Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter summary: a break in, a date, a flashback, some secrets, and a lost bet… lol… I'm not much for summaries.
Thanks for the reviews
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
It was around midday, and Itsu had just finished her last class at the academy. Tsunade had requested that she teach a few medic courses in place of taking missions. Itsu had wanted to be of some use to the village, but because her memory had not yet fully returned, the hokage couldn't risk her going out on missions and possibly recalling some traumatic event during the course; she had reasoned that if that were to happen, Itsu could be a danger to herself and her comrades, not to mentioned jeopardizing the mission. So instead, she had been assigned to teach different level medic course's, from basic to intermediate and advanced. Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's apprentice, had been assigned as her assistant. Though the girl was much younger than Itsu, and far less experienced, she had proven to be an invaluable asset to the classes, having mastered most of the medic techniques in a short span of time. Together, the two kunoichi taught academy students, genin, chunin, and new jonin, alike.
As Itsu approached the Godaime's office, she heard a loud commotion, and decided to walk in through the open doors instead of waiting to be called in. Inside, she saw Tsunade throwing stacks of files and papers all over the room, as Shizune followed behind, trying her best to keep things organized. To the right of the two women, Kakashi and Genma stood stiffly, as if wondering whether to leave before they too joined the stacks of papers and the hokage decided to toss them around.
"Excuse me?" Itsu called out from the door way. Everyone immediate turned to face her.
"Itsu?" Tsunade looked at her questioningly, "what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I came to turn in some reports on the progress of the class." Itsu explained, scanning the room for some sort of explanation as to why the hokage had gone on a rampage. "But I can come back, if you're busy." She offered.
"No, it's fine." Tsunade sighed, as she moved over to her chair and sat down. "We're just having some problems."
"What kind of problems?" Genma asked, having been wondering what the whole scene had been about since he and Kakashi had entered the office five minutes earlier.
"Someone broke into the Hokage's office." Shizune explained.
"And they did all this?" Kakashi asked, arching his one visible eyebrow questioningly.
"Well… no." Shizune began, "not exactly."
"Everything was spotless." Tsunade finally said. "Exactly the same as I left it last night."
"Then what makes you think someone broke in?" Itsu asked, wondering what could have tipped her off.
"My chair." Tsunade replied.
"You're chair?" Genma, Kakashi, and Itsu asked in unison.
"Yes." Tsunade explained, "It was half an inch higher then I left it."
"Half an inch?" Genma and Kakashi repeated, their eyes having grown to twice their size because of the shock. Itsu merely stood silently, amazed that the Godaime could have noticed such a slight discrepancy.
"And so how did everything…" Genma began, before he realized that the mess in the office was probably made by the hokage herself. "Never mind." He mumbled.
"So Itsu, how are the medic courses going?" Genma turned to face his former teammate.
"They're going well, thanks for asking." She replied. Remembering why she had come to the office in the first place, she walked over to Tsunade's desk and handed her the reports she's come in with.
"How is Sakura doing?" Kakashi asked from behind her.
"She's doing well." Itsu turned to face the masked shinobi. "She's very skilled; you both must be very proud of her." She addressed Kakashi and Tsunade.
"She is very talented." Tsunade agreed.
"And she's always been very bright." Kakashi added.
"Well, I should be going now." Itsu said, "Kurenai and Anko are probably waiting." She began walking out before turning back, "Shizune weren't you going to come too?"
"Ummm…" Shizune looked around the room dreadfully.
"Go!" Tsunade ordered, "Take your lunch, I have to get Kakashi and Genma's mission report anyway. I'll send for Kotetsu and Izumo to come in here and clear things up."
"Ok." Shizune said, relieved she wouldn't have to clean up the mess. She began walking towards the door with Itsu.
Just as they were about to leave again, Itsu turned, "By the way," she asked, "Did you discover what they were looking for?"
"Who?" Tsunade asked.
"Whoever broke in." Itsu replied.
"No." Tsunade shook her head. "The place was spotless. We even checked the surveillance tapes, and nothing. Whoever it was… did a good job of hiding their tracks. I don't think there are more than a handful of shinobi in the village who could be that thorough."
"Oh." She replied, before making her way back towards the exit.
"Itsu!" a voice called out, causing her to turn back around.
"Yes, Kakashi?" she asked.
"um…" he nervously stroked the side of his face with one finger, "Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?" he finally asked, much to the surprise of the silver haired kunoichi and the three other ninja present in the room with them.
"Sure." She smiled reassuringly, "pick me up at 7." At that, the two women finally walked out.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
6:57. Itsu finished brushing her hair as she looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed. Even though he only lived a few doors down in the jonin dorms, Itsu was sure she still had plenty of time before Kakashi came to pick her up. With three minutes before seven, Itsu's nerves began acting up. She wasn't sure why, but ever since she'd agreed to dinner, she had been unable to think of anything else; and she was getting quite nervous.
A sudden knock at the door jarred Itsu out of her thoughts. She walked over to the door, before quickly glancing back at the clock; 6:59.
"You're early." She said as she opened to door to find Kakashi on the other side.
