"Mai?" A voice sounded softly.
I'd been sitting on the ground, leaning against the trunk of a tree, just staring into space.
I looked up, finding Tairo crouching in front of me. His eyes had a worried look in them and he seemed so sweet and understanding. He cared about me.
"What's up with you? I don't think I've known you not yelling," I sneered, not ready to be nice just yet.
He sighed and sat down next to me, still very serious.
"So what's going on? Jirou told me about what happened at the training field." He asked. Before I could answer he chuckled.
" Pretty damn awesome how you hit him, though." He let me know.
That got a chuckle out of me as well. He was just so damn cheery. And it had been totally awesome to hit Itachi like that. I'd always held back whenever I felt angry. And I'd just snapped, letting loose not only my anger at Itachi, but all of it. All the annoyances and frustrations that had been slowly building up inside of me.
It had been so liberating.
I felt free now, like the weight I hadn't even felt had been lifted off my shoulder.
The chuckle evolved into a full laugh and Tairo laughed with me. And then it just turned into the giggles. I was laughing at his laugh because, damn, that kid has a hilarious laugh. He was just laughing at mine.
When it ended, I was on the verge of tears, clutching my hurting stomach and I'm sure Tairo was feeling the same way.
I wiped my eyes, still giggling a little bit and sighed.
"Damn, that felt great," I said and he nodded in agreement.
Then he got all serious again.
"But, seriously. What's going on, Mai? Didn't you guys used to be best friends?" He asked.
I sighed, this time because I was actually a bit tired. The day wasn't even over yet and there'd been so many emotional encounters. I just wanted to crawl up under the sheets and pass into the sweet oblivion that sleep provided.
I sagged a bit and leaned my head on his shoulder. This was exactly why Tairo was one of my best friends. He may be a bit rude and kind of a bully sometimes, but he's always really sweet and caring when he needs to be. And he won't go chatting to everyone. I know he'll keep my secrets. Sure, he'll threaten to tell people when he's joking around, but he'd never actually tell anyone.
So, I told him how I'd fessed up to Itachi and how he'd reacted. Of course he already knew what had happened at the training field and now he understood.
"Damn, that's deep." He said.
"What on earth is deep about that, idiot?" I asked, pulling a face. He answered that by putting his hand on my face and pushing me down.
"Don't pull such moronic faces, Mai!" He scolded. I just laughed and pulled another weird face.
We did this all the time, some harmless teasing. It really was fun to hang out with Tairo.
We used to hang out all the time, but then Setsuna started showing interest in him. And yeah, you know the rest.
"I'm gonna go home, I'm starving!" Tairo said, clutching his stomach in exasperation.
I punched his shoulder and called him an idiot.
We'd been sitting there for a couple of hours, messing around and talking. We'd been switching between banter and serious conversations all the time.
Somewhere in these hours he'd put his arm around me with me still leaning my head on his shoulder. We'd watched the sun set that way.
No, we weren't a couple or anything remotely in that direction. Just really close friends. I'd known him forever, but we'd only gotten close after Itachi left. And we did behave like a couple sometimes, but we really didn't have any feelings for each other. I mean, Tairo's behavior when Setsuna was near made it clear enough.
So, we both made our way home.
I hoped the Uchiha's had already gone home, but the chance was very slim.
Well, I'd punched Itachi anyway, so there was no need to try and be nice to him.
As soon as I opened the front door, I heard a scream and got tackled to the floor.
"Wha- oemph!" Yeah, that was the sound that I made.
"Kushy-nee! Why did you hit Itachi?" Tsunade asked me.
"Uh, maybe you could let me enter my house?" I suggested. She stood up and allowed me to do the same, but as soon as I got upright, she took my hand and half-dragged me into the living room.
Everyone was there, including Itachi, who was holding an ice pack to his cheek with a sour expression on his face.
I couldn't help but burst into laughing at his expression. I guess my hanging out with Tairo was still influencing me, because my stomach started hurting pretty soon again and I was very close to rolling on the floor from the laughing.
I could hear some disapproving noises and Itachi growling, but I just couldn't resist. When it finally subdued, I was wiping the tears from my eyes.
"That's quite a sight, the amazing Itachi staring at me with a sour face like that, holding an ice pack to his face," I said, smirking.
"Maybe you could explain exactly why you hit my son," Aunt Sakura said, looking at me disapprovingly. Of course she would disapprove of me hitting her son.
I shrugged and walked over to the refrigerator.
"He was asking for it," I said, while choosing an apple and taking a bite from it. I leaned against the counter as they observed me.
"You don't feel any remorse?" My mom asked. She's always such a sweetie, always worried about everything.
"Not the tiniest bit," I announced.
"And how was I asking for it?" Itachi growled.
"Uh, let's see. What about the 'in a real fight you'd be dead by now' and the 'you could use some practice' or the 'maybe some tutoring would be helpful'?" I mimicked his voice.
That got him to blush the tiniest bit and I knew he hadn't expected me to act this way.
Sasuke gave Itachi a look, lifting his eyebrow. My dad, on the other hand, looked like he was about to smack the living hell out of Itachi.
