Learning How to Fly

Natsuki's POV

"What the hell is going on here?" I said as my eye twitched at the position that Serenity and Sasuke was just in. It was tense in the room, I will give you that, but the fire was fuel when Sasuke 'che'd and turned his head like I wasn't there.

"This mother-" I started and Serenity ran over to me quick and started pushing me out her room, dragging me downstairs to the kitchen. Naruto was stuffing his face, while Itachi was drinking some tea with a newspaper in his hands. Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji were also at the table, but they were talking amongst themselves, ignoring the other two in the room. I yanked my wrist from Serenity's hand and plopped down hard by Naruto, starling him and making him choke a little.

"N-Natsuki, it wasn't what you are thinking right now." My sister stuttered, blushing a little, being mindful of what she said around the others. I stared at nothing, biting the bottom of my lip, half listening to what she was saying and half listening to my inner self wanting to go back upstairs to beat the hell out of the younger Uchiha in the house. Right now 'reasoning me' was thrown out the window and 'irrational me' had stepped in to play some ball. "I'm going to kill him, that little fucker…" Serenity gasped, but before she could say anything, I got up and stared at Itachi.

"We are going to the store and buying some things." I grabbed my wallet off the table and walked to the front, opening the door and slamming it a little too hard, making the pictures on the walls rattle. Itachi grumbled something under his breathe along the lines off 'don't like to be bossed around… Damn my fucking little brother… I wonder what happened…' as he got up to grab his keys and walked to his car, following me out.

I waited outside, pacing around the ground. I was surprised I didn't dig a hole from the fast pace I was doing back and forth, but I really could care less. Itachi startled me when we revved up his car, making his engine come to life. I got in the car and closed the door lightly, knowing that he would not like that I slammed his car's door. Itachi looked over to me with apathetic eyes and a raised eyebrow, "Where to, Natsuki?"

I huffed and slinked in my seat, blushing hard. "Honestly I don't know… I was just bullshitting back there." I sighed again and crossed my arms. Itachi sighed and started driving, backing the car into the street surprising me. "W-wait, where are we going?"

Itachi looked over at me, sighing a little, then back at the road. "To the store where you said you wanted to go. I need some ingredients for tonight's dinner…" he said, sounding like I should've known, in a sardonic tone. I grit my teeth and looked out the window on my side, thinking, 'Fucking Uchihas and their attitudes…'

I was both lulled and entranced at the beauty of the fields that we passed by which held flowers galore and small animals scurrying around, playing with each other. I sighed, bored from watching the side of the road, but before I looked away I saw a deer look straight at me and I blinked widely at it. We had stopped at a light now and as I watched the deer, it watched me, inching closer and closer to the car. The older boy turned to see what I was doing, but the deer also caught his eye and he narrowed his eyes at the animal, causing it to run off in fear. I pouted and slumped down in my seat again, turning to Itachi as the car started moving.

I was frozen in spot as I saw that Itachi was watching me with calculating eyes and I quickly turned away, looking out the window again, blushing profusely at nothing. He stared at me for a few moments longer and I could feel it on my back, making me sweat from the intensity. Feeling that he stopped, I side-glanced at him to see him narrowing his eyes, but before I could question him on why he looked so pissed, we had stopped abruptly. Looking outside for the millionth time, I noticed that we were at the grocery store. I then reached for the door to open it and stepped out the car, running to catch up with Itachi. I caught him looking to the side and mumbling, 'Fucking deer and Nara…*' I cocked my head to side confused, but I grabbed a buggy, pushed it to Itachi and he grabbed it. There was a rare look of shock on his face as I climbed inside of the basket and sat down, folding my legs up to my chest, mindful of it and of the room needed for groceries.

Itachi quickly regained his indifferent attitude and air, pushing the cart to the first aisle he needed to go to. Turning the cart to the baking goods/baking supplies aisle, people stared at us with looks that ranged from astonishment to disapproval to amusement. Itachi paid them no mind, gathering sugar, vegetable oil, a few pans, flour, and some cake icing. I checked my website that I had made on gaming and music a long time ago as he gathered the items that he needed, seeing whatever was being said in the new forums that was made today. We, well Itachi, walked and pushed the cart past the next few aisles to walk down an aisle full of cereal, bread, and more breakfast food. As Itachi left me to the side by the bread, he gave me the task of find two loafs of bread that I deemed well and fit to come home and be eaten.

