Cat Beats: Interesting or not, I just enjoy hearing feedback from you guys, so thanks. I am also still glad you guys like the pacing, I'll keep trying to keep it as much as I can. Also, sorry to disappoint, but-SPOILER-that pool chapter isn't this one. Hope you still like this one though!

Kosongbird: Wow, straight to it, thanks! And, they're both trying to figure themselves out I guess, so who knows about Itachi... Well I do, but I can't say yet. And thanks a lot, you're too kind!

"Uchiha-hime… I-I like you! Please go out with me!"

...Haruka looked at the boy as he bowed down at her, and the sight of it made her feel very uncomfortable-almost as uncomfortable as that nickname people at school seem to have for her. She already knew what was going to happen when a boy-who she only slightly remembered-asked to meet her behind the school. This scene was not something new to her, but she wasn't very happy by this either.

Especially since she already knew how this would go. This was a boy that she didn't even know, so there was no other real answer other than to just say the same thing she always said. So, she just took a deep breath and said it to get it over with. "I'm sorry, but I can't return your feelings."

With that the boy was quiet for a moment until he finally stood back up straight with a sigh and defeated look on his face. "...I guess I didn't have much of a chance to begin with."

Haruka remained silent, not knowing what to say. However, the longer she looked at his defeated look she couldn't help but empathize with that look-even though she knew she shouldn't. "I'm sorry." Was all she could manage to say.

With that, he put on a forced smile as his eyes got sadder. "It's ok… I think just being near you is enough anyways…"

What he said didn't make much sense to Haruka, but she just nodded to him politely, and they parted ways.

She reminisce on another random confession she had-this one was a few days before her and Neji started dating. It was from a boy who she couldn't remember the name of for the life of her. She saw him on occasion through the hallways, and she thought she heard something about him having a girlfriend now. The boy himself wasn't why she was thinking about that time, it was because of what he said about being around her was enough.

At the time she didn't get what he was saying but dropped it, thinking that he could go and think whatever he wanted. However, she couldn't help but wonder about that now. And of course, as it has been for the so long now, there was only person that came to mind when she thought this over.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"What did you write for question five?" Haruka asked as she looked up to the one sitting on the bed.

Black eyes lazily looked down at her and then glanced down at her paper. Before she could hide it, he already looked back down at his own paper. "Same thing you wrote."

Though helpful, Haruka couldn't help but lightly pout over that response. "You could just say it. It's more constructive that way."

"What's the point of being constructive if you just want to answer?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but instead just sighed as she leaned against dresser behind her. As she rubbed at her temple she placed her work and pencil on the floor next to her. "How long have we been working?" Her brain felt like it was ready to burst out of her skull.

Sasuke put his own work next to him as he looked down at her. "Since you walked in here and said 'Sasuke, wake up so we can study for tests that aren't for another three weeks.'" Haruka just stared up at him with a slightly impatient look. Her tolerance was running a bit low with all the practice sheets and uncooperation from her brother. Seeming to get the hint, he just gave her a weak glare. "Five hours."

Haruka's felt another strain in her brain. "That so." She took in a deep breath and let it out again, in order to try waking her brain up a little more. Grabbing back her papers she tried to focus some more. Test were far away but she needed to get it all in as soon as possible to make sure it locked in.

After a moment of silence, she noticed Sasuke as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. She properly looked up at his face and saw he looked irritated. Not just irritated, he looked irritated in that way that told her he was hungry. Which made sense, the last time he ate was when she barged into his room that morning with papers and a quick egg and toast. "I'm going to get something to eat."

She watched him get up to his feet and head towards his door. Feeling a tightness in her own stomach she called out to him. "Can you get me something too?"

He paused and looked over at her. "Why don't you just get it yourself?"

"I want to keep working, and you're going to be down there anyways."

He sent another weak glare her way, but she didn't drop her own impatient look. Finally, with a sigh he just turned back around for the door. "Fine." There was no sign of 'fine' in his voice.

A little gleeful with success, Haruka called out to him again as he closed the door. "Thank you."

