Disclaimer: I do hereby disclaim all rights and responsibilities for the characters. They belong to their rightful owners.
Warning: Story contains out-of-characterness, grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and typos.
Thank you for Reviewing: WraithReaper, Dark Void Princess 21, Sugar0o, Fk306 animelover, Kira Michorugi, xXkUmiKoXx , Anne, Rebel, Fish-in-Bowl
Thank you for Alerts: yorushihe, enyalie1134, Fish-in-Bowl
Thank you for Favourites: Tsuchi no'Kage, himerock89, Lady of Jupiter, Anber, himerock89, sammy-hell-bitch, Fish-in-Bowl
\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/
Chapter Eleven
Kagome stood in the kitchen and was preparing oden for dinner. Looking out the window she watched as Haku tried to teach Naruto how to control his chakra. She chuckled when she heard Naruto exclaimed not needed to know. Instead of learning how to control chakra, Naruto wanted to learn new jutsus. Kagome shook her head at the blond-haired boy and concentrated on her task again.
She nearly let dish of several ingredients fall because Aki flew narrowly past her. She turned to glare at Aki but stopped when she saw how breathless he looked. Aki looked like as if he flew for days without rest. His fur pointed in every direction. Kagome looked worriedly at him.
Kagome listened to his frantic breathing. While she waited for Aki to calm, she put down the dish. 'I wonder what happened.' She thought as she watched Aki slowly regained his statue. His breathing was more even than before – stating he was a little bit calmer.
"You alright Aki?" asked Kagome carefully. He did not answer and keep gasping for air. Kagome approached him and held her hand over his form. Her hand glow pink as she healed him. Kagome pull back her hand when she heard his even breathing. Then she caressed his fur helping him cool.
"Something…Something happened," Aki told her. Kagome however, remained quiet and expected him to continue and that he did.
"He is dead." Aki stated.
"Who is dead?" It seemed Aki did not hear her question and continued.
"I witnessed a woman and a child killed him. The dark-haired with red eyes woman wore a traditional kimono – blue robe with a floral pattern. Meanwhile the child had pure white hair and wore a white kimono. The child's mirror sucked something white and there was nothing, I could do. When they left, I moved towards him and saw how lifeless he looked. It guessed the white-thing the mirror sucked was his soul. It is the worse – dying without your soul." His little body shook as he told Kagome.
"I could feel h-" Aki began but Kagome cut him off.
"Wait a minute. Who is he? What are you talking about? Moreover, how could you witness someone being killed if you were to be with Haku and Kirara?" Kagome bombarded him with her questions. Aki only looked at her, confused. Hearing her last question, he lowered his head and fidgeted.
"Well, I was with Haku and Kirara until…" Aki laughed nervously, trying to scratch the back of his head with his wing. He coughed and started again.
"Until it was too boring listening to those lessons. I sneaked out of the classroom while Haku and Kirara concentrated on the teacher." He looked at Kagome with big eyes, guilt in them. Aki felt as if a big stone was lift from his heart as he the smile forming on her lips.
"I thought I should pay that boy a visit, so I headed for Suna and that was where I saw the Kazekage being killed in the middle of a valley."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh... I think so. His aura, appearance and fighting style was the same."
"What about Gaara, Temari and Kankuro? Do they know about the Kazekage's death?" Aki hesitated at first but seeing the look Kagome gave him, he answered.
"Actually, there is a mystery here. At first, I wanted to inform them of their father's death. However, when I arrived in Suna, it shocked me to see the Kazekage sitting on his chair in the Kazekage tower. I decided to talk to you first and flew right back to Konoha."
"So, you are saying you witnessed the Kazekage being murdered and then you saw the Kazekage sitting as usual in the Kazekage tower." Kagome watched as Aki nodded. 'A mystery indeed.' Looking at Aki, Kagome activated her doujutsu to look at what Aki has seen. It was not that she did not believe Aki but she had to ensure his statement. 'A Kazekage being the strongest shinobi in a village cannot be killed that easily, least by a woman.' In addition, Kagome knew the Kazekage of Village Hidden in the Sand was anything but weak.
Seeing the incident, Kagome sighed. 'What do the one who is behind this wants to achieve by killing the Kazekage? Moreover, why would they bother to let someone acts as the Kazekage? They could have Suna under their reign. Unless…Unless they want to start a war between the hidden villages.' Kagome deactivated her Kyohakugan. Kagome noticed Aki watching her warily. She looked at him and said.
