Chapter Ten: Answers

"Ouch!"

"Hold still."

I flinched again as Kakashi dabbed a cotton ball drenched in some nasty smelling brown stuff at my wounds.

"It stings!"

Kakashi said nothing but instead pressed it to the open cut harder.

"OW!" I yelled out, smacking him on the head.

"Shinobi Rule # 31—!" He burst but then the words died on his lips as he forcefully stopped himself from finishing.

"Ah—never mind," he sighed, deflated.

I think I enjoyed yelling at Kakashi a bit too much—it seemed to get under his skin sometimes and he let me too. I don't know why I liked doing it so much but it was just fun to try and get a rise out of Mr. Permanently Grumpy. I watched him curiously from the sudden change in attitude and decided I could continue complaining till I saw fit.

"It still hurts, Kakashi! Can't you make it, I don't know, not sting?"

Kakashi ignored my protests again and started to bandage my face with gauze and tape.

"Suck it up."

I pouted and looked away out the window.

"There all done. Now you mind explaining to me about the cat fight?" He asked, throwing the dirty used cotton balls into the trash and washing his hands.

"I'd rather not." I shifted uncomfortably on the counter in his apartment.

"It was about Itachi."

It wasn't a question but a hard-evidenced statement. It was my turn to pointedly ignore him.

"Girls are so scary," he muttered. "I'm disappointed in you, Sayuri. I thought you were above this kind of stuff."

"I am!" I cried indignantly. "I swear I didn't do anything. It's Hana who went all ballistic and territorial and thought I was trying to steal her boyfriend!"

Kakashi's face didn't betray any emotion but he leaned towards me to listen as I vented.

"I swear I didn't see Itachi any more than as a friend. I really don't know where she kept getting this ridiculous idea from—"

Kakashi stopped me with a sharp flick on my forehead. "You're very dense, you know that?" He walked into the kitchen with an exasperated expression and pulled out two glasses from a cupboard to pour some juice.

"I know that's what you thought but you should see how differently Itachi acts whenever he's around you."

"Different how?"

He handed me a glass. "If you haven't figured it out by now, then you're on your own—hey, what's that?"

I turned quickly to my left and heard a great gulping sound behind me. When I looked back his glass was empty.

My head shook side to side, distracted and slightly amused. "You could've just asked me to look away."

He shrugged.

"Look, can you just please tell me what you mean by that, Kakashi?" I begged getting back on topic. I was so fed up with the whole Itachi deal, that I just wanted straight forward answers now. Kakashi stroked his clothed chin in thought.

"No."

"Pleeeease? Please just tell me a little bit. I'm dense, remember? You said so yourself," I tried again, this time trying to use a trick I had seen one of the female students use on a male sensei. It was the dreaded puppy-dog face, using expressively remorseful dewy eyes and pouted lips. I contorted my face into what felt like the puppy-dog but I think it came out a bit funny because it had absolute no effect on him. He held the same exact deadpanned, stoic expression—but I thought I saw an indiscernible twitch at the corner of his lips.

"He seems…kinder when he's around you. Not by much I admit, it's a little hard to catch at first but you can tell after a while."

I frowned at his observations. If what he was saying was true then how come I never noticed it? Was I really that oblivious as to how Itachi treated me?

"So it really is my fault, isn't it?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. It's just human nature to be jealous of someone who gets what the other wants most. Hana wanted to be treated the way you were being treated—with love."

My eyes looked down, wary of where this conversation was leading. "But why me?" I whispered quietly, coming to terms with what was being implied. It sat there on the edge of my reality and I wasn't sure if I wanted to let that reality in.

Kakashi shrugged. "Why not?"

It was a difficult thing to understand for me. I was certain I never made any indication that I wanted to be something more than friends with Itachi.

It was clear; Itachi dated my best friend so he and I were supposed to act like in-laws.

I wasn't pretty. I wasn't the best shinobi in the class. I was dull and untalented so how could he possibly find anything to like about me? I never dreamed of such a thing and yet here was Kakashi telling me exactly what Hana told me—that Itachi, ninja prodigy of the century,could possibly like me…?

My cheeks flushed; the action sudden and involuntary. I didn't know what to make of it.

I stumbled into Kakashi's room in a daze as I lay on his bed, my heart squeezing at the thought. It was uncomfortable and I didn't like the way it sort of made me want to cringe—not of out of disgust but out of novelty. A mixture of a surprising delight and unwanted burdens.

"Does it bother you? Knowing he might like you?"

Rolling onto my back I gave him a sideways glance, unable to deny the truth. "A little."

"Why?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Would it bother you if it was someone else?"

I thought about it for a while, painting a scenario in my head. "No, not at all. I probably wouldn't care if it was someone who I didn't know."

