Dark and Light: The Story of Itachi and Hikari
Chapter Ten
"Watashi wa ichiban desu yo!" Hikari sang as she skipped down the street. At the moment she was on her way to meet her teammates at the front gate and for once she wasn't late and was able to take her time rather then rush around like a lunatic with her head on fire. She stopped to shift the small green backpack on her shoulders into a more comfortable position so that it wouldn't bother her while she was walking. As she fixed the shoulder straps an unfamiliar voice called out.
"Oi! Hikari-chan! Matte kudasai!"
"Huh?" Hikari said as she turned to see who it was that called her. She wrinkled her nose up in confusion as she spotted a tall boy around her age coming towards her. He had dark brown hair and onyx eyes that shown with something mysterious, malicious. She shrunk back a little. She didn't like his eyes at all.
The boy caught up to her swiftly and leaned over with his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.
"Um…hello…" Hikari said and the boy looked up at her with a smile. Inner Hikari cringed. He looked like a viper trying to hide its fangs.
"Hi Hikari-chan. Sorry about stopping you so sudden but I heard that you where going on a mission and I wanted to say good-bye before you left."
"Oh, um, that's really nice of you," Hikari said with a grin. "So I'll um…see you when I get back?"
The boy grinned his strangely dark grin again. "I look forward to it."
"Okay then. I'll see you!" Hikari said as she ran off towards the gate. Once she was out of the boy's range of sight she dropped her hand and looked forward in confusion. "Who was that?"
Back down the street Hikari had just left Uchiha Kenta continued to grin gleefully after her. The dark intent no longer hidden in his eyes as he ran his tongue over his upper lip.
"Stupid girl," he said. "You are going to wish that you had never met me."
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Hikari was panting heavily when she finally arrived at the gate. Her brief conversation with that boy had thrown her off and she had franticly hurried towards the gate in order to be on time. Unfortunately in her haste she had made a wrong turn at the end of the market and ended up going in a large circle around Konoha until she was back where she started: the Haruno Estates. Needless to say she was pretty late and Itachi was just a bit more then a lot annoyed.
"You're late idiot," He said. "Did you circle Konoha?"
Hikari blushed and Itachi's face fell into an impassive expression. "You did. Moron."
"H-hey! I would have been here earlier if that boy hadn't distracted me! It's his fault that I made a wrong turn!"
"Don't blame your stupidity on others. It helps people realize you're dumber then you look."
Hikari stared at him. "That was kind of a compliment…I think I'll let the insult part slide just this once."
Itachi scowled. "It was all an insult baka."
Yotaro smirked. "Actually in an odd way you told her that she looked smart so I would say that it wasn't a complete insult."
"Hn."
"Ehem."
The three teammates turned their eyes over to where their sensei leaned against a tree with a smirk on his lips. "If you are all finished."
Hikari blushed again and Itachi looked away while Yotaro chuckled lightly with a hand behind his head.
"Alright. As you where told yesterday afternoon we are traveling to the—Hikari. Where is your bag?"
"Hm?" Hikari said. "Oh, it's right here." Hikari grinned as she held up her small green backpack.
Yotaro sweatdropped, Itachi scowled, and Kyo placed the side of his fist to his forehead in exasperation.
"You do realize that we are going to be gone for at least a week."
"Well duh," Hikari said. "Why do you think I packed so much?"
"Uh…Hikari-chan…Can that thing even fit your shoes?"
"No."
Kyo grit his teeth in an attempt to stifle the urge to beat his head against the tree he had just been leaning on.
"There wasn't enough room after I put in everything else."
Yotaro stared at the small bag with a raised eyebrow. "So what all did you bring?"
"Well," Hikari said as she placed the bag on the ground and began to search through it. "I have three pairs of clothes, an extra set of shurinken, six kunai, four rolls of bandages, some medicine to stop bleeding that I got from Hyuuga-sama, seven pairs of socks, three handkerchiefs, Shiro-chan, and two summoning scrolls for my favorite mangas."
The three men stared blankly at her.
"What?"
"You have all of that in that thumbnail sized bag?" Kyo said.
"Who is Shiro-chan?" Yotaro asked hesitantly.
