Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or have any hand in the franchise except that I like it.
AN: This is Chapter Five. What do you think will happen? :D
"KAI-CHAN!" Naruto called, enthusiastically waving me over. His tan face split into a wide smile, and I felt a tug at the corners of my mouth as I subconsciously responded.
"Sit here!" He was positively bouncing up and down in excitement. The movement caused his uniform, which was smeared with dried mud, to flake off and fall down on the floor of the establishment. The owner didn't seem to care about the mess as he fixed Naruto with a soft expression.
"A date?" He chuckled at the orange-clad ninja.
Naruto spluttered over the noodles he held in his mouth, and apparently inhaled some, as he started coughing violently.
"Breathe Naruto-kun, breathe!" I thumped his back a few times as he fought to regulate his gasps for air.
"No!" he finally rasped out.
"No?" my voice sounded with the ramen chief. The older man was clearly amused, his shoulders shook lightly with barely contained laughter. I stared at Naruto's slightly watery blue eyes and a playful pout settled over my features.
He panicked. "No Kai-chan! It's okay! I'm sure someone out there is attracted to you like that, it may take a bit to find someone, but that is no reason to give up hope. I guess you are kind of cute in a completely citizenly way."
It took all of my will power not to bust up laughing. I sniggered a few times and the ramen chief howled with laughter. The sunshine ninja was so earnest in his speech, and he messed up the reassurances up so terribly; it simply couldn't be anything but funny. I sat on the stool next to Naruto, and grinned at him. He flinched away from me.
"You're not going to hit me?" His voice was tiny and sounded puzzled. "Sakura-chan and Ino-chan would have hit me."
This admission only made the two of us laugh harder.
"I'm not angry," I clarified.
"You aren't just saying that and when I least expect it you are going to rake me over the coals?" sapphire blue eyes scanned over me suspiciously.
"Hmm" I considered it a moment, " How bout we take it out in a trade." I proposed, a rakish smile spreading over my face. "I won't bring it up again, and you have to answer a question of mine."
I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he considered it. Thoughtfully he took another bite of his ramen. While I was waiting, I turned to the vendor and recognized the glint of amusement in his eyes.
I pursed my lips considering what I should order. "Could I please have a small bowl of chicken?"
"Alright, I agree." Naruto made it sound as if he just signed a contract in blood.
I grinned and laughed at his twisted grimace. The proprietor set my steaming ramen in front of me. It smelled amazing. I picked up some chopsticks and spit them with glee. I mumbled quick thanks before digging in.
"What do you know about Itachi Uchiha ?" I said after I swallowed.
The sapphire blue eyes narrowed into slits of suspicion. Distaste settled into creases in the corner of his mouth, and he frowned heavily. His posture slumped and his head drooped so low, I was sure that his forehead was sitting in the broth of his unfinished ramen. He hissed through his teeth. The light-hearted attitude seemed to momentarily disappear with that name. With Itachi Uchiha's name, I made the sunshine ninja loose his glow, like Itachi was an ominous raincloud.
He turned on his stool to face me, his eyebrows furrowed, and his expression one of deep distaste. Moments passed, and he just stared at me, his eyes darting around my face, trying to see the exact reason why I was asking about that particular man.
Then he blurted out, as blunt as possible. "Kai-chan, what do you want with Teme's brother? Are you like some sort of fangirl?" the last word was said with so much disgust that his face mirrored that of someone forced to eat dirt.
"A fangirl?" I giggled.
It was completely ludicrous, insane even. I couldn't even begin to describe how terrible the notion was to me. Why would I want to follow the arrogant prideful pricks around like a lost puppy begging for some sort of attention? Being infatuated with an Uchiha was a surefire way to lose all of your humanity. I was aware that most of the men of that clan were considered heartthrobs, and many of the girls that I went to school with constantly gushed about Uchiha man or another. They formed these massive coalitions. These ravenous packs of females strutted around the village, hunting those in rival packs, and generally making a nuisance of them. That Naruto even considered me to be party to such a group was hilarious.
"A fangirl." I repeated, not giggling. An equally humorous idea forming in my head, Fangirls were akin to voracious animals. They were mean, spiteful, and obsessive about their particular Uchiha to an alarming degree. I was willing to bet there was a very alive and thriving fangirl group for a particular annoying Uchiha.
"Naruto, you are a genius." I said, my eyes shining with the possibilities.
His mouth fell open, showing me half masticated food. His eyebrows disappeared under his forehead protector. Naruto closed his mouth slowly and let out a garbled yell.
"What?" He shuddered
My nose crinkled and I laughed at his obliviousness. He had no idea the weapon against Itachi that he proposed. It was a safeguard, a surefire way to assure that no matter what Itachi did to me, there was a horde of jealous, arrogant women who would trip over themselves for any of the information about him that they could get. If I played it right, and made sure that no matter what happened in our Tuesday sessions that there was always a fangirl in sight. Instant observers, and in this case, the more observers to the evaluation, the less likely that I would be taken advantage of. I ignored his question, and fixed the sunshine ninja with a stare.
"Naruto-kun, you're not trying to back out of telling me about the Uchiha, are you?" I stated. My eyebrow rose.
