[AN: Before we get on I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Golden Horde, Meliko, Sasuke Itachi Fan, Chanvre Vert, and Tish. And a special thanks to anyone who reviewed on Monday. You made the beginning of the school week bearable. -sel]


Chapter 4: Amity

When Hana came into the kitchen the next morning Itachi was on a cell phone talking softly. When she entered he said a quick and businesslike goodbye before hanging up. Perplexed for a moment Hana could only stare at her guest.

"Good morning," he greeted. She nodded and headed in a beeline for the coffee pot. Itachi took his seat, a cup of tea wrapped in his long fingers.

"Cold," Hana commented feeling a change in the air. It was like a different scent that pervaded the house. Itachi nodded.

"It snowed last night," he motioned to the window. For the first time the brunet noticed the knee high drifts of snow that were covering the neighborhood. Just looking outside made Hana shiver from head to toes.

"I am not looking forward to the walk across campus," she shook her head. The coffee pot sputtered to life and Hana breathed a sigh. "So what was the call about?" she asked eyeing the silver phone on the table.

"Work," he responded cryptically, "I had to explain my situation. My colleges will be working on a diversion in the next week or so to throw the police of my trail for a while. I told them I was safe but unable to move anywhere and recovering from an injury."

"How is your arm?" she asked him moving closer to inspect the stitches. Satisfied with the healing Hana cautioned him about moving his arm too much or lifting anything heavy for a while. They both scrounged up breakfast from the toast and fruit in Hana's fridge before settling down to a quiet morning. With a half empty cup of coffee Hana resigned herself to struggling through the last of her chemistry homework before running off to her anatomy class. Just as the night before, the letters and numbers jumped over the page like windblown snowflakes making no sense at all.

"Ugh… I don't get this at all," Hana dropped her head on the table.

"May I?" Itachi asked politely, setting down the newspaper and reaching for her homework.

"If you can read my chicken scratch," she mumbled before finishing the last of her coffee.

"How can you drink that?" he asked her as his pencil flew across the page.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking from him to the dark dregs left in her cup.

"Plain Coffee," He paused in his writing, looking over his work he reached for the steaming tea cup. "Doesn't it taste like watery acid?" he asked her. Hana was appalled.

"Coffee is the only thing that has kept me going through med school," she informed him. A small smile spread over his face.

"Did you know I wanted to be a doctor?" he asked her. "It's a little ironic how my life is… so far from that path," He handed back the paper. Hana was amazed to find he had broken down the problem clearly and solved it, labeling every step and action.

"Wow," she managed to force out, "Thanks." Itachi shrugged, as if trying not to draw attention to his knowledge. Hana was curious thought and pressed him. "How do you know organic chemistry?" she asked.

"When I have free time I read up on anything that interests me," Itachi was watching his tea very intently as he spoke. "I was always a quick study, that's why I'm so good at what I do." Hana felt a surge of admiration. Anyone who could study organic chemistry for fun was a freak of nature and a genius sent from god all at the same time. Shaking her head at the absurdity of it Hana tried to finish the last few problems using his neat work as a guideline.

"Don't suppose you could just do my homework for me?" She asked reaching for her cup only to find it empty.

"No," Itachi chuckled and stood taking her mug as he passed, "That wouldn't be fair to your class mates." She watched him over her shoulder with one eyebrow raised as he poured coffee into the dark green cup.

"So you'll steal, lie, and hack for a terrorist organization but you won't cheat on homework?" she couldn't believe that. Itachi just smirked.

"We all have lines we don't cross," was his cryptic answer. Hana had the feeling that there was more to his statement, it was somehow deeply important to him in a way she would never know. In that moment, as he handed her a refilled cup with a small smile she didn't believe he could be a criminal at all.

"You are the weirdest person I have ever met," She told her guest truthfully and returned to her work in a huff. Itachi watched Hana, thinking that maybe his life might have been something like hers if…. Immediately he threw off that thought. It can't be helped, he told himself.

"What classes do you have today?" Itachi asked to distract himself.

"Anatomy," she groaned. "Then I have to work at the clinic so I won't be back till late tonight. I think I'm running out of food so we'll order Pizza if that's ok."

"I can't remember the last time I had Pizza," Itachi commented behind her. The brunet Inuzuka turned around in complete shock.

