Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters nor the cover image of Itachi! I do own my characters however!

The Anachronism

Chapter XI: Megumi (1)

"Itachi…" Nadeshiko whispered, staring from the floor at the unconscious man lying on her couch. "Itachi, please wake up."

A couple days had passed since Nadeshiko had returned home to the seemingly comatose Itachi. She could not figure out why it had happened or what had caused it, and she quietly kicked herself for not offering to bring him to hospital when he'd first appeared in her apartment. It was possible that he was experiencing some sort of neurological complication related to his amnesia and confusion, something she would not have been able to pick up on herself. However, despite knowing he should be brought to the hospital, the little blonde could not call for an ambulance, fear coursing through her veins. Fear, that she would lose him too.

"I promise I will make this right," Nadeshiko vowed, lifting herself up onto her feet. "I swear it!"

So, for the next couple of weeks, that's what she did, or tried to do. She placed cool cloths on his head to decrease his ever rising temperature, monitored his vital signs for any changes that were out of the ordinary, ran her fingers through his hair when he would writhe and grimace. Anything that she could think of to try and pull him out of this state he'd somehow gotten in.

Occasionally, when she would turn away from him and busy herself with housework or other chores, something strange would happen. In her periphery, she could have sworn his lying form would grow hazy, almost invisible, as if it were disappearing. Every time, Nadeshiko would stop whatever she was doing and stare at the man in bewilderment. But, in the blink of an eye, what she'd thought she'd seen had, too, stopped: Itachi was completely and wholly there where she'd left him.

She silently wondered if she'd gone crazy, before deciding she may very well already have.

xXxXxXxXx

Miles away from Kotohu University and Serrai, Megumi sat quietly at her desk, her head in her palm.

Upon arriving home a few days earlier, the dark-haired woman was both surprised and, yet, expected, the emptiness that greet her the moment she walked through the door. Stepping forward slowly, the woman peered around the elegant grand foyer before dropping her luggage at her side.

Suddenly, she heard a set of footsteps above her, racing down the hall and down the stairs. Megumi looked up, praying for it to be one of her sisters. However, instead, an elderly woman appeared before her at the top of the first set of stairs. Her hair was more grey than the last time the dark-haired woman had seen her, but aside from this, she was still as wrinkled and motherly as always.

"Miss Megumi," the older woman breathed, gasping from her previous running around. "It is wonderful to see you, and in such good health. Are those your bags? Let me get them for–"

"Nana," Megumi interrupted, staring blankly down at her feet. Her hands were clenched at her sides and her jaw was set ridged. Above her, Nana sighed and slowly descended the stairs.

When she reached the girl, Nana placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and quietly explained, "Your parents have not yet returned from their business trip abroad."

"And my siblings?" Megumi questioned, staring at her black suede boots. "Tomo? Sachi? Kazumi?"

Nana shifted uncomfortably. "The eldest Lady Tomo called earlier to inform myself and Master and Misses that she would be staying in America longer than previously anticipated to continue her neuroscience research at Harvard University. Lady Kazumi also called a few days ago to inform that she anticipated a breakthrough in her modeling career and will soon be traveling to Italy."

"And Sachi?" Megumi struggled, maintaining a neutral expression despite the boiling heat spreading across her skin. "She is still in high school; she could not possibly be off and out of the compound, too?"

In front of her, Nana bent over and grabbed the handles of the disappointed woman's luggage. As she spun around and proceeded to climb the stairs toward Megumi's room, she responded, "The young Miss Sachi has decided to go on holiday with a couple of her classmates after hearing that neither Lady Tomo nor Lady Kazumi would be returning home for the winter holiday. None of us had heard from you in months; she may have opted to stay if she had known…"

"No, it's fine." Turning around, Nana stared at Megumi, who forced a curt smile and strut in the same direction up the stairs. As the young woman passed her family's maid and her long-time companion, the older woman froze and could only watch the younger middle child of the household climb the winding stairs and enter the study.

As the door closed behind Megumi, Nana sighed again and continued to hike up the stairs in the direction toward the girl's room. Some things will never change, the older woman thought as she passed the study, hearing a distinct rip of a plane ticket just beyond the closed door.

Days turned into a week, and a week turned into a couple weeks that Megumi confined herself to the study room. Although she generally was not one to mope, her disappointment had gotten the best of her and she found herself unmotivated to do anything but busy herself at her desk practicing her script and occasionally doodling. However, as three weeks had gone by uneventfully and without any word from anyone in her family, and only one more week remained of her winter holiday, Megumi was growing irater and less upset. That quiet, rainy evening, she sat back in her chair in the study room, head propped in her palm, and twirled a fountain between her fingers. With a hard glare and a grimace, she watched the pen move swiftly through her fingers, ignoring the neatly drawn characters littering nearly one hundred sheets of paper strewn across her desk, in the trash can next to it, and across the floor around her.