Again he wilted. It was such a dramatic emotion in response to a single name, I wondered what prompted it. I supposed it had to be something drastic. Naruto stuttered for a bit, making half sounds, apparently trying to find the right words to express who Itachi Uchiha was.
"Itachi… He's the most cold-blooded son–of-a-bitch, you'll ever meet."He finally decided. "Things that aren't handed to him on a silver platter, he manipulates so it's brought to him on a gold one. He's the Uchiha clan heir, entitled to everything and is the best at everything he touches. Every subject he decides to learn, he becomes a master at. Itachi is more robot than man. No matter what Sasuke says, his brother is inhuman."
Naruto puffed his cheeks out in annoyance. Apparently this was a sore subject for Naruto, that Sasuke, still hero worshiped his aniki. Naruto was pouting, I could tell that he and Sasuke were tried and true friends, brothers by tears, sweat, and hard earned blood. If Naruto felt so strongly about Itachi, I wonder what Sasuke's were?
" What are Sasuke's thoughts about his brother?" I asked swirling another noodle around my chopsticks.
"Sasuke…He cares so much about Itachi's opinion, that it nearly destroyed our team. He's always racing to catch up with his brother only to find that when he accomplished something, it's still in Itachi's shadow. But Sakura-chan and I, we're going to help Sasuke beat his brother, as a team!" Raw determination colored his eyes back into a fiery blue.
"I'm sure you three are close to invincible." I grinned.
"That's right!" The ninja next to me agreed enthusiastically and then slurped some ramen to punctuate his declaration.
Even though Naruto seemed in good spirits, the information I gathered I carefully filed in a special place in my brain, the place that was designated to worry and fret about a certain cold-blooded Uchiha, the place that was beginning to think that I was in a world of trouble for attracting such an irritating, manipulative clan heir.
Nauto finished his ramen with a bah of appreciation, and loudly yelled for another bowl. It was good just to bask in his bright attitude. His order filled, he turned to me and began recounting a story about Sai and his obliviousness in an over animated way. I listened amazed, and humored. These people actually spoke of running up walls and performing stunning feats of athleticism like it was no big deal. It was no big deal. The fact that Naruto, after just a small amount of time, allowed me to see this far into his life was a blessing.
Ninjas were really something else, they were the kind of people that you should only meet once in a lifetime. They are the type of people that inspire, amaze, and keep you on your toes. It was strange that so many of these stellar people were concentrated in such a small area. Ninjas were such a closed off demographic, not only was I stepping into a world where it was common to risk your life for grand ideals, I was being led in by my hand and welcomed with wide open arms. I was seeing the kind of things that made men into heroes, and heroes into legends.
It was humbling, scary, and made me feel so out of place that as much as I liked Naruto, I wanted to crawl in some deep dark hole and ponder what made me so ordinary and them so much more.
An errant thought raced across my mind. If my insight into this life was the cause of Itachi Uchiha, then maybe his interest in me wasn't as unwelcome as I first supposed.
The rest of the lunch sped by, I was thrilled with the constant stream of humorous exuberant stories that Naruto recounted. His life was like a novel, chuck full of adventure, love, and loss. Finally time ran out on our lunch date and we parted ways.
Instead of heading home (like I was supposed to), I decided to take the preventative measures against the Uchiha. At any given moment, there were always some fangirls waiting ravenously by the gates into the Uchiha compound.
Most of the girls my age were there for Sasuke, but they all talked with each other, and they knew who subscribed to Itachi variety. They gathered in front of the compound in great hordes so they could see the object of their desire briefly as the particular Uchiha returned home from work. I just hoped that in the off chance that I saw Itachi, I could be convincing enough to hide the true reason I was there.
I stood in the throng, closely monitoring the chatter around me, mentally noting all of the ages of the women and their gushing about Uchiha-something-or-other. There were so many women, that blending in with them was as easy as pulling my hair out of its bun and plastering a fake smile on my face.
One woman off to my left tittered excitedly about how Shishui held her hand today at the market. She was pleasant to look at, but her features screwed up in a grimace of detestation as another woman recounted that Shisui placed a gentlemanly kiss on her knuckles.
They blathered on and I listened in, subscribing to one group to the next as I heard all sorts of things about Sasuke's inky black hair and the way it waved in the wind while he was in the training grounds. Fukakus domineering presence and how it melted any resisting bone in their bodies. Finally, I heard about the characteristic the dark eyes that were so perceptive that it felt like they were peering into their very soul. It was like swimming in the sewer with my mouth open.
"Itachi trained my chunin team today." One kunoichi squealed excitedly.
I caught the voice and followed it to a huge group of about 50 women and girls. They listened with rapt attention to the slim attractive woman. She had blazing orange hair pulled up into a high ponytail. It accentuated her high cheekbones and even further downward to her huge green painted lips. I thought that she looked rather clownish, but that was normal for kunoichi. Female ninjas often had looks and bodies that far surpassed their civilian counterparts, and they (sometimes) enhanced their image by adopting fashion pieces that were better left to entertainers.
"He was so calm, and commanding. We were going over explosion disabling. You know, since that one team got blown to smithereens with the string of paper bombs." Several of the women nodded.
