Hey everybody,

Nothing much going, but I hope all of you have a happy Valentine's day, ... and single awareness day with moi. :P

RueLin

Second movement, Part 10

"It's alright now," Itachi murmured softly to Mayuri, who clung to him as if her life was on the line. It was her second time in flight with him and she can't say she had already gotten used to whizzing through the air at the speed of sound. But his arms, circled securely around her, communicated his promise of never letting her go. "You're safe now. Open your eyes."

Slowly, Mayuri peeked through one eye and found that they were standing on one of the boughs on the top of their cherry tree. And she let out the breath she was still holding. With her still grabbing tightly onto the front lapels of his cloak, Itachi cautiously lowered her until her feet touched the sturdy branch.

"Don't move," he told her, as he lowered himself to a sitting position and then pulled her down gently with him until she settled neatly in his lap. He held her, though gently, with a secure hold around her waist. She was still trembling and her eyes were closed again.

Her senses, nerves, still shuddered, still remembered Toroki's cold lips and his iron grip. His moist breath that stung her skin, another wave of aftershock rolled against her spine and the healthy flush drained out of her face and her hands become cold.

Understanding that fear, Itachi gently slid his fingers against her arm, which had started to form goose bumps. He massaged the tension from her muscles, soothed the nerves with his strong able fingers. To comfort and warmth, he entwined his fingers with her until they were lost in a knot of long fingers.

"Breathe. Just breathe," he told her as he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. "Relax."

She felt her body melt in his arms. Until then, she didn't even think about their proximity. Then she felt the tickle of his breath on her skin, felt the light pressure of his hands shattered her bones into a million pieces, simply melted like hot wax heated by a large flame. That's what she perceived him to be, a whirlwind of fire that could, would just sweep her up and take her far away from where she was. To protect her from all the suffering she had endured, from Toroki, from Chikako, from Naoko, from Masamoto, from being alone. Yes, she thought, he could shelter an orphan child with that flame of his. And she knew he would.

"It's hard to relax whenever I'm around you." Feeling much lighter in spirit, she let her hand fall lax under the gentle probing of his fingers.

He buried his face in her hair, unwilling to relive the moment he saw another man's head bent over her under the light of a single sconce. An unworthy place and unworthy time for her to be touched by any man, and even more by an unworthy man that couldn't restrain himself and pant like a dog in front of her.

The red deadly glare left his eyes as he felt her hair flutter around his face as she turned to look at him. She should have seen the stalwart and valiant face of a hero, but instead she saw a pale, tired man. She couldn't miss the dark shadows under his eyes or the slightly sunken cheeks or chalk whiteness of his once healthy skin. This was the face of a sick and tired man and it broke her heart to see him in such a state, he who always came to her trembling with power beyond her imagination.

She reached back and touched his temple and then his cheek. He closed his heavy eyes and relished at the gentle weight of her against him. Her fingers felt cool. There was only one other time they had skin-on-skin contact and that had been only a sweep of her fingers against his feverish forehead. Their first contact had been three long years ago, but he remembered it as clearly as she was touching him now.

"Don't stop," he muttered without realizing that he said those words out loud.

He could hear the smile in her voice. "I won't. But it's a little hard this way. To you mind if I moved over a bit?"

As much as he hated the thought of having her sit anywhere else other than his lap, Itachi moved her onto the branch where he sat. Mayuri kept her legs stretched across him, desperate for the closeness that they shared at the moment.

"That's much better," she said as she pushed his bangs out of his face, ran her fingers through his hair, and brought it back to cup his face. "There's the face of my hero. You look pale. Are you alright?"

He held her hand to press it closer to his face as if to brand himself to her. He wondered again how simply being next to her can improve his mood, how his aching muscles started to sing, and his weariness melt away into a peaceful rest.

"I'm alright now," he answered softly. He took her hand from his face and entwined their fingers together. "You manage to make me feel instantly better. How do you do it?"

"I know a way to sooth you more," she said, unaware of the connotations she implied.

With his heart beating as fast as a horse's hooves at a gallop, Itachi looked down at her without realizing that he was holding his breath.

Then she made an innocent shrug with her shoulders. "But I don't have my kokyu with me. Sorry."

He looked into her wide eyes that have turned into a dark amethyst in the light and reflecting the light of the bright moon. There was no fooling it, he was madly in love.

He chuckled with the revelation. He never allowed himself to have childish dreams after the age of thirteen. He never imagined that he would have the chance to feel this elation, the knowledge that the girl he loved would loved him back.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing," he whispered as he played with strands of her gold hair with his free hand. "You are just so beautiful. I don't think I can take my eyes off of you."

