Retribution

Chapter 5

The sun was glaring in her eyes by the time she awoke the next morning, she grabbed her clothing and quickly changed in the other room before packing a lunch and eating a light breakfast. She was just rounding the outside of her hut when she heard someone jump off the roof and land behind her. Looking over her shoulder she could see Itachi following her. Coming to a stop she wondered if he needed something.

"Are you heading off to train?" His question received a nod in the affirmative; he had already decided he wanted to see where she trained since she had obviously been able to escape his notice the last few days. "Would you mind letting me see where you train?"

"Umm, I guess not." She wasn't sure how she felt having someone watching her train. She really preferred to be alone since she knew she was still no match for her friends with her close combat. Leading the way she tried her best to cool her nerves.

"Would you also mind if I watch you a few times? I used to setup my own training area as well so I'm quite skilled at making sure targets are in the best place possible to pose a challenge and help make you stronger. I also have my eyes to thank for that." They had reached her first training area and he looked over the various targets and obstacles, letting her get adjusted as well.

"You would do that for me?" Her eyes were wide with surprise as she looked at him curiously. Though Sango has been teaching her to fight in close combat it was the only help she had really received, no one else had the ability to further her. Watching him for a few seconds she calmed her nerves and prepared herself to go through the first run.

After steady adjustments were being done she had a training area that will push her limits and she was happy in her decision to let him come. Bent over trying to catch her breath, sweat dripped steadily off of her forehead. Itachi had already left saying he wanted to look at the area for a bit. She took a swig of her water, stretched a little and then proceeded to go through it a few more times before taking a lunch break.

When Itachi arrived back she had already left but he found her footsteps leading towards the field that he had seen targets setup at. Heading over there he watched from the trees as she practiced her archery. He could see she is a good shot but he could tell these motionless targets took little effort for her to nail the bullseye.

Getting an idea he went into the field and took a target and then faced it towards her while jumping in the air, giving her a moving target. Sure enough, she hit it dead on so he steadily speed things up as she hit the bullseye and did his best to make it increasingly difficult. Kagome realized quickly what he was doing and couldn't find a single pattern in his running and jumping around.

With his help she had worked up a sweat again and actually was able to move around trying to shoot the moving target and he would drop off her arrows and they would start again. As she took aim, her body getting fatigued and back to dripping sweat, her arrow let loose when she was distracted by the sting of sweat getting in her eye. Realizing the arrow was headed straight at Itachi she focused hard and just before he was about to dodge it, it disappeared. He looked around and found it reappeared on the other side and lodged itself in a tree a distance behind him. He grabbed the arrow and put the target back before appearing next to her.

"That is enough for today. I will gather your supplies and take them to the hot spring." Just like that he was gone and she was left blinking, still astonished he is human.

She began her trek to the hot spring and found that her supplies were already there. She spotted him sitting behind a tree waiting patiently for her to take her soak in the hot water. She was really enjoying his company, more so than any other. He was obviously thoughtful of her and respected her enough to ask her permission for some things and give her privacy for other things. She quickly stripped and got into the water, deciding to clean her clothing first and wash up as well. Once all of that was done she laid her head back and watched the blue sky gain red and purple hues as the sunset came.

She had gotten to thinking; Itachi would probably like to wash up as well and with product to scrub his body and hair. Gathering the rest of her thoughts she rinsed her hair off one more time before getting out. Several minutes later she approached Itachi and watched him stand up. "Hey Itachi, could you go with me to the well? I need to get a few things from my time."

"How about I carry you? It will be a lot faster and its getting dark." She gave a nod and he gathered her up in his arms and within seconds they were in the clearing before the well. Her shocked expression was worth the effort. He gently set her down on her feet and took the supplies she was holding and the damp clothing.

"I will be just a few minutes," she commented before leaping into the well.

He watched it flash blue before taking off to the hut with the supplies and damp clothes. He was back before she arrived; he noticed the grey bag she was carrying as she climbed out of the well. He held out his hand for her to take and hauled her out of it.

She passed him the bag with a grin. "It's for you, I figured you would like to clean up too and have a second pair of clothes to wear at night while your other ones dry."

"Thank you," he bowed to her, accepting the gift.

Noticing her yawn she was trying to cover up he took it upon himself to quickly get her home so she could eat and get her rest. He carried her straight into the hut and let her get busy making them ramen. "I will do the dishes once we are finished, you should get your rest." He watched her tiredly nod her head, her body starting to sway a little. He pulled her away from the fire and leaned her up against the wall and finished waiting for the water to boil.

Once the food was done and cooled off he shook her back to awareness and sat next to her and ate his own food. She quietly ate beside him and soon her breathing evened out once more. A gentle smile tugged at his lips as he quietly finished his own. He took her dish and once again tucked her into bed and then left to clean the dishes and then take his own bath.