"…You have a scroll that summons manga…"
Hikari glared at Itachi. "You got a problem with that?"
"Hn."
She grit her teeth. She really hated that word. Sound. Whatever.
"Okay…well…" Kyo said in an attempt to stall the bloodshed. "Shall we go?"
"Hn." All three said at once.
Itachi glared at his teammates and Kyo sweatdropped.
This was going to be one interesting trip.
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"Watashi wa ichiban desu yo!" Hikari sang again as she skipped along side of her teammates. Itachi watched her in irritation, his eyebrows twitching as the bubbly Haruno continued to sing her annoying song. "Watashi wa ichiban desu yo!"
"Shut up." Itachi scowled. "You are not number one. If anything you are zero."
Hikari pouted, looking genuinely hurt. "Why are you so mean to me all the time? I've never done anything to make you hate me."
"Hn."
"And what does that stupid word mean? Are you insulting me?"
"Hn."
"Is that a yes or a no?"
"Hn."
"Can't you say anything different!"
"Hn."
"Why you-!"
"Hikari!"
Kyo's voice cut through Hikari's anger like a kunai through paper. She stood frozen her right fist raised halfway into the air as she halted in her attempt to pound the Uchiha heir into the ground.
"Sorry…" Hikari said as she lowered her fist. "But he's so annoying!"
Itachi snorted and Yotaro stifled a grin behind his hand. Kyo ignored them and kept his eyes on his cousin who was smiling up at him innocently.
"I think that it would be best if we observed stealth from this point on Hikari."
"Okay!" Hikari saluted before looking around in expectation. "Where is it?"
Kyo's face dropped into his palms, Itachi looked on in disgust, and Yotaro lost his battle with his amusement as he doubled over in laughter.
"You can not even be serious." Itachi said.
"Why not?" Hikari asked.
Itachi stared at her for a second before he brushed past her and continued on his way. An idiot such as her wasn't worth his time.
"Hey! Itachi-baka! I thought we where supposed to be watching stealth!" Hikari said as she hurried forward to catch up to the Uchiha. "How can I watch it if I don't know where it is? Itachi-baka! Are you even listening to me? Hey! Wait up!"
Kyo sighed behind his hand as he watched his cousin race after the boy through his fingers. The laughter beside him was just beginning to ebb and he rolled his eyes as he looked down at the last member of his team.
"It really doesn't help when you encourage them."
Yotaro straitened and took in deep, deliberate breaths as he calmed his amusement. "Yeah, I know. But it if I interfered it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining."
Kyo returned his gaze forward as he resisted the urge to sigh once more. He really should have thought this whole taking a team thing out more. Oh well. No use moaning about it.
A soft rustle reached Kyo's ears and he stiffened ever so slightly as he attempted to make out where the sound came from. It didn't sound like any of his charges' clothes but it was to soft to be leaves. His eyes narrowed. It seemed that someone else was traveling this road with them. Well so long as they didn't involve his team in any of their affairs it didn't bother him any.
"I-ta-chiiiii!" Hikari said as she tried to pick up her pace even more. Very annoyed that the older boy was ignoring her. "Why aren't you listening to me?"
"You're annoying."
Kyo's eyes widened in surprise and fear as he noticed the sun glint off a thin wire that stretched across the road. None of the kids seemed to notice though Itachi's training seemed to unconsciously take over as he gingerly stepped over what could only be the trigger to a trap. Hikari on the other hand had no training that was bred into her body. That being the case it was no real surprise that she was about to run right into it.
"Hikari! Stop!" Kyo said as he tried to cover the great distance between him and his cousin in a very short amount of time.
Hikari glanced over her shoulder as she ran; confusion written on her face. Without noticing where she was stepping Hikari's foot caught hold of the wire triggering the trap. All three boys stood in stunned terror as a large rotted tree fell from somewhere above while a hail storm of kunai struck the area where Hikari's head was.
"HIKARI!" they all shouted at once as they raced towards her, each fearing the worst.
Yotaro couldn't believe his eyes as he looked down at the figure of his only female teammate. He just didn't understand it. It was completely impossible.
Tears filled Kyo's eyes as they took in the form of his cousin lying on the ground beneath the large tree. Kunai where embedded every where. There was just no way that this could have happened.
