Chapter Seven: When She Loved Me

"You should lie down, Itachi-san," Kisame suggested to his friend, "You said that you didn't get any sleep last night… You should turn in early."

"But I should be the one to take watch," Itachi insisted as he held his head, "The trees are getting thicker. It will take sharp eyes to see any approaching threats and my eyes are keener than yours by far."

"Not while you're like this they're not," Kisame argued, "Just lay down and rest for a while. It's almost like you're dysfunctional when you're like this!"

"You really should lie down, Uchiha-san," Mizuki agreed, "You look horrible."

For a moment Itachi could only stare at her with eyes that held red that was not of his natural color, showing his poor state. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if he could just lie down for a while… And so he went and settled himself near a tree, passing into slumber almost instantly.

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This was becoming quite a bother. Itachi had been searching for hours now and there was still no sign of his quarry. It shouldn't have been so difficult! This was his home! A foreigner should not have been able to sneak around so easily! Then again, this place was becoming just as unfamiliar to him as any other town he had seen lately. Ever since he had become a Chuunin about two years ago, he was always being sent off on missions. And whenever he did come back home, he was always training anyway.

"C'mon give it back!" cried a girl's voice from around the corner that was only replied to with a chorus of laughter. Itachi's ears piqued instantly as he listened in.

"You gotta work for it, girly!" a boy's voice replied, "Come on! Jump for it!"

This could prove worth his while. And so Itachi went to investigate, turning the corner to see a most hopeless sight. A trio of boys, probably a year or two older than himself, was throwing an item back and forth, causing the little girl to chase after it. "Come on, princess," another boy said as he tripped her in mid dash, causing her to go crashing to the ground and dirtying her fine kimono and herself further, "Let's see what you can do without having to rely on your title!"

Slowly the girl arose into a sitting position on the ground, her head bowed in frustration. "I don't rely on my title…" she told them in a choking voice at being reminded of her rank, "My family forces it upon me."

"Oh, boo hoo," the boy who last threw the object commented as she put his hands to his eyes in mock tears, "Your life is so hard because you're the daughter of the clan's leader, getting a free ride for the rest of your life."

"Just give it back!" the girl cried as she jumped from a sitting to standing position, groping for her dear possession.

"You know…" the third boy started as he examined the girl's beloved comb with red and black eyes, "I don't like your kind. You rely on others to get how you are. You steal their secrets and use them in your favor. You're nothing but a skulk of thieving trickster foxes!" With that he spat in her face, causing her to wipe at her eyes and draw back, which encouraged the boys to trip her once again. She fell, wiping away the saliva with the sleeve of her kimono, which was already soiled beyond civility.

"Stop!" Itachi finally intruded, not wanting to watch this scene for one moment longer. Judging by her attire and her treatment, this girl was obviously Hizoku Mizuki, the princess that he had been assigned to retrieve and protect, and if this went on any longer, he would have failed.

"Well look who it is!" the other boy with the Sharingan eyes, who seemed to be the leader, commented, "You're just in time, Itachi-san!"

The young ninja stalked his way over, going to where Mizuki lay helpless on the ground to see if she was hurt in any way. But when taking a closer look, he realized that she wasn't well. She was crying. Regardless, he spoke to her, "Are you okay?"

This new voice caused Mizuki's gaze to snap up to see its source and once she did, the tears seemed to quickly stop as she stared at him in silence. But after receiving no reply from the dazed child, he looked to the others. "What did you think you were doing?" he interrogated as he stood again, staring them all down.

"C'mon, Itachi-san," the leader chided, "She's a Hizoku… and their princess at that! You understand…"

"The Hizoku are no enemies of ours, Kenji," Itachi bit back, "You had no grounds."

"They're not our enemies now, but if we keep on acting so buddy-buddy with them, then they might betray us!"

"Well, if everyone acted towards them as you do to her, then I wouldn't blame them for any such actions. But for now they are our allies and we should treat them as such. Am I understood?"

For a moment, Kenji only glared back at Itachi before almost being forced to answer through a clenched jaw, "Yes."

"Good," Itachi replied, "Now I suggest you give back what rightfully belongs to this girl unless you want this situation to turn uglier than that poor excuse for a face you have."

