Chapter 9: More Secrets

I felt my body grow more and more sore with every step I took. My wrist still tingled from time to time. Darn bracelet, I thought, rubbing the area tenderly as I made my way towards the clan's quarters.

"Shikara," came a familiar voice. My heart skipped a few beats as I turned towards Itachi with a startle. His head tilted as he looked me over. "You look terrible."

My heart wouldn't stop pounding in my chest and it was getting difficult to focus. "I-Itachi..." I whispered. What is wrong with me? "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..." my voice was small and I looked down and a little off to the side. I can't tell him anything and even if I could it feels wrong to - especially now that Izumi practically proclaimed her feelings for him...

I saw Itachi move closer until he was just inches before me. I wouldn't raise my head, so he cupped my chin and turned it upwards so that we could see eye to eye, so to speak. "I have some things to tell you...things that no one else can hear."

My heart began to race. "Itachi-sama..." it's stuck now, the title has been set in stone. "...I can't speak with you now." I averted my eyes. "I need to set something right with someone."

His eyes narrowed. "That person can wait."

It sounded more like a demand than a request and I wasn't about to tell the person who saved my life to bug-off. He could tell me to jump off a cliff and I'd do it. "Okay."

He motioned for me to follow and I did. After some time we arrived at a secluded spot. Itachi carefully glanced around to be sure there was no one else, then turned to me. "Has your father mentioned anything to you about the clan?"

That was straight to the point. I sighed to myself, grateful it wasn't something revolving around romance. "He did mention something that confused me."

"What was it?" He asked calmly.

"He said that the clan plans for something, to make changes not just within itself but also for the whole village." I looked Itachi in the eyes. "What does this mean?"

Itachi looked to the side in thought, then after a moment met my gaze. "Did he say anything else?"

My head tilted. "He said he may need my help one day, then that was it." I tried my question again, "what does this all mean? You must know more."

He sighed, "It doesn't concern you right now."

"What!?" I felt incredibly frustrated hearing that. "You can't have me answer your questions, then keep me out of the loop, Itachi, it doesn't work that way." My cheeks puffed.

Itachi couldn't help but to smirk at this reaction. Shikara was terrible at keeping her composure, especially around him but he liked that she easily crumbled before him. It was cute and he admired her pure heart. Her soul hadn't been tainted yet of her innocence as his had in the Great War. Even after everything she had been through recently, her sweet demeanor remained intact and now she grew more confident, to the point where she challenges him. It intrigued him and even gave him a sense of excitement. Shikara made him feel more whole but her recent change of avoiding him and acting aloof actually caused an uncomfortable stir inside of him that he didn't understand. "Shikara, when did you become this way?" He watched as her face fell into pure confusion.

"...Excuse me?"

His eyes seemed to gleam for just a second. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

Damn, I was hoping to not have to explain myself. "I don't know what you're talking about... also, you said that you had something to tell me." I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. My patience was growing thin, even for him. Mainly because I didn't want him to pry further into my personal bubble-which was far from wanting to be popped. I could see that he was enjoying this a little, despite the serious conversation we were supposed to be having and it only served to annoy me further.

Just then Shisui appeared before us and my heart nearly jumped out of my throat. "Hey." He said simply, looking a bit out of sorts. "Sorry, I'm late."

"Shisui, what's going on?" The frustration I had was now replaced with more curiosity. Itachi was weeding out answers, leaving me with more questions and I didn't know Shisui was going to be joining us, so I've now realized the importance of this meeting.

"Itachi, I know I said it's time to tell her but I found out that Shikara is training under the ANBU Black OPs." Shisui informed and I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth.

I wanted to be the one to tell people! ...I just didn't know how...

Itachi's eyes flicked from Shisui then over to me. "When?" His voice was low and almost sounded angry.

I shyly looked to the ground. "Since this morning..." I sniffled, "I planned to tell you both myself, I just...this is all so too much, really. It happened so fast and I'm not sure how to speak of anything right now." I explained myself honestly. As if on cue, small tears started to develop. Every single thing from the past few days had piled up. It was becoming unbearable to hold on my shoulders but I wasn't about to let it break me! I wiped the tears and quickly put away all emotion as I had trained to. I gazed at Itachi squarely, "I'm training so that I can protect the village and it's people."

...

Itachi and Shisui exchanged glances after Shikara says this. Suddenly, a sense of relief came over them and Shisui was the first to break the silence.

"That's really great, Shikara!" He gave a smile and a 'thumbs up'. "Itachi and you will make a great team."

My eyes widened and my voice became hoarse, "What was that?"

Shisui grinned and turned his attention to Itachi who looked a little less pleased that Shisui has become the bearer of all news. He focused on Shikara. "I've become a member of the ANBU as well, I have been for a while..." He then brushed his bangs back. "The question is, why is the Hokage keeping you a secret? We all should have been informed of a new member."

