Chapter Four

The weather in Konoha was magnificent today, warm with a slight breeze. It would be pleasant to take a walk on this day, perhaps with a loved one or a friend.

But for Akahana, it was a terrible day to try and spar in samurai armor. Her mask was stuck to her face like glue, as well as her shoulder and forearm armor. She was pouring with sweat, and the breeze bore her no relief.

The armor for a female samurai, while still thick, did not cover the entire body. Most female samurai were medics, and therefore had to move faster than the others so that they could heal them. Their armor only had plates over their shoulders, forearms and hands, hips and thighs, shins and the tops of their feet. A fishnet under-armor, similar to those that ninja use, was used to cover the rest of their bodies, and their masks helped protect them from poison inhalants. Women did not have a helmet, either.

Her swords were visibly trembling, as were her hands. She and Kakashi had been at it since sunrise, and it was right at lunchtime now. She was exhausted and thirsty.

"So I take it you told him about last night?" Kakashi panted. She had given him a run for his money this time.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Your legs have been trembling since you arrived this morning. I can only assume that's what that means."

She felt herself flush, and it wasn't from the heat. "His raven was watching me, Kakashi. Just like I knew it would be."

The older man exited his fighting stance and had a concerned look in his eyes. "Are you hurt?"

"Of course not. Believe it or not, Itachi isn't the violent type. At least, he isn't towards me." She straightened as well and lifted her swords, moving to place them in their sheaths on her back. "He wouldn't actually cause me physical harm, you know."

That look didn't leave his face. "If you say so." He covered his Sharingan eye once more, and then looked to the large shade tree in their training field. "Let's go eat. I know you're probably starving."

She nodded and removed the mask from her face, flinching at the feel of cold air on her hot, sweaty skin. "I think that today was alright, for once," she said as she started walking. "I think I'm getting better at that summoning thing."

The silver-haired man began walking right behind her. "Yes, but you still need to sign a contract before you can begin summoning creatures for real, you know."

"Yes, I know."

The two sat down and opened up their bento boxes, after Akahana was finished downing half of a bottle of water. Her stomach ached with hunger, but her hydration was more important to her. Soon enough, however, she was snarfing down her food like it was the last meal she would ever have.

"What have I told you about eating too fast?" the man joked.

"Hey, man, I can't help it when I'm hungry."

The two ate in silence for awhile, and Akahana couldn't help but wonder if Kakashi felt awkward about the night before. She certainly didn't, seeing as she didn't enjoy dwelling in the past too often. She was also trying to forget about it because Kakashi was her friend, after all. She cared about the man and did not want him to feel strange when he was around her. They never really hung out the way they liked unless Itachi was gone on a mission. When he was home he preferred to be up her ass, as most people knew.

"Akahana-san! Kakashi-san!"

The two looked up curiously at first, and then Akahana remembered that she was expecting some company. She shot up off of the ground, and ran towards the source of the voice. Her brothers must have already made it into the village, even though they weren't supposed to be arriving until later in the afternoon.

Three men came into her view, two of which she hadn't seen since she left home. Her brothers Inui and Koda, the former being older than she was. Her heart leapt and she charged Koda, knocking him to the ground full-force.

"Holy shit you made it!" she cried quickly. "I'm so glad to see both of you! How is Mother? How are the other two!? What was—"

Inui laughed loudly. "Calm down, sister, calm down," he bellowed. "Let the poor boy up; we need to be escorted to the Hokage's office."

She laughed, standing and looking back to see Kakashi catching up to them. "Inui, Koda, this is my comrade and friend, Hatake Kakashi."

Inui took the man's hand to shake immediately, and Koda followed. "It's a pleasure," the older brother said. "My name is Yukimura Inui, and this is my younger brother Koda."

"Pleased to meet you both, Yukimura-san," Kakashi replied, and then looked to the young Chuunin who had escorted them. "You can go back to your post. Akahana-san and I will make sure these two get their visas reviewed by Tsunade-sama."

"Yes, sir," the young man replied, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ah, Akahana, this village is so large compared to the others we passed through," Koda said absently. "How do you get around here?"

After a tour of the village, Akahana decided to take her brothers to eat at Ichiraku Ramen, one of the hits of the village. Since it had been rebuilt, it was twice the size as it had been, and according to Naruto tasted better than it ever had before.

And of course the number one knuckle-headed ninja was inside, sitting next to Sasuke and Sai like usual. They were discussing an upcoming report in ANBU, something Akahana had guessed they wouldn't have to do until at least a few days from now.

"Oh, hey there guys," she said happily. "These are my brothers, Inui and Koda. Brothers, meet the new captains of the ANBU squads, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

They had their small talk, and then her brothers sat down on the other side of her to begin looking at the menu. Ramen wasn't around where she was from, being served in very few restaurants. Sasuke was on the opposite side of her, looking at her strangely.

"Have you introduced them to Itachi yet, Akahana? Or did he leave early this morning?"

Akahana looked at the younger Uchiha with an even stranger look. "Itachi? Oh, yes, he did have a mission today, didn't he?" she replied. "I'm sure they will find an opportunity to meet him before they leave." She was beginning to panic.

"Who is Itachi?" Koda asked. "Is he like a super-ninja or something?"

Akahana laughed nervously. "No, he's Sasuke's older brother, actually." She was seriously pretending like she was her old self again, like she wasn't living with the man. "He used to be an ANBU captain himself, but now he's working on re-establishing the Shinobi police force."

"Oh, so a cop-ninja?" Koda asked. He was still at that young and innocent age, even though most of it was definitely a fluke. She remembered how her little brother really was.

"Yes, you could say that," she replied.

The rest of the night went by and Sasuke continued to look at her strangely the entire night. And that meant that as soon as Itachi came back he would tell him what she did. He would tell him that she'd denied him to her family.

That was something she wasn't prepared to deal with.