HELLO EVERYONE!
I WAS SO SUPRISED BY THE NUMBER OF REVEIWS, YOU PEOPLE REALLY KNOW HOW TO MAKE A GIRL FEEL LOVED, IM TOUCHED!
PLEASE READ AND ENJOY AND THALYOU FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL SUPPORT.
I DONT OWN NARUTO
CHAPTER 10
The rain poured down rare icy cold needles that pelted upon a team of Shinobi returning to their village. The team was made up of one adult and three minors. The adult being the oldest at 23 brought up the rear of the formation. The middle consisted of one Kunoichi; Yukimiyo Asa and one shinobi; Tsumino Yuu. Both age thirteen.
The one leading the formation was, by far not only the youngest of the team, but also one of the youngest Shinobi to come out of the village hidden in the leaves at the age of only nine years old.
Itachi felt like he had forgotten what it was like to feel warm; they had been travelling non-stop for the past two days after another C-ranked mission. Even though it was common knowledge that Uchiha Itachi could do so much more than simple D and C-rank missions but his team however weren't. But Itachi was fine with this, it wasn't as if he were in any hurry to go onto missions like assassinations and undercover spying like most A and B-rank missions.
But nonetheless, he was tired, hungry, thirsty and more exhausted then he could remember. They had been running thought heavily wooded trees too so it had not been an easy journey back but somehow he managed to pull it off with a calm demeanour and still have enough energy to take the lead.
He could feel the jealous eyes of his team-mates goring into his back, he could also feel that there chakra level was low and weren't doing as well as he was to keep up.
Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Who said that genin teams were to teach team-work and socializing friendship?
Whoever did, he would like to seriously reprimand them since it was hard to created bonds with two thirteen year old who hated everything about you. But he did not care, all he had to do was wait until the chunin exams and he would then be put into cells of teams depending on the mission and the chances of being on the same team as Yuu or Asa were very slim.
So pointedly ignoring the glaring of his teammates, the icy, chilly wind, the freezing cold water of the rain and the impending darkness that midnight brought as he pressed on without fail with only the soul knowledge that the place he was heading towards was warm and dry to keep him conscious.
The mission had been relatively simple, an escort mission for some rich boy from a city on the border of fire country. He had stupidly sent his servants home before him because he wanted to prove to his father he could last on his own but had realised that he did not know the correct way back. So he hired Itachi's team to guide him.
It had taken a week to get to his city due to all the stops he wanted to make in passing towns and the only trouble along the way had been when the fool had strayed too far in a village and was nearly mugged by some thieves. Yuu had been with him at the time and had swiftly dealt with them while Itachi brought them to the police station. Simply because Itachi was the strongest on his team, it did not mean that his teammates were weak. In fact they were the strongest to graduate from the older class and the only ones who could stand on similar ground to Itachi, or at least close to it.
The second the man had been returned, they had set off. But unfortunately it was the rainy season in Fire country and it had poured badly.
At first Masato-Sensei had thought they could wait the rain out. But then a day later it proved that it wasn't going to lighten up for any long period of time. Perhaps for a few minutes a day but that wouldn't get them anywhere. So instead they risked it and ran home in the icy rain.
Konoha may be situated in the country of fire, but it did not mean that it was always hot. In fact it was even, there was a hot season, a cold season, a dry season and a rainy season. Like most normal countries.
He raised his hand impulsively to wipe away some water that had trailed into his eyes and was dripping off his hair. He was soaked to the bone yet he retained a steady pace, neither slowing nor speeding up.
Recently, Itachi had taken to craving these times away from the village, and he did so for one reason.
Sakura, His younger sister.
Lately, things at home had seemed...different.
When he was around her, things felt more...tense, he didn't know how to react around her anymore. Simple things, like when she would glomp him in a hug or lean over his shoulders to read the scroll in his arms, became less casual. His breath would hitch and his heart rate would increase and he didn't know why.
He felt suffocated around her and the same time when he wasn't near Sakura he would find himself wanting nothing more than to be with her. He had always been protective of her, but then again he acted the same way towards Sasuke. However, he would find himself brooding on her and her alone, almost forgetting Sasuke for the time being, which was a shock, since he had never played favourites before, at least never to such an extent.
He always wanted to be seen in good way in her eyes and that confused him since Itachi had never before cared about what anyone in his family thought of him.
