Hello my dear and avid readers, here is the latest chapter. Please review if you have the time. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I would like to thank the people that reviewed on the last chapter. ShadowAssasin01, sakura06, this one's for you.
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!!! I only own the lovely Rei, the gentle Kazari, and the dashing (and grumpy) Okoru.
Chapter Two
A week had passed since Itachi had helped Rei. They trained together everyday and Itachi was actually enjoying it. He found out that Rei was indeed strong. She had actually managed to injure him a few times during training and that was no small feat. Itachi was rarely injured during fights.
At that very moment he was training with Rei. He threw some kunai at her and she dodged them with ease. She ran at him and tried to hit him, but he blocked all of her attacks. He tried to hit her back and managed to land a punch. That wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't punched her on the place where she had been injured earlier that week.
She jumped back and kneeled on one knee holding her side. Itachi moved to help her, but before he could take one step she jumped up and threw some kunai at him. He dodged them and she ran at him. She was in front of him in an instant. He didn't want to worsen her injuries, but he had to do something. Before he could think of a way to react she punched him in the face. She then turned and kicked him on his side sending him flying a few feet back.
"Itachi-kun! Stop holding back!"
"Rei, I'm not holding back. You're stronger than you think."
Itachi wouldn't tell Rei, but she was right, he was holding back. It wasn't that he didn't want her to become stronger. He really wanted to help her become a better shinobi, but he knew that her injuries were still bothering her, although she wouldn't admit it. Rei was usually nice, sweet, kind, even shy, but she could be so stubborn….
She walked over to Itachi and stretched out her hand to help him up.
"Itachi-kun you have to stop holding back, please. I know that you can help me become stronger because you are strong yourself, but if you keep holding back so much then I might as well train by myself. If you don't want to train with me anymore you don't have to."
"I know, I promise I won't hold back anymore."
Itachi looked up at the sky. It was getting dark.
"Come on, Rei, let's get something to eat. What do you want?"
"How about ramen?"
"Alright, but I'm buying."
"Itachi-kun you don't have to-"
"I don't mind, take it as an apology for holding back during training." he started to walk away towards the town.
"Itachi-kun, wait for me!"
She ran after him wondering why he was being so nice. It wasn't like he was rude or anything, in fact he was usually very polite, but that was it. He was never anything other than polite and he always kept to himself. Rei didn't really mind considering he was one of the few people that treated her like a normal person instead of a monster or a murderer.
She figured she should be happy that he was being so nice to her and followed him.
After they ate Itachi took Rei to her house.
"Itachi-kun you didn't have to walk me back home."
"I know, but I wanted to."
He walked with her up to her front door. He turned to look at her.
"I'll meet you at our training spot tomorrow at the same time."
"Okay, goodnight Itachi-kun."
"Goodnight, Rei."
Itachi turned around and started making his way back home. While he walked he wondered how he had gotten so close to Rei in such a short amount of time. He usually wasn't the type of person that got close to people. In fact he usually kept to himself, but there was something about Rei that made him want to be with her. It was strange for him to be so friendly towards others. He wondered why he had helped Rei and offered to train with her and help her become stronger, but he knew that he had done the right thing and he was glad to have met her.
The following morning Itachi got up and got ready for another training session with Rei. He went into the kitchen and had some breakfast.
He was about to leave when his mother called him.
"Itachi, are you going to train with Rei today?"
"Yes, that's where I'm headed now."
His mother gave him two bento boxes.
"I made you two lunch. That way you'll train better."
"Thank you."
Itachi turned around and left. He went to the usual training spot and waited for Rei. He waited for a long time, but she didn't show up. He began to worry knowing that Rei wouldn't be late for training if she could help it.
He went to her house and was about to knock on the door when it flew open and Rei ran out, bumping into him in the process.
Itachi was able to catch her and both of their lunches. She stood up and saw that she had bumped into Itachi.
"SorryItachi-kunbutIhavetogoI'mgoingtobelateformymission!" She said incoherently.
"Rei, wait, what mission?" He asked grabbing her wrist before she left.
Now that he had a chance to take a better look at her he saw that she had obviously dressed in a hurry.
She was wearing a short, white kimono that reached a bit above her knees. On top of that she had a navy blue sleeveless, kimono type dress and a red sash. She also had on navy blue boots that looked like the sandals regularly worn, but they reached her knees.