Suddenly, she pushed off her chair and strut out of the room. Nana, having been just outside the study cleaning the windows, was startled to see the girl emerge so unexpectedly.

"Everything alright, Miss Megumi?" The older woman wondered, briefly pausing her work to stare at Megumi's back.

"Wonderful," Megumi deadpanned without missing a beat and flung open her bedroom door. Behind her, Nana scurried to inspect what the young Miss was up to. As she reached the door, she found Megumi pawing through her closet with a blank expression.

Pursing her lips, Nana questioned, "Are you going out?" Although a part of her did not want to know her answer, a more motherly aspect of the older woman felt compelled to check up on the dark-haired woman.

Without saying anything, Megumi pulled out a fitted, short black dress and began pulling off her cardigan and tank top. Nana felt her heart sink. I thought she'd moved past this faze…?

After sliding the dress on, the dark-haired woman got to work on her makeup and her hair, continuing to ignore the concerned expression on her maid's face. After applying dark eye shadow, black eyeliner, false lashes, and red lipstick, she got to work with her hair, curling and applying hairspray until it cascaded down her back in meticulously wild waves. Her dark eyes, now smoky and darker than usual, were glued to the figure staring back at her in the mirror, one she had not seen in a long while. Breathing out a sigh, she fetched the black jacket she'd laid out on her bed and slid her feet into a pair of black wedges.

As she hurried passed Nana, she couldn't look her in the eye. She couldn't explain herself, couldn't explain why she'd suddenly had the urge again. So, instead, she just strut on, across the hall and down the stairs toward the door, until finally, behind her, there was a shout: "Please be careful! It's getting late out there!"

For a moment, Megumi paused and considered what she was doing and why she was doing it. What the others would think if they knew she was doing it. But then, she decided, right now she very well didn't care.

And with a raise of her hand in recognition of Nana's farewell and without turning to meet her worried expression, Megumi left her family's estate and prepared for the trudge to Izumo's.

xXxXxXxXx

When Izumo's Bar came into sight, a feeling of familiarity washed over Megumi, be that a good thing or bad she wasn't quite sure. It was one of the most popular bar chains in the northern part of Japan – there was even a location just off the Kotohu University campus – and for good reason. If a person was under the age of twenty, there was still a pretty high chance that the bartenders there would serve them. Drinking age was only a formality at this point, of course. For those who were of age, there was some solace knowing that the alcohol was of decent quality for an undeniably unbeatable price. And it was for both of these reasons Megumi had first entered the bar, three years early during her first year at the university.

The moment Megumi entered the bar, there was a hiatus of all conversation and movement that, again, gave her a sense of familiarity. It was as if, even in the two and a half years since she'd stopped visiting, nothing had changed. The dark-haired woman immediately walked forward, not meeting anyone's eyes as the conversations rekindled in a soft hum around her and she secured a lone seat at the bar. Despite her effort to ignore them, she felt the eyes burning holes into her back. Ultimately, this provoked her into ordering two shots. I need this, if I hope to deal with this place for longer than ten minutes.

"Here ya are." The bartender slid them her way, before rushing off to a patron at the other end of the bar who was beginning to get rowdy. Megumi brought the first glass to her lips and knocked it back without a second thought. However, as she brought the second one to her lips, something whispered in the back of her head.

"See that girl over there?" It spoke in a shrill female voice. "That's that rich bitch. Megumi, I think it was. Thinks she's all that because Mommy and Daddy own a huge business and travel the world. She's always looking down on all of us."

"And look at her!" Another cackled. "Look how much she's drinking, trying to show off to the boys. Disgusting."

"I heard," another interjected, more of a whisper than the others. "That she sleeps around with, like, all the boys, too. Seriously gross and desperate."

"Yeah!" The first shrilled. "She has no right to look down on us; she's, like, below us!"

Megumi, staring hard into her glass, listening to the voices of the past talking in circles around her. She remembered that day well: it had been near the end of her first semester at Kotohu University. Despite how she acted with her close friends and siblings, Megumi was more shy than others believed and she had a tendency to keep to herself around people she didn't know. As a result, she'd inadvertently given many of the girls in her dorm building the 'cold shoulder' and had thus created a couple of enemies. Paired with her parents' and siblings' constant absences, Megumi had taken to less than noble activities, one of those including visiting Izumo's every now and then. She had never intended to make a habit of it, but by the time the semester had closed, she was going to the bar nearly every night. And as it seemed, some of the other girls who recognized her had followed her there.