He had requested all the longest missions from his sensei with hopes of being away from Sakura and in those missions he found himself a sort of peace. However, it wouldn't be long before he would wonder about his younger sister. Even now, he half wanted to return to her as soon as possible and half wanted to stay as far away from her.
Something had changed, perhaps it had always been this way but had slowly been increasing until he finally noticed it. Perhaps things were normal and this was a feeling all brothers feel for their sisters. It wouldn't be the first time he was protective. Perhaps it was only that.
Yet...if that were the case then why did he feel so unusually happy at the thought of seeing her again? As an older brother, to feel this kind of happiness for even a sibling, it was surly to much?
"Uchiha, you lacking behind" Yuu suddenly called harshly, snapping Itachi out of his thoughts.
He shook his head and sped up.
Whatever the reason for his anxiousness and happiness, it wouldn't do to dwell on it now of all times.
By the time they had finally reached the village it was well past midnight, so there was no point in turning in the mission statement when the Hokage was likely to just send you away again. Itachi was given the responsibility to write the written version and in exchange Asa would go early in the morning to give the verbal one.
Out of the two Asa got the better version. To a top ninja Itachi, writing a mission statement was a simple task, but to nine year old boy Itachi it was only a boring pain in the neck.
He reached the Uchiha complex.
Koichi, one of the night guards was on duty, he only opened the door with a nod to Itachi which he returned.
Itachi trudged down the silent streets of the Uchiha complex.
So quiet, you would almost think it were a ghost town. He sighed and wiped away more water. He felt like a drowned cat, even travelling in rain hadn't been this bad. If Sakura were here, she would yell at him some nonsense about even though he was a genius he wasn't impervious to colds.
Why did his thoughts always revert to her again somehow?
Finally he reached his home. He stepped into the roofed porch and felt the rain above his head cease. Carefully he slid the door open as to not wake the rest of the household. "Tadaima" Itachi said softly, not expecting anyone to answer.
The first thing he did was to grab the kitchen towel and dry his face off from all the rain, but was unsuccessful as all it did was soak the water up leaving him as wet as before. He sighed and turned to go up the stairs but then something caught his eye.
On the coffee table was a kunai.
He stopped and carefully picked it up.
This kunai, it was the present their father had given Sakura.
When she had come first in her year in an important written exam, he was pleased. He said she was doing well and as a reward he gave her a specially made kunai, her first one. It had the Uchiha symbol engraved in it and Sakura couldn't be happier.
She usually took such good care of it, polishing it for hours, setting it up just to look at it in her room, she hardly ever used it for practice since it was the first present their father had ever gifted Sakura so what was it doing here?
Perhaps Sasuke had taken it out and forgotten to put it back. He had taken to doing that just to annoy Sakura; he would need to tell him later that it wasn't good to take things that belonged to his sister since she would most likely berate him for it later.
He turned it over in his hands.
It was blunt from lack of sharpening. Since Sakura was only six she wasn't able to sharpen weapons herself yet and usually another would have to do it for both her and Sasuke. Itachi sighed and sat down on a wooden stool. Even though he was wet, cold and tired he found himself taking out his sharpening stone and scraping it against her blade.
Once it was adequately sharp he returned the stone and stood.
He went upstairs and stopped outside her and Sasuke's room before slowly opening it as to not wake her.
She was asleep, her cover all twisted since Sakura when alone was not a quiet sleeper. It was unbelievable, whenever she slept with Sasuke or anyone else se was quiet and normal. But leave her on her own and she would toss and turn and usually end up throwing half her bed on the floor.
He smirked and carefully set the kunai down on her bedside table. But as he turned to go he suddenly stopped and looked down.
Perhaps it was simply because he was exhausted and hungry so it caught him unaware, but looking at her now she was so beautiful.
Her bed was right beside the open window she insisted on leaving every night. The moonlight was cascading upon her, turning her pink her almost a slivery white, her peach sin looked alabaster and she looked so feminine yet with a smile on her face she looked to him to be so much Sakura. His eyes looked over her face, her long lashes brushed her cheeks delicately, her chest rose lightly with every breath a small sigh; she must be having good dreams.
His eyes were drawn to her lips and slowly his hand which had now dried, rose and lightly traced her bottom lip. So smooth, she had accomplished what most females sent hours of lip products to accomplish without even trying. He wondered...