She went back to writing down more sentences in english. '...Maybe I should have waited until later to drag him into studying with me.' The only reason she woke him up for it was because she studied best when she had someone to compare notes with. Though, seeing his own patience run thin along with her's, she began to think she was being a little pushy. 'I'll tell him we're done for the day when he gets back.' She concluded as she continued on with her work.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

'When he gets back I'll work him to the bone.' Haruka thought, but she was pretty sure 90% of that was the hunger. She checked her phone and guessed that Sasuke's been gone for about twenty minutes. 'How does getting some food take so long?' She pondered.

Figuring she couldn't work on an empty stomach, Haruka got up on her feet and walked toward the door. As she walked through the halls and down the stairs, she could already hear there was noise coming from the kitchen. At this point, her head felt mushy and her movement sluggish, so she wanted to just quickly eat and take a break.

As she stepped through the kitchen door, she spoke without thinking. "Sasuke, what's taking you so-?" Then, she paused when she realized it wasn't Sasuke in the kitchen, but it was another one of her brothers.

Said person was currently stirring something in a pot, but looked over his shoulder to look at her with mild surprise. "Haruka?" Then, surprise was replaced by that slight smile of his. "Did you need something?"

Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight fall on her so fast it almost knocked the wind out of her, and she couldn't stop herself from immediately looking down at her feet. "...Wh-Where's Sasuke?" She cursed herself for the tumble in her words.

"He went with Oka-san to the store to pick up some things. They should be back soon." As he was speaking, she could hear he resumed stirring whatever was in that pot.

"Ah…" Was all she could think to say. Silence hung in the air, and it was a silence that only weighed down on her more.

Right now, there was no pressure on her. He wasn't looking at her, nor was he speaking to her. In fact, she could just walk out of the room right now and it wouldn't mean anything. The only thing holding her back was that familiar feeling that her feet were glued to the floor. She tried to push herself out of the room to just go upstairs. That would make everything easy.

Then… she took a whiff of the room, and realized what he was making. 'That damn curry…' There was nothing particularly special about his curry, it was as simple as you can make it. It was as basic as curry could get, and everyone-other than the one who makes it-knew it, though no one ever said it outloud. However, when she was little, she convinced herself it was the best in the world purely just because he made it. To this day, her brain has somehow adapted into convincing her it had a completely different smell than any other curry in the world…

She was ready to leave the room-more or less-but now… Now she was a bit reluctant. The smell of a familiar time, her used up brain... Not to mention the thoughts she was having the other night… That will of hers to fight and run away… It was feeling worn out and tired, and to just stand close to him made her feeling almost… Lighter…

"Was there something else?" A soft voice cut through her thoughts.

She only glanced up at his face turned her her quickly, before looking back down to the floor. She felt heat go up to her face, and her mind became muddled. Without thinking, she opened her mouth. "...Do you need help?"

She quickly glanced up to see surprise on his face, and his response was one she already expected. "You don't need to help."

However, once she spotted the vegetables ready to be chopped up she just wordlessly went to grab the knife.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

She stared down at the battered, old thing. It was given to her what was years ago, but recent occurences made it feel like it was only yesterday. Those days certainly were… something. Her work was fairly easy, especially since the problem more or less seemed to have solved itself, but the impact it had on her as a specialist was something else. Not to mention her own sacrifice in the situation.

As she reminisces she felt older than she was used to feeling, and she felt somewhat tired over the whole ordeal. It was all too much for something she thought she wouldn't have to think about for a while, but time does that funny thing of catching up with you. She couldn't help herself, and let out a sigh.

"Is something wrong, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade looked over to her junior and pupil. Shizune, as usual, looked more worried than she ought to be. The older of the two straightened up in her seat and lightly rubbed at the back of her neck. "Just thinking that I'll have to go back and fix what I didn't get to before."

Shizune gave Tsunade a confused look, but then her questions seemed to be answered once she looked at what was sitting atop of her desk. "Isn't that-?"

"Uchiha Haruka. Yes." Once again, her gaze fell back to the battered, old photo. It was slightly torn in the corners, and it was slightly discolored after having sat lost in files. However, it was still what it was, a photo of the young girl when she was five years old. She was standing in the middle of a traditional shrine wearing a kimono. It looked like the photo was taken during some sort of festival. The girl herself was politely smiling up at the camera, but the rosiness of her cheeks told that she was feeling more than thrilled. It was all in all a very nice picture of undoubtedly adorable girl.