"At one point, I was about to rip off a paper bomb from the wall because it looked like it terminated there. I was so nervous because he was there watching us with his sharingan on. He was paying so much attention to me. Anyway, I go to tear the bomb off, and then he was behind me. His muscled chest was to my back and he smells like peppermint and pine. He placed his hand on mine and our fingers tangled." She inhaled shakily.
The way she put it, it sounded romantic. I thought that he was likely just preventing himself and the rest of the chunin from being blown up. She must be desperate to think that his quick action was anything but that. Even still, I was glad that I had never been ensnared into this constant pressure to associate myself with a man who had no inclination to return any misguided feelings that I developed for him.
With a fortifying breath, I smiled and interjected. "Excuse me ladies, but I have something important to ask you about Itachi Uchiha."
Tuesday
Ok, Itachi Uchiha's interest in me was unwarranted and quite possibly the most nerve racking, annoying thing that had ever happened to me.
I rocked back and forth from my heels to my toes several times, all the while looking expectantly down the hall for the slightest movement. An Itachi Uchiha shaped movement would be most welcome. It puzzled me that he would be late, unless he had something to gain from it. It could be that he was watching through the security camera at the end of the hall. Or, I reminded myself fiercely, he was simply thirty minutes late. A shinobi with his record, chances were that my antsyness was monitored closely through the camera.
Nervousness curled unpleasantly in the pit of my stomach, a coiling serpent that could strike and incapacitate my wits at any moment. The information I gathered about this particular Uchiha's character kept looping itself in my head in a never ending cycle of statements.
He is the heir to the Uchiha and is a summation of their potential. Itachi likes to play with people, like toys, and when he tires of them they get tossed. Itachi Uchiha is dangerous, he isn't the sort of person you want interested in you. He is the most cold-blooded son-of-a-bitch you'll ever meet. Things that aren't handed to him on a silver platter, he manipulates so it's brought to him on a gold one.
"Ugh!" I ground my eyes with the back of my hands, trying to scrub out the annoying loop of thoughts.
This waiting waspointless. I turned to leave, and bumped into a hard rather sturdy chest.
"Oh sorry…" I mumbled, and looked up.
"Hello Kai-chan."
I looked at the man, absorbing the flak jacket and the long sleeved blue shirt and gloved hands, taking in the shock of silver hair, the single uncovered black eye. We met before. I remember seeing the silver gravity defying hair, and being impressed. Unlike Sasuke's hair, it seemed more natural, if spiky gray hair could be considered natural.
"What are you doing here? This isn't a place to be hanging out." He smiled his single eye shaping a u, and lowered his single raised palm.
I stared at him, not particularly acknowledging his slight reprimand. Where was Itachi? More importantly what was this man's name?
"No Naruto today?" I redirected looking around him comically. Of course Naruto wasn't with this silver-haired ninja, one: he was on a mission, and two: Naruto wouldn't have been able to hide from me like that. All the while, frantically searching my head for his name, I was pretty sure it started with a k.
He stared at me, the single uncovered eye still creased in a u. apparently he chose not to play along with my pathetic attempt to distract him. The silence between us grew oppressive quickly.
"Uchiha-san, told me I was supposed to meet him here. He hasn't showed yet. I was just about to bail" Nervously, I gnawed at my bottom lip. My confession sounded as panicked as I felt. An idea hit me, causing me to stare at the man.
"This another henge?" My query startled the silver haired jounin. His one black eye widened slightly, and he seemed surprised at my inference. As soon as the accusation slipped out, I knew that I was wrong. Itachi Uchiha wouldn't be as base as to try the same thing twice. Most likely he had been here the whole time just waiting for me to recognize it and find him like some twisted game of hide-and-seek with no rules.
I stared at the jounin before me with wide eyes as I processed part of the game Itachi was playing.
When I arrived, I had no desire to go back into the interrogation room where I had been grilled about my personality traits. The door was shut, and no light seeped through the cracks. I assumed that Itachi just hadn't arrived yet. But he was here, he had been waiting for me to see the game, and I'd bet my allowance that he was sitting patiently in the dark in the interrogation room behind me.
The man in front of me was clueless as to my epiphany.
Kakashi, his name is Kakashi. My brain finally supplied the answer. Kakashi was probably checking up on me for Naruto.
"Did Naruto-kun ask you to come?"
He turned his head to the side. As if he was considering exactly how to answer.
"Ah"
It may have been the way he was looking at me, but the bland statement didn't seem quite true.
"That's not it. Naruto expressed his concern, but you came because you're one of the few ninja's in the village who can kind of understand what Uchiha-san is thinking. You don't seem like the kind of guy to do something extraneous unless you were ordered to. The question becomes, who ordered you to show up here." I analyzed quickly, still watching his face for an expression. I continued.
"It wasn't Morino-san, he trusts Uchiha-san's judgment. The Hokage is too busy to care. My father wouldn't have someone show up without telling me." Suddenly it clicked. The pink-haired doctor. As Tsunade's apprentice, she had the authority to make his working life a complete hell. She was my doctor and had connections to both Kakashi and Naruto. If what Naruto said at the ramen booth was true, she also had one hell of a temper.
