Quixotic (adj.):

Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.

It glared at me from a short ten feet away. Electrical currents of hatred sparked an inexorable clash of the mind. With long legs extended, the creature threatened everything that I held dear.

Those eyes. Those spiteful black eyes. They foretold the hellish scheme behind its brash action. Landing on the stone before me was not just a dare, but a warning. Iridescent wings fluttered slightly, glowing like stained glass through the sun's unrelenting rays. They seemed to be what attached those putrid, long legs to its thin body. Its existence disgusted me.

Inching ever closer, I slowly stalked it to ensure the first strike. I pulled a kunai from my leg pouch. With a flick of my wrist, the creature twitched its stringy legs and came at me. Aiming to kill.

"Eeeep!"

Flapping my hands wildly I batted the mosquito out of the air in one foul swoop. It bounced onto the rough stone into a pile of black, twitching, legs. My lips buckled into a sneer as I stood above the body of my victim with someone else's blood on my hand. Vile creatures.

I wiped the blood on the back of my dark pants, grimacing at the idea of it. Mosquitoes were my least favorite creatures in the world. For the most part I loved all living things. But bugs seriously grossed me out.

A rustling noise flitted to my ear from the east.

"You waited." His voice was sounded taken back as it echoed through the surrounding trees, giving the area a mystical feel. I whipped my head around, searching for the speaker among the luscious greenery, squinting in the sunlight. I lay back onto the warm, rough surface of the stone to soak in a little more sunshine after such a fierce battle.

"Yeah, you're lucky. I'm not a very patient woman." A goofy smile spread across my lips slowly, excited to spend time with someone who might actually like me. I was going to try and act more like Arashi, boys seemed to like girls who acted cool.

Not even a blink later, he was seated next to me, maybe three feet away.

"How are you, Katsue?" He asked. He didn't look at me, just searched the trees with his gaze lazily.

It was so noncommittal. Such a simple question. Why was it so hard to answer such a simple question?

I was epically confused. Did he just want to sit here and talk about nothing? I thought back to those stupid magazines Arashi was always reading. I tried using the 'cute-sy' voice they suggested as I answered, "I'm good, I guess. How about you?"

My eyes must have expressed exactly what I was thinking through the silly voice, because half of his face hid behind that tall collar of his, thoughts swirling through his black eyes.

"Forgive me Katsue. I keep finding excuses to talk to you with nothing to say." he said, sounding almost embarrassed. "You must find me so strange."

Mouth agape I stared his profile, wondering if he was trying to trick me or something. This gorgeous creature thinks he's strange?! He was definitely shy, but definitely not strange! The world really has gone crazy! He was in for a big surprise if he thought that I was normal.

Propping myself up with my elbows I took a loose strand of long white hair and played with it nervously. "Um, don't worry about it. Being strange is what I do best." I laughed awkwardly, dropping the hair into a light breeze. I looked up into the sky, "Did Sasuke end up getting home okay? Arashi took off with him after you left."

At the mention of her name his body tensed ever so slightly, "Yes, he got home just fine. I didn't mean to leave him there. I had something important to attend to." He assured, eyes molten with apology. Inching slightly closer to me with his eyes still set into the forest, I felt his emotions shift ever so slightly.

My heart raced. "Want to tell me what was so important? I mean, you did leave me standing there like an idiot." I teased with a smirk as I scooted a little closer, too. Still trying not to stare at him.

"It was just something I had to take care of, my assignments are sometimes," he glanced away briefly before meeting my eyes again. "complicated."

His fingers crawled toward mine as he moved a little closer. Maybe he was just trying to get comfortable or something.

Turning slightly, I pressed my lips into a dubious half-smile. "What's so complicated? We aren't assigned to anything too, too crazy."

His eyes moved to mine, eyes swirling with emotions I couldn't read. "My missions are a little more comprehensive than a chuunin's."

Without feeling for them, a wave of blackness brushed over me, leaving a trail of creepy goose bumps on my skin's marshmallowy surface. But I pushed through the feeling and maintained my perfect smile and huffed sarcastically, "Ugh! Such a typical Uchiha."

He seemed to shy away from my comment with his eyes downcast. I poked his shoulder, trying to cheer him up. "So what your saying is that you're a badass like Arashi?" A single laugh rasped in my throat and I rolled my eyes jokingly when I watched the corner of his lip twitch into a smile. "No, no, wait. Let me guess. You're ANBU?"