Shizune fidgeted a bit with the papers in her hand before speaking. "You never really told me what happened with her."

"Oh, right. It happened before you started working for me didn't it…" If she remembered right, Shizune didn't come along until about five years after the whole mess. "Maybe some other time." 'I'm too sober to get into all of that.'

However, to no one's surprise, this only seemed to worry Shizune even further. "Was it that bad?"

Tsunade thought about it. 'It was certainly bad, but I think I just got too emotionally involved that time.' She was able to see in Shizune's eyes just what she was worried about, and she tried to give the brunette a reassuring smile. "I'm not worried about the Uchiha girl. She seems to have herself put together when I talked to her. A little hardheaded, but that's what you expect from her family these days. But, just like her family, she's tougher than he looks. I don't know if she's ready yet to hear all the details, but I think once she starts looking for answers, she'll be more than ready."

With that, Tsunade started getting out of her seat to get ready for her night shift at the hospital. However… "That why are you worried?"

Slightly taken off guard, Tsunade looked at Shizune. 'This girl really has been with me for a while, hasn't she?' Looking back down at the photo, she looked at the person that was holding the young girl's hand. It was none other than her older brother; Uchiha Itachi.

Of course, he was also younger in the photo, about ten years old; and he was wearing his own kimono in the photo. He was also smiling politely at the camera… When Tsunade was working with the Uchiha family, she remembered him almost as well as she remembered Haruka. He was extremely possessive of the young girl, and that was understandable considering. He'd never leave her side, and there wasn't a night that he wasn't sharing his bed with her. In fact, when Tsunade first showed up, he was reluctant to let her anywhere near his little sister. The girl was more or less the same in the way that she'd constantly cling onto him and was in distress if he wasn't with her.

However, the way Itachi was towards her was still a little odd to Tsunade. Protective, yes, but there always felt like there was something else to it. The way he looked at others that came near the girl-that wasn't family-was like he was looking at an enemy. The way he held her told others that they'd have to pry her out of his grasp if they wanted to touch her. But, what caught her attention most was the way he'd look at Haruka. As though she were to break at any moment, and that her protection was important above all else. There was also some guilt in the way he looked at her… Not to mention what he heard the young ten year old did. To say he was a protective older brother is an understatement. Uchiha Itachi, he was something else.

Remembering Shizune's question, Tsunade thought over her words. "I'm more worried that there's someone that'll try keeping her in the dark for as long as possible, whether or not it's for her own good. Someone who is more stuck in the past than anyone else… I'm worried for his sake." 'He seems the type to be very self destructive.'

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Ouch!" Haruka hissed as she felt the knife harshly hit her finger. She'd be the first to admit that picking up a knife wasn't a very good idea, since she wasn't very used to using one.

However, she was only given a split second to ponder over her own incompetence before she heard the loud bang of metal falling to the floor. She flinched and looked up only to to immediately greeted with a worried face. "Haruka! Are you ok?" He asked, but quickly grabbed for her wrist before she could even think to answer.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but look closely at him, mostly because he forced himself into her personal space. To say he looked worried, wouldn't quite cover it. The look he gave her small cut was pure and almost crazed, and it sent a quick shiver down her spine that she felt everywhere. Heat rushed to her face as she felt the warmth and slight harshness of his grip on her. He'd been holding her at night, sure, but it'd been so long since she was so aware of a skin on skin touch from him. Her heart races and her breath felt stuck in her throat. When she lightly tugged for her wrist back, he didn't budge. He didn't even seem to notice. This only pushed her more over the edge.

She forced herself to find her voice. "C-Can you let go…?" Her voice slightly trembled and she could only let out a whisper.

Either way, it seemed to have cut through whatever was clouding in his eyes. He blinked something away from his sight, and finally looked at her. His gaze, now clear, was enough to send another skip to her heart. She felt light headed from holding onto her breath so harshly, but she couldn't drop his gaze. Those familiar black eyes were searching her, and she felt caught in that gaze.