"Thanks Hatake-san, I know that Sakura-san asked, but I am grateful that you showed up."
I smiled up at the speechless Jounin. Now it was time to confront the Uchiha.
"Let the games begin" I murmured as I turned and grasped the door handle.
"Uchiha-san, do you normally play hide and seek with random girls?" I asked as the door opened to reveal twin orbs of scarlet sharingan activated eyes. Nonplussed, I continued on the same strain. Gesturing about the dark room with a sweep of my hand, I continued. "This is creepy, like serial killer 'I keep mummified remains in my bed chambers and talk to them on a frequent basis' kind of creepy."
Honestly, I had no idea where the gumption to say that came from.
Itachi stepped into the low light of the hallway, a black sweater accentuating his lean, sinuous figure. A smirk that was just a small twitch at the corner of his mouth portrayed his amusement. His forehead protector was tied loosely around his left arm, bunching the fabric slightly. I moved away from the doorway to lean on the now open door resting against the door-stopper.
"Leave." His eyes flickered to Kakashi.
"You never said that I had to meet with you alone." I pointed out.
Part of me was amazed that I was correct about the game. I, a mere citizen, saw through the trickery of a shinobi. Not just any shinobi either, but Itachi-freaking-Uchiha. He was the one ninja that was the genius of geniuses, the captain above all captains, and arguably a candidate for the next Hokage. Another slightly wary part of me, watched Itachi, still not trusting his motives. That part watched the precise way he moved, the feline-like grace that tenured his every gesture. It shuddered at the thought of those sharingan bright eyes resting on me, cataloging and analyzing my every movement. I felt like a deer caught unawares, resting bright eyes on whatever startled it before it bunched its muscles to get the hell out of the way.
I pushed myself off the door to move by Kakashi. It was safer there. Without preamble, Itachi grabbed my arm tugged me away from the equally startled jounin, and into his chest. I struggled. He was way too close to me, the heat from his torso caused Goosebumps to race up and down my arms; it was an uncontrollable reaction. His breath gushed by the tender skin of my ear, and I was so close to him, that I practically feel the slow steady thrum of his heartbeat. I panicked.
"Space! Uchiha-san, you're too close." I whimpered.
Itachi never moved from his position, his eyes were still fixed on the offending jounin. Maybe I could use logic to allow the silver-haired man to help watch over me.
"Uchiha-san." I began again moderating my tone to one of gentle persuasion. "It would be a prudent move to allow an impartial third-party to observe. You know, Extra input and all that." It wasn't working. I was still pressed against him, and I was beginning to hate Itachi Uchiha with a downright surprising vehemence.
He was still touching me and I couldn't deal with his intimidating proximity.
"Uchiha, get your hand off of my person this instant." I commanded. I didn't tug away, that would give him power, if anything I wanted to stay as deathly still as I could. It was all to drive my point home. This wasn't a game to me anymore. The sooner he knew that he was crossing the line the better. My eyes met the red of his sharingan. I didn't flinch, instead I put all of the cool fury behind the look. All of it was to assure that he never casually touched me again.
Fury flushed my cheeks red, and for a moment he didn't move, until slowly, he loosened his grasp over my biceps. I didn't dare twitch until his hand dropped innocuously to his side.
Kakashi watched the entire exchange with his head tilted to the side, a picture of polite curiosity. His hands were buried in the pockets of his jounin pants. His posture was slouched and I could have sworn he was uninterested in the entire exchange, however, his eye did not stray from the two of us. He was a jounin after all, and reading between the lines is one major characteristic that most ninja of that rank shared. The posture and slight nuances in his coal black eye gave no insight into his thoughts.
It was my turn to make a move, lay down one of my cards, and hope to hell that it was a good enough strategy to keep the Uchiha from treating me like a kamari ball.
"Uchiha-san." I started, still infuriated by his familiarity with my person. "If this association is to continue." I gestured to myself and then to him. "You will not have any physical contact with me unless it is dire and unavoidable."
"And if I don't concur?" Itachi asked, His eyes laughing, but his face was as blank as ever. Here was the hard part. I couldn't beat him up. I couldn't report him to the citizen's council. He had sonority with the Hokage. Legally, there wasn't anything I could do to him. There wasn't much of anything that I could do to Itachi Uchiha that would have any impact on him. He held most of the cards.
Nervously I glanced over at the pokerfaced jounin. Hoping that my information about Itachi, was correct, I held my breath in a vain effort to regulate it.
"And they say you're a gentleman." I murmured before I carried through with my consequence.
I continued on with reckless abandon.
"Did you know that you have a fan club?" I asked head tilted and smirking slightly.
"Hn." He acknowledged, the random change in subject making him suspicious. Good. He should attentive.
"I had the most enlightening conversation with them." I barreled on, his onyx eyes turned flinty. Kakashi raised his gloved hand to his mouth and shook with restrained laughter. Their minds already leapt to the consequence I had in mind.
"Ming, is an avid member and she had a specific jutsu that allows her to transport herself and nine other individuals, almost like a summons. They will appear whenever and wherever I am. If you don't agree to follow the rules and keep your hands off of me, I will summon them without second thought and then you will have to deal with the annoyance their presence brings."