His face didn't move, but the emotions that emitted from his body were obvious. My jaw dropped open. I was right on the money. When the realization really hit, my head dropped forward, embarrassed out of my mind.

"Seriously?" I sputtered, "ANBU? Dude, that's pretty intense!"

Lightly, a breeze flipped his hair so it covered his expression, "I'm not at liberty to discuss it, sorry Katsue." His fingers twisted the hair back as the smile reappeared on his beautiful face. "Arashi is certainly improving. But she should have staved off becoming a jounin. She isn't ready for that kind of responsibility."

"Normally she's pretty good. Our team is just a little uncooperative sometimes." I defended Arashi a little. "If you think she's only 'improving', then you probably think I'm a total waste of life." I half-joked with a convincing smile.

Itachi's body leaned a little closer to mine; his fingers were only an inch or two from my own. From here I could feel how warm he was, his heat made my fingertips tingle with anticipation. I wanted so badly to touch them, just to see what they felt like.

"We're all born with gifts different than one another. Instead of focusing things that you lack, try redirecting that energy toward a more likely goal for yourself." He suggested, turning his head to look over my face more fully.

"Yeah, you're right. But I'm not really good at anything. The Kyusho pressure points are all I've got going for me." I said with self depreciating humor.

He perked up. "What's that?"

I cocked my head at him. I was kind of shocked. If he was ANBU he must have done all kinds of training with a variety of fighting styles including my father's. "It's my dad's fighting technique, well, more like my whole family's. We manipulate pressure and pivot points in the body using highly focused chakra in our fingertips. Pulses of electricity mess with the body's natural currents and shuts down the nerves temporarily. My dad and brothers can make it fatal, but I don't care much for killing."

Rough, calloused fingers encircled my softer, white ones. A smile reached his charcoal eyes. "Neither do I."

Hot prickles of blood vessels opened on my face, declaring that my face was probably the shade of a maraschino cherry. Without looking at him, I drew few tiny circles on his thumb with each fingertip, letting my hair fall to cover my red face. There was this sense of pressing heat that seemed to flow off of him in waves. Like a blanket over your shoulders on a cool night.

My cheeks were beginning to hurt. I couldn't wipe the dumb grin off my face.

Here I was, with an impressively beautiful guy who seemed to actually like me. He's not only great looking, but, more importantly, he's smart and sweet. Oh, and he was holding my hand. Did I fall asleep somewhere and this was just some cruel dream?

Moments passed in comfortable quiet. Things were whirling through my skull. Images shuffled past my eyes, I wanted to break the silence before the conversation faded away. But the rough skin of his hand was highly distracting.

When I felt my face beginning to cool, I spoke into the chilling air. "Why won't you call me 'Kat'? I really prefer it. My parents are the only ones who call 'Katsue'. It makes me think you're about to yell at me for not taking the garbage out or something."

Itachi's fingers curled around mine a little more tightly. I felt my heart skip a beat. He spoke with a smile in his voice. "Nicknames are for children and super villains." The low smile changed his beautiful face minutely, giving him a boyish appearance as he turned his shoulders to look me in the eyes. "I prefer your real name, it suits you."

The smile on my face was starting to hurt my cheeks, but I just couldn't stop. I was too happy.

We moved to the ground because the stone was getting cold as the sun started going down, casting dark shadows over the lovely day. Not to mention we were getting closer and closer to each other until we were virtually folded over one another. I could feel electric heat radiating from his hand. It warmed my fingertips, causing static to shock my heart into an erratic frenzy. This was something I'd never experienced with someone before.

I bent myself over his laying form to look at his face. "So, you really can't tell me anything about your mission, or whatever, that kept me waiting here for you?"

I pet the top of his head, combing my pale fingers through his dark bangs. His hair was not what I'd call soft, but it certainly wasn't an unpleasant texture. Grass tickled my ankle when chilly air passed us by, leaving a trail of goose bumps up my leg. Itachi's dark eyes opened slightly wider, giving him this innocent appearance as he looked up from the ground beside me. Even at this strange angle, his face was perfect.

