Yeah, so finally, sorry it's not really good because it's exam time so I have to study. :P
Chapter 7
Suzume awoke in an unfamilar place. It was dark and quiet, without a single soul in sight. She sat up from the bed, warm and soft, and took a look around the room. She couldn't see anything that would determine where she was. Well, there wasn't... until she looked down. "Okay, these definitely aren't my clothes..." she said to herself.
"They're mine," said a deep voice. She looked up to see none other than her team mate, Uchiha Sasuke. Her eyes widened in realization. This was his house and this was his bed and she was in his bed.
"What the hell happened?" She rushed up and almost fell right onto the floor.
"What do you mean 'what happened?' How could you forget?" he looked at her like she was stupid... which he pretty much thought she was.
"F-forget what?" she stuttered, slightly afraid to hear the answer.
He shot her a confused look. "The sex?"
All colour drained from her face as she struggled to remember. "What the...? Did you drug me or something?" There was no way that she would do that and not remember!
"What? I didn't do anything. You came onto me and I'm only human so it's not my fault I didn't refuse." He shrugged at her.
"What do you mean I came onto you? I wouldn't...!"
"This argument is pointless. You hardly made it to the house with all your clothes on," he told her.
Her eye twitched. "Liar! There's no way... I mean... oh my god!" She held her head in her hands, cursing to herself and trying to remember.
"Yeah, you're right. I am a liar. Like I would ever do anything like that with you," he scoffed.
She ran over to him and punch him in the face. Or tried. He caught her hand in the air. "You- you- BASTARD! How could you tell me that?"
Sasuke merely looked at her blankly before pushing her down. "You talk too loud. All you did was come here, change into something dry, and take up my bed. Plus you kissed me which I told you never to do and especially in public. What is it with girls? Can't they just listen?"
"What-ever. That's the most I've ever heard you speak and yet, it's all critical. You're such a jerk, you know that?"
"Yes." A smug smirk plastered itself onto his face. "Now get out of my house. You're disturbing my peace."
The brunette gathered up her clothes quickly, cursing him every step of the way. "I'll be glad to leave. Geez, make sure you're not so bitchy tomorrow. Everyone will like it better and that way, I don't have to kick you in the balls."
"Whatever..."
"Do you want me to give you back your clothes?" Suzume asked the Uchiha. The other two of their team mates looked up in confusion. It was the first day of the Chuunin exams and the girl figured that she might as well wish them good luck.
"What do you mean by that?" Sakura answered for him. Sasuke was giving her a look that showed that he really didn't want her to be asking that at the moment. Like she cared.
"So do you want them back?" she looked at him expectantly. "I can give them back the next time I'm over. It's the least I could do if you were nice enough to lend me them."
"What does she mean, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura cut in once more. Naruto looked just as confused.
"Oh, nothing. I just stayed over at his house," replied the brunette calmly. The pink haired girl's face twisted in pure horror.
"N-no! You couldn't have!" she shouted hysterically. "He's mine and not yours! Only I could stay over!"
The other rolled her eyes and looked back at Sasuke. "Well...?"
"Give them back when you can. I don't really care," he said nonchalantly.
"And... I'm kind of sorry for freaking out on you. It... might not happen again," she confessed with a smile. "Anyway, I'm just here to say good luck so... good luck!"
"Thanks Suzu-chan! I wish you could be with us too." Naruto hugged her gratefully.
"I say good riddence." Sakura glared at her.
Of course, Sasuke said nothing. "I'm sure you'll all do fine. I'll see you when I can." Her lips curved up into a happy smile.
"We got to go now but we'll see you," Naruto said, looking at a clock.
"Okay." The girl stood slightly on her tippy toes and put her hands on Sasuke's shoulders. Why he was letting her kiss him again was a mystery. Boy, was Sakura shocked and appalled. It lasted less than a second before the boy pulled away. A strange feeling came to the pit of her stomach as he did this. It felt like rejection. Sakura smiled triumphantly. "S-see you later..." she whispered quietly, the feeling still sinking in, showing on her face.
She turned and walked away, trying to stop her eyes from watering but failing miserably. Sure, there was no doubt that she liked him but not that much. He wasn't worth crying over... or at least that's what she tried to tell herself. "He's definitely... not worth it. Not worth it... ugh..." she groaned to herself.
"Boy troubles?" Itachi asked her as he leaned against a tree. Suzume looked around to find herself deep within a forest.
"What? How did-?"
"How did you get here or how did I know about your love life?"
"Both?" He just gave her a small smirk and told her to follow.
"Now since the Chuunin exams have begun, we can begin to get into the more complicated things and perfect your form. This is where the real training begins." He looked back at her to make sure she was still following.
"Where are we going?" the brunette asked him, not familiar with her settings.
"Travelling. I created an illusion of you to tell the Hokage of your journey. Now all of Konoha will think that you are off to train by yourself and find inner peace. But really, you're going to meet some of the Akatsuki. It will be harsh but you will learn to accept it. Nothing in life is easy."
"Wait, so I'm not going back?"
"Precisely. That's not a problem, is it?" He whipped around to face her, the devil's eyes meeting her own. "Perhaps, you've grown a little too attached to my baby brother?"
Suzume shook her head wildly in fear. "N-no! Just asking!"