Kakashi's single eye met mine. The outright glee that I saw in it, quite frankly, surprised me.
There was a pregnant pause before Itachi intoned "How do you summon them without chakra?"
In reality, I wasn't sure how the process worked. When Ming explained it to me, she just mentioned that I had to bleed on the disk of the thin silver bracelet that encircled my left wrist. Even still, I didn't want Itachi to know how I was able to summon the girls. He might take the bracelet or prevent me bleeding on it.
I frowned, and drew my eyebrows together. Then my eyes met Itachi's black ones with confusion.
"I don't know how it works." I pursed my lips. It was the truth.
His eyes flickered with red light when I didn't continue explaining. I was annoying him. The outcome made me feel heady. It was a lot like the rush after blatantly disobeying someone in command. Although, I was certain that I wouldn't like the backlash, the price of goading him.
"Anyway, I will literally throw you to the wolves if you take advantage of this situation. You understand?" I felt too nervous, but it was better that he know what steps I was willing to take to ensure that this experience wouldn't irreparably damage me.
While Kakashi practically radiated amusement, Itachi did nothing but stare at me. His eyes were flickering all over my defensive stance, taking in minute things about my appearance that I probably didn't even know. It wasn't that he looked tense or even nervous, his features and body language radiated stoic blandness. It was something about his steady eyes. That told me that he was processing the information and formulating his next step.
"Come." He commanded and with a lightning fast movement he grabbed my wrist with the silver bracelet and used his long legs to walk quickly away from the hallway, up the steps, and out into the gathering twilight.
I looked at my wrist and his calloused hand, which was marked with so many tiny scars. I noted the difference between his hard capable hands and my own. His long fingers met around my wrist, and despite how strong that I knew that his grip must be, he was careful not to use that strength on me. His palm was hot against the cool flesh of my inner wrist.
Kakashi trailed behind us, at one point in the hurried journey into the gathering night, he reached into his pack and was looking down at a green book with a white figure on the cover. I found myself admiring that the man could multitask like that. I couldn't, if I tried then I would end up face down in the street.
"Can all ninja read and walk at the same time?" I voiced out loud.
Kakashi flipped the page, and answered mildly. "No, not all of them." He chuckled as his one eye met mine. "You ever read these?" He held up the book again so I could read the title. Itcha Itcha Tactics
"Nope. Are they good? I'm more of a mystery novel girl myself" I answered.
By this time, our frantic pace had slowed. Itachi wasn't watching our conversation, but he was paying enough attention to not drag me behind him like a sleepy child with a stuffed animal. Kakashi drew up next to me and began telling me about the virtues and hinted about the plotline.
I couldn't say that Kakashi was particularly animated with the narrative. But there was an inflection and warmth to his voice that I had never sensed in our other meeting. This was something that excited him. To a jounin like him, to even see that slight behavioral change was like he was jumping up and down and waving his arms around in excitement.
Itachi stopped. His hand slipped from its hold on my wrist. The calluses rasped along the sensitive skin that covered the blue veins. A burst of chills raced down my arms. I turned my head and regarded the Uchiha quizzically.
He didn't say anything, but his black gaze met mine. A moment passed, and then another, Kakashi drew up beside me and coughed discreetly. The small noise seemed to jolt him out of his searching gaze and me into a vibrant blush.
All of my worries that kept me tossing and turning during the sleepless nights ever since I met Itachi, seemed to melt like chocolate in my mouth and turn into a glimmering awareness that shimmered strangely in my veins. There were too many romance novels like this, the slightly odd citizen falls head over heels for the tall, talented, and emotionally stoic ninja. It wasn't realilistic. I am NOT attracted to him. I reminded myself firmly.
With a jolt back into reality, I realized that we were standing in front of the training yards designated Jounin and up. I looked at the Uchiha, tilting my head slightly to the side denoting my complete puzzlement. We weren't going to go in there were we?
The fence enclosing the training area was chain link. A bright orange sign was hung on the gate and laid out some rules for using the grounds. The number one of those rules was underlined and in bold. ABSOLUTELY NO CIVILIANS. For once in my life, I didn't feel slighted at the shinobi assumption at our lack of common sense. I agreed. This was no place for a person like me.
Kakashi stood back and watched with me as the Uchiha opened the gate. There were several unlocking padlocks and a justu that I couldn't comprehend the meaning of, He did the hand signals so fast that his hands were a blur of motion. The gate swung open with a small squeak and once again Itachi grasped my wrist.
"Oh no." I resisted. I was getting pulled into a dangerous pit hole full of things that would tear me into little pieces before I could even blink.
"I am not going in there." I grasped the gate with my other hand and refused to budge. "Can't you read? The warning on the door says no civilians. I'm a civilian."
"I'm an ANBU captain, and Kakashi is one of the most talented shinobi of the village. Don't you trust us enough to ensure that you come to no harm?" Itachi asked. His tone was bland, as if he didn't care. However, the question inside of his inquiry could almost be construed as affront.
