A/N: I should probably be doing homework right now since I have so freaking much of it—in fact, I have an essay to write in the next few hours—but I can't bring myself to do it. So, here I am, writing once again to my readers. And, I also want to write this chapter! But, I still don't know what I'm going to write, so we'll see. I don't like to plan. Planning is for squares! No, just kidding. But, it's not me.
Chapter 13: Complicated Affairs
It was two months after the massacre.
She was in a village somewhere out in the desert. Everything seemed to be sculpted out of rock, carved through the sand. The village seemed to have been dug out from the desert floor carefully in such a way that none of the buildings or homes would collapse under stress.
The sun shone hot outside. It was mid-afternoon.
She was wearing a simple fishnet shirt over bindings with a fitting black jacket that was left open. The inner parts of the jacket were a deep scarlet, and on the back was the symbol of a crescent moon that curved around a filled in circle, also scarlet. The Higurashi clan symbol, well, what once was the Higurashi clan symbol. For pants, she sported an easy to move in black short skirt with slits up the sides. Under the skirt she had on black fishnet shorts that hugged her upper thighs and ended a few inches before the knees.
She was walking through the streets, looking for something. What, she wasn't sure. But she couldn't seem to find whatever it was that she wanted.
"Kagome!" An older girl called her name, catching her attention and causing her to look over to where her name had come from.
The older girl had blonde hair which was gathered into four short pigtails, two on each side of her head. She had the Sunagakure hitai-ate tied around her neck and a plain, dusty white short dress on with a thick sash tied around her waist, the ends hanging down from the knot and reaching as far down as her knees.
The blonde was pushing her way over to Kagome who stood and waited for her to catch up before she started looking for whatever she was looking for once again.
"Hi, Temari." She greeted, smiling. Temari kept pace with her and they walked as they talked.
"Hey, what are you looking for?" The older of the two asked. Temari must have been twelve, three years older than Kagome was at the time. Her younger brother, Kankuro, was eleven, and then there was the youngest brother, Gaara. He was nine, the same age as Kagome. Although, for some reason not yet known to Kagome, people tended to avoid the subject of the youngest of the Sand Siblings. And if his name was mentioned, harsh and unkind words were usually quickly whispered to follow.
"Nothing, I just thought I might find something interesting." Now, that had been a lie because she had been looking for something, but Temari didn't seem to pick up on it.
"Oh! Sounds fun. I came out because I wanted to get Kankuro something for his birth—" She stopped midsentence, her bright green eyes locked on something, or rather someone, who was making their way through the streets.
Kagome noticed the people that were on the streets move a little to the sides as if trying to stay as far away from that someone as they could.
That someone was Gaara, youngest son of the Kazekage. His messy, intense red hair seemed to glow in the streets. His icy blue-green eyes were blank and emotionless.
Sand swirled around his feet, ready to lash out at anyone and anything. He clearly was not in a good mood.
Kagome found the boy interesting, though. Perhaps it was her own pain that drew her to him, but something about him intrigued her. And, she knew that while she had suffered, her suffering was nothing like his. That fascinated her more.
Gaara paused before his sister and the girl his age that had just recently come to Suna. He had to admit, the dark haired girl was different from everyone else. But he couldn't figure out why without in some way interacting with her. And that was something he did not plan to do. That was frustrating. So seeing her only caused his temper to flare even more.
His fists clenched.
"Temari." He acknowledged his sister in the same manner as always before moving on. While his steps were even, his heart was pounding, his senses alert. He needed blood.
Temari was staring at the space her little brother had just stood, well, more like glaring. Temari hated him. Hated the fear he had placed in her. And she hated her younger brother because he was a monster. She wished that he had never been born. Because then it would just be her and Kankuro.
Kagome only stared at Gaara's back as he walked away, her eyes locked on his form.
'Gaara, third born of the Kazekage, you are truly a mystery.'
Early morning. The faint birds chirping could be heard from the open window in Kagome's room. A cool draft seeped through, and the sleeping girl shivered before snuggling up further into the warm presence next to her.
Light shone through the room, the cool light that made everything seem frozen and blue, just before sunrise. A pair of eyelids fluttered open to reveal crimson eyes. The owner of these eyes turned his head to the left to see the small body pressed against his, hands curled up and pressed close to her chest. Her head rested on his upper arm, using it as a makeshift pillow.
He was lying on his back, exactly as when he had gone to sleep, though he found himself more to the center of the futon than he remembered. Gently with his right arm, the one not being used as a pillow, he brushed some of the stray locks of hair from the girl's face.
Her lips were slightly parted and she looked even smaller and younger lying next to him. He felt as if she were a fragile object, something that he could break too easily, and he feared that if he moved he would do just that. So, he stayed there, his relaxed, lazy eyes memorizing every gentle curve of her face and every elegant eyelash that rested on the soft skin under her eyes. He took in her small lips and her serene expression, forcing himself to remember her like this, exactly as she was now.
She was beautiful. Not in the womanly way, not yet, but rather a growing, warming beauty. She was graceful, nothing awkward about her, a flowing smoothness.
While she might have a different, more aggressive and feral beauty when she was fighting or determined, it was undeniable that she was beautiful.
