A/N: I came from Japan since last year and with another chapter! Every place I visited, on TV Naruto was always being advertised for the third Shippuden movie on August 1st. I watched a two-part battle where Naruto was facing Itachi though. But enough about what episode I watched in Japan, I managed to write another chapter and this time, the plot builds a little further as Team 7 go onto a mission.
Now, I must say that Sasuke is going to come out of his shell more and that Itsuka is going to be a bit happier with her life now. ^_^ I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.
Chapter 7: Future, Bestow
Itsuka carried her bag to the entrance of Konoha where she saw Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke already there waiting. "Itsuka, you're here!" Naruto said happily. He was really the only one to be glad to see her.
"Oh, hello Naruto. Where's Kakashi-sensei?"
This time, it was Sasuke to speak. "He was here a while ago but Asuma came and said he was needed for something – it's been two hours."
"Ok." Itsuka replied.
Teams 7 were given another mission and because of Naruto's whining earlier in the week, it was supposed to be high-ranked. However without Kakashi, they had no idea what it was and with Naruto constantly thinking out loud what the mission could be, Sasuke on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about the flower Itsuka had given him.
Ino could be wrong about the flower meaning since Sasuke didn't believe in those things but because Ino's family had a flower shop through their generations, it was hardly a lie. Love…the meaning of the flower was love. Did Itsuka even think about love? She didn't even seem like a person who had been loved or thought about it. Then again, her mother died. Did she receive any love or warmth from her parents like he did from his own? And what about her father? Itsuka never mentioned him or if he was alive. For Sasuke however, revenge is more important than love.
"Sorry, I'm late everyone. As I said goodbye to Asuma, a guy blocked my way with his food stocks and…"
"Save it, sensei! Where are we guys already?" Naruto asked curiously. "It better be worth it unlike the last mission we did."
"It is." Kakashi unfolded the scroll for them to read. "We're going on a Rank B mission just for you, Naruto. We're taking a captured spy of Orochimarufrom Sunagakure back to Konoha."
"A spy?" Sasuke repeated the word in surprise. "Why would he have one in Sunagakure?"
"Remember the operation on Konoha they were planning? Well after Konoha resolved with Sunagakure, the Sound ninja still had spies positioned there. The only information the Sand ninjas could get out of him was his name and that he was hired for information on Gaara. If you manage to get any information from him, tell me immediately. The only problem is…"
"What's the problem, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"If he was hired by Orochimaru, then he's no weak person. He's got to be a tough ninja so be careful. Now, are we all ready to go?" They all nodded at Kakashi and headed out the entrance.
"Wait!" Kiba came running towards them or Itsuka in specific and handed her a few supplies of weapons. "Here. Take it."
"Oh ok, thanks." She nodded politely to him. "But, why are you being so nice to me?"
""For saving our butts in the previous mission. You were great, Itsuka. It was nothing special. Just something I picked up a while ago." Kiba said, handing her the new set of weapons.
"Thank you." She replied, surprised someone would actually give her something like that.
"No problem." He told her and walked away.
Not long after walking out of Konoha and passed a few fields, Kakashi spoke up again. "Oh by the way, we'll be stopping at Kiyo, Hidden Village in the River to get to Suna for rest so don't finish your snacks – Naruto."
"Hey, I'm only eating some of my mango." He replied munching on the fruit in hand.
"Moving on, since there is four of you, pair up in case of any surprise attacks."
"Cool! I'm with Sakura!"
"I want to be with Sasuke!"
"No thanks, I'll go with Itsuka instead."
"Huh? Naruto and Sakura said in unison, they stared at him in shock.
"Eh? You want to pair with me?" Itsuka said in surprise.
"Great!" Kakashi said. "Then Itsuka will pair with Sasuke and Naruto with Sakura."
"Eh? No, that's fair sensei!"
"Alright! Sakura's my partner." Naruto said happily.
"Itsuka, could I talk to you quickly?"
"Yeah, sure." Itsuka walked side-by-side next to Kakashi. Before he spoke, he unfolded a piece of paper which looked like a pretty old document. While unfolding it, another paper was inside; he held the two out so Itsuka could see quickly. She gasped. "That's…me! Isn't it?"
"Yeah, it says so." One was her file when she came to the village as a child. The other was a document of Aria Namie's file and a picture holding a baby. The text next to it read: 'Aria Namie and her new born baby, Itsuka.'"The elders found your mother's document file. They were hard to convince. Some of them believe it and some of them deny it. That's why now they wish to speak to you, I don't know when though. Itsuka…are you ok?"
As Kakashi explained this to her, tears fell down Itsuka's cheeks as she continued to stare at the picture. "Yes, thank you, sensei." She quickly wiped them away and stood next to Sasuke. He didn't seem to feel her presence near him until he turned his head around.
"Did…something happen?" Itsuka shook his head and smiled up at him.
"It doesn't matter; it's just… something good."
"Will you tell me?"
"Do I have to? Maybe I will tell you later."