"Um, well...I'm only training under a few ANBU members until I've become a Jonin, that is." I felt nervous again as two sets of eyes stared at me. I didn't want to give out too much information either, so I decided to leave it at that.

Shisui glanced from Itachi, to me several times before clearing his throat, along with the awkward atmosphere that started to develop. "I think we all should find another time to speak in private...after the two of you have cleared the air...I need to go take care of some things." He gave us a quick waive and was gone.

Traitor.

Itachi and I stood there, eyes locked on one-another for what seemed like eternity. Though his face looked blank, his eyes clearly illuminated residual anger. I didn't understand it, so of course my frustration returned but I, too, refused to give him the satisfaction of clearly seeing my emotions, so blank I stayed.

He finally closed his eyes and sighed. "Shikara, will you walk with me?" His voice was firm.

I felt the shyness from before creep back and my eyes dropped to the ground. I felt like a child about to be scolded by a parent.

"Please?" His voice was much gentler this time and I peered up at him.

"Yes, let's go." I sounded much more calm than I actually felt. My heart kept racing every time we made eye contact-which I would quickly avert my gaze.

We walked to the small lake where Shisui taught me to walk on water. Thankfully it wasn't very far from where we had been. My body felt like it couldn't take much more. We arrived at a dock and Itachi sat down at the very end and waited for me to join him. I did my best to not show how sore I really was and gratefully sat beside him, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Itachi gave me a sideways look and I just peered into the water, waiting for whatever was to come. His voice finally came and it was gentle, like when he speaks with Sasuke. "Are you okay?"

The question took me off guard and my eyes slightly squinted in thought. Am I ok? I sighed. "I'm not sure." I returned a sideways look, head tilted back a little. "Everything happened so fast these past few days...I'm not sure that I've had the time to process it all to make sense of it."

He gave a nod in understanding. "Why did you agree to train with the ANBU? Shisui and I train you, if time permits."

I faced downward again as I searched the glistening waters for answers. "...I just want to be stronger...so that I can protect everything that I love and not lose anyone the way I lost Nakia and Kata..." I felt my eyes begin to sting but I refused to allow the tears to come through this time.

...

Itachi watched Shikara try so hard to keep herself together. He noticed any time she would normally send a glare, she held it back, when she would normally smile, she held it back and now when she would shed a tear, even now she held back. The lovely little angel was finally becoming a true Shinobi but something about that upset him. He wanted to see her adorable glare when she was upset, he wanted to see her laugh and that sweet smile of hers, he even wanted to be there for her when she cried, or at least know that she hadn't been pushed so far that she couldn't anymore. The thought was unsettling. Shikara without expression just wasn't her at all.

Itachi gently put his hand over Shikara's, which was resting beside her, supporting as she sat. He looked into her eyes, searching for something. She was watching him cautiously, nervously now with the physical contact. Then the final question came. "Shikara...what happened to your wrist?"

...

A gasp escaped my lips, Itachi's question was the cherry on top. I felt like a frightened doe as my eyes widened and the breath caught in my chest. I glanced down at our hands and my heart sputtered. I felt my cheeks grow hot and I finally had to take a few slow, deep breaths to calm myself. The world felt like it was going to spin out of control. "Itachi...please." My voice was a whisper as I begged for an out.

His eyes watched as the facade began to crumble. I couldn't keep composure if he kept this up. "What happened?" He pressed.

A tear slipped and my heart ached. I didn't know why I believed he wouldn't notice the red ring forming around my wrist. I guess I didn't think much of it, aside from the pain I felt. "It was..." I shook my head.

...

He didn't expect her to answer, however the way she looked into his eyes was full of defeat. Does he push further or let it go? Then there it was, a small tear that she fought to hold back. He slowly, carefully leaned close to her and whispered in her ear. "What did they do to my angel?"

...

My eyes widened for a moment. The facade crumbled completely and I couldn't continue evading him or his questions any longer. I dropped my head and closed my eyes. "It was a shock bracelet." When the words came out I felt Itachi become still. "Every time I made an expression of any sort, they would set it off." I waited a few seconds before looking up at Itachi and regrettably, his eyes were furious. "It was just training! It's to help me from giving away my weaknesses." I tried to defend the ANBU but Itachi's fury didn't seem to fade.

"I think you should reconsider training with them." His voice sounded calm but I knew better.

My eyes widened. "But...this is a perfect opportunity to learn from the best, I can't just pass this up... one day I'll be accepted as one of you, too."

"And to what end, Shikara?" They plan to train you in a way that will mold and change you into a completely different person." His response confused me.

"What's wrong with that? I cry any time anything goes wrong, I giggle in the face of danger and I give myself away at first glance!"

His eyes narrowed and it caused me to settle down. "You already have two of the finest to train you."

He's feeling modest today.

I gave him a look and a slight smirk appeared upon my lips . "Two of the finest have been very, very busy as of late."