Holy fucking shitty fuck.

I immediately threw myself to the left, hoping that I won't be burnt into crisps. I hit the solid ground without any chakra cushion and a large fireball flew past me with great ferocity, coming from Sasuke's fingertips.

"Sasuke, you fuck!" I shouted hotly.

"Language, Rei" Itachi chided softly.

Sasuke just smirked his goddamn superior smile. "Having difficulties are we?" He asked arrogantly.

That moment, I seriously considered way to throttle him and strangle the black haired boy. Maybe I can flash him and he'll be surprised for a moment.

Grabbing four kunai, I halfhearted chucked at him, knowing that he was capable of dodging them.

As expected, Sasuke knocked them out of the way with a flick of his own kunai. "Is that the best you can do?" He asked mocking.

I let out an ugly sneer. "You've activated my trap card!" I shouted on top of my lungs. "Barrier: Four corner Kunai"

Sasuke, realising with his keen eyes that the kunai have something inscribed to them, leapt high into the air and attempted to move to the right.

However it was too late as a thin chakra barrier formed with the four kunai that I threw as a corner. The bluish opaque wall sealed off the Uchiha in solid chakra.

"I win!" I announced triumphantly, pointing at frustrated Sasuke who was now trapped like a little mouse inside its cage.

"Fire release: Great fireball technique" Sasuke shouted. With his hand curled on his mouth, he breathed solid burst of fire. The red orange and yellow combination was something that I couldn't appreciate earlier when I was trying not to die from it. However, as the flames didn't do any damage to the barrier, and I watched with ease as Sasuke battered on the wall in attempt to get out.

I looked at Itachi ready for a praise and a good job. His praises were undoubtedly the best as I considered him as a older brother and there was nothing better than getting a compliment from someone who you respect.

"Are you sure you've won?" He asked with no malice by just pure helpfulness.

I cocked my head in confusion. Sasuke was trapped in my barrier and all of his moves seemed to be useless against the mighty barrier.

Seeing my confusion, Itachi elaborated. "If this was an enemy ninja trapped in your barrier, how will you finish them?"

Oh

Looking at Sasuke I realised my mistake. The barriers worked both offence and defence so Sasuke couldn't hurt me, and I couldn't hurt him.

I could leave him be and let him slowly starve to death, but the chakra required to hold that was monstrous and it was a risky move if we were in a enemy territory. My only move was probably to deactivate the seal when Sasuke didn't expect and finish him off.

I sat down on the floor and groaned. "Itachi-nii, can I have a hint please?" I whined.

He smiled at me. "I have faith you can do this on your own, Rei."

Even though I was frustrated at the fact I couldn't throttle Sasuke, his smile did make me feel infinitely better. It felt like a brother approving of your actions

I wish Naruto wasn't sick so he could help me. He always have the best and the most random ideas.

Sasuke rammed on the field with full force, chakra pumping his muscles. But the field didn't even bulge. "Goddamnit!" He exclaimed in full frustration.

Ignoring the racket he was making, I tried to think of a way to neutralise Sasuke.

I guess I can try to charge the seal with electricity. But I'm not sure if that'll actually work.

There was more noise as Sasuke repeatedly tried to kick and shoulder slam the barrier. To be fair, if he applied enough to force, the barrier could be broken so he was technically doing the right thing.

My greatest weapon is my explosive tags. Maybe I can pull the barrier down and chuck it in? That'll be too risky. Ah I know what to do.

Grabbing handful of explosive tags- hand made with precision and dedication- from my pouch, I littered the pieces of paper around the blue chakra field, making sure to put some on the top.

Smirking, I looked at Itachi. "They're time delayed tags for 1.5 seconds. I'll activate the tags then lower the barrier at last second, and Sasuke would go boom."

Sasuke stopped trying to charge like a reckless bull but now just stood, sulky.

My heart flooded with warmth as Itachi smiled at me. "Good Rei. However, there are few flaws in this methods. Can you tell me what they are?"