"You are a poor deprived soul," Hana told him in the most serious voice he had yet to hear from her. He was somewhat taken aback by her strong reaction.

"Is there something special about Pizza?" Itachi cocked his head to the side.

"You have obviously never had Pizza at the Korner," she grumbled. "Just you wait."

So Hana waited all day, fidgeting through Professor Asuma's lecture and hurrying through her work at the clinic, always thinking about the Police watching her house, Pizza dinner, and the unfinished chem, homework due the next day. For some reason the day seemed longer than usual. Only a week ago she had been spending every spare minuet of her time among the stray and injured animals at the clinic or shoulder high in books at the library, returning to her house only to sleep. But the recently empty rooms were no longer silent and lonely. Hana sill missed her child hood companions but she wasn't alone anymore. It made the ache bearable. So she was excited instead of resigned when she returned home with a large flat pizza box at the end of the day.

"So?" she asked Itachi as they sat down on the faded couch to eat pizza before the flickering television. "What did you do today besides stay away from the windows?" Her guest shrugged and helped himself to a slice of greasy pizza.

"I watched some cop show…" He started but didn't get to finish.

"Criminals watch cop shows?" she asked incredulously.

"It's fun to laugh at the over exaggerated situations and idealization," he smiled and took a bite of pizza. Hana laughed and muted a loud commercial.

"And the rest of the time?" she asked.

"I read your Psychology textbook," he motioned to the open book on the coffee table, half buried under the greasy box.

"I couldn't stand that subject," Hana grinned with a wicked spark in her eye. "Just proves I like animals more than people. They're simple. Dogs don't lie, they have no motives, or grudges, or complexes. Humans think too much." She tore a chunk of Pizza off and glared at the book as if she could burn holes in it from where she sat. From the corner of her eye she saw Itachi shake his head. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Nothing," he waved it off, "I just agree." Itachi kept his focus on the TV but he still caught Hana's smirk.

"What do you think?" she asked suddenly and Itachi was a little confused. "About the Pizza," his hostess clarified.

"It's just the way I remember it: greasy," he turned the crust over in his hand, "but you're right. This is the best pizza I've ever had." Hana smirked in silent victory.

Days passed with little variation. Mornings were always a war between the best caffeinated drinks and evenings they sat in front of the TV with their dinner and just talked. Itachi turned out to be very knowledgeable about most things and interested in anything he didn't know. She returned often to find him with his head buried in one of her textbooks or even reading over her lecture notes. How he managed to decipher her handwriting was still a mystery. Hana had her hands full with school assignment and work at the clinic leaving little time or energy for much else. Jen called at least twice more about this or that dog Hana should adopt, not knowing Hana had already taken in a stray of sorts. Before the brunet vet in training or her fugitive tenant knew it a week had passed. Hana realized this as she was sitting before the television, carefully removing the last of the stitches in Itachi's arm. They were situated in their usual places on the pale couch and Hana was surprised to hear a familiar name on the seven o'clock news that flickered across the screen.

"… believed to be the work of a pro, the heist is ranked as the second largest in the last twenty years and the first in the past eight. The bank estimates that a minimum of 70 million dollars was stolen. The elusive thief managed to avoid all of the bank security and was only caught on camera once for three seconds. Despite the little they had to work with, the Police were able to pull this photo from the security servers." A blurry zoom in on a dark black and white frame flashed up on the screen. "The thief has been identified as the notorious criminal, Uchiha Itachi. The people of Konoha can sleep easy tonight knowing that the fugitive is no longer lurking in the cities shadows as police have suspected for the past week. Baffling experts around the world, the famous Uchiha has managed to avoid the police nets and escaped his home town undetected. Detective Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha PD says his team did everything they could, putting their hearts into the search and their lives on the line to find this criminal but in the end it just wasn't enough. He wishes good luck to the Suna Police in their efforts to retrieve the stolen money and bring Uchiha Itachi to justice. I'm Marie Gray reporting from Suna." Hana turned to stare open mouthed at her guest. Itachi was still focused on the screen his eyes wide in shock and his hands balled in tight fists.

"You robbed a bank?" she asked in confusion dropping her tweezers. "When did you have time to do that?" Itachi shook his head.

"Kakuzu," he muttered. Hana had no idea what that meant but she was appalled.

"70 MILLION DOLLARS?"