"No, I don't. It's asinine of me to place myself in a situation where I am unable to defend myself. I have no personal method of recourse. Say something happens to both you and Kakashi? I'd be trapped in the middle of the Jounin training fields, which is riddled with bombs, traps, genjutsus, and more." I argued to the Uchiha who seemed to get tenser and tighter wound the harder I resisted him. "I'm not capable of fending any of those threats off." My fire was leaving me once again, and it just left me staring somewhat awkwardly at Itachi's dispassionate black eyes.
"Stop fighting me." He stepped close to me, so close I was sure that it was his warm breath that caused a full bodied shimmer of apprehension to fizzle down my spine. He was physically intimidating me to follow his will.
"BACK OFF!" I barked in fear. He stepped forward and I retreated. He was too close and it was causing all of the neurons in by brain to spark.
"I'm not touching you." His voice held a smirk. That was true, he was millimeters away from touching me, but it was still enough to make me feel tiny and helpless. I had asked that he not touch me. So it wouldn't have been fair for me to summon the fangirls. He was just so powerful and I felt that raw power in every place in my body, and what was worst, I couldn't escape.
A gloved hand gently placed itself on my waist and drew me sideways, away from the fence, and backwards. With gentle hands Kakashi physically planted me to his side. Immediately and inexplicably, my agitation calmed.
Itachi's eyes flickered crimson once, a testament to his annoyance. He regarded the jounin beside me. Instead of speaking to Itachi, Kakashi looked me with his one eye and solemnly promised. "I will not let you come to any harm." He'd raised his hand, upright in a vow, and I couldn't help but believe him.
I nodded once. My common sense had deserted me. However, I was sure that Kakashi hardly ever gave his promise unless he really meant it. I was still trepidatious about the training yards. With Kakashi at my back, it didn't seem nearly as insurmountable.
Once I looked up, Itachi met my eyes with his flat black ones. There was no impatient coiling this time. No indications of what he was thinking. He didn't seem particularly annoyed that I refused to trust him, but rather accepted Kakashi's vow. It was strange that I couldn't observe what he was pondering. Most people, including ninjas, had their feelings pasted on them somehow. Whereas this form of Itachi, he was as bland and emotionless and a flat black wall.
He turned quietly and gracefully, and I was left with the silver haired ninja watching his back walk away from us in the gathering twilight. What the hell was happening? Why had Itachi closed off? Was he angry? For a split second, I felt remorse for causing the Uchiha to retreat further back into a state of stoic blandness. Those slight movements of emotion that I glimpsed earlier were welcomed and were an estimate to how he perceived things.
As I was thinking, we walked slowly behind Itachi, his long hair bound in a loose ponytail at the back of his neck. Kakashi's arm was around my waist and he guided me gently down the path. The sun was setting, and I was sure that this was going to be a terrifying place once the sun was down and the night took a hold of the shadows, but until then, the world was golden. The path that we traveled was really more of a deer trail. I could still see well enough to find my footing without tripping.
Sorrow for causing the Uchiha to retreat was eating at my psyche like I had been inoculated with a mild poison. There was only one thing for it. I broke away from my shelter at Kakashi's side and sprinted the short distance to Itachi's.
As his hand swung back, I tangled my fingers with his. He didn't pause, but looked back at me, and a small bit of emotion came back into his eyes. I mouthed my single worded apology.
He turned back front and continued to travel lightly into the training ground. My footsteps were the loudest of the lot. They crunched and scuffed the ground. Actually, it was almost embarrassing.
Dusk had settled once we got into the clearing.
"So, why did you bring me here?" I asked, clearly puzzled.
"Protect her, but don't interfere, Hatake." Itachi ordered, his eyes bleeding crimson and I suddenly had a very bad feeling.
I looked away, but it was too late. There was no discernible change to the air, not a swirling or a soundless pop. However, I instantly had no idea where I was.
The genjutsu hadn't scrambled my brain, I clearly remembered the men with me. I was just completely lost. I hadn't moved, but the surroundings were foreign, there wasn't even a niggling feeling that I had been there before. I remembered walking, but the landmarks, where I was in space and geographically, was gone. The world had shifted, and I didn't know my place in it. In relationship to where I was, I couldn't say where west was, east, or north.
The sun was no longer in the sky, but it was still too light for any but the stubbornness of stars to peep through. I whipped around in circles to face the two men. They weren't there. Panic started fluttering in my breast like a trapped bird. The world weaned darker, and the landmarks that I should know, a mountain with faces, faded into obscurity.
"What did you do to me?!" I demanded. I spun around, looking for them, in the towering trees lining the empty clearing.
I closed my eyes, breathing in and out, wanting nothing more than to scream and scream. My breath came faster, rasping through my throat.
"THE STORY AT LEAST HAD BREADCRUMBS!" I yelled to the open air, sure that they were watching.
This was some sort of twisted test. Itachi wanted to see what would happen next and it did me no favors to complain and whine about it. He got me into this pickle and it was up to me to get out of it. I walked here, so my tromping may have left a delicate trail though the forest. The problem was the gathering dark. It would effectively hide the overturned leaves and freshly disturbed dirt.
I needed light, and thus fire. I didn't know how to make fire, but it wouldn't hurt to go searching for a suitable branch first. I paced the ring of the clearing, making a mental note of all of the trails that branched from it, squinting hard in the fading light.