"Am I?" he asked, causally scratching his head with his left hand, while his right hand was held behind his back.
"Well, no, but…" she noticed he was hiding something behind his back, "I expected you to be late." She finished mechanically, eyeing his right arm curiously, wondering what he might be hiding.
"I could leave and come back later if you want." He offered jokingly.
"No." she smiled, "No, it's okay. I'm ready." She turned around and grabbed a thin sweater to take with her. It had been a bit chilly with the scattered spring showers coming and going every so often. "So…" she asked as she turned back around after locking her door, "what's that behind your back?" she finally asked.
He sheepishly pulled forward his right arm and handed her the flowers he'd been hiding behind his back. It was a lovely arrangement of a dozen small five-petal blue flowers, with yellow centers. A flower that represented true love, but the name itself was what caught Itsu's attention… forget-me-not.
"Thank you." She smiled as she took the beautiful bouquet.
"Shall we go?" Kakashi offered his right arm, and she accepted, latching her left arm under his.
They walked through the streets until they arrived at the restaurant. Itsu hadn't been there yet, but she had heard from the other girls that Amatsuteien was the most romantic restaurant in the village. She didn't have time to think about the implications of what this might mean though, because as soon as she walked through the doors, she was violently engulfed by a feeling of nostalgia. (A/N: Amatsuteien is a word I made up, it's composed of two words: Amatsu, which means heavenly; and Teien, which means garden … so basically Amatsuteien means heavenly garden).
"I've been here before…" Itsu asked, somewhat in a daze.
"Yeah." Kakashi replied.
They were seated in a corner booth and told their meal would arrive soon. Itsu looked over at Kakashi, wondering what the waiter meant since they hadn't yet ordered.
"Don't worry." He replied, "I ordered ahead. I got your favorite." He smiled under his mask.
"Favorite?" she wondered, but shook her head for him to forget it. It had been happening often enough, especially with Kakashi, people would guess at her likes and dislikes; she concluded that it was probably due to the fact that they knew her already, even if she didn't remember it yet.
As they waited for their meal to arrive, Kakashi told Itsu about everything that had happened during the five and a half years that she'd been missing. She had heard from other people about the death of the third, as well as the attack of the village by Orochimaru, and the new alliance with the Sand, but hearing the stories from Kakashi added a new level to them; she almost felt like she had lived through those years in the village herself.
"So tell me." Kakashi began, "What did you do all those years?" there was a cautious tone to his voice, as if he feared the memories of what that question would bring up might break her.
"It was…" she paused to think for a moment, "cold." She finished.
"Cold?" he furrowed his brow, puzzled.
----------FLASHBACK----------
Nearly six years in the past, Itsu had awoken in the middle of a clearing, half her body still caught in the rushing river, while her upper half had landed on the wet river bank, next to a large boulder. It was the only thing that kept her from being pulled away by the river. As she stood up to exam her surroundings, she looked upon the river with terror. It was dyed in red, the color of blood. As she looked down upon herself and saw the tattered remains of what appeared to be her clothes, she noticed the cuts and bruises that covered her small frame. Her hair was matted against her scalp, both from the wetness of the river water, and the blood that had caked it to her skull.
As she continued to look around and wonder how she had ended up there, and in the condition that she found herself, it dawned on her; not only did she not know how or why she was where she was, she couldn't remember WHO she was. Her initial reaction was the panic. An urge to run or scream ran through her, but she resisted it. Instead she began picking up the scattered weapons she found laying on the forest floor, figuring that whatever reason she found herself in her current state might require her to defend herself.
As she began wandering the forest in her state of near undress, she wondered again what had happened. What could have possibly have caused her to end up out there in the middle of nowhere, covered in blood, and half dead. She tried to remember who she was and what had happened, but only succeeded in giving her self a migraine. As she walked further down the river, figuring that down would be safer, though upstream might provide her with answers, she saw a village in the distance. She decided to seek help in the village, telling herself that she could always go back upstream at a later time to find the answers she sought; but that never happened. By the time she returned to the river, the stream had been cleared away all her blood, and the river flowed from many directions; too many to follow, and considering the cuts had already begun to heal, she was uncertain how far she had actually drifted down; perhaps for hours, maybe even days.
Entering the remote village, she was greeted with terrified, concerned, and bewildered expressions. An older woman eventually came up to her and offered her something to cover herself with. She took Itsu back to her home and offered the lost girl a shower, fresh clothes and a warm meal, which Itsu all too happily accepted. Itsu remained in the village for many weeks, helping the old woman around the house and taking odd jobs in the village, as she attempted to piece together what little evidence there was of that day she walked out of the river. For many weeks all her attempts at discovering who she was and where she'd come from had led her to dead ends. Eventually she gave up and decided to take a different approach. She discovered she was considerably faster, stronger, and more strategic in her thinking then the rest of the villagers. Someone suggested that perhaps she came from a shinobi village. Since she had taken quickly to and become adept at using the weapons she had picked up that day by the river, she concluded that perhaps that was a fair assessment, and decided she would go to one of those villages and see if she found more clues to her past.
