EDIT: Since a few pointed out that Itachi indeed was ANBU captain at the age of 13 (something I totally forgot about...) I'm going to change their age in the flashbacks, so it all makes sense... sort of. D:
Thanks for all the reviews, you are all awesome!
"Inuzuka, Hana."
She let out a smile confidently and scanned the classroom. Her clan, being well-known in the Hidden village of Konoha, although not the most widely held one always brought the attention from her classmates to let their eyes rest on her. Even at a young age, Hana had been known for her temper and confidence, her obnoxious behaviour and bad mouth. Wherever she went, she had the Haimaru brothers prancing behind her, like she was some kind of royalty and that it was their sole duty to protect her if harm were to happen. More than her bodyguards, the grey-blue pups were her friends since an early age, and she relied on them more than she could confide in any human being.
The boy a few desks down nodded shyly when his name was called. Hana drawled. Great, that's supposed to be my future teammate, she thought dryly as she let her cheek rest in her hand, her elbow plopped up on the desk to support the weight. One of her pups let out a sound and Hana agreed. This couldn't get any worse.
"Uchiha, Itachi."
Wait, scratch that.
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She awoke slowly, her eyes sleepily opening and then closing on their own accord. Hana used her right elbow to try to push herself up but her body and mind betrayed her as she couldn't muster the strength needed, and fell back on the bed with a thud. A groan escaped her lips, as she curled her petite hands into fists, shaking.
Hana knew the shinobis do's and don'ts in her sleep, and kidnapping situation wasn't as rare as they ought to be, so firstly, she knew she had to relax. She drew in breath through her nose, and opened her mouth slightly to breathe out.
Inhale, exhale. Repeat and rinse.
She let her body unwind and continued to inhale and exhaled while trying to get into a comatose state of mind, to relax her psyche. Mentally, she counted the facts. She knew she was kidnapped by her ex-teammate and his freak to companion, but she did not know how long it's been since they knocked her out. She could make out from the complete and utter darkness penetrating her eyelids that it was nightfall, but she did not know where she was.
Hana slowly sat up, emitting a hiss as her ribs throbbed with an excruciating pain, but continued to a sartorial style and placed her hands gently on each bended knee, letting her thumb and forefinger on each hand meet. Softly letting out a sigh, she let her mind go blank and body go numb as she started to meditate.
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"That's the best you can throw?"
Hana grunted, turning her head towards the source of the voice as she lifted her eyebrow. "I'm in the training to become a medic! Therefore, throwing kunais has not been on the top of my list of things to do."
He emitted a wearily sigh. "You have to defend yourself on the battlefield. If someone is wounded, then you must be there and heal them and give them back their strength. If you are attacked and you don't have any kunais in your pouch because they're 'not on your list'—"
"That's not what I meant!" She growled as a reply, turning her body fully so she faced him. "Of course I want to be able to defend myself, but—"
She was cut off by Itachi rolling his eyes and tapped his forehead lightly with his right hand. "I'm not trying to scold you, Hana. I'm merely helping you."
Hana pouted her lips as she crossed her arms in a defensive way, tapping her foot against the mud. She knew that, and it was exactly that what was bothering her. It was not what he said or how he said it… it was his god damn attitude. Always smiling, always saying how he wants to help and just wants her best. No one is THAT helpful without having an ulterior motive in mind. He was just too nice to be real. Hana mentally groaned. She had just wanted to be alone in the training grounds with one goal in mind, and that was learning to control her chakra and be able to spread it through her body so she could enforce every single limb if she had to. That dream was shattered into a dozen scattered pieces when she stumbled upon her former teammate, the smartest of their generation, Itachi himself in the specific training ground she wanted to access. Although, Hana would be lying if she said she wasn't a tad glad to see him there. Since two years ago he was enrolled in ANBU, having to leave their team and since then, they hadn't been able to see each other that much. He had been delighted when he found out she wanted to practice, and he tagged along, with or without her permission.
She threw her arms up in defeat. "Fine, ok, I suck! Happy?"
He let out a sincere laugh as he smiled. "Certainly not. What makes you think that?"
"Some part of me thinks you're a masochist." She started to giggle when she saw his reaction, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. "No, but seriously… can you help me?"
Itachi's eyes sparkled at the magic word. "Of course Hana. What is it that you have the most difficulty with?" He started to walk forward in an unhurried pace, slow but steady. He was soon standing in front of her, and Hana accidentally inhaled his scent when opening her mouth to speak, lips slightly parted. He smelled of musk, flowers and sweat.
"I—it seems that I am having trouble with it hitting the target. It's like I can't feel where it's going… I just throw it and hope for the best."
Itachi positioned himself behind her, and lurked a kunai out of her cobalt pouch, letting it linger in his hand until he placed the small weapon in her petite hand. He couldn't help but feel her warmth emitting from her fingertips when they gently touched, and quietly withdrew them with haste.
Leaning in, he let his lips softly touch her ear, and upon hearing a blissful sigh, he whispered. "The problem is that you are focusing on the target, instead of your actions." He felt her nod slowly, as in trying to comprehend what he was saying. "Don't think about the target. Think about you. Think about your arm, and how it feels when you throw the kunai. Remember, arms straight and chin up. You can do it Hana."
He backed away gently, patting her on her shoulder. She nodded several times, inhaling and exhaling and lifted her arm, drawing the elbow back and gradually lifted her head. With a final exhale, she gracefully twirled around, arm straight and head high, her toes on edge and legs bent, before turning fully around, her eyes finding the red dot that was the target and sent her kunai forward with a single motion.