Sasuke grunted, holding up his right hand, signing yield. "Because it's impractical in battle if this person has a partner. The partner distracts you, and you have to fight them whilst using your chakra to maintain your barrier."

I released the barrier and watched slightly bruised Sasuke walked out of the barrier. To be fair, he inflicted these bruises by himself.

Itachi reached out and gave a reassuring ruffle of the younger Uchiha's hair. "Good job, Sasuke." He said.

With that, Sasuke's sullen pouting look changed into something of pure adoration and delight. He grinned back at Itachi and offered a friendly grin to me as well. "Good spar." He said. "Shame that Naruto is sick today."

I shrugged, while pocketing my explosive tags which were littered on the floor. "He ate something strange and is now suffering heavy stomach aches and severe vomiting."

Both of the Uchiha's winced at my description. "Tell him I wish him to get better." Itachi said.

"Of course I will." I said. Then when I packed all my equipment, I turned to face the dark haired brothers. "Where do you want to go for dinner?"

They both gave a simultaneous answer. "Not Ichiraku."

Letting out a chuckle, I softly agreed with them. Of course my living with me meant Naruto gets decent food and nutrients but it didn't stop him from singing songs about Ichiraku.

"How about that sushi place next to Ino's family shop?" I suggested.

Sasuke just winced. "I prefer to be a little distant from Ino."

Itachi and I laughed. Ino's fangirling was pretty fearsome and I was sure that she had magical radars that went off when Sasuke was close.

"I've heard that there is new bento restaurant that opened not few days ago." Itachi suggested.

Sasuke and I both conceded and then, after a quick shower at the compound, we made our way to the restaurant.

It was always weird walking next to Itachi and Sasuke because they were so damn pretty and handsome. I could feel people's hatred almost double, because of my status as a demon container's close acquaintance and because I was with the boys.

However, it did deter anyone from trying to attack or trying to get a rise out of me, which was nice.

Soon, we arrived at the little restaurant tucked away in the corner of the street. It had a vintage touch to the traditional Japanese look, the one that made you feel comfortable.

We sat down on our seats, Itachi and Sasuke opposite it of me. The seat next to me, where Naruto would usually sit, was empty.

"Good spar today, Sasuke. I wasn't awake you mastered the Fire release: Great fireball technique jutsu. I was so surprised that I barely managed dodge."

Sasuke smiled happily, but soon turned into a huff. "Well, I didn't know you could do the Barrier: Four corner Kunai either. That really threw me off. How are you supposed to get out of it?"

"You would usually attack one of the corners, since it will be the weakness. You can either overload the seal with chakra or you can just get through by brute force." Itachi helpfully explained.

I added to Itachi. "Overloading is easier for this seal because it has four tips that it's being stabilised from. So all you need to do is overload one of the kunai and the barrier will disappear."

The Uchiha looked thoughtful of that then opened his mouth to reply, however what he was going to say was rudely interrupted by a pink haired girl.

"Oh my god Sasuke-Kun!" A high pitch squeal pierced my ears. I winced then turned to the source of the horrid sound.

Haruno Sakura stood in civilian looking clothes, an embellished red dressed with her long hair nicely brushed.

Sasuke shrieked into his chair, eyes darting to see a way out. And of course, noticing his discomfort, I knew I had to make her stay long as possible.

"Do you want to join us for dinner?' I asked with smiling, what I hoped was a polite smile.

The girl looked shocked then a goofy smile appeared on her face. "if you don't mind, Sasuke-kun ." She said profusely bowing. The green eyed girl fumbled in next to me. I'm sure I was the one who just offered you a seat so you should be thanking me?

Sasuke gave me a dirty look, obviously realising that I was purposely doing this to watch him be uncomfortable.

I started introducing Itachi. "This is, Itachi-nii. He's -"

"Sasuke-kun's brother. He's currently a chunin." She gasped out. Then immediately blushed.