But then, so did someone else.

Her mind flashed to Nadeshiko, who had also been a part of the group; however, unlike the few girls that threw comments and insults toward Megumi, the little blonde remained quiet. She had peered around the little rustic bar in confusion and, presently, Megumi chuckled at the memory. Nadeshiko never was much for alcohol, and that dislike only seemed to grow in her to this day. But that day, despite her own judgment toward the beverage, Nadeshiko had approached the dark-haired woman with no preconceived judgements within her. Instead, she offered her a smile and a hand, saying, "Hi there! I'm Nadeshiko! What's your name?" while a slightly taller blonde behind her waved and grinned at her. Megumi remembered feeling almost lightheaded by the kind gestures of the girls.

But wait. Megumi considered the memory as stared into the miraculously empty second glass in her hand and heat began to fill her cheeks. Her center of balance began to be thrown off-kilter. There was another blonde? Who was that, again?

Before she could think too much about it, though, she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder and nearly shrieked and chucked the shot glass from her hands. With wide eyes, she looked up at the unfamiliar man on the seat next to her in bewilderment.

"Everything alright, un?"

Staring back at her was a man with long blonde hair partly tied back in a ponytail, striking blue eyes, and, despite expressing some concern in his question, a smirk adorning his lips. He wore a black jacket over a blue t-shirt and dark jeans. Looking the man up and down, Megumi could not decide whether the man had decent intentions or not and, deciding to play it safe, turned away from the man and shrugged his hand off her shoulder. To this, the man's smirk only grew.

"I just–" the mysterious man began.

Megumi threw her arm in the air. "Bartender! Two more shots of your strongest sake!"

The bartender raised a brow at the slender woman, unsure whether he should comply or not. However, the dark look in her eye was enough to convince him, and he sifted through the shelves behind the bar for another bottle of sake. At the same time, the man chuckled.

"Sure that's a good idea?" he mused, leaning his head against his propped arm. "Seems like your already a bit tipsy, un."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Megumi growled, facing the man again as the bartender carefully placed the two shot glasses in front of the woman. "Can you please not bother me? I am not in the mood for this."

Megumi turned back to the glasses in front of her and quickly threw the contents of the first to the back of her throat. All the while, the blonde man watched her carefully, smirk still intact but not as coy as it had been. Placing the glass down, the dark-haired woman felt the warmth in her cheeks begin to spread down her neck and throughout her entire body. As the effects of the alcohol began setting in, she hesitated in grabbing the other glass, momentarily concerned that, unfortunately, the blonde man may be right: her tolerance wasn't quite what it used to be. However, whether she'd wanted it or not, she realized too late, did not matter: the blonde man had already grabbed the shot and taken it himself.

Surprised and irritated, Megumi fumed and pointed an accusatory finger at the man. "Did you just take my shot?" Again, the man's smirk grew.

"And what if I did?" As Megumi continued to glower at the man, he eventually relented and added, "Hey, no worries, I'll pay for it, un. It's not like you were going to take it anyway."

"Says who?" Megumi shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I was definitely going to take it!"

The man, becoming more interested in the irritated woman, pushed himself forward so his face was mere inches from Megumi's. Despite already feeling flush, Megumi's face burned even hotter; however, a newfound sense of stubbornness was unwilling to let her backdown and back away from the annoying man in front of her.

The blonde-haired man raised his arm. His voice was warm as it hit her skin and smelled faintly of sake. "Bartender, two more shots!"

In her periphery, Megumi swore she saw the bartender roll his eyes, as if he'd seen this game a million times before, and poured two more shots. After he placed them on the bar, the blonde man moved back slightly to grab one of the shots. Raising it with a crooked grin, he said, "Cheers."

Without hesitation, Megumi snatched the other one and tapped her glass to his own, "Cheers!" before they both tossed the contents down their throats.

And this continued. Shot after shot after shot, until Megumi was certain she'd nearly hit the double-digits and the blonde man had all but lost count of how many he'd already had. By this point, both of them had laid their heads on the cool marble top of the bar to counter the heat spreading through their body. The man continued to smirk, finding a sick amount of amusement from the dark-haired woman and their little game. And, though she hated to admitted, she'd found the whole situation amusing herself.

"Look at you," the man slurred, pointing a swaying finger at Megumi and grinning. "You can't even sit up. I told you to stop drinking."