When I selected two of them, I put them in the basket on my lap and watched Itachi compare which cereal was good to get. He looked so funny 'fretting' over something, but it was also endearing to know that he cared about everyone's health. I smiled and placed my cheek in the palm of my hand, leaning my elbow on my thigh, as I watched him until he was finished. The red eyed man turned his gaze to me and I froze for the second time today, staring at him like a small animal caught in a trap with a hunter. He sauntered over to me and I swear that he knew what he was doing to me, as the blush I felt on my cheeks spread to my whole face.

"Is there something you need, Natsuki…" he asks looking down at me, blocking the light and covering me in his shadow. I gulped and quickly jutted my eyes downward, avoiding his penetrating look. It felt like my soul was bared to him without me doing a damn thing and I frowned, biting my lips. "N-no…" I stuttered, my voice barely above a whisper.

That obviously was not the answer Itachi was seeking, so he leaned down and bored his gaze in mine. I couldn't escape his eyes as they mocked my jittery form and I took that as a challenge, looking straight into them.

It felt like our 'staring contest' was ticking from seconds to minutes, neither of us giving in, to give the satisfaction to the other. The air was tense and people quickly walked away from both of us, fearing that we might kill them with our auras. I felt my eyes drying and wanting to close, but I was not going to let that happen, I was not going to lose to the older of the Uchihas, even if it hurts a lot.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, his mouth forming a small smirk. I blinked again and stopped, "Fuck." I cursed, just realizing I blinked. Itachi stood up and put the box of cereal that was in his hand in the basket, pushing the basket to the frozen section. I pouted in the cart, crossing my arms and sulking a little. I felt Itachi watching me again and I obviously didn't care this time, ignoring him.

There was always one rule that everyone tends to follow no matter how hard you wanted to hate the guts of the Uchiha brothers: Never ignore them, but they can ignore you. So here in the frozen section, were only us two, because no one could stand the cold air that would sting at their warm skins as they got what they needed out the freezer. I closed my eyes, not noticing Itachi stopping the basket and thought about eating something.

"Hey, Itachi-" I started, but snapped my mouth shut as I was faced with the man I was just calling, again. He looks me up and down, grabbing my face with his slender fingers to make sure I didn't look away from his intense gaze once more. "Why do you insist on pushing all of my buttons today, Natsuki?" he questions with a set frown on his face. I was going to respond but, I shut my mouth at the narrowing of his eyes. He knew I was going to say something stupid, shit.

"I-I didn't mean to, push your buttons, Itachi. I'm really sorry if that makes you upset…" I say, clenching my fingers in the palm of my hand, feeling an onslaught of tears coming, "I'm really sorry…"

He sighed and I when I went to apologize again, my face was met with leather and I gasped. Was Itachi, Itachi Uchiha, trying to 'comfort' me? When I felt arms encircle around my neck and something heavy on my head, I squirmed uncomfortably.

But I stopped when he flicked my forehead and bent down so he could be at eye level with me. "If you ever need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to come to me. It's not always your fault when something happens." He stood up and took off his leather jacket, placing it over my head, making my world go dark and I cried. I cried right there in the store, letting go of all my frustrations and worries only for him to see and hear.

The years of protecting Serenity and feeling like what almost happened to her was my entire fault just built up and I never cried. I never let it, the true reality of what happened, take over my mind, my body, my consciousness to the point of where I wanted to just let go and cry it out.

Crying for what felt like an hour or so, I sniffed and wiped my nose on Itachi's jacket, making him scoff and place cold fries and chicken on top of me. "I did not give you my jacket to wipe your germs on them." I stick my tongue out at him, smirking up at him with tired, sapphire orbs, "I figured since my tears, which are also germs, was on them, a little snot would hurt."