I lay there in contemplation and quite suddenly every minute I had spent with Itachi came hurling back to my head, replaying itself over and over in my head. I reevaluated every move, analyzed every word he spoke to me and every action he took. And with each passing scene, I uncovered more pieces to the puzzle to the mysterious relationship between us. The reasonings, the white lies and the why's.

I was so deep in thought I missed what Kakashi asked me. "What—if— me? "

"Sorry, what'd you say, Kakashi?"

He raised his gaze towards the window and I couldn't but feel like he might have been slightly disappointed.

"Nothing."

Graduation day couldn't have come sooner.

It was a sad day for most (well most of the girls) as their beloved Itachi was finally leaving the school to become a genin. Crowds of them gathered, crying and showering him with congratulatory flowers. I, for one, couldn't wait to see him go.

The sensei started to call the names of the recipients of the official Konoha headband, the glinting metal winking at me.

Hana was one of the first few to be called. I watched as she proudly walked up to receive her hitai-ate*. I don't think I'll ever quite know what Itachi said to her that day when we fought but she seemed more… sane now.

It was naïve to think that I would never see her again (after all we lived in the same village), but I hoped that this would blow over our heads one day.

As for Jiro, he and I broke up but ended on "friendly terms". He credited himself to having split up Hana and Itachi (he was ecstatic) to which I replied by slugging him. He told me later (while holding his bleeding nose) that he would still go after Hana as they were now on the same team. For some reason I felt like they needed each other. I was happy to see him leave.

I still couldn't gather my thoughts on Itachi—that single enigma who had haunted my thoughts the past few days before the school's graduation came rolling around. I would miss him, for sure—he was always good to me in ways I had taken for granted. As for the possible liking me factor, I concluded that I would wait for him to tell me first-hand before I decided my answer. (My stubbornness refused to believe what Kakashi told me just yet…)

"Sayrui."

Itachi gave a discreet jerk of his head in the direction away from the crowds of people. I nodded and started walking towards the back of the school.

The answer may have to come sooner than I had planned.

Itachi extracted himself from his family and led me to a deserted swing underneath a tree. I situated myself on the swing while Itachi went around behind me and gave me a gentle push, the thick branches and leaves providing us with shade.

We were quiet like that for some time, the sound of the ropes straining as he pushed and I swung.

"Congratulations on graduating. You deserved it."

"Thank you."

"So, you'll be a genin now and you'll even get your own team, huh? I'm sure it'll make the missions more fun to have your friends come along."

"I don't consider teammates as friends."

I tried to fight off a smile.

"But they're your teammates. You're going to be stuck with them even after you become a chuunin. I hope you think of them as your friends by then." I laughed and turned my head to look at him. But he wasn't there.

The swinging motion stopped and I looked up to see that he was in front of me, trapping me to the seat as he held onto the ropes on either side.

"I already have a friend—I only need one."

"Who?"

"My cousin, Shisui."

I frowned. "Am I not your friend?"

"No."

"Oh…"

"You're something better."

He was very close. I could smell the soap he had used that morning mixed in with the sweet scent of red bean paste, like the kind of pastries you would find in a warm bakery.

His eyes reminded me of the feathers of ravens, very dark but with small streaks of subtle dark grey if you looked close enough, framed in thick long lashes. Normally they were stern and distant but now they were smoldering like the black ash left behind by a burning fire.

"You remember that time Kakashi got sick over Christmas and I asked you to get the medicine?" I breathed, much too aware of just how close he was.

"Hn."

"You had this look on your face… What was that about?"

"It was the first time you said my name."

I immediately dropped my gaze with his answer, unable to hold his intense stare. It made me nervous.

"Don't hide your eyes from me," he said, tilting my face back up.

"Will you miss me?" I blurted out without thinking.

"Probably. I get very bored without you," he said, stroking my cheek.

He took his time leading his finger over the bridge of my nose. I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

"We live in the same village, Sayuri."

"You didn't answer my question." I pointed out.

"I'll be around...when you least expect it."

"You never seem to give me a straight answer."

"Because you ask too many questions," he countered.

"Well you're the one who wanted to talk to me in the first place."

"I did. But I realize now that I don't have anything to talk about."

I sighed in frustration, snatching his hand from my face and holding it. "Then what do you want me to do, Itachi?"

"Nothing, I'll take it from here."

And then his lips were pressed against mine.

The kiss was warm and very soft and as soon as I registered that it happened, it was over, he was leaning away and smirking at my stunned expression.

I stood up abruptly almost clipping his teeth against my head with the sudden movement, the temperature over my whole body rising.

