Wolf Thief

Chapter 21: Arguments

Aiyana glared at the Uchiha sitting calmly on the rock. She only had one day left to master the technique and they both knew she had a long way to go. "If you're going to sit there then you may as well give me advice."

Itachi sighed and walked up to her. "Focus your chakra." She raised a brow questioningly but did as instructed. "Now hold the amount you have. Don't add or release any of it." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and did as he said waiting for his next instruction. He didn't give any. After a minute she popped open an eye curious as to why he'd stopped talking. "You released some. Start over again."

"Wait, what? What are we even doing? I thought I was supposed to be walking on water!" she snapped at him.

His red eyes looked up at her. "You cannot walk on water if you cannot keep a constant amount of chakra. Do it again."

Her face flushed but she folded her hands together again and repeated the process. Itachi made her keep going until she could hold a constant amount for fifteen minutes. Once she was able to do so, he gave her permission to attempt to walk on the lake's surface.

Aiyana nodded, spread her chakra over her feet, and stepped onto the surface. She stayed up. Grinning, she took another step and still didn't fall in. Looking forward, she noted the rock and decided to go for it. About half way there, she head Itachi call out, "Aiyana-chan." And then her concentration was gone and she fell underneath the surface.

For a second she panicked, knowing that if it was too deep then she'd end up drowning, but her feet found the rocky bottom and she managed to push her head up. The water came up to her chest and she was just glad that she wasn't completely submerged.

"Damnit, Itachi-san, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

He waited for her to wade out of the water before addressing the question. "I did. Your concentration still needs work."

Aiyana glared at him and muttered obscenities under her breath while ringing out the bottom of her shirt. "You could have drowned me!" she shouted at him after a minute. "You know I can't swim!"

"The lake doesn't go deeper than five feet until you pass the rock." Itachi indicated at the rock she had been attempting to reach.

"Oh," Aiyana muttered under her breath. "But still! Now I'm soaked!"

Itachi stared at her with an expression clearly saying 'whose fault is that?' The thief swore again and walked back to the lake. Her anger, though, made it harder for her to concentrate and she couldn't keep the constant amount of chakra like Itachi had taught her to do.

"Perhaps you should give up. At the rate you're going at, you'll never master the technique by tomorrow."

Aiyana sighed and looked back at the Uchiha. "I can't abandon Mingan here."

Itachi caught the tired note in her voice. She was probably cold and hungry as well. As if to prove his point, she sneezed twice in row. Yet her hands clapped back together and she went for another go. Six steps into it and her left foot went under while her right was still on the surface. She groaned and let go of the chakra.

"Why not?"

"Why what?"

"Why not abandon him? It'd be easier for you to escape without the wolf hindering you."

Aiyana gaped at him. His suggestion was completely insane! Leave Mingan behind so she could escape? It was…it was…she didn't even have words for it! Did he not understand that Mingan was her companion? Even more than that, a friend?

"No, no, I can't do-" she sneezed unexpectedly "-that to him. I can't betray him like that!"

"Because abandoning him would be like how your father abandoned you," Itachi stated. He assumed that since she knew exactly how it felt like to abandoned she wouldn't want that pain inflicted on anyone else least of all a wolf that she had humanized.

Aiyana froze at his statement. Her eyes stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment too long before her mouth finally formed words. "What the fuck are you talking about Itachi-san? It's not like that all! That man never abandoned me 'cause he wasn't even there in the first place!"

Itachi noticed how the conversation had shifted to her non-existent relationship with her father. Even if she refused to admit, Adrik's lack of presence in her life had left a mark on her. "You never wondered where he was?"

"What the fuck, Uchiha?" she shouted at him. Apparently being questioned about her father wasn't something she liked. "If you get a beige colored trench coat and a nice top hat, you'll look like the fucking PI you're acting like!"

"So you did?"

Aiyana clenched her fists and attempted to hit him. He caught it with his sling-less hand and managed to twist her around before she could throw another punch at him. "Damn it! Let me go!"

If anything, Itachi's hand tightened. "How did it feel being abandoned like that?"