Another pause of hateful silence before Kenji threw the comb into the dirt near Mizuki, then turned and stalked away. For a moment the young girl only stared at the item, its clean white material seeming out of place in the brown dirt of the street. Itachi too stared at it, wondering what had been so special about it that she would be so distressed at having it taken away. It seemed average enough with fine teeth and a rounded back. Actually, the most spectacular traits that it possessed was that it sparkled with a starlight quality and that it had a delicate rose-like flower carved onto its base. "I really don't see why go through so much trouble for this…" Itachi stated as he crouched down and picked the comb up out of the dirt, dusting it off, and then offering it to the girl.

Mizuki then looked at her trinket, then to Itachi as she went to reach for it. But before she could take the prize back, Itachi took her hand and helped her quickly and easily to her feet. But even then as they were standing back up, Mizuki did not look away from Itachi, nor did she remove her hand from his once she was back on her feet. "Come," he ordered as he placed the comb in her hand and began to go on his way, "Your father is waiting for you."

However, Mizuki's wooden shoes stayed in place for a few more moments as she stood in a daze, watching the boy go off in front of her. And of course Itachi noticed this. So he turned his head to look back at where she still stood several feet behind. "Coming?" he asked impatiently as he turned squarely around to face her.

And after giving an expression that seemed to resemble coming out of a trance, Mizuki smiled at him, her features suddenly becoming very pretty… even in Itachi's cold and emotionless eyes. Then she hurried to where he waited for her. She smiled coyly with a blush on her cheeks as her head was slightly lowered, her hands holding the comb in front of herself. "I… don't even know your name," she finally told him.

"Itachi..." came the cool reply, "Uchiha Itachi."

"And as you already know, I'm Hizoku Mizuki," she returned as she began to straighten, lifting her head and smiling, "I want to thank you for helping me."

"I was only doing my-" he began before was cut off by Mizuki's lips pressing against his, silencing him mid-sentence and also rendering him speechless altogether. However, the unexpectedness of the action caused Itachi to suddenly pulled away from her, staring wide-eyed and surprised as an extremely rare blush came onto his cheeks while Mizuki only smiled back at him with just as much red in her face. "Thank you," she told him, giving him the gratitude that she had offered.

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Slowly Itachi awoke and escaped this happy recollection only to come back into the harsh reality that made it so Mizuki didn't even remember their first kiss and the spell that it had cast on him. That girl had bewitched him mind, soul, and now body and Itachi knew that there was no turning back. Even worse than that, he also knew that because of his belonging to the Akatsuki and being an infamous enemy throughout the Hizoku tribe, he would never be able to move foreword with their relationship either.

"Hey, sleepy head!" Mizuki greeted once she noticed that her second martial's eyes were open, "Kisame-san and I were just about to go for a swim. Do you want to come?"

"Swimming?" Itachi asked as he glanced about to double check that it was indeed still night, "At this hour?"

"Well, what other time is there?" pointed out Mizuki, "We're always on the move during the day and tonight's as good a night as ever to go!"

In truth, Itachi truly didn't want to go. Swimming had never been a favorite pastime for him. But seeing that excited expression on Kisame's face at going told Itachi that if he didn't accompany them, there would be no chaparone to monitor Kisame's movements concerning Mizuki and his goal involving her. And so Itachi was obliged to nod and stand, following after the other two as they left the camp, all the while contemplating his feelings for Mizuki as well as their current situation.

For whatever reason, Mizuki obviously didn't remember him, and of course, Itachi could never forget her or the time that they had shared together. On top of that, he had to stand by as he watched the love of his life being hunted by a creature of the deep, hoping to prey on her for sport. And since this creature was a friend and ally, he couldn't simply just kill him like he would have done to any other competitor. That would not only be wrong, but in addition he in turn would probably be killed by the Akatsuki for crimes of betrayal. Then what else could he do but sit back and watch as his chance with a life with Mizuki seemed to be slipping away?

He gave a sigh at this thought. Forbidden to move foreword. Forbidden to get closer to her. Forbidden to follow his heart's desire. Forbidden to love her, which was the one thing that he yearned most of all to do.