Silence was his answer. He had just been given the admirable rank of an ANBU captain. It was all so interesting to me but he didn't want to talk about work. No wonder the poor guy was always exhausted.

"It's not a job so much as an all consuming vacuum." He finally explained into the darkening wind with an edge, closing his eyes with a deep, cleansing breath as if the very thought of his missions was truly toxic.

ANBU missions were very conceptual, far more cerebral than anything I'd ever have to do. It must have been very stressful for him. I could feel that black pit of depression pressing into my skull again, forcing me to feel the same dark emotion. But I managed to push through it and pulled some hair over my eyes. I bent over him chanting creepily, "All work and no play makes Itachi Uchiha a dull boy."

He smirked up at me with an evil little glint in his eye. "Who ever said that I don't play?"

I flicked his hair playfully so it fell into his eyes causing him to blink furiously and brush it away. "You're pretty boring. I'm not sure why anyone would want to hang out with you-"

And with a loud splash, I was soaked. Paddling mid river with my clothes bogging me down. My mouth hung open, glaring at him on shore.

"You're such a jerk!" I squealed like a little schoolgirl as I slapped the water hard in an attempt at retaliation as I waded to the riverbank.

Itachi stood at the water's edge creating a funnel with his hand as if he couldn't hear me. "I'm sorry, who's boring?"

I tried splashing him, but he disappeared. A hand appeared on top of my head. He was behind me, crouched over the muddy water's edge. At first I made the silly assumption that he was going to help me out. Boy, was I wrong.

"Repeat after me: Itachi Uchiha is…" He took a moment to search for the right word. "Fun."

His voice was located behind my left ear, I swatted at the source but he dunked me before I could make contact. I splashed around until he let me back up and coughed up a little water.

"Hey!" I spit more water out. "You're no fun at all!"

Then, hesitantly. "How about this one then: 'Itachi is going to dunk me again'." His fingertips danced in little patterns on top of my head with quiet, sadistic little laugh. Flashbacks of my older brother dunking me in the river when we were little kids came to mind. I wanted to throttle Itachi.

"No way, you wouldn't dare-" My hair flopped up and over the sides of my face like dog-ears as he popped me back under. Mizoko and Hiruko used to do stuff like this to me all of the time. Ugh, older brothers.

I waved my arms around above my head and reached up for his hand, ready to bite. "I am going to kill you!"

This time his voice didn't waver even a little. "Repeat after me: 'I think Itachi Uchiha is hot'."

With his hand between my teeth, I couldn't make myself bite him. I was too shocked that he had actually said that. I looked up at him with wide puppy eyes.

He responded by scratching the top of my head gently with a childish laugh. "Katsue, you aren't even trying to escape. You're no fun at all."

Now soaked and looking like an absolute mess, he must have finally felt bad. He held out a hand to help me out of the water with a victorious smirk. Of course I played along, pretending to let him win for a second. I was trying to look pitiful and helpless.

Then, to wipe that stupid smile off his mug, I yanked with my whole body weight and waited for the splash that ultimately followed.

Spinning underwater, I saw his mortified face. That was all of the retaliation I needed. We both cracked up and feigned drowning each other. I skid my hand across the water's surface, creating a wall of water that went right over his head as he ducked. He created little whirlpools to pull me down then back up again to keep me from drowning. The pink sunset was beginning to fade into darkness, leaving us shivering and laughing at each other's blue lipped expense.

To avoid one another's tactical assaults, we scrambled out of the water simultaneously, panting heavily.

Squeezing out the bottom of his shirt, torrents of water dripped to the ground creating a muddy spot in front of him. Looking me up and down, Itachi chuckled, "You look like a wet rat."

Pouting, I pulled off my long, waterlogged, scarf and threw it at him. He let it hit him in the face with a sloshing noise. "Oh shove it you big jerk, like you look any better." I pretended to curtsy, holding out my dark navy pants like dress tails. "Would you prefer if I looked like a pretty princess?"

His eyes glimmered with humor. "No, you look fine the way you are. A wretch and a mess." He poked a finger into his chin with a contemplative smile. "Perhaps even the queen of messes."

I wrung out my long, wet, gray, hair and directed the runoff water toward him. His forearms made for an effective shield. Well played.

"At least I'm not the prince of all things completely absurd." I shrugged haughtily, only realizing after how lame my accusation sounded. I hesitated, stammering a little. "You're the prince of peculiarity."

