Disclaimer: I do not own the Manga or Anime Naruto, or the characters contained within it. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, the character Teitoku Kanako and the other made-up characters contained within this story belong to me.

The Black and White

Chapter 2 - Promotion & Celebration

"Congratulations,"Said the Sandaime with a toothy grin,"It's good to see another Uchiha wearing one of those."Motioning to the green Chuunin vest covering your dark blue shirt.

Grinning sheepishly yourself, you poked your tongue out at the Hokage,"It's not my favorite color, but I am proud to be wearing it!"

"I'm sure your parents are proud, too."

You nodded,"Yeah, but so is Shisui, though he just teases me because I'm not an ANBU yet like he is. I swear I'll catch up to him some day, and when I'm on his team then I'll be the one making the jokes."

The Third Hokage chuckled,"Your brother is a very talented shinobi. There are many missions we might not have been able to accomplish without him. He is most definitely an asset."

"I'm sure that's true for Itachi-san, too. He's the pride of our clan, after all. ANBU squad leader at thirteen. We're all very proud of him!"Tilting your head to the side, you smiled widely. Seeing that you were of the Uchiha Clan too, you felt the need to brag when you were able.

His mood darkened a bit at the name of Uchiha Itachi, but the Hokage seemed to shake it off, though the smile upon his lips faded away."Well, you said you had a celebration to get to."

Bowing your head, you replied,"Hai! Thank you, Hokage-sama!"With that you headed toward the door. Your fingers barely brushed against the door knob when the Hokage whistled to gain your attention. Glancing back, you noticed his brows had furrowed and his expression had become superfluous.

"About that mission..."He began,"I want you to start teaching the students at the Academy."

Your jaw dropped as your eye twitched,"Uuuuh...?"

"I'll expect you tomorrow morning early, then!"

A vein bulged from your forehead as you jerked the door open and slammed it behind you. To say the least, it was a little disappointing to be told that your first 'mission' would be to teach toddlers in school.

'Children? Hm, I could barely put up with my classmates immature behavior in the Academy! How am I going to teach a horde of the brats?'

The idea did sound a bit ludicrous, but you refused to dwell on it. For the moment, you had to focus on the fact you were heading home to celebrate your promotion. After all, it was a time to be happy! Not to mope about some silly teaching 'mission'...

"I'm back!"You bellowed, shedding your shoes at the entrance and traipsing into the kitchen, happy to find the rest of your family there. However, disappointment settled into the pit of your stomach when you notice a certain face missing.

'Itachi...?'

The joyous smile that had rose upon your lips withered away into a frown as you stood frozen in the doorway.

"Baka,"Your brother commented, noticing your lack of a happy expression,"You're early. We didn't expect you to be back until later."

Meanwhile your father didn't make a motion to reply, seeing as he was at the table drinking his tea in silence. When he finally took notice of your presence, he nodded his head in acknowledgment. This was the typical behavior of the older males in the Uchiha Clan.

"I am...?"

Your mother giggled as she pointed to the clock before outstretching her arms and pulling you into an embrace."Tisane, Itachi-san won't be here for a few more minutes. You shouldn't be so upset."

Blushing furiously, you could feel the heat rising upon your cheeks."W-who said I w-was upset?"You stuttered, trying to deny the fact that you were.

"Oh, please. It couldn't be any more obvious unless you wore a sign around your neck that read,'I like Uchiha Itachi'. Which is also pretty pathetic, you know..."Your brother teased, calmly sipping his own tea and smirking all the while.

Releasing you from her embrace, your mother placed her hands upon your shoulders,"Tisane, why don't you go put up that vest? The dumplings are done and he should be here any minute. Then you can tell us what Hokage-sama said."

Ignoring your brother's remark, you nodded,"Alright."Obeying your mother's orders, you sauntered off to your room and tucked the vest away in a safe place before returning to the kitchen.

The sweet smell of the dumplings had spread around the entire house, even going so far as to seep outside the cracks of the door. Such a sweet aroma that drew your entire family to the dining table, where your mother had laid out the delicious sweets on a plate. Impaled in threes by a stick, steam rose from their circular form.

"Enjoy!"

At that moment you heard the front door slide open. Of course, it could only have been one person.

'Itachi...'

Your heart leapt at the thought. Over the time you'd spent with him, you'd come to develop a crush on your elder brother's best friend, and the prodigy of your Clan.