"If you want to know so badly, then why don't you ask Sasuke-kun?" Aiyana growled at him. He pulled her arm further up and she hissed in pain before continuing. "I mean, his brother, the brother that he loved so much went insane and murdered his entire family!" She could feel Itachi's glare on the back of her neck. Maybe his sharingan would set her on fire. "If you want to talk to someone about abandonment, then there you go! He's the perfect example! If it wasn't for his crazed obsession of murdering you, then I'm sure he would have committed suicide by now."

"Shut up, Aiyana-chan," Itachi ordered.

"Why should I? You obviously want to know what it feels like to be abandon and I want to know how it feels like to abandon. Is there a certain thrill to it that makes you feel warm inside? Did you just not want the responsibility?"

Itachi pressed a knife against her throat. "Be quiet."

She swallowed, feeling the metal brush her skin. "Perhaps you shouldn't act like a fucking PI then."

The knife moved away and he released her wrist. She quickly whirled around and took a step back. Itachi regarded her with red eyes before looking away. "You're right. I apologize; I did not mean to pry or offend you."

Aiyana glared at him as he got up and began to walk away. After a moment he paused, shrugged off his cloak and tossed it to her. She caught it and stared at his retreating back knowing that she should probably return the apology but was too angry to do so.

Ten minutes after he left, she decided to take a break and go to the kitchen. Her concentration was completely gone thanks to the argument they'd had. She picked up his cloak and slipped it on hoping it'd abate some of the sneezing. The cold cave air and her soaked clothes weren't exactly the best combination. She figured Itachi had noticed and that was the entire reason he had left her his cloak.

Stupid bastard! First he says and asks the most insulting questions, then apologies for saying those things, and then as an afterthought gives her a cloak so she wouldn't be cold. It confused her and it was frustrating! Frustrating Uchiha, that's what he was!

"So are they giving these cloaks out to everyone nowadays?"

Aiyana nearly jumped out of her skin and looked up to see Adrik heading towards her. She stopped in her tracks. "It's not mine."

"Itachi's then?" Adrik asked. There was a bit of a suggestive note behind his voice.

She felt her face grow warm. "Why would you think that?"

"You two spend quite a bit of time together. Everyone's noticed." She frowned. "Tell me, what have you two been doing together?"

"Training," she said quickly. It was only a half-lie. "Pain-sama wants me to steal that damn scroll from Konoha and Itachi-san just wants to make sure I won't get killed." She grinned at him, pulling the cloak closer to her body. "I am important to this organization; they don't want me dead."

"Yet," Adrik corrected with a gleam in his eyes. "Enjoy your 'training' sessions then."

She smiled as he walked by. "Oh, don't worry, I do."

She was going to regret adding that last part in; she just knew it. But she had felt the need to mock him in some way. Instead, she knew that she had just cast more suspicion on Itachi and herself. Not that she could ever have a relationship with the Uchiha; he was way older than her. No, wait, that was wrong. She frowned and thought back to the book she had read on the clan. There was a little more than a five year gap between Sasuke and Itachi if she remembered correctly. That mean Itachi was only seventeen or eighteen! There was only a two or three year gap between them, yet he acted like someone who has seen the worst of life.

Either way, with a gap that small between them it was more understandable why the other Akatsuki members would think there was something developing between them. Damn it all to the hell, she was so going to regret those last words of hers!

Her thoughts were disturbed by a disgustingly high pitch noise that came from behind a distinct orange swirled mask. The idiot moved fast and she was caught in his black clothed arms before she could escape out of his reach. "Ai-chan! How nice to see you again!"

"Yeah, you too, Tobi. Please let go."

Thankfully, the overgrown child released her and she scrambled to the other side of the counter where it would be near impossible for Tobi to grab her into one of his 'death hugs'. "Tobi thinks Ai-chan is worried. What happened?"

She was sure that if his swirled mask was off, then Tobi would be making a rather, pathetic pouty face in her direction. And did she really seem down? There's no way that idiot would be able to tell. "Don't be stupid." Well, she just asked the impossible of a natural born idiot. "I'm fine."

"'I'm fine,'" Tobi mimicked in a high pitched voice that she guessed was a mimic of her own. It sucked, of course. "Are the words people use when they aren't."

She rolled her eyes at his sudden sage like words and shifted in the stool. "Unfortunately I have no other words to express my feelings, so believe me or don't believe me. I don't care."

"Tobi doesn't," he chirped. "Please tell big brother Tobi what's wrong, Ai-chan!"

"Will you leave me alone if I do?" Aiyana sighed.