It was then that he realised what he was doing, he was imagining what it would be like to kiss his little sister!
Surly that wasn't something a brother was supposed to think. But if he wasn't thinking of her as a brother, then how was he thinking of her?
His hand drew away like the viper it was and the sudden sharp movement caused her to moan and turn in her bed "Onii-sama" she said softly.
She was dreaming of him!
No, she was dreaming of her big brother. He knew it was his she was referring to because Sakura had taken to calling Sasuke 'Onii-chan' and him 'Onii-sama'
But why was hearing her call him Onii-sama making something in his chest twist so painfully, yet the idea that she was dreaming of him making him feel so happy?
He shook his head and hurriedly went out of her room.
Sakura was annoyed.
She was more than annoyed; she was so annoyed she didn't even know the word for it.
Her brother had returned from his recent mission two days ago, but he was avoiding her!
Ever since that morning
Flashback
Sakura leaped down the last stairs with a satisfied grunt. She looked up and to her utter surprise and happiness she spied her big brother sitting on the sofa writing something.
He was back!
She hadn't been expecting him back so soon. But then that's what happened when they sent her big brother on such easy missions. She had met the man he was guarding, he was the biggest idiot ever, Sakura felt sorely sorry for Itachi, having to guard that. But now it was over and he was probably writing the mission statement again.
For some reason he always got stuck writing the mission statement, perhaps it was more fun than writing essays, even though Sakura really didn't think writing essays was fun.
She tip toed quietly behind him, even though she was sure that he was going to notice her soon. And then leaped foreword from behind.
"Onii-sama!" she cried hugging him from behind "you're back!"
But then for some strange reason he tensed so suddenly he could have been made of wood. "Onii-sama?" she asked, sideling to stand before him.
He was looking away with a weird, almost distressed expression and his cheeks were ever so slightly brushed with red?
"Onii-sama?" she asked again "What's wrong? Oh wait, were you out in the rain?" she frowned "Don't tell me you got sick, why won't you listen, just because you are some super genius, doesn't mean you can't get sick!" and then she leant forward and rested her forehead against his to see if he had a fever.
But the seconds their foreheads touched he grabbed her from under the arms and set her aside before standing up abruptly and walking off. Leaving a confused Sakura behind.
Sakura couldn't think what was wrong. Had she done something that had made him angry? Was he sick? Perhaps that was why his cheeks had been red.
One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to put up with this for long.
Sasuke stood at the back door and watched his older brother slipping on his sandals.
"Onii-sama" he said, suddenly all shy.
Itachi stopped and turned.
"Can you train with me?"
At first Itachi didn't say anything, but then he sighed "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but I have training for myself" He said softly in his usual mono-tone.
Sasuke's six years old shoulders drooped "You're always training or something" he pouted. Itachi just looked at his little brother for a moment before leaning back and poking him in the forehead "Maybe another time Sasuke" he said simply and stood.
Sasuke only nodded.
It was always like this; brother would come home and go straight to training. He never spent any time with him anymore. When they were younger Itachi always had time for him, but now Sasuke hardly ever saw anything of the big brother he admired.
Itachi suddenly stopped.
"Nii-sama, what is it" Sasuke asked looking up.
Itachi sighed and stepped to the side as something suddenly fell from the sky with a scream. His hand came out quick as lightning and caught a hold of it. Sasuke blinked and to his utter surprise found Itachi holding the scruff of the neck of a very disgruntled Sakura. "I almost had him too" she whined before Itachi suddenly dropped her and she fell to the ground in a squeal.
"Itai" she whined rubbing her sore bottom. "Onii-sama, you're too rough. You could have put me down gently"
Sasuke sweat dropped. "Sakura" he said "May I ask why you were on the roof"
Sakura looked up "I don't really know Onii-sama. I guess just to see if I could catch Onii-sama before he left." She looked up at him "Hey Onii-sama, can you train with me today"
"No" he said.
Sasuke looked up in surprise. His answer was a little too fast.
Sakura's face crumbled in disappointment "eh, Why?" she asked.
He sighed "I'm sorry"
Sakura pouted "no fair, you always come home and take off so easily, we never get to see you any more" she stuck her tongue out and stood to her feet "Onii-sama is a Baka, stingy!" She cried.
Itachi only smirked and shrugged his shoulders before carrying on his way.
