"This is really good! Thanks for cooking, Eneko-nee-chan! This is better than that restaurant a few miles back!" Sasuke complimented. She smiled and kissed him on the forehead as she passed.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I appreciated it." She told him softly. They were all around a small campfire and Eneko had cooked a quick meal. She sat down in between Sasuke and Itachi with her own meal.
"So," Naruto drawled out. "Who's the blue guy again?" The taller figure glared at him and he glared back.
"Hoshigaki Kisame you runt." Naruto bristled angrily.
"I am not a runt –ttebayo! My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!" He yelled at the blue shark-like man. Eneko looked up from eating calmly while Sasuke and Itachi both prepared for a fight.
"We all know that, Naruto-kun. Now, sit down, be quiet, and eat and I'll teach you a new technique tomorrow." Naruto immediately sat down and shoved his cheeks full of food. Eneko smiled. "Good boy." Sasuke's nose wrinkled at Naruto in disgust.
"Naruto, that's gross." Sasuke complained. Naruto just smirked and opened his mouth, showing Sasuke the half-chewed food inside. Sasuke let out a noise that was a mix between a groan and disgusted noise. "That's disgusting!" He yelled. An immediate bicker-war followed between the two boys. Itachi and Kisame both had hands on their weapons, annoyed. Eneko clinked two kunai together as she picked them up and the two boys quickly sat straight, tall, and silent. She smiled.
"It's so nice eating a meal with two bickering boys and two S-Ranked missing-nin from the bingo book." She stopped as everyone turned to her with a disbelieving look. She stood up, already done. "Well the, Naruto, Sasuke, both of you be silent while I'm gone."
"Where are you going nee-chan?" Sasuke asked, looking up at her confused. Eneko smiled and ruffled his hair.
"I'm going to go survey the area, Sasuke-kun. I'm going to be right back, don't worry." She walked a little bit away from everyone else and did a strange hand seal, closing her eyes to concentrate. Sasuke immediately recognized a kekki genkai. Naruto looked confused. Kisame had his hand on samehada, threateningly. Itachi looked up at her with concern evident in his dark eyes.
"What's she doing?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke. Sasuke shook his head, unsure of what she was doing himself. Suddenly, Eneko opened her bright green eyes.
"Wings of the Feathered Dragon!" She called. Abruptly, blood spurted out of the two vertical slits on the back of her outfit and a set of bloodstained, white-feathered wings appeared out of her shoulder blades. Kisame raised his sword in alarm. Sasuke and Naruto jumped back in surprise. Itachi winced when he saw the blood, but Eneko didn't seem to feel it. She turned back, waved at the group, launched herself into the air and flew off rapidly. Sasuke turned to Itachi, curious.
"Hey, aniki? Did you really say all those romantic things to nee-chan?" He asked his older brother. Naruto was immediately curious. If it was something that Eneko treasured so much she would risk her life to come search for him, turning her back on the village that finally accepted her, it was worth listening to, right? Itachi smiled, recalling the moment in his head and nodded.
"Yes, Sasuke. I really did. I've been in love with Eneko ever since I first saw those expressive green eyes of hers. I think, deep down inside, I've always known that she wasn't dead. The lonely feeling didn't overcome me, like it did with everyone else." Itachi replied.
"Can you tell us of that night, Itachi-san?" Naruto asked, curious. Kisame grunted, obviously bored and leaned back, not even knowing what he was doing there in the first place. Naruto and Sasuke leaned forward, eager for a good story. Itachi smiled at their eager expressions and nodded.
"If you really want to know about it that bad…" He paused, pretending to think about it. "Then I'll tell you exactly what happened that night." The two boys looked at each other, excited, and then back at Itachi. "But first, I have to tell you something. Eneko had just started to admit her feelings for me. She originally hated me. That night, she had been at one of our family dinners, remember, Sasuke? You were kind of little then."
Flashback alert. Flashback alert. Prepare for a flashback.
"How are you feeling this evening, Tsubasano-san?" Fugaku asked politely. Eneko just sat there, looking at her food. She looked up; her eyes reflecting mixed emotions in her green pools and nodded ever so slightly.
"Fine, Uchiha-sama. Just fine." She replied quietly. Fugaku waved off the expression.
"Call me otou-san, Tsubasano-san. You're going to become part of our family soon enough anyway." Itachi blushed ever so slightly, sitting right beside his bride-to-be. Eneko smiled, her eyes now excited.