I raised my eyebrow at Sasuke. Stalker much.

I tried to suppress a snigger as Itachi stiffened in suprise.

"I-I, um, i -" Sakura stuttered, her face turning scarlet.

"Itachi-Nii is famous in the village, hey." I said saving her.

"Ah, um, yes!" She exclaimed almost too loudly. I let out a laugh as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

An awkward silence started to creep in, but Itachi, always the nice guy, helped her out. "Sakura-san, how do you know my brother?"

Sakura, dreamily stared at Sasuke's face and didn't even look at Itachi to answer his question. "Um, w-we're in the same, um, class." She stammered through.

"She's very good." I added while reading the menu.

At my statement, Sakura positively glowed, looking hopefully at Sasuke to see his reaction to this conversation.

Much to her disappointment, he just read the menu, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"I am glad you are considering your studies seriously." Itachi said.

Then the silence came once again.

Itachi, Sasuke, and I were used to this silence. We weren't the most social people and we were mature enough to handle what a comfortable silence met.

However, Sakura was not. She shifted in her seats and awkwardly coughed to clear her throat. We could feel that she was uncomfortable, but no one was going to mitigate the situation.

Especially since now we've learnt that she won't take her eyes off Sasuke even when she was talking to Itachi and I, we felt insulted, thus didn't want to talk to her even more.

"Sasuke-kun, do you hang out with Rei-San often?" She suddenly asked.

There was a certain edge of hostility in her voice, clearly trying to see if I was another competitor for her crush.

When it was clear that Sasuke wasn't going to reply, I shrugged at her. "He's my best friend." So yes, Sakura. Sasuke does hang out with me often.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because Sakura's eyes flared with jealously. "is this true Sasuke-kun?" She almost pleaded at him.

Sasuke just let out a grunt. "Yes."

"How long have we been friends, Sasuke?" I asked, just to fuel the pink-haired girls jealously.

"Two years." He answered.

It did feel a little bad to watch Sakura almost tear up. She was obviously stunned because even though it was clear from our interactions at the academy that we were good friends, I doubted that she knew we were this close.

If it was anyone else, i would've felt bad for causing them distress. But the fact that she ignored Itachi and I when we tried to start a conversation with her, and the fact she punched and bullied my sweet Naruto daily, made me loose sympathy towards her.

But then, her face changed from a young girl who was nervous around her crush to a girl who wanted to strike everyone down for the sake of her crush, and I lost all my sympathies towards her.

"But I get better marks than her, why don't you hang out with me." She whined.

I let out chortle of laughter at the pure childishness of that statement.

Sasuke just let out a frustrated sigh. "Because she's better than you." He said coldly.

Now this time, Sakura did tear up. She suddenly snapped to her feet and bowed stiffly towards us. "I-I have to go home. My parents are waiting for me." She whimpered.

I smiled pleasantly at her, as if I was oblivious to anything that was happening. "That's a pity, perhaps you can join us next time." I said.

Even now, she was too busy watching Sasuke's reaction to actually face me and answer me. Then with a flurry of pink, she dashed out of the restaurant.

I let a relieved sigh as all of us slouched into more of a comfortable position.

"Why did you do that?" Sasuke hissed.

"I think it's very admirable for Rei to invite her fellow classmates to dinner." Itachi said.

I smiled. "Cheers, Itachi-nii. I did it because it makes you uncomfortable and it's funny, Sasuke." I answered in matter-of-fact voice.

The young Uchiha did not looked amused. "I hate her." He spat out.

"Perhaps you should've been nicer to Sakura-San, Sasuke and Rei. She seemed to be in a state of sadness when she left."

I snorted in an unladylike fashion. "It wasn't anyone's fault. I wasn't aware that being friends with Sasuke brought her distress."

Sasuke made a noise of agreement.

Itachi just- as he always does- smiled at us in response. "What do you want for dinner?"


Hey guys!

I love you more than all the stars combined together.

Hope you have a lovely day!