Summary

Being a stealthy ninja has its perks. It also scares people sometimes. Itachi learns this the hard way...

A/N: Oh M' God. Nearly 200 reviews... I'm gonna do that fainting thing again. It seems to happen when I hit close to that hundred mark. Mwahaha! Here we go! -faints- On another note, a really fast update, if I do say so myself. Now I'm about to be stuck again. Oh joy...

So here we have another moment in Kagome and Itachi's fledgling relationship. I had fun with this one. It was very cute to me. And mostly believable. It seems to me that these fairly small ones are easier to do than the huge long ones. Anyways, please enjoy!

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Muttering under his breath about ridiculous team mates and screaming blondes in general, Itachi quietly closed the window and padded in the direction that he could hear Kagome puttering around.

'Sound's like she's in the kitchen.' He turned the corner and had to keep from snarling in annoyance. Kagome was up on a ladder, precariously balancing herself on the top step, while trying to take down some heavy-looking dishes from a high shelf she wouldn't be able to reach normally.

'She'll kill herself that way! Or at least break something,' the former Clan heir thought, cringing at the possibility of the young priestess breaking anything; especially bones. With that thought firmly in place, he moved forward to try and help her.

"You couldn't wait until I got here, could you?" he asked, his glare melting into horror when she slipped and flailed. His stomach bottomed out in fear and he shot forward to catch her on pure instinct.

Kagome shrieked in alarm and tumbled backwards off the ladder, throwing the dishes in the air in her attempt to find something to grab on to. Nothing touched her fingers and she began her descent to the floor, anticipating the painful meeting with her tile.

The priestess felt air rush through her hair as Itachi caught her awkwardly in his arms. Unfortunately, her plates didn't fare so well. They crashed to the floor, shattering into tiny glass slivers. She hardly paid attention to them; what with the former heir cradling her to him like a porcelain doll. As though she would break just as easily as her plates.

"Next time," the Uchiha huffed into her ear, "ask for help."

Kagome blushed and avoided the incredulous stare the dark-haired male graced her with.

"But-!"

"No! You could have avoided this entire situation if you weren't so stubborn," he interrupted her, carefully stepping around the glass and carrying her to the den while surreptitiously checking for any injuries on the clumsy girl.

"Should you really be carrying me? I mean, you were just sick recently, and I'm-!"

"Do you really think me that weak?" Itachi cut her off again, momentarily enjoying the fact that she squirmed in annoyance.

"No, I don't. I think you're very strong, Itachi," Kagome muttered, flushing in shyness at her rather bold statement, but still holding her gaze with the Uchiha. He nodded and secured his hold on her.

"As you should... You're not heavy, if that's what you're wondering." He could have punched himself for blurting that out. For some reason, females always seemed to worry about their weight; not to mention they got incredibly offended if you said anything about it. Especially kunoichi. And those girls knew how to hit hard. He thought Kagome was just fine the way she was.

'Way to earn yourself a beating, Uchiha. Real smooth.' He was sincerely hoping she wouldn't slap him. There was no way to block it unless he dropped her, and that would defeat the entire purpose of catching her.

"Well-! Then next time, don't scare me like that! I know you're a ninja and all, but some of us don't have super sensitive hearing and can't detect... whatever it is you're giving off!" she spluttered. She then swatted his shoulder in retaliation to the incredulous deadpan stare he gave her.

"Chakra. It's called chakra," the Uchiha corrected her softly, setting her on the couch when he was satisfied that she wasn't hurt.

"Yeah... that," Kagome muttered, flushing when he mussed up her hair and turned to head back into the kitchen, "Where are you going?"

"To clean up the mess you made," he replied, flipping his cloak onto the back of a chair and pushing up his sleeves, "and to buy you new dishes. It is somewhat my fault that you dropped them."

Kagome gaped after him as he disappeared.

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A/N: Sorry it's so short, but I felt that was a good stopping point. Sometimes the little things help, right? Anyways, please review and let me know what you think!

Also! I put up a poll. My first one ever. So give me some feedback on that please?