"Only if you call me Eneko-chan, otou-san!" She countered. Fugaku laughed, causing Akari to laugh as well. She was helping Sasuke cut up his food and Sasuke was looking at Eneko with big eyes. Eneko leaned over to Sasuke. "I'll do that, okaa-san. You eat." She took the knife and fork from the female lead of the Uchiha Clan, who looked at her thankfully.
"Thank you very much, Eneko-chan. Itachi, I think we're going to have to keep her." She told her son playfully. Itachi blushed even more, tearing at the meat on his plate, trying to hide his embarrassment. He relaxed visibly when Eneko laughed as well. As soon as Eneko was finished helping Sasuke, she sat back up and began eating in that unique, refined manner of hers. The meal was soon finished with some small talk here and there; mostly about Itachi's latest accomplishments as a chuunin and Eneko's as a recruit for ANBU. As soon as Akari and Fugaku excused themselves and went to take Sasuke to bed, Itachi stood, pulling Eneko up with him.
"Eneko-chan, can I talk to you elsewhere? I have something very important to tell you and it is not for all ears." Eneko, immediately all business, nodded and followed him outside. There, he tied a blindfold over her eyes and led her somewhere else.
"Itachi-kun? Where are you taking me?" She laughed quietly. She heard Itachi chuckle as well.
"You'll see, Eneko-chan. Hurry. I want to get there at just the right time." Eneko laughed again and followed him at a faster speed. She then felt herself pushed down so that she was sitting on something soft. She felt the spray of water on her face and the quiet roar of a small waterfall nearby. Itachi took the blindfold off and they were at a gorgeous waterfall with the full moon shining bright overhead.
"Itachi-kun? What are we doing here? What is it that you can't ask me with your family nearby?" She asked in a playfully confused voice. Itachi smiled secretly and held out a beautifully simple ring with a small opal in the center of a silver band. She gasped, her hands going to her mouth and she looked at him, confused.
"Will you marry me for real, Ene-chan? I love you so truly and so deeply that nothing could ever tear us apart. I know you'll be happier here now than we both were back when we first met." He told her softly. A tear fell down her face and she leapt on him, hugging his neck tightly.
"Of course I will, Tachi-kun!" She cried softly. He slipped the ring on her finger as the moon glanced off the spray of the waterfall, casting a rainbow over them. Eneko let out an awed sound. "It's so beautiful, Tachi-kun!" She said softly. Itachi slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer.
"It's telling you that you're my rainbow, Ene-chan. You're what makes every gloomy, rainy day seem like a miracle at the end. The thing that I'll always look forward to." Eneko hugged him tightly and they sat there for a while, just enjoying each other's embrace.
End Flashback. End Flashback.
"Whoa, aniki. You're a genius when it comes to women." Sasuke exclaimed in awe. Itachi smiled and flicked his forehead, just like he used to.
"I'm a genius at everything, little brother." He countered. Sasuke touched his forehead and smiled. Suddenly, Eneko flew back at them, clutching a wound on her arm. She deactivated her wings and they disappeared in a spiral of feathers. Itachi quickly stood and caught her in his arms. She was very pale and she was breathing heavily. Blood was trickling out from in between her fingers.
"Konoha ANBU!" She cried, pain coating her voice. Everyone in the clearing tensed. "Come to…take the two boys…! They think…I kidnapped them…! We've got to…run!" She yelled, fading fast, blood trickling out of the edge of her mouth. They all immediately started running. Kisame went a separate direction, promising Itachi to tell the leader he was going home. Itachi kept shaking Eneko gently, keeping her conscious.
"Hang in there, Ene-chan. We're getting you help. Stay with me, okay, koi?" He was whispering to her softly. Naruto sent of shadow clones with their four chakra signatures to throw off the ANBU at least for a little while. Itachi lead them all to a small cottage with an old lady that was apparently once a medic-nin. While she healed Eneko, the boys prepared for battle. The old lady came out of the back room that Eneko was being examined in.
"She's got poisoning and her whole body's gone numb so it may be a few hours before she can walk again. What are you four up to?" Itachi just smiled.
"Thank you for taking care of her baa-chan." He said respectively. Sasuke and Naruto both muttered things along the same lines. The old lady waved them off and went back to the back room to check on her patient again. Itachi opened his mouth to give battle instructions when he heard a cry from the old woman. He immediately went to the back room and stopped. Bloodied bandages were on the small cot laid out for her and her things were piled softly in a corner. Itachi immediately went to the window and started looking for a sign of her. Sasuke came in, wondering what was going on. He saw the bandages and Eneko's things in the corner and stopped.
"She's….gone?"