"Hn." Was all I got out of him as he rolled us to the checkout line and I muttered, "Fucking Uchiha language." Instead of being threatened like Naruto, with no rice for dinner, I was flicked in the forehead once more and I winced at the pain it inflicted.

After we loaded the car up, we headed home and I helped bring the last of the groceries in, huffing by the time I got in the living room. A long strand of my bang fell in my face when I leaned down to catch my breath, but I couldn't really catch it since my hands were full of bags. Just when I thought all hope was lost, someone came up next to me and tucked the hair back behind my ear. I went to give my thanks to maybe my sister, but I knew my sister had boobs and I knew she didn't have bony fingers.

I looked at the person to realize it was Shikamaru; my mouth was gaped like a small 'o'. He sighed and grabbed some bags from me and continued his trek to the kitchen. I snapped my gaze to follow his back and I followed him, dropping all the bags on the ground and telling Itachi all the bags was out the car and that I locked it. I went upstairs and found that Serenity was in my room and sighed knowing what the conversation was going to be about.

"I know. I'm not going to kill him, yet, but that is on another note. I just wanna say I'm sorry for storming out of here like that earlier…" I said rubbing the back of my head and smiling sheepishly. Serenity smiled at me and hugged me into her bosom, while I hugged her middle. Feeling that we got to an agreement, we went downstairs to see what dinner was.

With everyone over and ready to eat, the night went along with laughter and fun throughout the whole time, not an angry remark or a biting sentence came in to crash the party. After dinner and dessert, everyone went to their bedrooms, save for Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Choji, and Lee (because they had a home to go to). I kissed and told Serenity goodnight, watching Sasuke with narrowed eyes as he watched her too.

"Good night, idiot-Sasuke. And if I catch you coming out of your room, you'll be sleeping with the fishes…" I said, sticking my tongue out and flicking him off. Rei smacked my ass and told me to get to bed as well as smacking Serenity in the boobs, telling her to get some sleep also, going to her room with a yawn. Alex smiled and giving both of us a hug, going to her own room with a goodnight.

Sighing, for what felt like the millionth time again, I walked inside of my room and I closed the door behind me. I stood up against the door thinking about what happened with Itachi today and I blushed, smiling a bit at how out of character he became for my sake. Walking over to my desk, I opened my laptop and looked at my website, seeing if anything new was on there. Seeing that some requested to become an admin, I reviewed their profile and went from there for about two hours.

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Taking my reading glasses off, I got up from my computer chair and started stretching the kinks out of my muscles. Before I could walk away to use the bathroom, I got a text on my phone and I cocked my head to the side in confusion. Looking at the alarm clock near my bed, it read 1:45 am; I walked over to my phone with curiosity.

:New Message:

Shika~: Hey, I need to talk to you…

My eyebrows scrunched up and my lips were gaped open. 'What does he want this late at night?' I licked my lips and replied to the message.

:Hey. Is something the matter?:

Shika~:No… I was just wonder if you were busy.:

:Naw, I'm just working on my website atm. Why?:

:Just…:

I was just about to sent that one word and I wondered if it was really something important and that his male pride was getting in the way. But before I could text him anything, he called me.

"H-hello… Shikamaru?" I asked in hesitance.

"Hey." The gruff voice that I heard on the other side of the phone said.

"Is there something you had needed, Shikamaru?" I said, my curiosity growing.

"Um… I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to… hang out tomorrow. After classes of course, if that's not a drag." He said, his voice sounding tired and disinterested.

"Hmm… I think Itachi wants me to cook dinner when I get done with classes. Oh and I think he wanted to show me how to make banana bread also." I said, thinking about what we talked about last night.

As I was thinking I heard a, 'Shit…' and that made me blink back a bit. I've never heard the older male curse before, but it sounded pretty sexy with his tired voice. I blushed and shook my head, waiting for the other to speak again.

Silence filled both sides and I didn't know what to do, but again before I say something to close the awkwardness up, he spoke.

"Well… Saturday, what are you doing, I guess." He asked, sounding determined.

I thought hard about what he was asking and I smiled. "What do you want to do on Saturday, Shika?~" playing with him, I spoke to him in an overly sweet tone, but I didn't expect his response.

"I want to look at the clouds at the park."

