Chapter 21

Things have been different since Itachi left for his mission several weeks ago. The days were longer, I had practically nothing to do, and everything was simply boring. It saddened me, being away from him. However I didn't want the others to know that, so whenever they were around I faked a smile so they wouldn't be suspicious. I kept most of my thoughts to myself. When I was alone I would mumble to myself, which was something I did normally.

"Hey Chicky," Kikuhana greeted, leaning over the table I was sitting at. I lifted my head from my hand.

"Huh? What?" I asked, snapping out of my daze.

"I'm totally bored and there's nothing to do." She stated with a bored expression written on her face. I stared at her for a moment.

"Go bug Sasori or Kisame." I told her, resting my chin in my palm.

"I already did," Kiku replied almost immediately. "And because Deidara isn't here I can't annoy him. So let's go shopping." This caught my interest.

"Shopping?" I questioned.

"Yeah, we haven't done it in forever, come on." My sister took my wrist and started dragging me towards the exit. I let Kikuhana lead the way to wherever we were going. Knowing her she must have planned this out days ago. As we walked through the forest Kikuhana rambled on. I wasn't paying that much attention to what she was saying. I only listened enough so I could answer any questions she threw my way.

"Ok sissy, we're here." Kiku announced. While we walked through the streets of the small town, I noticed it felt oddly familiar. I decided not to let it bother me and kept walking. Kiku and I went into about three different stores, trying stuff on. We bought a few things from each store. We mostly wore our ninja clothes so we didn't buy much. I was glad that my sister decided for us to go out today. I had been feeling so gloomy for the past few weeks, and staying cooped up inside that cave wasn't helping much. I always had fun with my sister, wherever we were. A girls day out was what I needed to help get my mind off things. Kikuhana and I finished eating and we continued to explore the town. Something caught my eye. I stopped in the middle of the street and stared at a restaurant.

"What are you looking at?" Kiku asked me, her gaze following mine.

"Nothing, it's just…something about that place, it seems so, familiar." I explained hesitantly. Kikuhana studied the building for a minute.

"Uh, we've never been there. At least I don't think." She said in an unsure tone.

"Whatever, let's just keep going." I said shaking my head. Kiku shrugged and started walking again. As I followed my sister I couldn't help but wonder why I couldn't shake this feeling of déjà vu; and then it hit me. This town was the same place Itachi took me on our first date. I stopped in my tracks. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach and my throat tightened up to the point where I could barley breathe. I began coughing loudly. I held onto my throat and I tried to catch my breath in between coughs.

"Are you ok?" Kiku asked alarmed as she rushed to my side.

"No," I choked out. She pressed the back of her hand against my cheek.

"You're pretty warm." She confirmed. "Did you catch a cold?" She asked.

"I think so." I lied. I wasn't sick; I knew what was wrong with me. It was because Itachi was away that I couldn't breathe.

"Come on, let's go back." Kiku said, guiding me along the way.

Once we arrived back at the Akatsuki, the medical ninja in Kikuhana kicked in and she made me take a nap. I didn't argue with her. I went inside of my room and lied down on the bed. It wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep.

I wasn't quite sure where I was. Everything was dark and I could only see about two steps in front of myself. I walked through the emptiness, thinking I would find something or someone if I walked. The only sound I heard was my footsteps echoing. I saw a faint light in the distance. I walked closer to it until I saw a figure standing there alone. It was Itachi.

"Itachi!" I shouted in delight as I walked closer to him. He didn't seem to hear me. I took a few more steps forward until I was another figure standing straight across from Itachi. I didn't recognize the other person at first, and yet he seemed extremely familiar. My eyes locked on the person until I realized that it was Sasuke. I stared at him in amazement. I understood why I didn't recognize him. He was older, stronger, and more power-hungry. Sasuke raised his hand and a blue ball of electricity formed in his hand. "He's using Chidori!" I gasped. Sasuke charged at Itachi with everything he had. "Itachi get out of the way!" I yelled, but Itachi didn't make a single movement. I kept yelling at him to run but he didn't hear me. My voice appeared muffled no matter how loud I raised my voice. Sasuke hit Itachi in the chest with Chidori, making blood trickle down to the floor. My eyes widened in horror. "NO!" I screamed on top of my lungs as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but I wasn't moving. No matter how fast I ran or how loud I screamed, I wasn't getting any closer, and my voice could not be heard. "No, Itachi, no!" I cried with tears flowing down my face. I dropped to the floor and cried. I could hear my name being called faintly in the distance.

"Hatone! Hatone, wake up! You're dreaming!" The voices started to become clearer.

I let out large gasp as I jolted up to a sitting position. My eyes were wide open and I was panting hard.

"Are you alright?" An alarmed voice asked. I snapped my head to the side to see Kikuhana, Sasori and Deidara all staring at me wide-eyed. I closed my eyes and let out a relieved sigh.

It was just a dream. I mentally told myself. "Yeah… yeah I think so." I responded calmer now that I knew what I just witnessed didn't happen.

"What did you dream about?" Sasori asked. I stared down at my hands which were still grasping the bed sheets. I slowly released my grip.

"I…I don't remember. I forget the moment I woke up." I lied.

"Are you sure about that?" Sasori questioned.

"Yeah," I lied again. "Why?" I asked.

"Because you were crying, hmmm." Deidara pointed out. I looked up at him with a puzzled expression. I lifted my hand to my face and felt my cheek which was wet. I pulled my hand back and I watched the teardrop on my fingertip roll down to the center of my palm. It was very rare when I would cry in my sleep, but it has happened before. I wasn't sure why but it felt strange.

"Well nothing bad happened and that's all that matters." Kikuhana said. The room was silent for a moment. I looked up at Deidara.

"When did you get back?" I asked him.

"Like five minutes ago. The first thing that happened to me when I got back was your sister dragging me in here to wake you up because she thought you were dying. Hmmm." He explained dryly.

"I never said she was dying." Kiku muttered while sending a small glare at Deidara. She focused her attention back to me. "Come on, I'll get you something to eat." She stood up. I tossed the covers off and got to my feet. "I suppose I should feed the rest of you too." She muttered.

"It's not like we can't cook for ourselves. How do you think we survived before you came along, hmmm?" Deidara asked sarcastically.

"To be honest I don't know. You can not cook." Kiku commented.

"Oh it's not that bad! Don't be over dramatic, hmmm." Deidara said becoming annoyed.

The four of us made our way towards the kitchen. Kikuhana and Deidara started arguing on who could cook and who couldn't. I was walking behind them, hoping that Itachi would be back from his mission soon. I couldn't stand being away from him any longer.