YAY! I am officially finished my first year of college and I decided to celebrate by posting another chapter. I hope it's good, since my brain is a little fried from finals.
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto-sama. Selfish genius that he is, he refuses to share it with me. "Dancing with the Devil" belongs to Breaking Benjamin.
Part Four
Trembling, crawling
Across my skin.
Feeling your cold dead eyes,
Stealing the life of mine.
Truthfully, Itachi knew better than to believe he was placed under a genjutsu. But, sometimes, he preferred to believe that than to acknowledge that it was his own mind, no, his own heart doing this to him. However, Itachi was not the kind of person to suffer fools, especially not when that fool was himself.
Therefore, he informed himself that he was a complete idiot, even as he shifted from branch to branch in order to stay downwind of the person he was watching. She didn't know that he was there and he wanted it to stay that way. Bad enough that Kisame was aware of this weakness of his without letting her realize the power she somehow held over him.
Crimson eyes narrowed on her lithe figure. Her trio of canines were curled up in a pile of gray fur by a tree, careful to remain out of the way of their mistress' weapons. A grunt drifted to his ears as she flung the kunai in her hand, followed by a snarl of frustration when it impacted the wood just above her target. His thin lips quirked upward in the tiniest of smiles. He had always been better at her when it came to weapons. It was nice to see that that, at least, had not changed. He edged closer to her, so intent on his prey that he actually failed to notice an approaching chakra signature.
.oOo.oOo.
Inuzuka Tsume landed beside a masked ANBU, her brown eyes gleaming with anger. She had just learned of the Hokage's plan to capture the Uchiha traitor using her own daughter and, needless to say, she was livid. There was no mistaking that silver hair, so she knew exactly who she was addressing.
"Hatake, this is ridiculous. There is no way my daughter-" she began.
His mask turned toward her and she caught the glint of crimson through one eye slit. It seemed the Copy Nin was not playing around. Her ire eased slightly. If Kakashi was convinced that Itachi would be after her daughter…then perhaps it was a more viable option than she had thought.
"Is this necessary though? If the Uchiha was nearby, I am certain she would alert the ANBU forces herself," she tried.
Again, the masked jounin silenced her with a single look. He raised a finger to the place in his mask where a mouth would be, then nodded his head toward the clearing where Hana was training. Tsume followed his gaze and her breath caught in her throat. She rose from her crouch to help her daughter, but Kakashi wrapped a warning hand around her arm. His narrowed eyes told her to stay down and be quiet. Scowling, the Inuzuka matriarch complied. If Itachi harmed one hair on her daughter's head, he would pay for it with a gallon of his own blood.
.oOo.oOo.
As Hana had begun to ready another kunai, she suddenly felt someone appear directly behind her. Her fingers tightened on the kunai, preparing herself to drive it into her attacker's torso and escape, but a long-fingered hand closed about her wrist. The scent of lightning drifted to her nose at the same time Itachi's breath stirred the loose hair which had come free from her ponytail.
"Relax, Hana," he murmured, "Your posture is too stiff."
Despite her better instincts, a soft laugh escaped her mouth at the familiar words. How many times had he uttered them when they trained together as children? She had always been to intense, to wrapped up in what she was trying to do to realize how tense her form had become. The laugh choked to a halt in her throat as Itachi shifted closer to her, hand moving over hers to help guide the kunai. She held her breath as he drew her arm back, releasing the kunai when his fingers urged her to. The weapon sank into the very center of the target.
Itachi released her hand and stepped away. When she turned, she found him watching her with onyx eyes, his expression inscrutable. This time, she was the one who closed the distance between them though she stopped short of touching him. Her eyes darted away from him as she glanced at the Haimaru Sankyodai. All of them had raised their heads at Itachi's entrance, but they would not attack unless she showed signs of fear or anger. Her eyes lifted back to meet Itachi's and she smiled ruefully. He was so serious.
"Why do I get the feeling that you haven't smiled in seven years?" she asked.
Those onyx eyes darkened, if possible. She was ensnared by them, drawn in as she had always been.
"You weren't there," he said simply.
His face was suddenly so close to hers and she was drowning in his eyes. She tore her gaze away from his, becoming aware of her shortened breath and flushed cheeks. Desperate to find a safe place the rest her eyes, she lowered her head until she was staring at his chest. She stared blankly for a moment before it sunk in that his torso was practically bare, covered only by a mesh shirt. He had left his Akatsuki cloak? Her eyes traveled down his sleekly muscled chest until she realized that she was ogling the chest of the infamous Uchiha Itachi, a traitor to her beloved village. A slight squeak slipped from her mouth as she jerked her eyes back up to his. She immediately regretted the action. His dark eyes were practically smoldering. Hana froze like a frightened animal, terrified of the feelings that gaze was stirring within her.
"Hana," he said softly.
She couldn't give in to him. She needed to find some way to distract them both so that she could get a handle on this stupid crush that she had thought was long dead. Again, she pulled her gaze from his, this time noticing the deep lines stress had carved into his pale face. Afraid to look back at his chest, she mentally recalled that his form was practically nothing but lean muscle stretched over bones. His bulky cloak usually hid it, but the Uchiha was unhealthily thin. She lifted a hand to trace the marks on his face, noting how his onyx eyes slid closed as she touched his skin. For a man whose greatest strength rested in his sight, the action showed amazing trust in her.
"You haven't been taking care of yourself," she stated.
Her hand moved from the mark she had been fingering to his cheek, feeling the angular bone which stood out prominently against his hollowed cheeks. His aristocratic features had helped to pull off the sharp angles created from pushing himself too hard for too long, but with her hand on him, she could feel how thin he was. His proud head dipped slightly in recognition of her statement and, over his shoulder, she caught sight of a blur of motion. Moving on pure instinct, her hand fell to his shoulder and she shoved Itachi away from her just as the chirping of a thousand birds filled the air.