There, boot prints. The tread on my boots was much different than a ninja sandal it was relatively easy to pick out. A perfect half indentation of my boot was imprinted into the dirt. This must be where I came from.
Off to the side was a generous bush, and I'd bet my allowance that a serviceable stick for a torch would be hiding underneath its bungle of branches. I dove in, shuffling the thick foliage aside. Casting aside the leafy branches, I looked up in just enough time to see a partially obscured paper bomb, there was a string leading off into the left and the right, it was barely there, but I was lucky enough to note that it bent the branches of the prickly bush ever so slightly in an unnatural angle.
This must have been what the fangirl chunnin was talking about. If I tore off this, then a series of bombs would go off throughout the entire area.
A wide, evil grin split my face. The source of my fire was right in front of me, sitting innocuously in all of its cryptic scrolling words. To pass Itachi's little test, I needed fire. I also had the added bonus of perhaps getting back at the evil Uchiha too…
A very small part of my brain protested. I could seriously hurt both Itachi and Kakashi. It wasn't a wise move, and it didn't help my "normal citizen" case.
If I didn't pull the paper bomb then I would have to find my way out of wherever I was on my own in the dark. If I did, then I could get out of here and the test could be over. After a breath of deliberating, I decided that maybe being a normal cringing citizen was overrated.
I grabbed a suitable stick backed up a couple of inches. I groped at my hem at my shirt, it was unraveling and I hadn't had time to fix it yet. I pulled and a long thread unraveled easily. Meticulously I tied it to the nonexistent thread in the branches where it connected to the paper bomb. Grabbed the stick in my other hand, and backed away slowly, being extremely careful with the tiny thread.
I placed the thread on the ground, and took off my shirt and the undershirt I had on. The stick still clutched in my hand. The bark on it was green and sappy; hopefully it would be resistant enough to burning to get me though the forest. I tore the bottom of my shirt off in a thin strip, and used the entirety of the undershirt to wrap around the top of the green stick over and over again until it formed a q-tip. This was getting ridiculous. I felt like a complete fool.
On my laps around the clearing I noticed a tree that was clearly diseased and oozing lots of pine sap. I covered my makeshift torch with as much sap as I could, ensuring that it was as covered as it could be. Briefly, I considered calling Kakashi down to see if he would lend me some weapon cleaning oil, but my pride prevented me from opening my mouth.
As soon as it was ready, I walked back to the small thread. Once I was back as far as I could from the paper bomb, which ended up being 20 feet. I sent a plea to kami and pulled. The resulting explosion knocked me flat, a concussive bang and a wave of heat washed over me, it smelled like sulfur and forest fires. Just off of it, another sharp bang rent the air followed by another and another.
I curled in on myself, covered my ringing ears with my hands, and peeked out in awe in the now fire rimmed clearing. Trees had toppled, whereas others had disintegrated in the blast. The sky was weeping ashy embers, and partially green leaves fluttered among them. In a single action, I had brought absolute destruction to an entire swatch of thick forest.
"Whoa." I mouthed.
Unsteadily I rose from my protective position on the ground. Smoke was beginning to fill the clearing, blocking my view and choking me. It was best that I get out of here before I ended up a piece of toast.
The bush was now burning cheerfully, its green leaves crackling and popping. It took several nerve racking seconds for the makeshift torch to light and when it did the uncovered fabric began to smolder and flake.
It didn't work like that in the movies.
It seemed I had less time to get out of here than I originally had planned. Quickly, holding the smoldering flaking flame on a stick in front of me as far as I could, I hustled to the trail. As sure as I was that I had just traveled this with the two ninjas, I honestly couldn't recall any particular arching tree, or bulbous rock that looked like a nose.
The light from the fire was dim, and my eyes constantly scanned the trail ahead of me, noting slight disturbances here and there from an overturned rock, or a scuff where I tripped. The fabric smoldered and left a trail of fiery flakes as I passed. I nearly tripped several times at roots that I swore grabbed at my legs in an earnest attempt to slow my rapid passage.
As I stumbled about, a litany of curses fell from my lips all directed to the Uchiha. Itachi had stolen my ability to remember landmarks. Evil man. Whatever he was looking for, I hoped that he saw it in spades. Placing a defenseless citizen under a genjustu was just low. It's not like I knew enough to break it. Jerk.
I finally emerged from the forest, scratched from low hanging branches and scuffed from slow reflexes. I must have tripped several times. At one point, I was fairly sure some sort of angry animal was just behind me snarling in the dark, but it suddenly went away with a sharp yelp. I also had nearly stumbled onto several landmines in my haste before getting tugged sharply backwards by some force.
By the time I reached the gate, I was panting in great heaving gasps, no longer possessed the energy to curse at the smug Uchiha and the casual Kakashi that leaned on the chain link. My makeshift torch had spluttered out and the moon was beginning to rise.
In the silver light, I noticed that Kakashi, although acting completely casually, had a charred sleeve and was dirty in some places. I'd apologize to the poor man as soon as I could calm my hard breaths. It seemed that Itachi had left the brunt hazards for Kakashi to protect me from.