I was silent and took the phone from my ear, looking at it in confusion. Blinking my eyes in disbelief, I put the phone back in time to hear, "because I always wanted to watch the sky with such a pretty woman…" and there was a long pause.

Blushing and weak in the knees, I moved to sit on my bed forgetting and suddenly, I had a dire need to pee; but i put that as the last thought in my head.

"Shikamaru… Did you actually stop being lazy and actually do some work and you are suffering from post-laziness?" I questioned, my eyebrows scrunched up in the middle and a heavy blush set on my face, from his words. He laughed and the sound sounded so deep, again showing that he was tired and what time it was in the morning.

"I may be lazy at times-" I scoffed but he continued with a low chuckle, making me shiver a bit, "but I am intelligent enough to know when a compliment is due to someone… I really like." He said and I could tell that he was serious by the way he ended the sentence with such finality in his tone, daring me to object to what he was saying…to me.

I was at a loss for words and I didn't know what to say, but he was quick to come to a good conclusion for both of us. "I'll let you sleep on it and you can give me an answer tomorrow at school, if you don't mind, ya know? If it's not a drag…"

I couldn't stop the unexpected laugh that came out of my mouth, imagining, Shikamaru scratching the back of his head and shaking his head at his famous catchphrase being used from the total opposite way that he usually used it for. I sighed and smiled a bit, caressing the phone to my ear.

"That would be perfect, Shikamaru. I wouldn't mind giving you an answer at all. We can meet in the library and talk about it, if you want?" I asked him and I received a grumble of acknowledgement on the other line.

Yawning and feeling my urge to use the bathroom again, I bid the lazy man a goodnight and he did the same to me, earning him a yawing also. I plugged my phone back on the charger and walked out of my room to use the bathroom.

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I couldn't sleep for the life of me, as I laid in bed, watching the clock turn from 2 to 3 in the morning. It was about an hour and some minutes that I had talked to Shikamaru and I just couldn't sleep from being so jittery and worried at the same time.

Getting up out the bed, I walked downstairs to get some warm milk or tea and get some rest before I had to wake up at 10. Me, being not stealth at night, made the stairs creak and groan as I stepped on each one as I quietly asked them to be quiet.

Once I was on the last step, I sighed and dragged my feet to the kitchen and turned the stove light on. When I turned around I noticed someone standing near the archway and freaked out, slipping on the tiled floor in the process.

I closed my eyes expecting to see some stars or cuckoo birds, but I was only graced with the smell of lavender & honey and a soft cushion to help break my fall. I slowly opened my eyes and red orbs shot up to my sapphire ones.

My cheeks were hot, so that immediately told me if I knew I was blushing this guy knew I was too. To make matters worse, he chuckled, bringing me to my feet slowly and kept his slender fingers on my hand like I was a delicate flower of some sort. I was embarrassed, so I hid my face under my silver tresses, trying to pull away from the other. Itachi's aura seemed to turn playful, if that was at all possible, and he yanked my body to his, pulling my chin with his other hand so I could show him my red face.

He looked so animalistic and out of character, I didn't know what to do besides stare and hear my breathing sound irregular in the quiet space that surrounded us. Itachi leaned close towards me so that his face was mere inches away from mine, our lips so close I could trace my tongue along his mouth and not give a damn anymore. I shook my head and tried pushed him away, telling my mind to cut it out in the process, but his grip became a vice on me.

"I-Itachi, please…" my voice pleaded, sounding foreign to my ears. My heart was telling me one thing and my mind a whole totally different one, I just couldn't keep up with them.

Itachi inched his face closer to me and placed his lips on mine. Fireworks were going off inside my mind and I was stunned at what was happening. His hand that was on my chin, roamed until it got to my back, pulling my already flushed body closer to him and he turned my body so that bum hit the counter, lifting me on top it. Now that I was seated upon the counter, he forced himself between my legs, his rock hard stomach rubbing up against mine. My brain was losing oxygen, but it was far from thinking sane at the moment and I moved my mouth to respond to his kiss. Our tongues battle for dominance and of course Itachi won, his fingers yanking my hair back so he was dominating me fully.

