He suddenly leapt in the air, spiraled around, flinging kunai knives into the centers of each target. Just as I was about to say, "Whoa, you're good!" I felt a sudden pain throbbing on the upper part of my leg. Behind me, conveniently placed, was the last target the kunai had been headed for.

"Ah! My thigh!" I shouted, going down. Itachi flung kunai alright but one had imbedded itself in my leg! He glanced over at me, curled on the dirt, clutching my wounded appendage. He began to make his way over.

"I presume you were standing there, spying on me?" He questioned, bending down to my side, an eyebrow arched.

"No! I was going to tell you it's…uh" What to tell him? What to tell him? "It's dinner time," I told him, calming down. That was my story and I was sticking to it.

He didn't argue. "It's too dangerous to be wandering around when I'm training, Zakuro," he warned me as one hand wrapped around the kunai knife while the other held my knee. "This will only work if you don't scream."

I nodded. As he slowly removed the kunai knife bit by bit, I felt a nerve twinge in protest. "Ouch," I hissed in pain as I grabbed his hand. My hand was on top of his. We looked up at each other and my face flushed red. My hand flew off of his. He smiled…and yanked the kunai out.

"YEOW!" I yelped, as my hands covered the now-bleeding-profusely injury. I had been so distracted by his sweet smile…then he just yanked the thing out!

"I told you not to scream," he frowned.

"Ha, ha, Mr. Hilarious," I muttered sarcastically, giving him a dark glare worthy of an Uchiha. I moved my hands as he started treating my leg. It twitched when he rubbed the disinfectant on it.

"You have rather soft hands for a ninja," I teased sardonically. But really, he had soft hands that were gentle as he bandaged my wound. My leg didn't hurt as much anymore.

I heard Sasuke come as Itachi stood, "Big Brother, can you teach me the Sharingan today after supper?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm busy now and will be after dinner, Sasuke. Why don't you ask Father?" Itachi asked. The question was a dismissal.

"Fine," Sasuke sighed, his small shoulders slumping in disappointment as he made his way back to the manor.

How rude, I thought, feeling sorry for the poor, neglected child. I curtly glared at a baffled Itachi as we returned to the manor as well. I took a bath before dinner started. I mean, I couldn't very well go to dinner with dried blood spattered on my pants.

My eyes scanned the well-set table laden with teriyaki chicken, egg rolls, egg soup, rice balls, and steamed rice with green tea. The meal went silently with the occasional sip of tea. Even a morgue at midnight was cheerier than this family.

"Father, Mother, excuse me," Itachi said as he stood and exited through the sliding door to the back porch.

"Itachi tends to do that often, Zakuro," Sasuke and Itachi's mother informed me, catching my lingering gaze and deep frown at the closed sliding door.

"That doesn't bother me. I'll go see if he's alright," I offered, standing and following out the same door. Itachi was sitting on the steps of the back porch, staring straight ahead. "Hey, Itachi…are you okay?" I asked him, sitting beside him.

He didn't answer. A strange warm feeling rose in my chest the longer I looked at him. "Look, I might not be the right person to tell you this, but…maybe you should consider training with your younger brother. I don't really need to train with anyone; I'm perfectly fine," I tried to persuade him. Well fine aside from the incident earlier in the evening.

His head turned as his eyes rested on me. "Perhaps," Itachi considered as he went back to staring ahead. "Perhaps I should no longer train with you, even if it means hating me."

I stared at him in astonishment. "I don't hate you! I never did and never will! I know in my heart that you seem to be a nice person deep down inside," I smiled as I told him. He stared at me blankly for a moment before looking away.

"Hey, Itachi," I asked. "You know you let your guard down."

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"What I meant to say was…Oh my gosh, is that Sasuke with your weapon pouch!" I gasped, pointing past him.

"Nani!?" His head swiveled in the direction my finger had pointed. "I don't see-"

BAM!

I tackled and pinned him down. "Told ya you let your guard down," I smirked down at his pretty face that was contorted into a scowl.

"I never let my guard down," he told me calmly as he rolled over, pinning me down instead. He got up and went back inside without another word.

"O-kay…" I thought to myself, staring at the sliding door.