And the Uchiha… I was still furious with him. He took my internal compass and flicked it so it spun out of control. He faced me as I leaned on my knees and gasped. I was sure he was dispassionately watching. This was way beyond anything I ever thought he would attempt. I could handle paltry games of hide and seek versus painful flights through a danger riddled forest. Hell, I would rather he invade my personal space rather than go through another one of his experiments.
The sign warning citizens away from the Jounin training fields still mocked me with their underlined directives. Absolutely no citizens my ass.
As much as I wanted to rant and the nonplussed dark haired Satan incarnate, it would give him nothing but satisfaction that he had scared me more than I ever wanted to admit. The sadist would probably get off on the knowledge that internally I was completely terrified of him. To buy myself more time, I turned to Kakashi.
"I am so sorry that you got hurt." I bowed low. "Thank you so much for watching out for me. Though, how did you jerk me back so I didn't step on the landmines?" I inquired. Whatever it was left a stinging burn on my back between my shoulder blades.
"It was a chakra string." Itachi answered. Apparently he didn't like being ignored.
In return for his answer, I fixed him with an insincere smile. His black clothes didn't seem totally burned, but he had a slight amount of soot on one cheek. It was a pity that the explosions didn't hurt him more. I guess this is part of what people meant when they said he was one of the best shinobi of the village.
"Kakashi-san, could you please release me from this genjustu?" I asked instead of giving into my fierce desire to ask about what chakra stings were. I didn't want to ask Itachi to jolt me out of it; I couldn't trust him to actually do it without laying another trap for me.
This request seemed to jolt the slouched ninja into action. He tentatively placed a single hand on my shoulder, and an unmistakable rush of energy hummed through my skin and suddenly the world was right again. The energy must have been Kakashi's chakra and it felt slightly feral and raw. If I had to put a label on it I'd have to say it felt like sprinting headfirst into a wave.
I wonder if every ninja's chakra felt different. If some of them felt like summer sun, I bet that would be Naruto, or the rasp of fine paper on outstretched fingertips. Would it be possible to identify a ninja by how their chakra felt? Did each person feel chakra differently?
During my musings, I failed to notice that suddenly we weren't alone. The only indication I had was that Kakashi straightened and stared pointedly over my shoulder. I turned to look as well and was greeted by three ANBU Police.
The ANBU Police Unit was in charge of patrolling the ninja based areas of the village. Most of them were drawn from the Police force and thus mainly Uchiha. The only difference in their uniform was a police force patch displayed proudly on their left breast. They rarely dealt with citizens, and personally I was glad for it. Normal police officers were bad, but ANBU police? It was like asking for a cup of water and getting the ocean poured down your throat.
Suddenly I really regretted walking into the damn Jounin training grounds. They must be very serious about the no citizen rule.
"What is your name, citizen?" One of them intoned.
Shit shit shit shit. I cast a nervous glance at the two ninja with me. Kakashi was watching, his arms folded over his chest. He didn't say anything, and I had a feeling that the gag order from the Uchiha was still in effect. Itachi's eyes were trained on me. His face was bland, but he seemed to be radiating unholy glee. Bastard.
"Girl!" Another ANBU snapped.
"Kai Takahashi." I stumbled a bit over my name as it blurted from my mouth in a rush.
"What were you doing in the Jounin training grounds?" The first ANBU inquired.
"Maybe Uchiha-san can tell you. I am a bit fuzzy as to why myself." I answered, training the gleeful Uchiha with a hopefully bland face.
"You are aware that the training grounds are prohibited to civilians?" The ANBU intoned. For some reason, it seemed as though he was questioning my intelligence. Probably rightfully so, I had gone in there despite the clear warnings to keep out.
"He wanted it." I shoved my thumb at the silent Uchiha.
"You could have refused." The ANBU retorted.
I stared at him, dumbfounded. Did he honestly think I could have refused? Itachi was a ninja. I was a citizen. If Itachi wanted me in the damn forest, then hell or high-water, I would end up in the damn forest. Saying no to a ninja, especially Itachi, was stupid. For him, it would be no bother to knock me out and haul my ass to the clearing, perform the justu on me, and leave me there to get blown up. The only reason I had made it out of there was Kakashi and the fact that I walked there with my own two feet.
"I'll keep that in mind next time an elite shinobi tells me to enter a dangerous place. Maybe he'll heed my request, and not tote me off anyway." I snarled at them, my mother's personality reflected in my tone.
They laughed and the one that suggested it rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. I was right; they had no experience with civilians.
"Wait, I have a better idea." I continued. "You tell him no."
They silenced themselves at that. There was no way that the Uchiha dominated policemen would go up against the clan heir. He held a startling amount of power in his hands, honestly, I didn't think that even the Hokage would tell him no.
Itachi outright smirked, and I felt the blood drain from my face at the realization. No one would tell this man no. No one could tell him no. He had no limits as to what he could do to me. As long as he found me worthwhile to torment, then he could do so with no repercussions.
The stupid man turned to me gave a mild "see you next Tuesday." Then sauntered off, leaving me, a stunned Kakashi, and three startled ANBU police.
"I'll be there too." Kakashi supplied as we watched him walk away. "You shouldn't be alone with that guy."
"Thanks." I whispered. This little experiment had greatly unsettled me, and I wished with every fiber of my being that I didn't have to see that man again.