"He is a little excessive," Itachi admitted calmly though his fists were still tight. "I would have preferred if his diversion had been a little more discreet, but I suppose it wouldn't be a diversion if it was."

"Itachi?" Hana was still wide eyed. He took a moment before turning to answer her.

"A college of mine framed me for robbing a bank to knock them off my trail. He'll move the money around and spread enough rumors to make it sound real then disappears, just as it will appear I have done here. This will get the Police off your back and give me a way out, but he went a little over the top." Itachi seemed to relax as he explained. Hana could tell it was forced.

"You have insane friends," She commented, trying not to think who might have been hurt during that robbery.

"They are business associates and nothing more," Itachi stated bluntly, "There is no connection between the members of the organization I work for. I have never even met them all in person." Itachi said without care.

"Do you hate them that much?" Hana asked curiously, reaching for a soda can on the table. Itachi's piercing gaze made her freeze.

"Hate is too light a word," he said in a flat voice. She shivered visibly and left the drink where it was. Neither of them mentioned the 'diversion' again or who Itachi worked for. Hana understood Itachi didn't want to talk about it and she wasn't going to push him. But that night, lying awake in the glow of the street lamps, she thought about what he'd said and again got the feeling he wasn't who the public believed him to be. Especially after 'his record breaking bank robbery' Itachi was a very different person then the press and police would have you believe.


The next morning Hana was unwilling to get out of bed. She rolled over when the sun hit her face and buried herself under the warm blankets. In the thick stuffy darkness they created Hana was drifting back into sleep when a familiar ring tone, muffled by the feather comforter and the walls of her house, reached her ears. Hazily she jumped out of bed and threw open her half closed door. Itachi stood just past her doorway, the black phone in his hand still playing the annoying ringtone loud enough to wake the dead. Hana realized first that her guest was at least three inches taller than she was and secondly that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Her eyes betrayed her for a split second and her face turned bright red. In the next moment she realized she was wearing only underwear and a large very thin T-shirt. Her ears feeling hot she snatched the phone and closed the door with a resounding slam flipping open her phone she answered breathlessly right before it went to the message service.

"Hello."

"Hi sis," Kiba sounded happier than usual, "sorry to call so early on a Saturday. Did I interrupt you and your new—"

"Shut the hell up, Kiba," Hana knew her cheeks were almost the color of her tattoos if not darker. On the other end the younger Inuzuka was laughing his head off.

"Whatever sis," He shrugged off her protests, "Just wondering if I should tell mom we have an extra guest tonight." Hana internally panicked. It was Saturday, the day she always ate dinner with her mom and brother. Hana had made the promise when she moved back after four years at The University of Fire a fifteen hour drive from Konoha. Now she realized her brother was trying to introduce Itachi to their mother using that promise in hopes it would ease the crumbling mother-daughter-relationship. After the deaths of Hato, Suzune, and Washi Tsume had been less than comforting and helpful to her daughter causing bad blood between them. If her boyfriend had been a respectable young college student, a doctor in training perhaps, Tsume's fears for her eldest child might be lifted and a chance at a peace might possibly show up. This was what Kiba wanted to accomplish by introducing Tsume to a wanted criminal. Hana's mother, always perceptive, informed, and cautious Tsume Inuzuka, could not, under any circumstances, meet Itachi. It would spell doom, not only for him, but for her as well. The harsh woman would never forgive her daughter for harboring a fugitive, much less one as notorious as Itachi.

"NO," Hana said just a bit too forcefully.

"But I already told her he was coming," Kiba whined. Her mischievous little brother was backing her into a corner now.

"He's sick," She blabbed in desperation. "It's contagious and he can't come."

"Right," Kiba's smirk was clear in his voice. "If he was sick, which he isn't, you would have called me the moment you found out to make sure I wasn't sick. And how come you haven't caught it. I mean you two being so close and—"

"For the last time Kiba," Hana just wanted to hang up the phone right that moment. "Just tell mom something. He had homework or a previous engagement. But he isn't coming."

"Fine, fine," Her little brother gave in, disappointed. "Why are you so against us meeting him anyway?" Hana felt the urge to bang her head against the closest hard surface.

"It's nothing Kiba. I'll see you tonight," Hana told her little brother sternly trying to put a note of finality in her voice.