"Konban wa..."He greeted with a bow of the head, emerging from the entrance after politely removing his shoes.

Motioning for him to join the rest of you, you took a seat at the table with the other, happily taking the first dumpling, since you were the reason for the entire celebration. Eagerly devouring the entire ball of dough encasing a delicious pudding. The fruity flavor danced upon your taste buds as you chewed the dumpling before swallowing.

The others followed your example, delighted at the taste of the homemade dumplings, which was one of your mother's specialities.

Tilting his cup up to his lips, your father set the stick-impaled dumplings back down upon the plate before standing from his seat."No more sweets for me. I need to see Hokage-sama about the next mission."

It was typical of your father to spend only a few hours with your family before scurrying off to see the Hokage about another mission that would take him away from your household for a week. Maybe even so much as a month.

Being perfectly use to his absence, you found that you didn't care much about his leaving. Despite the fact that he'd left the celebration of your promotion rather earlier than you had expected.

Politely, everyone bowed their head and wished your father good luck on whatever mission would be placed upon his shoulders.

"So, Tisane.."Your mother crinkled her eyes shut, widening the smile plastered upon her lips,"What did Hokage-sama say? What exciting mission will you be starting on?"

Your eye twitched as you nervously stuttered,"Well—Uh—Exciting, heh? Um... I'm going to be a—Um... Teacher."

"A teacher."Shisui repeated with a quirked brow.

Averting your eyes, you gave a slight nod."That's what Hokage-sama said."

Your brother made a dismissive motion as he chuckled to himself,"You a teacher? Now I have to admit, I didn't think Hokage-sama had that kind of humor. Hah! As if you could actually watch over kids, you're more impatient than father."

A vein bulged from your forehead as you stood from the table, reaching across it toward your brother. The moment your fist collided with his head, rather gently and teasingly, you snapped,"I remember when they made you teach at the Academy, baka! Somehow I don't recall you being too patient, either!"

He grinned sheepishly,"Tisane-chan, you're being too cruel."

Your gaze wandered over to Itachi, who seemed to have a smile upon his own lips, something rare of the prodigy of your clan. His eyes, rather than being devoid of any real emotion, seemed amused. You found your own lips lifting into a smile now.

'Itachi... Smiling..? Because of me..?'

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Tisane."Your mother assured, ignoring that you and your brother were teasing each other. By now she was perfectly use to your strange antics."It will be nice to have you around Konoha more, anyways."

'She always looks on the bright side of things...'

Uncurling his legs from beneath him, Itachi stood from the table as well, bowing his head in order to politely excuse himself."I should be returning back home, then. Arigatoo. It was an honor to be invited."

"Of course, Itachi-san!"

Your mother nodded in agreement."You are always invited into our home, of course."

He cracked a slight smile before bowing his head one last time. Turning toward the hallway which led to the front door, he left the three of you to your own devices.

"Well, the two of you should be getting to bed, too."Your mother instructed sternly as she gathered the half-empty cups and the plate at the middle of the table.

"Aw, but this wasn't much of a celebration.."Shisui whined.

Whack!

Bashing him over the head with your fist you glared,"Baka! How can you whine like such a baby when you're ANBU?"

Rubbing the gargantuan cerise bump that literally protruded a few inches out of his head, your brother sneered,"Jeez, go figure. Of course Tisane would be all grumpy the moment her love left."

"You should know better, Shisui."Your mother agreed with a nod as she began washing the dishes dirtied from the small celebration.

Flailing your arms about angrily, you shook your head,"No, no, no! I am not in love with Itachi!"

With a single finger, Shisui poked you in the forehead,"I believe you, but... Really, you need to get to bed now, Tisane. You have a mission tomorrow, one more important than any of the others I've undergone."

"It's not that important..."You muttered bitterly.

He shook his head in disagreement,"Seriously, Tisane. You're going to teach all of the young shinobi to better protect the village. There might be another genius there, ne? So do your best."

"Hai.."

Author's Note: I realize the first two chapters are rather boring and plain, I apologize for that. It's just to kind of getting the story rolling along, but don't worry. I believe the exceptionally uneventful parts will come to a conclusion upon the end of chapter 3. Chapter 4 should make for a bit of tragedy and surprise. (Or perhaps chapter 5 depending on how it goes.) :)

Also thank you for the review! I appreciate any feedback.

Kyori