Finally, he dropped his gaze and just looked down at her finger. Slowly he let go of her wrist, and once his grip was gone she pulled her wrist back. Her gaze dropped down to examine it for herself. "Wash it, I'll be right back with a bandaid." With that, he walked out of the kitchen.

She let out the breath she was holding in, and quickly breathed back in. '...The cut isn't even that bad.' She thought to herself. Looking back down at it, it was no more than a small one that was no longer than half an inch. Small drops of blood seeped out of it, but it was still nothing in comparison to other cuts she's had in the past. '...But, he's always sort of been like this.' For as long as she could remember, any time she got the smallest bruise, he'd react overly concerned. It was always exhausting to deal with, and this time was no different. His stare and hold on her would always make her feel warm and shaky.

As she tried to shake away her thoughts, she just went to the sink to clean off the blood that was hardly noticeable. No matter how ridiculous he may be, she couldn't help but still comply to his ridiculous requests. As she dried off her hands she looked down and saw why she heard metal falling. It was the ladle that laid on the floor. With a sigh she picked up the recklessly dropped utensil and placed it in the sink, and she went ahead in cleaning up the spilled curry.

She didn't hear his returning footsteps until she had turned off the stove. Peeking up she saw he held the small thing in his hand. Worlessly, he handed it to her, and she carefully took it from his grasp-careful to not touch him by accident. She then began to open the wrapper around it.

"Does it hurt?"

She took the small band aid out of the wrapper. "...No." It was always a bit difficult for her to wrap the sticky thing around her finger right…

"...Let me see." He said softly.

...She couldn't help herself and handed him back the bandaid, and he carefully took her hand too. She felt another rush through her as he gently held onto her and wrap the little thing with care… Haruka assumed he'd be done once he wrapped it up, but she found he was still holding her hand. The longer he held and stared down at her hand the faster her heart raced and the warmer her face became. She wanted to just snatch it back, but… He had that look again, that look that seemed to melt away all her will.

Finally, a light chuckle broke the silence-and she slightly flinched at the sound of it. "I overreacted again didn't I?" He calmly asked. On many occasions, their parents and Sasuke would tell him he went overboard with his concern. So, he was aware of his action, but he still never seemed able to change them.

Caught by the question, Haruka carefully thought over her words. "...A bit." Another silence hung in the air, and she felt more and more awkward by it. "...Y-You dropped the ladle… You also left the stove on-"

She was cut off when she realized he slightly tightened his grip on her, and he even lightly stroked her hand with his thumb. She felt another rush go up and down her spine at the touch. This… This wasn't something she used to from him… And, for the life of her, she couldn't find it in her to pull her hand away from it…

"Haruka," she flinched at the sound of her name from his mouth-that was closer than she was used to or could stand, "when did-?"

"We're home!" They both flinched at the familiar sound of their mother at the front door. With that, Haruka quickly grabbed her hand back from his grasp, and just paced out of the kitchen to go great her mother.

She didn't even spare a glimpse at him as she left him in the kitchen, and she tried to will her heart to calm down at least by a little bit. And she prayed to every god she could think of to have her face cool down.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Itachi watched her all but run out the kitchen, and he couldn't move an inch to stop her. Nor could he even understand why he wanted to stop her. He just felt… Confused… Very, very confused. Confused over why his heart was racing, and why he felt warm all over. Why?

The closest reason he could think of was that it had something to do with Haruka, but how? Was it how her hand wasn't as small as it used to be? Was it how thin and pale her fingers were? Was it how her hand was still slightly rough from all the training and work she did? Was it because it was so oddly warm in his grip? Thing he found odd sure, but was it really enough to make him feel and act this way?

Not to mention her face was continuously red this entire time-even before she cut her finger-and there was something in him that stirred when he felt her flinching and shivering under his touch. Though, most of all, there was that look in her eyes she kept giving. It was almost… almost… he couldn't figure out what it was. But, it made an odd feeling erupt from somewhere in him…

Then… Then he just thought about the cut… And everything other feeling almost flooded out. It was a small cut, but when he saw it, he felt like his heart dropped for a moment… He felt a small rush of panic… 'No matter how much she may change, she's still the way she used to be. She's still someone I have to take care of…' Is what he told himself, but that stirring feeling wouldn't completely go away.