Once he was out of view Sasuke sighed "You're still going to follow him aren't you?"
"Yep" she replied with a smile before slipping on her own sandals.
Sasuke frowned "Why though, you know it's pointless? Onii-sama will just say no, he doesn't have time for us anymore."
"I know he will say no" Sakura said "Because that's just the kind of person Onii-sama is. I bet there's something on his mind and he's using training to escape it. He's that kind of Baka in his own way."
"But..."
Sakura smiled "You know Onii-sama, you got to take the initiative when it comes to big brother, or you'll never be heard by him. And anyway" she pouted "He's so stingy, I mean he's already one of the greatest ninja's there are, why can't he take five minutes to train us. You may just say 'Ok' every time, but I'm not going down so easy. I mean, how can we waste this golden opportunity one of the best ninja's in history is our older brother! There's no way he's getting away without giving us some tips or something" she spouted "Stingy Onii-sama"
And with that she turned "You coming?"
Sasuke was about to say yes, but then something made him shake his head "No, I think I'll stay here and train myself instead" he said simply.
Sakura shrugged "Suit yourself!"
Itachi watched with satisfaction as the twenty-fifth kunai hit for the twenty-fifth time directly in the centre of the bull's-eye.
This was what he needed, some training. Training was something he understood, training didn't confuse him.
Ever since that night, when he had seen her sleeping, and the sudden urge to kiss her had filled his mind, things just weren't the same.
No, more so they were the same, only they were more intense.
And that was another thing that worried him.
Being around her was suffocating, he had needed to get away, to just get out of the house for a little bit, to be away from her. Just being beside Sakura was enough. He wanted her close to him all the time, yet then he would get nervous and push her away.
Him!
Nervous!
He never got nervous about anything. Yet when he was with her he felt sick, like the need to be close to her was addictive. He wanted to know where she was all the time, he wanted to always be by her side and the strange thing was it wasn't the feeling that was feeling foreign. It was the face that it was stronger than usual.
So how long had he felt this way towards his younger sister?
Itachi sighed.
What was happening to him?
Suddenly he raised his head to a sound from above.
He listened for a moment before sighing heavily and walking towards a nearby tree. With one swift kick he sent it wobbling and then from its leaves fell something.
"Itai!" that something cried.
Itachi held back a grimace.
Sakura
Just the person he hadn't wanted to see.
She looked up and laughed "hehehe, hello Onii-sama"
Itachi frowned "Sakura, what are you doing here, is Sasuke with you?"
She shook her head "No, he said he wanted to train alone instead."
Itachi frowned even more "Go home"
"No"
His eyes widened a second at her answer. "Go home" he repeated.
"I won't" she answered
"Go home" he said again.
Sakura crossed her arms and pouted "I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't I WONT!"
He resisted the urge to painfully glare at her. She wasn't supposed to be here, he couldn't think straight when she was around "Sakura, I won't say it again, go home"
"And I won't say it again, I won't Onii-sama. Anyway, you said I couldn't train with you, you never said anything about watching you train" she said simply.
Itachi couldn't help but be impressed. Trust Sakura to find loop-holes in what he said. He took in her crossed-legged, crossed-armed form on the ground and realised she wasn't going anywhere. He sighed "fine" and turned to continue his training.
After five minutes of continuously throwing the kunai he began to feel more relaxed again, but then somehow, his eyes once again wondered to his sister. And to his surprise he found her no longer sitting stubbornly on the ground, or rather she was standing and mimicking his own movements as if she were holding a kunai.
He watched as he threw a Shurikin and saw the way her hand was positioned had changed slightly, but it was still wrong and against his better judgment he found himself walking over to her and grabbing her hand.
"Huh?" she asked, looking up at him. He avoided looking into her green eyes "You're almost correct, however when holding a Shurikin, your fingers must be positioned like this" he said as he positioned her fingers. Still he avoided looking at her face. To see the admiration that was most likely in her eyes, he knew somehow he would not be able to think straight when he did. He also knew that all his thinking on the matter of how he felt towards his sister was coming to an end, and unconsciously, he knew he half didn't want to find out.
Sakura tried to throw and invisible Shurikin, but her arm flopped as it extended. Itachi knew this was because the weight from the Shurikin would weigh her arm, practicing in theory was not enough. She he stood behind her and took her arm and slid a Shurikin in her hand. His chin was just resting on top her head. He ignored how his chest was speeding up at the close proximity and showed her the correct way to throw it, guiding her arm.