"Yeah yeah," He replied. "Bring more of that ice cream it was good. See ya then." With that he hung up and Hana sighed in relief. As soon as the breath left her body the memory of nearly running headlong into a half naked Itachi jumped into her mind. The deep blush came back and she smiled a little to herself. He doesn't look half bad shirtless, she noted. A little part of her mind cried out at the understatement and relished in the memory. Shaking her head Hana tried to forget that image long enough to get dressed. Throwing her running shoes, summer sandals, romance novels and old scrap book aside she located a pair of clean sweat pants and a deep purple hoodie, a present from her friend at The Kumo Technical Institute.

Now properly dressed Hana came out into the living room. The small voice in the back of her mind cried when she saw Itachi laying, fully clothed, on the couch with Hana's psychology textbook propped up on his knee. Cursing that voice Hana tried to pretend nothing had happened.

"Sorry about the phone call. I hope my idiot brother didn't wake you," she told him dropping the offensive black device in the chair where her backpack and coat where haphazardly resting. "Kiba isn't very thoughtful."

"It's fine," he smiled sincerely, "I don't like to sleep in." She looked at him as if he'd grown a third eye and wandered into the kitchen shaking her head. Thoughtlessly she made coffee, hoping it would wake her up a little and help her concentrate on something other than her criminal boarder half dressed in her doorway.

"What was he calling about?" Itachi's voice made her jump and spin around. Breathing hard she looked down in embarrassment.

"I said don't scare me like that," she accused only to get a shrug in response. It seemed to be his favorite way to answer her. "I promised to eat dinner with him and my mother every Saturday," Hana continued answering his question, "He was wondering if you were going to be there."Itachi seemed to have the same thoughts Hana did at the suggestion.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," He told her cautiously and Hana nodded her agreement. "Not that I wouldn't like to meet the rest of your family," He added as if he thought the first statement would offend her, "but it wouldn't be wise after the stunt my college pulled." Hana nodded again.

"I told Kiba not to expect you and he'll give my mom some kind of excuse," Hana returned her attention to the coffee pot behind her. "What do you want to do for the day? I don't have classes so we have some time to kill."

"Anything you want," she could hear a smile in his voice.

"I want to go back to sleep in my nice warm bed," Hana groaned.

"You can," he told her, "It is the weekend." The brunet just shook her head.

"That wouldn't be polite," she tapped the coffee pot in impatience.

"I don't know if rules of etiquette really apply in my case," Itachi was smirking. "You know you look hilarious standing there as if your life depends on that coffee pot." Hana only turned to glare at him. They were headed for the inevitable caffeine dispute again. "There's a hot cup in the microwave." His eyes glinted and she knew he was laughing inside. With another glare she retrieved the heavenly mug of dark liquid.

"Thanks," Hana admitted sinking into her chair and pushing away lose papers and other junk to clear a space for her cup. "Man this table is cluttered. Just like my whole house," Hana muttered looked around at the assortment of junk pilled on every surface, not excluding the floor. "Sorry this place is such a mess," she leaned back in her chair to stretch, "I hope it doesn't bother you." Itachi shook his head. "That's what I should do today! Clean this filthy house," Hana was surprised at herself. She wasn't known to clean but her house had gotten to a terrible state in her depression after the death of her dogs. Now it was more of big rat's nest than anything else. Itachi insisted on helping. Together they managed to clear out the cluttered kitchen. Hana grumbled through the dirty dishes and over flowing trashcan but finishing she felt better with the completion of each task. The place was by no means sparkling but it was possible to walk from the living room to the side door across the room without having to kick something out of your way. The only things that remained on the floor were the dog bowls she couldn't bring herself to move. Moving on to the living room the challenge was somewhat greater. Hana had dumped anything she brought into the house there creating a pile of useless or simply forgotten items. Hana found two books she had checked out of the public library and simply lost, a copy of an assignment she hadn't turned in, and scarf under the couch she'd been missing. Itachi found all of her little discoveries amusing. Sitting in her normal place on the couch Hana went through a stack of random papers Itachi had found around the trunk by the door while he wandered around the room picking up random items that had found their way to the floor.

"You have an interesting movie collection," He commented and Hana turned to look at the stacks of DVDs that were jammed haphazardly into the white painted bookshelf.