His eyebrow quirked, trying not to laugh at me rather than with me. Why was I eternally awkward?

He pulled the hair out of his low ponytail to shake it out like a dog, getting me wet again. I glared up at him with my hands on my hips.

He took a step toward me with raised eyebrows, his face was suddenly mock seriousness. He seized my shoulders, "Are you calling me royalty?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you're royally weird. Unfortunately for you, as the Queen of Messes, I demand that you help me get this squishy, muddy skirt off." I demanded, only realizing too late that it sounded pretty provocative I added, "I'm wearing pants too, the skirt just looks nice… Right?"

Oh my goodness, could I be any more embarrassing.

He threw his head back laughing like a little kid. My face turned beat red, ears burning out of total humiliation.

In between laughs he asked, "Why are you so frightened of me?" Tears of laughter lit up his eyes. "My opinion doesn't matter, Katsue. How you act, how you dress, that is no one's business but your own. Stop trying so hard, it's ridiculous."

I bit the inside of my lip to keep from talking, I was so embarrassed. But, of course, I spoke anyway, because I'm an idiot.

"I just get nervous because you're kind of really intimidating." Mortified at my own words, I swatted my face. I'm supposed to think about him being intimidating, not say it to his face!

He just gave a gracious smile and I accepted that as his own acknowledgement of his ability to make knees shake and worlds quake. The guy did try to make me call him 'hot'. At least the guy wasn't ignorant of reality. He really was now that I looked at his wet shirt clinging to his body. His hair was pretty hilarious when it was out of its well-tamed ponytail, is was wild. Maybe it just looked crazy because he shook the water out.

"Itachi, I have a question for you." I started, squeezing my frozen three-quarter sleeves dry. "Why do you want to hang out with me? I mean, yeah, my brothers are pretty awesome." My gaze dropped from his curious gaze to the mud. "But I'm not."

Suddenly, he was behind me, resting his head on top of mine effectively destroying the invisible barrier of personal space we'd been quietly maintaining all afternoon. I could feel his jawline set into a smile as he slowly wrapped his arms around my abdomen.

"You interest me, that's all. Do we need to delve further into my abysmal psyche?" He muttered. I felt his chest breathing against my back. His question wasn't really a question. It was more like a statement telling me not to worry about what happens inside of his brain. Which was an absurd thing to ask of a thirteen-year-old girl.

"Your 'abysmal psyche' is what has me so interested in you, that's why I'm so curious." I tilted my head back, trying to look at him from this bizarre position.

He stepped back leaving his hands at the tail of my back. Moments later my skirt dropped into a pile in the dirt with a 'plop' and I squeaked and began covering my self with my hands, forgetting that I'd asked him to help me take my skirt off. As if on cue, shivers overtook my body, wracking my muscles and causing my teeth to clatter loudly. From excitement or hypothermia? I had no idea. But let's go with the latter just to be safe.

"I-Itachi, I hate to say this, b-but it's t-time to g-g-go home." I chattered, "Your little stupid st-stunt got me soaked." I held out my arms to prove my point with the drips falling from my three quarter sleeves then wrapped them back around myself in attempt to warm up. "And I may o-or may not f-freeze to d-d-death."

His arms wrapped around me like huge manacles, furthering my potential hypothermia.

"What if I don't let you?" His lips nearly brushed my ear and my heart tremored. My shivering ceased instantly. Well, that seemed to do the trick.

Knees shaking, I somehow made myself escape his inviting clutches, his hand took hold of my wrist, spinning me to face him with his one hand on the small of my back. Oh no this was just like the other night, I winced away slightly.

"How about we just meet up again t-tomorrow?" I invited with a slightly less chattery voice, now simply stuttering from utmost nervousness. I was hoping and praying that he'd say yes.

A small, victorious smile took over his face. I could tell that he was trying not to smile, but couldn't help it. His half lidded eyes bowed to observe me. "That would be perfect."

Tying his hair back, he turned, looking over his shoulder at me before taking off into the woods. For who knows how long, I simply stood there in the middle of this bizarre stretch of forest. Just smiling at the river's twinkling waves as the moon lit the crisp night, thinking about what I should wear tomorrow night.

That's the story of how I started dating the village's most reviled criminal.