"Maybe?" Sasuke repeated the word with a smirk on his face.
"Yes, maybe." For the rest of the trip, Team 7 concentrated on getting to Suna. Sasuke somewhat enjoyed Itsuka's presence, it was easy to tell since he kept smirking at her though she didn't see because she was smiling herself. It would be a different feel if Sakura was standing by him – she would be all over him by now. But it made him wonder if he should bring up his question now, but was it worth asking?
"Itsuka?"
"Hm?"
"Er…"
"Ah, we're here!" Kakashi announced as they saw the village come into view, it was easy to tell why the town was called the Hidden Village in the River since the river run through their village. "Ok, let's check in and then you guys can wander around until it gets dark."
"I'm so glad to be out into another village." Naruto said in relief.
"Why? Have you never been out of Konoha before?" Itsuka asked.
"Yeah, but this is only the second mission we've had that's high-ranked and allowed to leave the village."
"Oh yeah, what was the first?""
"We went to the Village Hidden in the Mist…" Sakura began telling on how they journey to the village to accompany an old man so he could build his town's bridge and fought Zabuza and Haku. It lasted until they reached the village. It was heading into the afternoon when they entered the town and there was a cool breeze.
"I see." Was all Itsuka could say at the end.
"Itsuka, what ninja academy did you go too? Did you pass the Chunin Exam?"
"I passed the first part but I left Suna before completing the other two parts of the exam. That's when I…" She hesitated before speaking. "…came to Konoha."
"Ok, here we are." They stopped in front of an industrial Japanese-style inn and walked inside. The place looked homely enough. While Kakashi talked to the innkeeper, Sakura suddenly wrapped her arm under Itsuka's.
"Looks like us girls will be sharing a room." Sakura smiled at her.
"Yeah, we are." Itsuka coldly took Sakura's arm off her shoulder and walked to the door looking at the view of the town.
"Hey! I was only trying to be nice!" Sakura told her and moved closer to her. "Look, I'm sorry that I've been such a jerk to you. I guess it's because you're always near Sasuke…"
"Get your head out of the clouds, Sakura. I don't like Sasuke…" Itsuka interrupted and turned towards her. Sasuke felt a stinging feeling in his heart when she said that. "…in that way. He's only an acquaintance to me."
"R-really? Oh my gosh, I've doubted you the whole time. I'm so sorry." Sakura bowed to her.
At this moment, Itsuka felt awkward. All the while people in Konoha had given Itsuka the cold shoulder or assumed she was a negative person. She wanted that to change – starting now. And on this situation she decided that, all she could do in reply to Sakura…was smile. "It's ok Sakura, we all make mistakes and misunderstandings. Let's just forget about it."
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all looked at Itsuka in shock at her smile. It gave them a warm feeling about her. "Itsuka, you're smiling!" Naruto pointing out the obvious.
Sakura smiled back. It was turning into a good start after all. "Let's be friends."
Itsuka blinked at her. "Friends? You…want to be friends with me?"
"Yeah, be friends with all of us. I've haven't had a girl who was my friend since…Ino. But let's not talk about that. Wait, are you telling me…you've never had friends?"
Itsuka shook her head and looked down. "No." She said.
"Alright, we have two rooms available – one for us guys and for you two girls." Kakashi said giving them their keys. "Feel free to leave your belongings and walk around town, in the morning we leave immediately for Sunagakure. I myself, am going to venture alone." He then walked out of the inn leaving the four to pick up their bags and put them in their separate room.
"Sakura…" Itsuka whispered as she unpacked some of her belongings into her pockets. She knew Sakura could hear her as the pink-haired girl had stopped what she was doing and had turned around to give Itsuka her full attention.
Kiba's words of what everyone thought of her still stayed stuck into Itsuka's words that day and every day after that. She was self-conscious about these things too. If anything had seriously changed about her, lately Itsuka had been smiling more often. She wanted to change and open up a little and show Konoha she wasn't such a bad person after all. People waved to her a little more, now seeing her as a respected member of the village, and gave her happy smiles and greetings as she passed them.
"I…I want to change…"
Sakura hesitated. "Why? Why do you want to change?"
"I want to change into a better person. Someone that everyone will like and will not be afraid of like Ino or how the other Teams are."
"Like Ino? Err…" Sakura stopped herself from getting angry and decided to change. "Itsuka, just be yourself. Well, I guess a bit like everyone else is but not so. Do you understand?"
Itsuka nodded. "You mean open up more, right?"
"That's right! Why don't you do that more often? You seem to be very reserved. Did something happen to you before that made you…I mean people think you were cold and heartless?"
"People think I'm cold and heartless?" She asked Sakura with a surprised look on her face.
"No, well…not all of them…um…a bad impression, yes! So did something happen before you came to Konoha that people thought you gave a bad impression upon?"
Itsuka sighed and looked at the ground. "Way, way before. I don't want to talk about it."
"Um sure, that's ok." Even though Sakura said that, it got her even curious what Itsuka was talking about.