Tobi nodded his head vehemently. "Once Tobi cheers Ai-chan up, he will leave."

She nearly groaned, but instead buried her face in her hands and sighed. It was the best she was going to get, so she just shook her head. "Fine then, cheer me up."

"Tobi has to know what's bothering Ai-chan first." This time, she did groan. Why was the village idiot being so insisted on why she was troubled? Did it really matter all that much? "Ne, Ai-chan, what's wrong?"

"Tobi is annoying Ai-chan, that's what's wrong. Get lost, will you?"

"But Tobi still hasn't cheered Ai-chan up!"

That damn, daft, idiot! Were the words 'get lost' not enough for him? Well, apparently the only way to get rid of him was to tell him what he wanted to hear. "Fine, alright. I got in a fight with Itachi-san. That's all, Tobi. Now please leave."

He didn't leave. He just leaned closer from the other side of the counter. "A fight with Itachi-chan? Was it bad? Did he hurt you?"

Aiyana snorted. The idea of Itachi hurting her seemed absurd and she couldn't exactly explain why. "No, he didn't hurt me. He threatened to when I brought up his brother, but I doubt he would have hurt me." She sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair. "I don't even get why he got so defensive when I accused him of abandoning Sasuke anyways."

Tobi laughed. It wasn't a chuckle, but a full on laugh. She frowned at him. "What's so funny, Tobi-chan?"

"You accused Itachi of abandoning his brother," Tobi stated after a moment. He sounded normal, not childish or annoying, just normal. And smart. His new voice sent shivers up her spine.

"Because he did!" she snapped at him. "What else do you call it when you murder your family and leave your younger brother to face the world alone? What else could it be?"

Tobi chuckled darkly and she began to think that he knew more than he was letting on. Aiyana sighed again and looked at the wall. If it was abandonment then it didn't explain why Itachi reacted the way he did. Her eyes shifted to Tobi and his unusual responses. "What do you know about Itachi-san? Why do you find this whole thing funny?"

The masked member laughed again, this time far more wildly. "Ai-chan, Tobi knows that Itachi-chan is probably very angry at you right now." She could feel his grin. "You should apologize to him. It wouldn't do to lose your one good relationship in Akatsuki."

"Why the hell should I apologize to him?" she shouted at the laughing man's retreating back. "He's the one that started it all!"

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. Unfortunately Tobi was right. Itachi was the only person in Akatsuki who was treating her remotely kindly and she couldn't risk losing that. Plus he had already apologized; he obviously knew the entire argument was his fault. It couldn't hurt for her to say sorry to him. She did piss him off with the Sasuke comments.

But why did she piss him off? He shouldn't care about his brother anymore.

Wait a minute, he shouldn't care. That meant he still did care. He still cared about Sasuke. But why? Why care for Sasuke when he had murdered the rest of the family? Why even murder the rest of his family?

"Damnit!" she hissed. "I'm missing something!"

"Maybe you should apologize to the enigma before trying to solve it," Haka suggested. "Maybe he'll let something else slip when you talk to him again."

Aiyana hated the idea of apologizing to him. She shouldn't, after all, he already apologized for his part. But still…she guessed it was just a pride factor. Just get up and start walking.

"Maybe you should talk to him, Haka," Aiyana suggested.

Haka laughed. "Apologize to him first and then maybe I'll try and get some more information out of him. I do like puzzles and this Uchiha is proving to be a very interesting one."

Cat's Notes

Hi all!Sorry about skipping last week, I was so far behind in writing that I decided to delay a week to try and catch up.

So stuff about this chapter: as you can see, Aiyana sucks at chakra control because I'm pretty sure she has like ADD or something...or she just sucks because of Haka's excess chakra that (since it isn't her own) is fairly difficult to control. More of that will probably be explained in a later chapter.

And as you can also see Itachi is a curious little bastard. 'Scuse me, he's just curious about his brother's feelings of being abandoned. Obviously he can't ask Sasuke himself, so he decides to ask someone that has been in a somewhat similar situation. Having no father while growing up is obviously a touchy subject for Aiyana. As is purposely abandoning Sasuke for Itachi. I think having Aiyana accuse him of doing it kind of angered him more than usual, since he does care for her in...I don't know what kind of way at this point.

And Tobi is an ass. :P

'Till next week!