Kakashi, to his credit, managed to pull back the blow so that it only grazed Hana, rather than nearly killing her as he had meant to harm Itachi. The Uchiha had been thoroughly caught off guard by the attack, his defenses lowered in Hana's soothing presence. Still, he recovered himself from the shove quickly and his eyes bled to crimson as he turned to face the Copy Nin.
Hana gasped as blazing pain seared through her and she hunched over, slender hands lifting toward her stomach. Itachi was suddenly in front of her, halting her from touching the bleeding wound. Behind him, he sensed Kakashi preparing to attack again, having judged that Hana's wound was not life-threatening. He bent slightly, lifting the woman into his arms as Tsume burst into the clearing. Her brown eyes narrowed at the sight of her daughter injured and being used as a shield. Her fangs bared in a snarl. The Haimaru Sankyodai surged to their feet at this silent command from their alpha female, but Itachi didn't stay to see the fireworks. He was long gone before the two Konoha jounin even registered that he had left.
He paused miles away, sick at the feeling of Hana's blood against his skin. He laid her on the ground, easing to his knees beside her. He didn't utter the words of apology that were screaming through his mind. He hadn't meant to put her in danger by showing himself. She caught the look in his eyes and lifted her hand to touch his cheek, stopping his whirling thoughts. Their gazes locked and, again, Itachi relaxed. The amount of power this woman held over him was frightening. He lifted a hand and it glowed green with chakra.
Hana's eyebrows furrowed. How did he-oh, that's right…the Sharigan could copy any form of jutsu. Of course it would extend to medical jutsus as well. His free hand tugged aside her shirt to expose her bloodied abdomen, then she felt the soothing warmth of his chakra as it eased the pain. Her head fell back against the grass. Itachi withdrew his hand as soon as he was done and smoothed her shirt back into place. She suddenly jerked upright and he had to pull back his head to avoid hers. Her brown eyes held a hint of panic.
"I saved you from Kakashi-san," she gasped.
His crimson eyes narrowed. Her own expression was almost childlike as she looked up at him.
"Does this…make me a traitor to Konoha too?' she whispered.
Itachi sat back on his heels, thinking for a moment. In the most technical sense, yes, it did. She had aided the escape of a wanted man. But he knew that Tsunade was not one to abide by the letter of the law. She was like the Third, looking at the heart of the matter. Surely she would see that Hana would never betray her beloved home village.
"No, Hana. You didn't know what you were doing," he responded.
Her guileless brown eyes met his own.
"But I did…I was saving you," she said.
His eyes changed back to calm onyx. He sensed Kakashi's chakra nearing their location. He didn't have long. He lifted a hand to touch her cheek, making sure her eyes stayed on his.
"Hana, promise me that you will forget about me," he commanded.
Hana's mind instantly flashed back to the night of the Uchiha massacre, when he had demanded the exact opposite promise from her. She bit her lip in confusion.
"Itachi-" she said.
His eyes closed, then opened as he stood. His gaze lifted to the forest behind her, as if searching for something. When she sniffed the air, she could smell Kakashi's scent, closely followed by her mother's. Itachi shifted and she knew instinctively that he was leaving her again. She scrambled to her feet, laying a hand on his arm.
"Itachi!" her tone had risen, become more insistent.
His eyes returned to her, hard and commanding.
"Forget me, Hana. You are a Leaf-nin, and I am Akatsuki. You can't live your life dancing with the devil," he said, referring to her words the night that had started this.
She had called him a devil then, seeing no trace of the boy that she had once loved. But now, as he watched her with those dark eyes, he was hers again. Her hand tightened around his arm, as though she could force him to stay.
"Ita-kun," she said.
But he was gone and she was alone. Kakashi landed beside her only seconds later, followed in short order by Tsume and the Haimaru Sankyodai. The canines clustered around Hana, whining their apologies for failing her yet again. The young woman saw the way Kakashi's mask dipped to her stomach, noting the healed wound, and the way his tense stance slumped. His mismatched eyes rested on her accusingly.
"Come, Hana. You have a lot to answer for," he said.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned back in the direction of Konoha. Hana turned her head to find her mother scrutinizing her as well.
"What were you thinking?" Tsume demanded.
"I wasn't," Hana supplied Itachi's answer, turning from her mother to follow Kakashi.
After all, she couldn't tell her mother that she was thinking that she had fallen in love with the most infamous mass murderer in Konoha's history.
So, there it is. There is still one more chapter left in this story, and there will likely be a sequel.
Cheese Maiden: Well, that gives you a bit of a view of how Tsume is taking Itachi's presence in Hana's life. More from Tsume and Kiba in the next chapter!
BlackPheonix: For purposes of the story, I am saying that Hana was only able to distinguish the scent of blood. The Inuzuka nose might be capable of detecting whose blood it was, but it didn't fit my plots for Hana to be able to tell that he had killed his family.
NazaliaSan: I know. It is very fishy that Hana just HAPPENS to be the same age as Itachi. -cough-cough- I would throw in some Sasori for you, but sadly only the first chapter took place while our dear Sand-nin was alive. The first chapter took place while Naruto was on his way back to Konoha. The second chapter took place during the Gaara arc (when Sakura killed Sasori), and this chapter takes place after the failed attempt to capture Sasuke, once Kakashi is out of the hospital.
Also, thanks to NewRageInc., Rukia23, Tinejensen, Akai-sora, The lost kitsune 4, and SmallButPowerful for reviewing.
Give the review button some love!