I swear that we, it, was getting hotter as the kiss continued and my lungs screamed for much needed oxygen like my brain. So 'trying' to be the rational one of us two, I pulled back with a big gasp and leaned my head back against the cabinets that was behind me, staring down with heated orbs back at smothering, lust filled ones. It took a good two minutes to get my breath back, but I knew it would take me a while to get my scrambled mind pieced back together again.

We stared at each other for a while, neither doing anything and I took the pleasure of making my escape right then and there. Running up the stairs and not caring if I made the stairs squeak this time, I closed my door hurriedly behind me and locked it. I couldn't risk anything from what just happened right now and I walked tiredly to my bed, flopping down hard on it with my head bouncing on the pillows. I turned my sluggish body around so my back was on the comforter and my eyes glancing out the window that held the gleaming stars outside. Letting my droopy eyes close, I thought in the last few minutes of consciousness about what Shikamaru and I would do on this coming Saturday.

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For some unknown reason, Naruto felt like being annoying this morning. On top of him being annoying it was raining. Mornings, rain, and people did not mix with me here and it was clearly being shown when Serenity glanced at me worriedly.

"Natsuki are you okay? You really don't look good, maybe you should go get some more rest." My sister said with concern laced in her voice and I shook my head, glaring at Naruto.

Whatever he was about to say next, he gulped it down with his food and stared wide eyed at me. Sighing, I rubbed my head and looked outside the kitchen window and how bad the rain was right now. I was feeling down, pouting and getting mad at everything because I cleared my whole day to hang out with Shikamaru and then bam, rain. Glaring at the window next, Sasuke said something smart, but before I could say anything there was a knock at the front door.

Kiba, since he finished his breakfast first, got up and answered the door. He walked back in the kitchen with a half-soaked Shikamaru and Choji, shivering as the cold air hit them. Perking up a bit, I walked over to them.

"Hey, do you guys need spare clothes?" I asked with worry and Choji shook his head vigorously while Shikamaru nodded his head slowly. Bringing them upstairs, I walked into the laundry room and grabbed the first pairs of pants and shirts that would fit the boys and I gave it to them. They ran into the bathroom and I followed them asking for the wet clothes so I could wash them.

Once they walked out the bathroom with sighs of happiness, Choji claimed that he was hungry now and hurried downstairs to see what was for breakfast and left me and Shikamaru alone… together…

I was leaning against the wall and Shikamaru was standing in front of me. As we looked up at each other, both of us tried to talk at the same time.

"So, uh-" "What are we-" **

We paused and blinked then laughed at how funny and tense the situation was.

"I wasn't expecting you to talk yet." I said, calming my laughing fit with tears in my eyes and he smiled softly.

"Same here... Usually the girl wants me to talk first and that's such a drag at times… but right now, I thought I could take the initiative for once." His chocolate orbs stared into my eyes and I couldn't help the blush that spread across my cheeks, my mouth open from a light gasp.

Standing in our spots, neither of us moved at what was just thrown in the air, surrounding us and the warm space we shared.

Shikamaru's hand hesitated and my eyes flicked down to watch it in curiosity as it grabbed mine. His hand was clammy and rough, but it woke me up to realize that this was really happening. Looking at our hands joined together, I was startled when his low voice crashed my train of thought.

"Would you still like to do something today, if you, uh, don't mind of course…" he hesitated and I smiled brightly at him.

"Um, yeah, we can. D-do you wanna go to the outhouse in the back?" I asked with a small smile and Shikamaru's eyes lit up and he brought his other hand to tell me to lead the way.

Walking back down the stairs, the two of us walked over to the kitchen. We could feel everyone's eyes on us the whole time as Shikamaru opened the side door that lead to the backyard. I especially felt Itachi's glare at the other man and heated gaze at me. I knew we would see each other before the end of the day. I sighed and closed the door behind me, letting all my troubles roll away.

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Now in the closed off section of the backyard, I lead Shikamaru over to the section that held a room with a table, a huge relaxing chair, one love seat, a couch and other miscellaneous things inside of the room. This room was located at the side of the house, but had the garage next to it and almost led up to the front yard.