She would have looked fine if it wasn't for the fact that her clothes were sloppy. Her hitae-ate was placed sideways on her forehead and soon fell off. Her clothes were pulled and her hair was messy. He also noticed that she had a piece of toast in her mouth.
"Rei, calm down. Why are you in such a rush?"
"I was just told to go on a mission to a nearby village. If I don't hurry I'm going to be late."
"Okay, but you can't leave like that."
"Why not?"
"Well first of all you have to get dressed decently and have you even had breakfast? And don't say that that piece of toast is your breakfast because it's not."
"Itachi-kun I'm not even hungry." Her stomach chose that moment to growl rather loudly making her blush in embarrassment.
Itachi sighed in frustration.
"Come on, my mom made you some lunch. You should get dressed decently and then eat on the way."
Itachi walked to the town gate with Rei.
"What's your mission about?"
"We're supposed to capture a missing Nin that's been bothering the people of the village. According to the mission description he shouldn't be too dangerous. I should be back by tomorrow morning."
"Who are your teammates?"
"You can meet them if you want we're almost to the village entrance."
They arrived at the gate and Itachi saw a guy with short red hair and green eyes wearing a black shirt and fishnets beneath it. He also had on the regular green, Konoha vest worn by Chunin and Jounin and khaki pants.
There was also a girl with long black hair that was up in a ponytail and hazel eyes. She was wearing a short pink kimono with tight black pants beneath it.
"Hi Rei." The girl said happily.
"It's about time. Did you wake up late again?" The guy said while smirking.
"Sorry about that." Said Rei, rubbing the back of her head.
"Don't mind him Rei, you know that he's just kidding."
"Yeah, kidding. So, who's the guy?" He said looking at Itachi.
"Oh, right. This is Itachi Uchiha, Itachi these are my teammates Kazari…"
"It's nice to meet you." The girl said.
"…and Okoru."
"Hi." was all he said.
"It's nice to meet you both."
"Come on, guys we have to go! We're already late!"
"Okoru don't be so rude to Rei's friend. You must forgive him he's just grumpy in the mornings."
"Yeah, well, it's more like noon since Rei was late again."
"Okoru!" Kazari said.
"What?! She knows I'm kidding."
"Let's just go." Rei said, exasperated.
"Alright" Okoru said.
"Bye Itachi-kun, I'll see you tomorrow." She left with her teammates.
As he watched her go he couldn't help, but get a strange feeling. Was it…worry? Itachi sighed and knew he would have to do some training to get his mind cleared.
"Good luck Rei." He whispered before he turned around and left.
It was five in the afternoon the day after Rei had left on her mission. She was supposed to have been back that morning and Itachi was getting that unfamiliar feeling again. It kept bothering him and he tried to calm himself by reminding himself of how strong Rei actually was.
He went to Rei's house to see if she was back, but she wasn't. He couldn't take it anymore he went into the forest and headed to the village where Rei was supposed to go with her team.
Itachi traveled as fast as he could for about two hours until he finally sensed her. He kept going and found her by a stream, getting water.
"Rei?"
She turned around and smiled when she saw him.
"Itachi-kun! What are you doing here!?!"
"I thought you might need help." He said.
"I'm fine."
He felt a bit stupid for worrying needlessly. He should have known that she would fine.
"Itachi-kun, I-"
She was cut off when she was pushed to the ground by Itachi as a kunai went flying by them, almost hitting Itachi.
"Get away from her!"
It was Okoru.
"Okoru, stop it's just Itachi!"
He jumped out of his hiding place.
"What is he doing here?"
"He just came here to help."
"We don't need any help. We're not weak you know?"
"I didn't come here for you."
"Whatever."
They glared at each other until Rei spoke.
"Okoru, where's Kazari?"
"I sensed that someone was near and I thought you might be in trouble, so I left her where we were before and came to check on you."
"We should get back to her and head back to Konoha."
"Yeah, let's go."
They went to get Kazari. She was sitting beneath a tree. Her leg was injured.
"How's your leg Kazari?"
"It's okay Rei. Oh, Itachi you came."
"Yeah, I thought I should check up on you guys since Rei said you would be back by this morning."
"We had a bit of trouble and Kazari injured her leg so we had to stay in the village a bit longer until she could walk properly. I'm sorry if I made you worry Itachi-kun."
"You didn't." Itachi said, but soon regretted it after seeing Rei's face.
"Well I'd love to stay here and chat, but I want to go home." Okoru said.
"Oh, right. I guess we should get going. Kazari can you walk or does your leg bother you?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry Rei."