She had gone in search of herself, but had ended up finding someone entirely frightening. She had done things to survive that no one should ever have to do; seen things no one should ever have to see; felt things no one should ever have to feel. She became the demon she had not known she carried; gave into it's instincts to survive. She had become a ghost in the world; selling her talents and skills to earn a living. She became a mercenary, a spy, a murderer, and it had all been for not; she was no closer to discovering her truth than she had been that day by the river.
But all that changed one day, when she spotted an eerily familiar face. He had been walking through the village she was currently residing in. The instant that she saw him, a chill ran down her spin. She felt a terror she had not felt since the day by the river, many years before. But combine with that chill, there was a fire burning in her; a rage swept through her and without even thinking, she attacked. They had been close to the village's edge, very near the forest, which provided cover and a place to hide, but the boy she met there didn't run or hide, he fought back. For what reason, Itsu had been unsure, but didn't care, she continued to fight, and she dominated him with her genjutsu and elemental ninjutsu. She had been close to throwing the final blow, when she realized… this wasn't who she thought it was; it couldn't be. Whoever she had confused the boy with, would have had to age during the time that she had been lost to herself, and to the world she had come from; but this boy looked far too young to be anyone who she could have known before. As the boy lay unconscious before her; hanging on to his life by sheer will, she took a glimpse into his mind. In it, she found a name, a village. She decided she owed him enough to take him home, and what's more, she saw something in his mind, a place she knew; perhaps a light onto that which she had long since begun doubting she would ever discover… truth.
----------END OF FLASHBACK----------
"So you essentially relearned everything?" Kakashi asked, rather impressed with this information.
"Basically." Itsu replied, "But..." she paused thoughtfully, "it was more then that… it was… primitive… instinctive… like the demon inside me was guiding me through it; helping me remember what I already knew." A look of sorrow swept across Itsu's face at the memories of all she had seen and done during her absence from the village hidden in the leaves came back to her, but she quickly shook it off, not wanting to ruin the mood.
"So…" Kakashi stalled, "during all those years, you didn't…"
"Didn't what?" Itsu eyed him curiously.
"Did you meet anyone?" he nervously asked.
"I met lots of people." She answered, watching him squirm slightly, "but if you mean, romantically" she smirked, "no." at that, he seemed to relax.
"Why not?" he wondered.
"I don't know…" she replied in a drab tone, "I guess, I was too busy searching for me, to find anyone else." She concluded.
"Makes sense." He shook his head lightly in understanding.
"Besides," she beguiled his interest once more, "I never met anyone who really caught my eye." She calmly said, looking deeply into his one visible eye.
"Oh?..." the masked shinobi leaned in, across the table.
"Yeah…" she replied, leaning in on her side as well.
Slowly, the two leaned in closer and closer to one another, closing the distance between them, as they stared into each other's gazes. And just as it appear liked their lips would connect, the waiter arrived with their dinner, causing Itsu to jump back, barely missing the tray next to her head.
"Shoot! So close" a disappointed voice said on the other side of the room.
"Pay up." Jiraiya extended his hand to the woman hiding in the shadows with him, watching the couple's date from across the room.
"Fine!" Tsunade paid the man what little she still had left, as she took another sip of the sake sitting in front of her. "but you know it was close."
"Nah." Jiraiya said, "she's not going to kiss him until she knows for sure what's going on."
"You so sure about that?" Tsunade asked skeptically.
Jiraiya merely nodded his head, as he took a bite of the food he's ordered earlier.
"I'm not so sure." Tsunade stated, "after all, she's on a date with the man. I think her attraction for him is undeniable. Even if she doesn't remember everything yet, she still feels what she's always felt for him."
"Maybe so, but I still don't think she'd do anything. She's always been a very cautious girl." Jiraiya continued to eat his meal.
"Love can make even the most cautious person, do the most reckless things." Tsunade mused.
"So double or nothing?" Jiraiya smirked.
"You're on!" The two shook on it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
A/n: this chapter's good too… lol… I love it. I seem to get all my best ideas in the shower or right when I'm about to fall asleep… I should shower and nap more often… lol…
This is my longest chapter so far… for any of my stories. It's hard to get a chapter this long out in one day, but when the idea's flow, it's nice.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. There's a lot of explanation, and some foreshadowing of sorts (especially in the first scene, though I'm not sure if it's all that obvious, still I kind of like it that way).
Please review and tell me what you think… but be kind, because I worked really hard on this chapter and I really like it. Thanks. Also… I've noticed there are a lot more hits on this story then I would have expected considering I took off all the tags to it (essentially making it a sort of hidden story). I'm curious; for those that haven't been reading it since I started, how exactly are you finding this story?
One more thing… lol… I have no idea how Kakashi would kiss with his mask on, but I don't really want him walking around the village without it… I'll remove the mask only in private, but that'll be in a chapter later on in the story…
Oh and babygurl1012, that scene with Jiraya/Kakashi or Jiraiya/Itsu (haven't decided) I promised you is coming up soon enough, I just haven't worked out exactly how I'm going to do it yet, but I definitely plan on including it. :D