Mayuri's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she pursed her lips tightly. A new face, he thought.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head really hard on something?" She quickly grabbed the sides of his head. "Let me see if there's a bump, because you must have hit your head. You're speaking like a young romantic and hedonist! You're all sparkly like pretty boys in shoujo mangas! It's not normal!" She started to shake his shoulders. "What have you done with Itachi, your imposter?"

For the first time in too long, Itachi heard himself let out a full hearty laugh, straight from the gut. With his hair mussed up, he sought revenge and attacked her head of gold silk until they were both hysterical from laughter. As they scuffled on the narrow bough, they lost their balance. But even as they fell from twenty feet above the ground, Mayuri felt no fear. She felt as if it were impossible for her to feel fear while tangled in his arms.

His arms held tightly to her as he caught another branch and heaved them up until they were settled again at the top of the tree without even breaking a sweat.

"Thanks. Was I heavy?" Mayuri asked, as all girls asked.

He shook his head. How could she even think of asking? "Absolutely not."

"Well, obiviously, now, that I remember you're a ninja. And ninjas all have super strength. Nothing is heavy to you."

"When I'm up against a three ton monster snake, you'll think otherwise."

"Do you really fight those monsters?" Mayuri asked as she tucked her legs against her chest and rested her chin between her knees.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've never seen a monster creature before, and it seems like giant beasts only come from fairy tales."

"Those fairy tales were written after the monsters. Their powers are extraordinary and legendary is the destruction that follows their paths. I think it's because they are so large that people feared and retaliated first."

"Have you seen many?"

"Once in a while, I do, and they are a pain to deal with. Ninjas have learned ways to seal them and summon them. It's pretentious, I think, to try and control a creature that has been living far longer than any of us."

"So you don't summon monsters?"

"No, not those legendary creatures, wielding their power in their hands is like attacking with a double-edged sword. It's dangerous. The technique's user can be trampled under the power of the monster. The devastation of the user is even more deadly when it's a jinjuriki."

"Jinjuriki?"

"They are more like victims than users. Have you heard of the legend of the tailed beasts?" Mayuri nodded her eyes and ears wide with interest. "They are said to be almost like natural disasters. And ninjas have sought a way to contain that power by using the body of a human as a vessel to seal that tailed beasts inside, those humans are called jinjuriki. They have the ability to use the tailed beasts' chakra, but at the same time they are susceptible to being swallowed up by it also. But the most damage done by the tailed beasts to the jinjuriki is social and emotional. Most jinjuriki are both used and hated by the village they live in." Itachi stopped suddenly and turned to face Mayuri. "Sorry, I might be boring you."

Tossing her hair in a quick shake, Mayuri smiled.

"No. No, you aren't. I actually enjoyed watching you talk about it. As morbid and depressing topic as it is, you seemed as if you were lost in everything that has to do with jutsus, tailed beasts, jinjuriki, and the like. It's a very nice change to see you so attached to something. You often seem so aloof and detached. Remember when we first met, how you avoided me as if I were the plague."

Itachi cleared his throat. "I was trying to protect you."

"Well, I'm glad you failed, because I have never felt so alive when I'm with you."

Itachi thought about this feeling of contentment and peace that has familiarized itself with him. "Me too."

Suddenly, Itachi covered his mouth with his hand as he had a coughing fit. Once again, his skin turned pale and ashen as healthy color drained away and his body began to shake as he tried to contain the tremors that ran through his body, hoping that Mayuri would only think that he had choked on his own saliva as he turned away from her.

Startled, Mayuri backed away quickly. But she recovered quickly and wrapped her arms around the length of his back with a comforting squeeze. Although she knew it would be no help to him, she murmured comforting and encouraging words. She patted his back like how Kaimu used to whenever she had a cough.

When he finally stopped she rubbed his arm and whispered that everything would be alright now.

"Please stop," he said, his face still turned away. "You're making me feel like a child."

Mayuri giggled. "Okay, I'll stop. But what can I do to help? Oh, I know."

She stood up on the narrow branch and climbed to one behind them just a little ways away. She made sure she had a steady hold before she leaned forward and started to knead away tension that built up in his shoulders.

"I'm not master masseuse, but I've got experience against some of the toughest muscles there are in nomad history. My foster father had a bad body, old and tattered he would call it, and he would get sore and stiff after performances in his advanced age."

"I am feeling very relieved now."

"Good. Good."

He wondered, now, how he'll manage to leave her.