Itachi saw as she opened her exotic eyes, the blues and grays creating the calm of the sky after a storm. She yawned before using her fisted hands to rub at her eyes, clearing her vision.
"Gaara?" She asked, still half asleep. And then, she realized what she had just done.
Now, that was not something Itachi had been expecting her to say. In fact, anything other than another male's name would have been fine. But, she had said it clearly, and it could not be unsaid.
His brow creased and the corners of his lips slightly turned downwards.
"Gaara?" He questioned. He didn't even know who Gaara was! And, after comforting her last night, he was frustrated. He had hugged her! Itachi Uchiha didn't hug people or let them cry on his shoulder! And here she was saying someone else's name.
"Oh," Kagome was ashamed in herself for doing that. It was Itachi who had been there for here, and here she was talking about someone from months ago. Stupid barely covered what she was feeling at the moment.
Neither knew what to say, they only stared intently into each other's eyes. Itachi was slightly hurt, he had to admit. Of course, it wasn't like he liked Kagome, but still, it had hurt. And Kagome, Kagome just didn't know what to do or say.
Kagome finally broke the silence.
"Itachi," she started. He had been the one lying next to her last night, and the first thing she had said when she woke up was Gaara. The least she could do was say sorry, right? "I…I'm sorry. It was a dream…I used to know him."
That had to hurt even more. Itachi knew she was too young to really be involved with anyone. So it wasn't that which bothered him. Rather, it was knowing that she had other boys in her life, other people who she felt strong ties to. Of course, he wasn't sure why that bothered him. But it did. And he didn't like it.
Kagome on the other hand was almost wincing at how awful her words sounded. But then again, one wasn't in this situation every day.
And, while she did feel bad about it, it was just a dream, and Gaara was someone that she had known. Also, it wasn't like Itachi was anything more than a friend. Really, he wasn't even technically her friend. Last night had been their only real, not businesslike interaction. She wasn't counting the hot springs. That was not real interaction.
"It's fine," he finally said, bringing Kagome back out of her thoughts.
Itachi would let it go for now. As much as he didn't like it, he would forget about it. Or, at least he would try to.
With a small regretful smile, Kagome got off of the futon. She went over to her closet, expecting Itachi to get the message that she wanted to get dressed.
Of course, he didn't move. 'Figures' she thought to herself.
She selected her clothing before finally saying something, though.
"Do you want to watch me get dressed?" It was more sarcastic the way she said it, and Itachi knew that.
"Is that an offer?" That made Kagome look over at him and smirk. Itachi only returned the smirk with one of his own.
"You wish." Kagome would play along, as long as he got out before she started to get dressed.
"Fine, I'll turn around. Is that acceptable?" Itachi really didn't want to move. He was comfortable on the futon, and honestly, he'd already seen her, so, what did it matter? But, he wasn't about to point that out.
"Turn around and close your eyes. And cover them."
"Hn."
"You sound like Sasuke."
"Where do you think he picked that up from?"
"Whatever, just do what I said."
Itachi complied of course, not wanting to start some meaningless fight. But, that didn't mean that he didn't feel like a little child, covering his eyes as if he was playing a game of hide and seek and he was the seeker, counting to a hundred.
He could hear the rustling as she got dressed. And, it seemed like an eternity before she finally let him uncover and open his eyes.
"There, I'm done." She said. She had actually finished a few minutes ago, but it had been funny seeing the 'Great' Uchiha like that. She had to admit, he looked rather foolish.
Kagome was now wearing a simple black tank top and a pair of loose fitting shorts which ended at the knee.
Itachi found himself staring for no other reason then it was always weird seeing her wearing the Uchiha clan symbol. It didn't bother him, but it was just uncanny that a non Uchiha was even given the privilege to do so.
Kagome looked at him funny. "Um, did anyone ever tell you it was rude to stare?"
That snapped him back to the real world. With a slight scoff, he finally started to get off of her futon.
"I'm going to get dressed."
'I wonder if someone dropped him on his head when he was a baby.' Kagome had to admit, it seemed like it sometimes. 'He doesn't want to leave when I get dressed. Then he stares at me and declares in his almighty Uchiha voice that he's going to get dressed. Either he was dropped as a baby or has some really wacked motives for everything that he does.' That made her question how he was even ANBU captain at all.
"Okay, and if you see a flying pancake, make sure to tell someone." She said, holding back a snicker.
And Itachi only paused as he was walking to the door.
'What the hell does that mean? Wait, I don't even think I want to know.'
Sasuke was dressed and ready to get some breakfast. He could smell the food, the sweet aroma of his mothers cooking coming from the kitchen.
However, he wasn't quite distracted enough to not notice as his brother appeared in the hallway having come out of Kagome's room.
Itachi only looked at Sasuke, a blank and intimidating stare. And then, he left, gone too fast for Sasuke to see.
Hmmm, I don't know if I like this chapter. It kinda sucks. Anyway, I really wanted to bring Gaara and Temari into this. Kankuro will come in later, too. Eventually, I think I'll do a time skip. But that's not coming yet. So, enjoy this crappy chapter! Cause, I've got an English essay to write!
-Lian