"You—you shouldn't have done that." My hands were trembling and I gulped audibly. First disbelief, then anger, then… I didn't know what it was but I realized that it was fear. I was afraid of him. Of what he was doing to me. I never was good at expressing myself. Even towards my foster grandparents, it was difficult for me to tell them that I loved them. Though I knew it was there somewhere deep down in me...

"This is happening too fast." I put my hands over my eyes and breathed deeply. Alright, so I was freaking out. Sure, he kissed me on the forehead. That I could handle. It cou;d've meant anything. But this. This was on the lips. It was a totally different story.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… I don't have it yet, Itachi. I don't have your answer."

I looked at him, his face unreadable. It wasn't so much that I didn't have an answer for him. It was more that I wasn't prepared for the answer he had given me.

"I'm not asking you for anything, Sayuri." He soothed. "I only ask that you accept that it's there."

Oh, I know it's there all right. I thought frantically.

He moved away, seemingly defeated for now and started to head back towards the front of the school, leaving me with fever-like symptoms.

"Let me know when you have that answer," he waved behind his back.

Author's note: Hello, lovely readers!

So I'm hoping this chapter was a little exciting. Finally, we are starting to move towards the next arc which I've been itching to get to but I don't want to give too much away so you'll just have to wait and see.

Besides my three wonderful reviewers, Sakiku, Kairi-senpai and Kakashikrazed (I've written responses below) if you are new or have not yet written a review, I ask that you please do so and let me know what you think of my story. Do you like the OC? Are Itachi and Kakashi in-character? Do you hate it? Do you like it? Any feedback, constructive criticisms or comments will be welcomed!

So here are the thank you's!

Sakiku: Thank you for the long review, I kept rereading it over and over again, I was so excited! (lol)

I'm glad you liked the twist with Jiro pinning everything on Sayuri. It makes it all the more complicated, doesn't it? (mwuahhaha!)

You are so right about the whole OC thing... There just seems to be an insufferable large amount of stories with OC's whose authors mount with overwhelmingly too-good-to-be-true aspects that it ends up being about how wonderful they are (hmm, hope mine doesn't fall into that trap...). But I admit, there are very, very few stories with OC's who are Mary-Sue's but have authors skilled enough to write them into the story and makes you want to read more. But you also have to go filtering through a lot of stories aka crap to find those treasures.

As for Kakashi seeming a bit OOC, I have to say that I agree with you but only to a certain point. Kakashi is a bit more emotional here than we are used to but since we're talking about the younger Kakashi, I personally wanted to depict him differently from the one we all have come to love in the series. I wanted him to be a bit more angry, a bit more immature and perhaps less able to control those bottled up feelings because I wanted to show that he is, at the day's end, just a kid trying to get by life's hardships and grow up. Especially after having to lose his father in a way that Sayuri clearly ignored. In that scene, Kakashi was literally having a terrible day and seeing how Sayuri so nonchalantly bends the rules triggered him to go over the edge. (I mean how could someone under that much stress not go a little crazy now and then).

Now during the fight scene between Sayuri and Hana, I felt it necessary that Kakashi be included, coming to Sayuri's rescue because he had always looked out for her well-being in the first place (even during the bully fight). It was also meant to be symbolic in a way... one guy involving Sayrui can not be included without the other... and I shall stop here before giving too much away.

Oh, and the whole hand-holding thing, I guess I should have been a bit more clear with the wording so that the correct imagery was shown. (My bad! hahaha) But I definitely didn't mean it to be something of open affection. Far from it, actually, I only meant that Kakashi was escorting Sayuri away from the incident to get medical attention.

Well, I hope that cleared some things up and we will definitely see the mature, sarcastic, bad ass, the one we are familiar with Kakashi later on in the chapters. *wink wink*

As a wise friend told me, we all interpret characters differently and from that comes new stories and bigger adventures. And as long as we each believe that the character stays true to what's in our heads then all shall be right in the world. :D

So thanks again and I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story, Sakiku. Cheers!

Kairi-senpai: Thank you for reviewing, it's very nice to hear from you again! And I totally agree, tortured souls are HOT! (hahaha!) Kakashi does have a very lovely voice, doesn't he? (sigh 3) See you in the next chapter, Kairi-senpai!

KakashiKrazed: Thank you for writing another review! (^__^) I'm glad you got that satisfaction from seeing Sayuri and Hana having it out (I thought the same too as I was writing it. lol!). And yes, Sayuri is becoming quite the catch, isn't she? Though I don't think she's yet up to it (the poor thing). Kakashi is going to have a bit of run for his money if Itachi keeps this up... (tee hee) Hope you enjoy the next several chapters, KakashiKrazed!

See you in a bit. :)

-Scripsisomnia