"If you want I can carry you to the village." Itachi said.
He wanted to get back to the village and it was late. He wanted to ask Rei to have diner at his house so that they could talk about the mission. It was strange, but Itachi had actually missed Rei while she was gone. She was his best friend apart from Shisui.
"That's okay. I'll carry her you don't have to help us. It's our mission and this is my team. As the leader I'll take care of them if anything happens."
"Okoru! Stop being so rude! Rei, Itachi, why don't you guys go ahead. We'll catch up to you later."
"Okay, be careful you guys." Rei said before she left with Itachi.
They traveled without speaking for a few minutes. Rei didn't know what to say to Itachi because she thought he was upset about her returning so late from her mission.
Itachi, on the other hand, was so glad that she was back that he didn't know what to say.
"Sorry about Okoru being so rude."
"It's okay, I understand. He's the only guy in the team so he must feel that he has to protect you and Kazari."
"What are you trying to say? That Kazari and I are weak and we need a guy to protect us?" She said in mock anger.
"That's not what I meant. I just-"
"Itachi –Kun, I was kidding. You're right, that is how he feels. I'm not saying he's right, but he feels responsible for our welfare, especially since he's the leader of the team. It's amusing to see that you understand him so well considering that you two don't get along too well." She laughed a little.
Soon they were back at the village and Rei went to report to the Hokage. Itachi waited for her outside.
"Itachi-kun, you shouldn't have waited for me it's late and you should go home."
"I thought you might want to have dinner at my house. Sasuke's been asking about you. My father's also interested in you, he wants to see if you're as strong as they say and my mother also asks about you."
"I don't know, I mean I just came back from a mission and I don't want to go to your house with these dirty clothes."
"Don't worry my family won't mind."
Before Rei could protest she was being dragged away by Itachi to his house.
When they arrived at his house they were received by a hyperactive Sasuke.
"Onee-san! I missed you!" He jumped on her and almost knocked her to the ground.
"Hi Sasuke-kun, I missed you too."
"Sasuke let her go she's tired she just got back from a mission."
"I'm okay Itachi-kun."
Itachi's mother came out to greet them.
"Rei, how are you, dear. Come in, I heard you just came from a mission, you must be tired."
"I'm alright Uchiha-san."
"Please just call me Mikoto." She smiled at Rei.
"I invited her over for dinner. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course, come in dinner's almost ready."
They went inside and saw Itachi's father.
"Father this is Rei Hatori. I invited her over for dinner."
"I've heard a lot about you, Rei. It's a pleasure to meet someone so strong."
"It's a pleasure to meet you to Uchiha-san."
They talked for a while about the Rei's mission.
"So, tell me Rei, how do your kekkei genkai work?"
"Well Uchiha-san, the Hatori clan's kekkei genkai allows me to posses a great amount of chackra and manipulate it with ease. Because of this medical techniques are easy to me. The Hatori clan also has e set of secret techniques that can only be performed by someone with the kekkei genkai. The Tsuki clan's kekkei genkai allows me to control all the elements and like the Hatori clan, has a secret set of techniques. Although it does consume a large amount of chackra."
"I see, the two complement each other perfectly. Without the large chackra from the Hatori clan you wouldn't be able to use too many techniques from the Tsuki clan. You would exhaust your chackra quickly."
"Yes that's right, but even with a large amount of chackra it's very tiring to use too many special techniques. I usually stick to taijutsu unless it's absolutely necessary for me to use the more advanced attacks."
"Yes, that's true. It's good to see Itachi associating with people like you. He tells me you've been training together, that's good. Perhaps you can teach him a few things."
"Uchiha-san I'm sure I'll learn more from him than he'll learn from me."
Mikoto called them for dinner and they all went into the dining room to eat.
After they ate Itachi walked Rei home.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Itachi-kun."
"Yeah, don't be late, okay."
Itachi wanted to tell Rei that he had missed her while she was gone, but he couldn't get the words out.
Rei turned around to go into her house.
"Goodnight, Itachi-kun."
He watched her as she walked in. She was about to close the door.
"Rei, wait."
She stopped and turned to look at him.
"What is it Itachi-kun?"
"I just…wanted to say…I…I missed you." He blushed.
"I missed you too." She smiled at him while blushing.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Itachi-kun."
"Yeah."
End Chapter Two
I hope you liked the chapter. I'll try to update soon and please review. I like to hear that people like my stories. I would also appreciate it if people told me how to improve my story. If you have any ideas please tell me.