"We will talk tomorrow and I will inform this to the Hokage." Before Aki turned and flew to Haku and the others, Kagome warned him.
"And Aki, no words to anyone." Nodding his head, Aki left Kagome. Kagome rubbed the bridge of her nose. 'Another problem…not only I have to deal with Itachi-san and Shisui-san's fan girls but have deal with this too.' Kagome stood and stared out of the window – thinking.
'If it is true that the Kazekage is dead, then how do I approach Gaara, Temari and Kankuro about this? Sure, the Kazekage was not always the loving father that one would wish, but he is their father nonetheless.' She watched as Naruto attacked Haku who jumped and landed behind Naruto - ready to attack. Naruto reminded her of Gaara. Their situations were similar to each other. Both were shunned by the own village for being a jinchuuriki.
While Naruto was still open to other people, Gaara closed his heart from everyone. He did not trust anyone – not even his own siblings. Gaara's carefree attitude left him when the person he trusted betrayed him. It took her more than a few months to gain his trust. Eventually Gaara began to open up to her. He had even smiled – through a barely noticeable one – at her upon her departure. Kagome smiled at the memory. She had given Gaara her flute as a reminder of the friendship before she left Suna.
Kagome bolt up sensing that someone was watching her. Kagome frowned. Something was wrong here. She scanned the area and looked out for intruders. She even let her aura flare but couldn't detect an evil aura. She narrowed her eyes but gave in. 'Maybe it was just some kind of joke by those fan girls.' Kagome paid no more attention to this. Then she opened the window and called Haku and Naruto for dinner.
\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/
Sitting under the moonlight near a river, Kagome enjoyed the silence. The moon show brightly tonight – romantically. What could have been better to sit under the beautiful moonlight and enjoy the presence of your soul mate? 'Nothing, I guess. ...I have never had a boyfriend before to feel those emotions. I wonder how it feels to have someone love you.' She sighed sadly.
Standing there for a while and looking at the moon, she felt at ease. She was content. She took the flute from the pouch and began to play on it. It has been long since she last played on one. Music has always soothed her when she was angry. While playing one the flute she closed her eyes to enjoy the rhythm and the melody.
In the back of her mind, she had notice an aura approaching her. She recognised the aura right away. It belonged to a certain person – a man to be exactly. The man that made her heart beat faster and faster whenever he was in distant. His presence only built up the fire in her veins.
Kagome did not stop playing and continued to wait for him. With him just standing there and listening to her play, it made her heart beat faster. It was difficult to concentrate on the flute but she did try to calm her racing heart. Kagome silenced her play and sat there waiting for him to approach. When he stood near her, she looked up at him with a smile.
\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/
Itachi walked his way to the river where he usually came to relax after a hard and stressful day or mission. He was not aware that someone was there before him. Nearing his destination, he heard a soft sound of a flute. He wanted to growl at the person who dared to come here but stopped when he saw who it was. It was her – Kagome Higurashi.
It had made his heart stopped beating – not that it has beat before – when she has told him and his cousin about her encounter with jealous fan girls. He nearly went berserk when he heard those foolish girls called her names. He had wanted to kill those foolish people in a painful way. It had shocked when the thought run through his mind. Of course, he had scoffed at the thought. He – Itachi Uchiha had never lost his indifference before and certainly not now, because of a girl he barely knew.
The girl was ordinary yet it seemed she was not. The girl who woke up emotions in him he thought long forgotten. She was the reason why he wanted to strangle his cousin whenever his cousin spoke her name aloud when he could not. He had never felt such an urge before. If looks could kill then Itachi was sure his cousin had died and return to life more than once. He raised elegantly an eyebrow. Did he really want to kill his cousin? 'Of course not, he is family.' He scoffed at his ridiculous thought of wanting to kill a family member.
He continued to walk then stopped next to a tree and enjoyed her play. She continued as if she did not notice him. It gave him time to study her. While he was not fond of his opposite sex but he could appreciate beauty where he saw it. Under the moonlight, she seemed to glow more than before. She just looked …breathtaking like that – playing the wonderful sound under the moonlight.
Her skin shimmered under the light and he wondered what it would felt like to touch her, to trail his finger on her skin and to have a taste of her. Staring at her, he began to feel his blood heat. Itachi could not help but felt like a horny teenager. He shook his head to clear his mind. Before that, he had to slap himself mentally – hard.