"Ok, now when I say so, flick your wrist and let go" she nodded carefully and he once again showed her the arm movement "Now" he said softly and she flicked her wrist and the Shurikin went flying.
Thud. It dead centre of the mark.
Sakura laughed in pure delight, "Onii-sama, look, look, did you see? I did it, I did it!" she turned round and he found himself looking into her eyes again.
From the very beginning, those eyes had always made him uneasy. That bright green colour. His mother told him that when he was younger he used to hate Sakura because she had green eyes. But he couldn't even think of hating her now. Sakura was Sakura. Sakura was...his...little...sister...
Why did that one fact make him feel so depressed all of a sudden?
"Ne, Ne, do you think I could do that on my own someday, like you do?"
"Hm" was the only reply he was able to give, but she didn't mind as she looked up at him and smiled brightly "Ney, I'm sorry I said you were stingy, please don't be mad at me. I like Onii-chan the most in the world!" she said simply.
I like Onii-chan
Those words caused him to freeze. He stared at her as he felt his chest speed up increasingly. Damn it why was he so happy?
Something like this shouldn't make him happy. She was only his sister.
What was this feeling? He knew for a fact that this wasn't normal for an older brother.
He couldn't stop thinking about her whenever she wasn't near; he always longed to have her beside him. He felt happy when she said things like she liked him and he felt like kissing her! A lot more than usual these days!
But then suddenly, Itachi remembered something his older cousin had told him some time back when he was drunk. He was talking about his girlfriend for two years.
"Man, I know we don't do this kind of thing but I think I'm in love. Hana may be brash, have a dogs temper and has a strange hobby of hitting me at any possible opportunity, but I can't help the way I feel.
Whenever she's not around I find myself wanting to be with her. When she's sad I want to console her and when she's happy I want to know what she's happy about. when I'm away from her I can't think straight and even though she gets strangely shy about it when she says she loves me I feel so happy I could burst.
I want to be with her more often, I've never felt this way towards a girl before. I know we're only fourteen, but you know Itachi-kun, I'm dating her with marriage in mind."
When he had said that Itachi had only rolled his eyes and said sceptically 'why would you tie yourself down to someone who takes pleasure in using you as a punching bag or a target for her dogs. It's disgraceful.
But Shisui had only smiled and playfully ruffled his younger cousin's hair.
Suddenly he thought about how he had found her trying to stuff crayons in her eyes when she was three, how much at that moment he had wanted to protect her. He thought about how she had told him that he wasn't to go out in the rain He thought about all the times hearing her call him Onii-sama had made him feel depressed. He thought of her smile, and how simply seeing it would always make him feel so happy every time.
He bent down and tilted her face up to his. His eyes focused on her small lips. He felt something in his stomach skip. How badly he wanted to kiss her, to see what it would be like. And now that desire was ten-times stronger since he now understood his feelings.
His found himself leaning closer, with only one thought on his mind.
He loved her.
"Onii-sama?"
Itachi froze.
"Onii-sama, what is it, why did you suddenly go all quiet?"
That's right. Sakura was still...his younger sister. He had been so surprised with the realisation of finding out he was in love that he had forgotten a major detail.
His sister!
No matter what, in her eyes, he would always be an older brother.
Itachi realised then and there, that even if he loved her, he could never tell her.
If he couldn't be her lover, he would be her brother, always.
So instead he gently head butted her forehead with his. She squealed and rubbed it "well, at least you didn't ruin my hair again" she murmured
He sighed, just like a girl to be so worried about something as superficial as her hair.
Itachi looked up at the sky "It's getting late, we should go back"
Sakura looked like she wanted to argue but for once she only sighed and smiled "Ok Onii-sama."
She took his hand in his and they walked away.
TO AWNSER ONE REVEIWERS QUESTION, NO I CAN'T MAKE THEM GROW UP SOONER, SORRY.
BECAUSE THIS IS A STORY OF HIM GROWING UP WITH TABOO FEELINGS AND LOVING A TABOO LOVE. AND I STILL HAVE SOME BIG IDEAS FOR THIS S PLEASE DONT GET BORED, I PORMISE YOU WONT BE DISAPOINTED.
PLEASE READ AND REVEIW