Megumi snorted. "Yeah, okay. First of all, no you did not tell me to stop drinking. And second, have you seen yourself lately?" The blonde stranger's smirk grew and he inched his face closer toward the black-haired woman.

"Can't say I have," he responded, eyes trained on Megumi. "How do I look?"

And despite herself, Megumi felt her body temperature rise at least twenty more degrees. Her whole body felt as if it were on fire. For the first time, she really looked the man over, from his striking eyes to his fitted clothes. Had he always looked this attractive, or was this just the effects of the alcohol playing tricks on her?

As if reading her mind, the man began to laugh almost uncontrollably, further embarrassing the woman. Finally, his hand shot up into the air again and he called, "Bartender! Two more!"

The poor bartender sauntered over to the unlikely drunk duo and leaned down toward them. "Sorry guys, you've been cut off."

"Cut off?" Megumi whined. The whole point of her drinking this much was to prove she could handle her alcohol better than that man. Or was it? Now that she thought about it, she wasn't quite sure why they had started drinking together.

"You can't cut us off, un," the blonde man argued, pushing himself off the counter to look the bartender in the eyes.

The bartender shook his head and pointed a thumb behind the blonde. "Not my decision."

The blonde man peeked over his shoulder and Megumi pushed herself up so she too would be sitting up, and peered around the stranger she'd been taking shots with. Behind him, a red-headed man who appeared slightly shorter than her new companion stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Although Megumi had never seen the man before in her life and wondered why he held any sort of jurisdiction on how much she was allowed to drink, the blonde in front of her seemed to know him all too well.

"Ah!" he cheered, throwing his arms around the annoyed red-head. "Sasori, my man! Good to see you, un! I thought you'd left a while ago with those three girls?"

"I turn my back on you for five seconds," the red-head – Sasori – mumbled and shook his head, evading having to respond to his friend's question. Then, he turned to face Megumi. "My apologies if my friend here was bothering you."

Before Megumi could answer, the blonde man interjected, "Nah, this one's cool, un. I like her." He turned to smirk again at the dark-haired woman and, along with the fire that seemed to spread across her skin, her chest felt tingling and light. This damn alcohol, my God! Megumi cursed herself internally.

Sasori sighed. "Do you even know her name?" The blonde, detaching himself from the red-head, waved off his question.

"Details, details."

Again, Sasori sighed and faced the now flustered Megumi. He spoke, "Again, I apologies for my friend."

"Stop apologizing for me, un!"

Despite herself, Megumi let out a jubilant laugh. In turn, this surprised the unnamed blonde and his friend Sasori. While she vaguely understood the improperness of her laugh, even though her drunkenness told her it was fine, she could not help herself. Somehow, watching the two had reminded her of her and Nadeshiko. And something about this feeling gave her some sort of mind, sound or drunk or whatever it was, to extend the same trust to them that she had to Nadeshiko that day many years ago.

"No, excuse my rudeness," Megumi stated, smiling at them. "Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Megumi. It is a pleasure to meet you two. May I ask your names?" Although still mildly bewildered over her laughter, Sasori sent the woman a gentle smile.

"Sasori," he stated, although she'd already managed to figure out his name. Next to him, the blonde man studied the girl he had just been drinking with for who-knows-how-long. His impression of the woman had changed drastically since the moment he'd laid eyes on her from across the room. And although he was certainly unsure about her, there was something about that that excited him too.

"Deidara," the blonde stated, smirk ever-growing. "And the pleasure is all mine."

To start, I just want to say thank you guys for a year of supporting and sending your love for this story. One year! (Unless you take into consideration my like, six month hiatus... then it really hasn't been a year of me writing this. But that's beside the point.) I couldn't have done this much without everyone's kind words of encouragement and all of the silent favorites and follows over the past months. So, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

And in regards to this chapter: I know. I left the last chapter with probably so many unanswered questions concerning our two main characters, and then I go writing this and probably caused even more unanswered questions.

Oops.

Honestly, though, this was so much fun to write and I promise it's actually pretty important in theory for the rest of the story. You may not see it right now, but I promise it's extremely important! Plus, who doesn't love Deidara and Sasori? They had to be included somewhere.

Anyway! Shout outs to JigokuShoujosRevenge, Princess-Cissnei, Neko Hoshi Hime Okami, and NatNicole for leaving me the kindest comments in the world. Seriously, you guys absolutely made my day, if not my entire week. And to everyone else, thank you so much again for following and sticking with me! I hope you continue to enjoy.