"Hitting on my little girl?!" He started yelling, but Sasuke kept him on the couch.
"Chill out, idiot. She punched him, didn't she?" He told him.
"Dad, I can take care of myself," I muttered. I still found it nice that he reacted like that. It was adorable in a way.
"Damn right she did," my dad said, grinning like a fool. Sasuke let out a small chuckle at that.
"Oi! Don't go encouraging her to hit our son!" Sakura exclaimed.
"I didn't even hit him that hard," I muttered. "It's not my fault he's weak."
"Weak? I thought I beat you at least three times before you were able to land even one punch," Itachi retorted.
"Didn't I kick you in side too? I think you're forgetting my awesome fighting abilities," I snapped.
"Awesome?" He snorted. "Allow me to apologize for not realizing your greatness, oh Princess." He actually bowed to me.
I clenched my jaw, trying not to show just how much he annoyed me. He'd gotten so self-centered, like he owed the place.
"Well, I'm not the one holding an ice pack to their face. So, yeah, you could say I'm pretty awesome for beating the oh-so-amazing Itachi-kun," I said languorous, imitating how Takara'd spoken to him earlier.
Now he was definitely blushing.
I could see my dad getting red, probably because of me this time. Sakura was looking at me rather, well, rather hostile.
"Kushy-nee, you're so awesome!" Tsunade cooed, earning a disapproving look from her mom.
I guess I'd always been rather rebellious.
"So annoying, you mean," Jiraiya muttered under his breath.
"Then why don't you stop being such a pervert, Jira-chan," I retorted.
"Oi! I'm not a pervert! Look at yourself before you accuse someone!" He shouted.
Okay, honestly, I'd be the first to crack up at a perverted joke. What can I say? Tairo had corrupted me.
"Alright, that's enough. We're all going to have dinner together and we're all going to be nice to each other. Understood?" My mom said. Uh-oh. She almost never got mad, but when she did… Let's just say you'd better run for your life.
My dad paled a bit and the Uchiha's looked rather scared after seeing the horror laid right across my face.
"I-I'll just go wash up a bit," I said, grinning sacredly while scratching at my nervously and trying to look innocent. Which totally failed by the way.
I took way to long showering. I just loved standing there, letting the water flow over me. It was so, well, I don't really know how to describe it. I guess I just felt parted from the world and all the problem and annoyances that belonged to it. A small moment of bliss nothingness, just me and the thought swirling around in my head.
I finally got the courage to step out from the hot water and climb out of the shower, into the cold bathroom.
I'd just put a towel around myself when the door creaked open and I stared right into Itachi's face.
"Kyaaaaaah!" I screamed and kicked my leg up high, hitting him in the face and sending him sprawled in the hallway.
I threw the door closed with a whack.
"Pervert!" I yelled at the top of my longs. Damn, that kid had some nerve entering the bathroom while I was still in it.
I heard some commotion outside the bathroom, of course everybody'd heard everything.
When I got downstairs, Itachi sat there. This time without ice pack, but with a huge red mark on his cheek.
"You obviously love wounding, don't you?" He commented.
"That's what I do to perverts who sneak on girls in their bathroom," I snapped. Geez, acting all like he was the victim.
I was happy that I'd at least had a towel around me already.
"You're lucky I was actually wearing a towel already," I growled, staring him down. I had quite the scary gaze when I was mad. I guess I had that from my mom, although my temper was a tiny bit worse. Well, maybe more than a tiny bit.
"Jiraiya told me you left the bathroom already, okay? Hit him, he's in fault," Itachi told me.
"What." It wasn't even a question.
"He's already gotten his punishment and he won't do it again," my mom said, looking at Jiraiya sternly.
I slowly turned around, ending up facing my brother. I was staring down at him, the look on my face probably very creepy. I was so pissed my eye had started twitching.
He jumped up and ran for his life.
"OH YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS, SQUIRT!" I screamed and ran after him, chasing him around the house.
Before I actually got my hands on him, I suddenly stopped moving. Sasuke'd grabbed me by my collar and kept me standing in the same place. I was trying to pull away and resume running after Jiraiya, so I was pretty much running in place.
"DAMNIT! LEMME TEACH THAT BASTARD A LESSON!" I yelled.
"I'm not letting you go before you calm down," Sasuke answered, still keeping me there.
I stopped running and pretended to calm down.
"Fine, but I ain't responsible for any damage," I snorted.
He let me go and I burst through the door.
"Jiraiya? Where are you? You can run, but you can't hide!" I sung creepily, like the melody of a horror movie.
When I found him, fear was etched onto his face.
Then I got hit.
"KUSHINA MAI UZUMAKI."
Uh-oh. You know you're in trouble when your mom calls you by your full name.
"WHAT DID I TELL ABOUT CHASING YOUR BROTHER LIKE THAT?"
"Eh, well, I think," I didn't even get the chance to finish.
Let's just conclude dinner that night wasn't very pleasant for anyone.
By the time I got to bed, I was exhausted and I fell asleep instantly.
I dreamed about Itachi.