His glared remained for a few seconds before his body shook. It was the first time that she had seen Itachi laugh and for some reason, it didn't scare her. It wasn't the type of laugh you would expect from somebody like him. It had no traces of evil in it and in fact, it was quite light. "You're so naive. Did you really think I would spurn you for getting close to my brother? In the end, the result will be the same."
The girl blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that, sensei?"
"Nothing. Just... rambling." He looked at her once more before continuing their journey.
"So... what is Akatsuki like?"
"Kid, you don't even want to know..."
The two of them travelled for five days, stopping in the nights for rest, even if they didn't really need it. The woods were apparently too dangerous when there wasn't any light. Too dangerous for Suzume, at least.
"Where's your partner?" the girl asked, poking at the fire with a large stick. "Aren't you guys supposed to travel in pairs?"
"Is this not a pair?" the man replied, watching the stars in the sky. He looked back to her, the firelight illuminating his dark eyes. "He'll meet us at a rendezvous point. It's going to take longer if we only move during the day."
"So why don't we just go now?" she asked quickly. "I'm not even tired."
"It doesn't matter. There are too many things that go bump in the night." His voice was eerily hushed when he spoke those words and he moved his gaze to the side.
Fear built up inside of her. "A-are you saying...?"
"Yes, enemy ninja," he finished for her. Suzume fell backward in surprise.
"Geez, sensei! Did you have to make it sound so scary?" the girl shouted. "I thought you were talking about some kind of ghost-thing!"
Itachi just chuckled at her before lying down to go to sleep. She silently doused the fire with a light water jutsu and layed against a tree, still looking at the starlit sky. She wondered how the Chuunin exam was going and whether or not her team had made it past the first event.
"Probably," she whispered to herself. "They couldn't fail. They refuse to fail..."
"Ah, I didn't think the kid would make it. I figured you would just toss her to the dogs," Kisame laughed to his stoic partner. Or would-be stoic partner.
Itachi was supposed to be cold and cruel to everyone but it seems like that was wrong. He was never really mean to her or to Kisame and he did talk even when not spoken to. Then again, he was never really nice.
"Che, whatever. Stupid fish!" she yelled at him.
"Oh? What are you going to do about it, shrimp?" he growled, leaning in close to her face. Usually, something like that would scare her but the girl knew that Itachi would never let Kisame kill his student.
She stuck her tongue out at him. His hand rushed to his sword, a vicious killer expression on his face. "Enough," came the Uchiha's commanding voice. "Let's move."
Suzume gave the shark man one last triumphant look before following her sensei. Did Kisame really think that he could beat her in an 'Itachi likes me better contest'? She was his mentee, and Kisame is just some guy that he's forced to work with.
They walked through forest for hours and it was really starting to get on her nerves. "Are we there yet?" Itachi turned his head back but kept walking, not answering her question.
"Does it look like we're there yet?" shark-man asked her, irritated. "Look, kid, if you say one more word, you're going to be shredded, got it?"
Suzume put on a bitter expression and looked to the side, muttering profanities. Kisame smirked in triumph but as soon as he turned she stuck out her tongue and gave him the finger. Itachi chuckled slightly.
Ten more minutes passed.
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet..." the blue guy told her, trying to keep his cool.
"What about now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
The girl huffed and crossed her arms, walking heavily. "Now?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"No."
"Oh... now?"
"No."
(You know, this is going to go on for a long time...)
"Are we there now?" she asked again. They'd been walking for days and she was beginning to get tired. Wait, never mind, she was almost about to drop dead. Not once had they stopped for rest, but only for food and water.
Kisame turned around. "No."
"Well, when are we going to get there?"
"NEVER!" he shouted back angrily. "We've been walking for days and you keep asking that damn question. You know what? We're never going to get there! You're never going to get there and you know why? Because I'm going to eat you! That's right! I'm going to tear you into little bits and make sure that you can never utter another godforsaken word again!"
Both Itachi and Suzume stopped to look at the man, who looked like he had been locked up in Chinese Water Torture for months.
"We're here," said the younger man, still looking at his partner with emotionless eyes.
"Crazy..." muttered the girl, following her sensei. She walked beside him, studying his face. She couldn't find out much because really... it was Uchiha Itachi. "Um... do the Akatsuki like... actually get together somewhere or something? Do you guys like... hang out?" The question had been bugging her ever since she was told where they were going.
"No. We don't 'hang out' nor do we ever really see each other," he replied.
"So then how am I-"
"Don't interrupt. I've made special arrangements with a few members. They will help train you while I am away." The man stood in the middle of a small clearing, looking up to the sky. "They will be here soon... but for now, we will continue your training."
Suzume nodded, "Are we going to fight?"
"No, not right now. I want you to try something," he told her, showing her a combination of hand signs, slow enough for her to copy. "Then build up chakra in your lungs and blow it all out."
The brunette closed her eyes for a moment of concentration before carefully making the hand signs. Not exactly sure how to make chakra go to the lungs, she went with what she thought was right and blew. Kisame guaffed when nothing happened, making her face turned bright red.
Itachi hushed the other man. "It's as I thought. You're not ready yet."
"Ready, sensei?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side. "What was supposed to happen?"
"You'll know when you can do it," he smirked. The girl frowned slightly, inwarly cursing how mysterious her teacher could be.
Okay, blah. I must say, I hate having scenes with Itachi in them because I'm afraid I'm going to make him out of character. So I might skip all of that. What do you think?