"Hey Sakura! Itsuka!" They could hear Naruto shouting and banging on the door. "You guys ready to go?"
"Yeah, we're coming." Sakura told him.
They stopped off at a ramen shop much to Naruto's delight who spotted it immediately and insisted they try out Kiyo's style of ramen or as he said. While Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura talked, Itsuka sat back and observed their conversation stirring her chopsticks in her bowl of ramen, she found herself smiling at how the three chatted together. Despite Naruto's loud and stupid remarks towards Sasuke and beating him, the raven-haired boy merely smirked at Naruto and replied back with another remark to him. It continued on like this until Sakura stopped Naruto from shouting and making him sit down and just eat. She felt a little left out since she wasn't involved but it was comfortable to watch their friendship…right? This was a friendship that she was witnessing, wasn't it? Could she be friends with them like Sakura said?
"Hey Itsuka!" Naruto calling her name made her snap out of her constant staring at them. "You okay? Aren't you going to eat?" Naruto asked her.
"Yeah." She nodded and looked down at the ramen and took a bite then looked back up to see the others eating away.
"Wow, look at it!" As they headed outside, Kiyo seemed to be having a festival for the circus that night. What a perfect timing Team 7 had. Clowns skipped along the streets with balloons in hand, performers were stepping out and presenting their tricks to the locals and passerby's coming through the door. "The place looks amazing" Sakura said. Her eyes widened at the sudden appearance of an elephant passing by them.
"An elephant! I want to ride one!" Off Naruto went after the elephant in amazement.
"Naruto wait!" Sakura began to follow her but stopped and turned her head to her other teammates.
"Um, I think I want to go in here." Itsuka was approaching a fortune teller's booth and Sasuke was behind her, he looked over at Sakura and shouted to her.
"Go get Naruto and meet us here."
She nodded and walked away as they both entered the booth and were met by a young woman surprisingly. "Welcome Itsuka and Sasuke."
"How do you know our names?" Sasuke asked.
"I can read them through Genjutsu. But never mind that, I am Ayaka. Have one of you come to have your fortune told?"
Itsuka stepped forward and sat in the chair. Sasuke took a step forward and placed his hand on the chair so he could keep an eye on the fortune teller. Three cards laid face down before her.
"Are you ready then?" Itsuka nodded. Ayaka flipped the first card over and read it out loud. "Love. A feeling that everyone feels towards somebody and I sense that person is someone near but you just need to open up and talk to them. You already started with the flower. They are in the same situation as you and waiting to get revenge just like you."
You already started with the flower,the words echoed in Sasuke's mind and made him look at Itsuka whose eyes focused upon the cards. He wondered…was the fortune teller talking about him being with Itsuka?
"Sacrifice. The…"
"Wait! D-did you just say sacrifice?" Itsuka stuttered.
"Yes, I'm afraid this is no joke. The second card doesn't say anything that's linked to the person you will love…yet."
Itsuka couldn't believe it. Sacrifice, I have to sacrifice myself for somebody. It better not be him…
"The last card, I'm afraid for your future is getting worse…Death." She took a moment to continue reading. "In fact, all the cards link together. You will fall in love but sacrifice yourself for the person that you love and die young."
"I see." That was all Itsuka could say after it. But deep down, she felt her body unable to breathe and felt like she was living a lie.
"You…you've got to be lying." Sasuke said.
"Am I?" Ayaka flipped the cards back over. "The cards never lie. And if someone's life is bad to start off with then it becomes a terrible nightmare to end with. Isn't that right, Itsuka?"
Ayaka looked up at her with a piercing gaze causing Itsuka to run out from the fortune teller's booth with Sasuke close behind. "Wait!" He grabbed a hold of her arm and walked closer to her without caring the distance in between them. "Don't listen to that woman, just forget about it."
"Itsuka, what happened?" Naruto and Sakura caught up and were standing behind them in wonder.
"I can't. Whatever it is, I will have to face whatever it is sooner or later and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. Especially the part about sacrifice and death. I'm waiting for what death offers me." She told him and avoided looking him in the eye.
Sasuke looked at her strangely. "W-What are you talking about? What happened in your past?"
He tried his best to calm her down with his words even rubbing her shoulder which kind of took her by surprise when she glanced back at his eyes.. "I think I'll go back to the inn guys, I'm…tired." Gently, she took his hand off. "See you guys in the morning."
A/N: Now, I don't know if a circus or elephants really exist in Naruto but I only recently back in December, found a site that continues me to watch ALL the Naruto + Naruto Shippuden episodes in English. ^_^ Please remember to comment on your honest opinion! And if you want me to write the next chapter, please ask because it's been a year since I've last updated but I've enjoyed sitting down and writing down this chapter for people in a while.
I want to take this time to say that if anyone loves J-Pop or K-Pop and is looking for updates on people's view on issues in those particular entertainment worlds, check outNyNyOnline:.com A lot has happened in a year and I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, if you still want me to update please tell me ^_^