With a loud thud, Hana blinked and grinned from ear to ear, turning around to meet his gaze. Itachi gave her a gently smile, raising his hand and gives her a thumbs-up.
The kunai was embedded right in the bulls-eye.
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Her concentration was broken by the loud and wearily creaks of a door opening. She forced her eyes open, and was much to her dismay greeted by blue fins and wide grin.
"Ah, you're awake now?"
Hana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Obviously." Her eyes lazily met his. "Care to let me go now?"
The large man… fish… thing… in front of her let out a roaring laugh, razor sharp teeth showing and glistening in the moonlight. She gritted her teeth. She did so not get the hilarious factor in her request. In fact, she was more or less deadly serious. The laughter soon died out, but Kisame continued to snicker not so quietly. He cleared his throat and turned toward her yet again, grinning from ear to ear.
"Girlie, you are at the moment in a secret location, thousands of miles away from your home. You have no weapon and you are very far away from your dog friends." Hana bit her lip at the last remark, and clenched her fist tightly. Itachi had probably told his companion everything there was about her and her fighting ability, including her ninken. Hell, he probably even knew that natto still was her favourite snack to munch on during late missions. If it wasn't bad enough being kidnapped by two Akatsuki members, one of them just had to be her old teammate. Oh, and let's not forget the fact, her first great love too.
Well, this is just great, Hana drawled. This was certainly not one of the more plausible scenarios she had conjured up in her time thinking how they would meet again and where. Kidnapped and brought to an unknown location was probably as far from the most likely scenario she could think of. But then again, S-ranked criminal who slaughtered his own family and abandoned his little brother. She wasn't too surprised.
Maybe he really is a masochist… Then again, I will never know. Asking about his sexual preferences was certainly not something she had in mind when she was to meet him again.
Her thoughts were cut off by Kisame snickering again. "I know what you think, girl."
Hana resisted the urge to smirk. I really don't think you do. "Really, and what is that?"
"That you're alone, and you're thinking of the possibility of someone rescuing you. I'm sorry to say girlie, that the chance of someone finding you are zero." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned, raking his large hand through the messy blue spikes. "More or less."
Even though that wasn't what she had thought about, it certainly was something worth thinking about. Much to her dismay, she realized he was right. Even she did not know where she was, so sending for help would not work. Maybe they could find a trail or something, but she doubted it.
Even so, she didn't want to lose hope.
She could tell by his piercing gaze that he was watching her, almost like he was studying her. She carefully tucked an auburn lock behind her ear, clearing her throat. "So… what will happen to me?"
The large man crossed his arms and leered at her. "That's up to him."
He didn't need to utter his name. She knew who he was referring to.
Hana nodded slowly, seeping in the words that Itachi was deciding on her fate. The mere thought shook her to her core. Whatever fate she had in store, it would not be a good one. "I see…"
"A plate consisting of food and water will arrive in two hours." With that, he took his leave and the door was slowly stung shut, creaking for every movement until finally silence took over.
Moments passed, until Hana shifted on the bed, lifting the thin and stale blanket over her head and lay down, her head resting on the smudged pillow. Hugging the quilt closer to her body, she let her eyelids fall until darkness overcame and embraced her.
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"Really. You didn't have to accompany me home. I'm fine."
Itachi tightened his grip on her shirt, bringing her closer to him to lean upon. "You're out of chakra and it's very late in the evening for a woman to walk home all by herself." Hana shrugged and Itachi let his gaze wander down and met her eyes. "Especially if they can't defend themselves."
She pouted and rolled her eyes at him. He raised his arms in the air. "Just saying."
"Mhm." She let herself smile. Even though she knew he was right, maybe it was a little over the top helping her home. She was fifteen, for kami's sake. She could handle herself, whether he believed her or not. Hana looked up, greeted by the logo of the Inuzuka clan, proudly embodied on a wooden wall.
"Well, this is my stop." She patted his arm, disentangling herself from his soft grip. "Anyway, thank you. For following me home, that is…"
He gave her a soft smile, his gaze lingering on her. "Of course. Think you're going to be ok until monday?"
Hana let out a soft laugh, caressing a reddish-brown lock that escaped her ponytail. "Wouldn't miss a C-ranked mission for the world!" They shared a sincere smile. "Well… see you around."
Before she could register what was happening, Itachi leaned forward with the greatest of ease and softly planted his lips on her forehead, his index finger curled beneath her chin. Hana blinked several times before reacting, feeling her blush increase and darken on her pale cheeks and slowly raised her gaze to meet his. His onyx eyes smiled at her, as he drew a sun-kissed hand through her auburn hair, feeling the soft locks entwine with his fingers.
He withdrew his hands and backed away, smirking towards her. "Good night, Hana."
Hana giggled lightly as he raised his hand and waved farewell, she copying his movement and swayed her hand back and forth until his back disappeared out of sight.
"Goodbye… Itachi…"
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She opened her eyes slowly and was greeted by the everlasting darkness of the room. Hana bit her lip as she blinked away the tears that silently fell down her face and landed on the muddy pillow. She sniffled quietly and brought her hand up to wipe away the tears.
This time, she welcomed the creeping darkness of slumber like an old friend.
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So, this chapter consisted largely of flashbacks. Sorry about that, just wanted to clarify their relationship as teens before jumping in on this story without you guys knowing anything about them, ehehe. Reviews and constructive critic are always welcome! Remember, english is not my first language, so if there are grammar errors, I apologize.
Signing off,
Jerkez