When she stopped to play and just sat there. His muscles tensed. Did she notice his presence? He wanted her to stay. However, Itachi was not sure but that did not hinder his feet to take him to her. When he stood next to her, she turned her sky-blue eyes at him and smiled. His breath hitched at the look she gave him. It made harder to breath when she smiled gently at him – it was not easy to breath when he study her before – but now it seemed like a painful thing to do.
"Good evening, Itachi-san." She greeted him. He felt a spine ran down his spine when she said his name but he brushed it aside. He considered ignoring her. However, his mouth thought otherwise.
"Good evening …Higurashi-san." Her smile grew wider and there was that twinkle in her eyes.
"Please just Kagome is fine."
"Hn." Silence fell between them. He felt awkward. He never had a conversation with the opposite sex before – well except with his mother. He did not know what to say – not that he was a man of word before. With her, he wanted to talk but he did not know about what. He suppressed a sigh that threatened to leave.
The girl suddenly stood and he felt his heart tighten. Did she want to leave him? When she gazed at the moon, Itachi decided not to question his relief at her actions.
"It is beautiful, isn't it?" She asked instead of turning to him she continued to look at the moon.
"Yes." He agreed but it was not the moon he found beautiful but her. He was still staring at her profile and suddenly he heard her beaten beat faster. Slowly, but clearly under the moonlight he noticed her cheek began to redden. In the corner of his mouth he fought against a smirk that was began to form on his lips. He was satisfied to know that he had caused this and not his cousin.
"I have never got a chance to enjoy such a beautiful thing like this before." She told him.
"Is it so?" She did not answer but smiled at him – if not sadly. 'She is hiding something.' Still looking at her, he waited for her to tell him why. She seemed to know what he wanted and changed the topic.
"How are Shisui-san and your brother?" He tensed at mentioning of his cousin. He disliked hearing other males' names on her lips.
Suddenly he froze, blinking. Even since he met her, he had been acting strange. He even got jealous of his cousin. At that time, he reasoned that because he usually was the one people paid attention to – not that he wanted it – and he acted in his state of shock.
When the second time he met her, it felt different. He even liked the way she spoke his name and smiled. He was pleased and didn't even bother asking why he was. Then he was boiling with rage when other girls called her names.
'She neither belongs to me nor is she my girlfriend. So how is that I acted as I did?' Not having an answer for that question, he decided to think about it later when he was alone in his room and turned his attention to the female in front of him again.
"Shisui is fine, so is Sasuke." Itachi answered.
"I see." She stepped back and he fought to step closer to her. She bit on her bottom lip and he forced himself not to look at it, not to imagine what they tasted and…. 'Uchiha come back to your sense now.' He demanded of himself.
"I...it was nice talking to you… but it is time for me …to go. Uhm… have a good night." She told Itachi and bowed politely then she turned to left.
If not for him then he was sure that the girl would kiss the ground. When she turned to left – and he didn't like it at all – she stumbled over her own feet and he caught just in time before she landed on the ground. He had grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his chest. When he got a hold of her, he felt her aura prickled on his skin. He shivered – not that he would admit it of course. He could feel the heat of their bodies through the layers they both wore.
Holding her close, he felt some of what promised to be a perfect chest. With a tremendous effort, he fought not to swallow. He felt her shiver in his arms. Her heartbeats fasten, it literally thumped against her chest and she turned beef-red. Itachi – not wanting his control to get the best of him – let go of her.
"I…Uh…Thank you. I-I will take my leave now." She stammered and dashed away.
He stood there, watching her running away from him. After she was out of his sight, he allowed himself the sigh he has been holding. Looking at the water – shimmering in moonlight – he thought about how his parents would react if they know were to know about his behaving towards the girl.
'Father would scowl at me for behaving like that. On the other hand, mother would surely and happily approve and support me.' Shaking his head, he grimaced. His mother on occasion had asked if there was a girl, who might have woken up his interest. He had always answered her 'no' – for he had no time for that.
He chuckled when he thought how his mother would react if he were to tell her about the female that has caught his interest. She sure would be delighted at the news, telling him it is great to finally have grandchildren to spoil.
Itachi remained next to river for about half an hour later before he too, left. It was when he noticed her flute. 'It must be dropped from her hand as she fell.' He picked it up, tucked in his pouch, and went home.
\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/\-\-\-/-/-/ \-\-\-/-/-/
Notes: I don't know what to say about this chapter. However, I hope you will enjoy and reward me with your lovely reviews. Ja ne!