Itachi's eye twitched. Of all people. He should have known something like this would happen to her. She had tripped over the wire. She tripped over the wire and landed in a ditch. The tree didn't even touch her and all of the kunai had hit the trunk as it fell. That stupid girl wasn't even touched!
"Um, hello?" Hikari said. "Will somebody help me? My hair is stuck in the branches and I can't get out. Also, there's a kunai very close to my side and it feels weird. Could somebody pull it out?"
"Hikari," Yotaro said. "You are probably the luckiest person in the world."
"Or the stupidest," Itachi said as he pulled a kunai from the tree's bark and used it to unceremoniously slice through her long white hair.
Hikari stared aghast as the ghostly pale locks floated down around her, most of it still caught in the branches of the tree. Her eyes where shadowed and dark as they fixed on Itachi causing the Uchiha to feel just the slightest bit uncomfortable.
Not wanting to be caught in the cross fire Yotaro and Kyo both inched backwards in an attempt to make it to safety before the girl exploded.
"ITACHI YOU JERK! YOU CUT OFF MY HAIR!"
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You would rather remain where you where?"
"Hell yeah I would! I could have gotten out eventually but NO! YOU HAD TO CUT OFF MY HAIR!" Hikari grasped the handle of the kunai that was pinning her clothes to the tree and jumped quickly to her feet the blade held high. "DIE YOU SON OF A MONKEY!"
"You must be joking…" Itachi said.
"Um, Itachi," Yotaro said quietly from the tree line. "As your best friend I suggest you take my advice and run."
Itachi sighed. "I hate you all."
"DON'T YOU RUN AWAY!" Hikari said as Itachi vanished. "I'M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!"
Up in the trees Itachi allowed himself just the slightest shudder. That girl was terrifying when she was angry. Confusion crossed his face as another thought entered his mind at the sound of Hikari's primal howl of rage.
Why in the world did those guys like to pick on her? And how the hell did they get away with it?
"ITACHI! When I find you you're DEAD!"
End Chapter Ten
Kaliea: An interesting end to a chapter that will lead up to something important (to me anyway) in the next chapter. Please review!
Review Answers:
lilaznangel5543: Let's see…Itachi is seven, almost eight, so Sasuke would be almost two since his birthday is in the summer.
Rynx- Too- Genki: There is probably no one that Itachi cares more about then his little brother right now. Later some other people will be added but for now it's only Sasuke.
Danny-171984: Yeah, his cousin is another one of those characters that you just hate. A lot like Makoto. Like I said above there isn't anything Itachi wouldn't do for Sasuke which is where he gains is strength. Every thing he does he does for his brother's sake. Thanks for the review!
Crunchers: I'll do my best.
Suki dah Turdle: Of course! Tenten is a big part of her brothers life and Yotaro is a big part of the story.
Tears like Crystals: Hikari's one of those characters that tends to attract a lot of attention. Especially the unwanted kind.
freedome fighter: I will try to update often but now that my laptop is dead it will probably take a while.
Jettboard: I'm glad you like it so much! I hope you keep reading!
White Alchemist Taya: Yep. That's pretty much how it goes. Except Yotaro tends to participate quite a bit more.
So-kun: Well…this cannon Itachi is learning it. It will show later in the story but my vision of Itachi in the cannon story is quite different then most peoples'.
mistress of mist: Yes. Sadly it does. However, unlike Sakura Hikari doesn't dwell on it for quite so long. She's to absentminded to let something bother her for to long.
Dearie: Actually I wrote it right. See Hikari was facing Itachi when he appeared behind her. While he was talking to his cousin she would have turned around to face Itachi's back and try to look around him which is when he would have pushed her further behind him. It's complicated and I didn't write it out like that but it was implied. Thanks for the review!
grim reaper sakura: Thank-you. And don't worry. I know all about late updates. Trust me.
Dragon Man 180: I would except that this is a cannon story so if anyone where to babysit Naruto it would probably be to drown him. Well, not Kairi, but anyone else.
Kaliea: Thanks so much for all of the reviews you sent! I love reading them. Oh yeah. Before I forget: Watashi wa Ichiban desu yo! Means: I'm number one! Please keep reviewing and until next time, ja ne!