the door, and covered it with traps and seals in case anyone went snooping. She didn't bother packing any clothes, she knew that she wasn't going to need it anyway. Ichiko walked to the center of her room and stood there, looking straight ahead as she remembered all the things that happened in there. Her everlasting nightmares, the first time she ever saw Naruto in the street from her window, and so much more. Her gaze dropped to the floor when she realized what was the most important thing that happened in that room; her last murder. When she arrived to Konoha, she was still yet to over come her desire to kill and that night when she took away that poor person's life was the last time that she was going to fulfill her desire for blood...until now. Shaking a bit, she walked to her window and was about to jump out but suddenly stopped. Ichiko turned around got a piece of paper and a brush, then wrote a small farewell message. Once she was finished writing her last words, her gaze laid on the box that held her master's knife. She was going to leave it but then thought twice about it and decided to take it with her; it wouldn't be worth leaving behind anyway. Ichiko took out a small pouch from one of her drawers, removed the box and was about to slip it inside the pouch until she realized that it was a mistake to take it with her. She didn't deserve to keep this one item in her possession any longer, so she placed gently back atop the cushion, closed the lid, and dropped the pouch- leaving it on the floor. Without looking back, she turned, walked to the window, and hopped out, jumping from building to building towards the forest. She reached the gate that lead in and out of Konoha with little time and stopped before it. There was a guard leaning against the huge door staring at her. She stayed quiet and stared back; he was the first one to break the silence, "Kinda late to be out, don't yah thing?" Ichiko didn't say anything as she continued to stare down the man. It made him irritated that she wasn't responding so he pushed himself off the door and walked towards her, "What's the matter? Can't talk all of a sudden?" She still stayed quiet as he grabbed her arm and pulled down on it hard, "Look you, I suggest you turn back and go home. No one's allowed to lea-" He didn't get to finish his sentence for she had pierced through his skill inside of his mouth with her kunai. He gagged a little bit before shuddering and going limp. Quickly removing her hand out of his mouth, she let his dead carcass fall to ground and landing with a hard thud; blood ran out of his mouth as he layed there. Lifting her hand up in front of her face, she smiled at the sight of blood and licked away the remains of him on her fingers. She quivered at the taste of blood in her mouth, "At last." The smell of blood was in the air ad she suddenly missed this feeling from tasting and smelling blood. Shaking uncontrolably, she crouched down next to the body, lifted it's throat up to her lips, and viciously sucked the remaining blood out of it. Once she was done, her breathing turned ragged and her vision turned blurry. It had been so long since she had tooken life away from an innocent civilian to feed on. Standing up, Ichiko smiled greedily as she walked away from the scene and into the forest; blood streamed out of her mouth and dripped from her chin. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she licked the blood away and let out spine shuddering laugh; this was the most fun she had in awhile. After awhile, she reached the top of a hill that overlooked Konoha. Ichiko turned towards the village and stood there staring down at it in the darkness; she changed her mind from earlier...she's not going to miss this village nor the people that live in it. This was her time to get away from that life and she was gladly willing to take it. Smiling, she brought her hand up into the air facing Konoha and flipped the village off, "Fuck you, Konoha and all those that live in it, I hope you burn in hell. I'll be back one day to murder the living in this village. Until then, farewell." she said quietly to herself. She then turned and started walking off to the hideout without looking back; regretting nothing that was about to happen in the future.
Her room now empty, everything was the same and she left her window open for those who had the balls to investigate her room without dying. Nothing seemed to be different since she last left awhile ago, everything was the same- her bed was untouched, the mirror still hung, and her prized possession still sitting in the box- gleaming against the moonlight; all that was left was the note on her dresser. A small breeze blew in through the window and tried pushing the paper off the dresser and onto the floor but failed. The note that she left seemed to have a small yet simple message on it. "I'll be back one day...and when that day comes, no one will still be alive. No one. Don't bother looking for me, you'll fail in doing so and tell Naruto I said I'm truly sorry, love. Tell him this as well...Our love will never end, baby." It layed there for someone to suddenly find it on her dresser the next morning and they would find that was she said will come true one day. The note wasn't really left behind as a threat but as a warning...a warning that she hoped that they understand and prepare for right away. What's going to happen in the future is something that none of them would have expected.