"Most of them are my old roommates, but she said she'd come get them when her boyfriend got a bigger apartment. I don't think she likes him that much, she'd have taken them if she was that serious about the relationship." Hana returned to the heavy stack before her. Behind the couch she heard Itachi moving them around but decided to let it go.

"I never saw this," he seemed to comment to himself. Giving in to her laziness Hana dumped the stack on the coffee table, where for the first time in a month the wood was visible.

"Come on," bending over the back of the couch Hana snatched the thin case from his hands and headed for the TV.

"You watch movies at noon?" He asked sounding only slightly surprised.

"It's Saturday," Hana protested. With the room only half clean the two of them sat down to watch the movie. It was a sad story of a young girl who was murdered by her neighbor and couldn't go on to heaven till he was caught. The movie was both uplifting and depressing at the same time as well as visually beautiful. Hana had honestly never watched it before and found herself crying at the end.

"I am never watching that again," She declared as the credits rolled. "I hate sad movies! They always make me cry!" Turning to Itachi she saw that he looked completely lost in thought. "You ok?" she asked. He just nodded.

"Sorry," he smiled a little fake smile, seeming to pull himself from his thoughts, "You pick the next one." Hana nodded and jumped up happily. She rummaged through the mess of plastic cases for an interesting title, preferably a comedy.

"What do you think it will be like to die?" Itachi asked her suddenly and absentmindedly. Hana could only stare back for a moment wondering where the question had come from.

"I don't know," she answered. "I would guess painful. Every part of your body shuts down individually so depending on what kills you it may be quite painful. If your mind is still working then you can remain conscious but dead for thirty seconds before actually dying. But death is strange. Some patients, who die and are brought back, say that death is exhilarating and wonderful but I don't know if that really is death. The mind dies, physically there's nothing after that. No heaven or paradise just… nothing. Scary thought," She looked over at the back of Itachi's head. His shoulders looked tense and just too still. "What do you think?"

"I try not to," He admitted after a pause. His answer seemed somehow scarier than hers.

"Here," she handed him another video, "Something a little lighter." He read the title and gave her a raised eyebrow.

"British comedy?" he asked. Hana shrugged.

"It's one of my brother and his friends' favorites," Itachi rolled his eyes but complied and put the DVD in the player without protest. Like always the stupidity of two men arguing over the air speed velocity of swallows and how coconuts got to England lightened the mood considerably. Itachi even smiled at the movie while Hana nearly got a cramp from laughing. When it finished Hana suggested going back to work but promptly got up to pick another movie. Itachi made a surprising request over his shoulder explaining it was the last in a series and the only one he hadn't seen. So they sat through an old sci-fi film, a classic about a revolution against oppressive government. At the end the protagonist kills his father, the Big-Bad's right hand man and feels extremely conflicted about it afterward. Still it ended happily with revolution victory. When the credits came on and the well known theme played Hana decided she'd find the others when she had a spare moment.

"Not a bad movie," she told him as she gathered the cases to put away.

"No," Itachi agreed. "But it bothers me. Wouldn't it have been better if Luke never knew the identity of his father? The secret would have died with Darth Vader?" Hana looked back at him in confusion.

"That would totally ruin the plot of the movie though," she exclaimed. Itachi looked off past her in thought. "But yeah I guess you're right," she shrugged. "What does it matter?" Itachi didn't answer.

"What time is your brother expecting you?" he asked casually.

"Around six," Hana stuffed the DVD's on the crowded bookshelf.

"You're late," he informed her, picking up the psychology textbook again.

"SHIT!" Hana rushed to her room to get dressed and ran out the door a few minutes later pulling her chocolate colored hair into a ponytail. "Mom is going to kill me," she muttered grabbing keys and purse before waving to her guest and disappearing through the front door.

She didn't see Itachi's sad look and she didn't notice the way his lips pulled down in a frown. If Itachi had been honest with himself he was jealous of Hana. She had a family to visit on the weekends, a little brother who would laugh and joke with her, and friends who liked her for her personality instead of her skills. But Itachi wouldn't let himself think about those things. He had given them up a long time ago.


End Chapter 4

[AN: the movies I mentioned in this chapter were The Lovely Bones, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (if the swallows didn't explain that) and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (which you should all know even if you've never seen the movie). None of which I own, want to own, will ever own, or am claiming to own. *cries* only one more chapter left. Like always it'll be up on Sunday. Hope you enjoy my story –sel Please Review]