I lived, just as Itachi had asked. I went back into town that night in my old, brown top with a missing sleeve and patches of several shades stitched onto where it had been torn. I wore a darker tank top underneath and brown skirt that went down to my lower thigh. I'd been wearing this outfit for four days, washing it every other in the river a half mile from the village. I walked the busy streets, pushing past the lower class rushing to work, and avoiding the glares of the upper class who refused to go near such a dirty, poor girl such as myself.
That was a week ago. I found work at a brothel, but not that kind of work my coworkers did. I simply brought the customers to whoever would be treating them, like a hostess. My boss was a kind, elderly man, who was a big pervert. He was the owner of the brothel, and offered me a job to keep me off the streets. If I wasn't pretty, I would still be there. He was very stingy, but put on a persona whenever a customer walked through the door. His name was Mr. Yuamoto, and he allowed me to sleep in the attic, free of charge, for up to a month.
One late afternoon at work, I was directing an older man to his room, when I looked out the glass window to see Itachi walking by with another man in the same colour cloak. His eyes met mine, and he looked to the man and said something, then walked to the door of the brothel and entered. Seeing my boss watching me, I bowed to Itachi and said, "Konichiwa."
He looked at me and whispered, "So, you kept your promise, eh?" I smiled a little, and nodded.
"Good afternoon, young man. How may we help you today?" Mr. Yuamoto asked.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm not a customer. This girl is someone I know; I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Sir."
Mr. Yuamoto grabbed my ass, making me gasp, and snickered, "Oh, I see what you mean... I suppose I could give little Kana here a promotion." He winked at Itachi, not taking notice to my reddening face.
Itachi's face blushed a little, too, and tried to look unaffected, "That won't be necessary, Sir. I am not a customer."
Mr. Yuamoto grinned slyly, "Boy, are you a virgin?" Itachi didn't respond. "Ahaha. That would explain your lack of enthusiasm!" He chuckled mightily.
Then, the man I saw with Itachi earlier walked in, "Itachi-san," he said with a hint of humour, "I didn't know you were into this kind of thing! If I'd known, I would've brought you here a long time ago!" He saw me and scanned me up and down.
"I'm not," Itachi said sternly. "Let's go, Kisame." He turned to leave, then looked back at me and paused, "Kisame, go. I'll catch up in a minute." Kisame left obediently, slicking back his blue hair with his hand.
Itachi stared into my eyes, and suddenly I was surrounded by blackness, just he and I. He spoke softly, "Meet me tomorrow where we first met." Then I was back in the brothel, with Mr. Yuamoto's hand still on my ass.
Itachi finally left, and as soon as he did, I turned to my boss, "I don't feel well, can I take the day off tomorrow?" He nodded, and I went upstairs to the attic to think. What happened? Why does he need to talk to me? Who exactly was that other guy? Itachi was a virgin? There were so many questions that I hoped to answer tomorrow. I also had to figure out how I was going to get out of this embarrassing job and find another place to stay. But, for now, I had to sleep. So I curled up on the small futon, pulled the short, quilted blanket on top of me, and went to sleep.