Shikamaru looked over the place with appraising eyes and I couldn't help but smile right next to him as we walked in and closed the door behind us. We sat down on either side of each other on the same loveseat, but before I sat down I put on some tea since it was pretty chill out this evening.

As I put some green tea leaves in the teapot I got a text from someone, but I knew who it was from the text ringtone for them.

:New Message:

Serenity: Nity-dear~3: What is up with you and Shikamaru?... :

I sighed and glanced backwards at what the other was doing and he was on his phone too. I bit my bottom lip and looked back at my phone, replying.

:It's not what you are thinking…:

Serenity: Bullshit, Suki. I know when something is going on. You have Itachi sitting at the table looking like he's going to murder someone at any given moment.:

I was flabbergasted and almost dropped my phone in the sink, but I did make a scene causing Shikamaru to look up from his phone with a questioning look. I waved to him and smiled with closed eyes, looking back at phone with worry.

:Well… I'm going to tell you something and you have to promise not to freak at all. Okay?:

"Fine. What is it?:

:I might have, sorta kinda kissed Itachi last night…:

I closed my eyes as I sent the text and went back to the teapot in front of me. When the pot was done, I poured tea in two cups and grabbed my phone, putting it on the tray too. It had been 6 going on 7 minutes since I sent that text and I was getting a little anxious at what might have happened with Serenity.

I was blowing the steam and trying to cool my tea when something or someone busted through the doors, starling Shikamaru to spill some tea on him and me to choking on mine. I was really wasn't prepared to be yanked by my shirt across the back of the sofa and dragged outside where it was raining and cold still.

Serenity closed the door behind us and it didn't do much to help her high pitch voice of anxiety from seeping into the creases and cracks of the door. She was yelling and hysterical at what had happened, telling me that wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. I retorted at her and Sasuke's compromising situation and she blushed, but didn't go without saying that was different, that they didn't kiss at least. We weren't arguing in the least, it was just our way of being over protective over each other and our business that involved one another.

We both were out of breathe and I told her that we would talk more about it later and walked back inside by Shikamaru. He had a smile on his lips, lying down on the sofa and I lightly pushed his legs off the armrest, giving him a startle. "What are you smiling about?" I asked with a pout.

The black-haired man just laughed, moving his body up so I could sit down and I took the offer, leaning up against the other armrest. He surprised me by laying his head in my lap and staring at my blushing face with a little playful smile. "I knew I would have a challenge, but to think I was going head to head with one of the Uchiha guys, let alone Itachi, I think I'm going to have fun with this. Maybe you are worth the trouble."

I laughed and dug a knuckle in his stomach and he winced, laughing with me, "If I didn't know any better, I would think you are saying I'm a player or maybe going as far as saying I'm a troublesome woman, Shika~." And when I pinched him on his sides, he put his hands up in surrender.

"Not at all, Natsuki. I only state what I see; you know I have a blunt personality and mouth-"

"That can get you in a lot of trouble sometimes, with the wrong people." I chided with a grin.

"- but I just feel like I can let go when I with you, ya know?" he finished, looking elsewhere. I smiled and flicked his forehead lightly.

"I guess that is one thing I like about you, I have to admit." I stated with a light blush on my cheeks still and I ran my hands on his body, making little circles everywhere.

He looked up at me and caught me with a lazy yet smoldering look and it stopped my fingers abruptly. His narrow chocolate eyes stared deeply at me and I couldn't stand the gaze, playing with his silver studs in his ear. He moved suddenly and he was over me in a flash, half of his body on me and his legs on the ground. A frown was marred on his face and he now commanded my blue orbs to snap to his eyes and when I looked at him, all playfulness was gone and a serious look showing now.

"If I tell you something, will you promise me that it will not leave this room? That'll only be known between the two of us." He stated the last sentence, emphasizing the 'us' as he roamed his eyes down my body then back up to my gaze. I shuddered, feeling the lightning shock that ran between our bodies, and his breathing missed a count, sounding rushed to our ears.

What neither of them noticed was the shadow that lurked outside the window in front of them, clenching blood soaked fingers tightly to their palm.