I do not own Naruto~

It was even more worse than she thought it would be. Clan members were openly hostile to her, now, and she felt like some were about to attack her at any moment. She couldn't go to work anymore, because Uruchi's and Teyaki's sales were drastically decreasing because of her. So she quit, despite their protests, and told them to put it on her record that she had been fired. She was now looking for another job outside the compound so that she didn't have to blow all the money her mother left for her on bills.

Itachi was paranoid the entire time, too. He would be with her nearly twenty-four, seven, and telling her to keep watch for any chakras nearing her. Under other circumstances, she would have been annoyed beyond annoyed, but she was scared stiff to be anywhere near the compound. He had even taken to leaving a clone with her when he wasn't there or when he was asleep.

But that was the worst of it. He hadn't been as worried before, when he would just check up on her every four hours or so, but when people actually started targeting her, he started exhausting himself. It was getting worse, too, and now he was barely even himself. She was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard, reading a cook book her mother had used, and Itachi was sitting on the foot of her bed. He was fidgeting. He had been doing it for a while, and it was speeding up. He was so tense he wasn't even moving. She set her book down with a sigh.

"You're overworking yourself," she accused. "Chill out." He stopped his fidgeting but resorted to chewing his lip. His posture didn't relax at all, and he stared at the window, as if trying to see something that wasn't there. She sighed and glared at him slightly. "Fine then, have it your way." And then she reached forward and grabbed his arm, catching him by surprise, and pulled him back so his head was resting in her lap. His expression basically read 'Huh?'

"Go to sleep," she commanded. He tried to sit up.

"But-" She forced him back down.

"No. Sleep." He sighed and stopped struggling, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't even say anything. How can you expect to fend off the bad guys if you can't even oppose me?"

"You're just persistent," he stated, looking up at her. She rose an eyebrow back at him.

"And they won't be?" she questioned.

"Not with me, no." She made a face at him.

"You're exhausting yourself," she told him.

"I'm fine," he told her, but didn't try to get up.

"Then since when do you fidget?"

"I have a right to be nervous, don't I?" he shot back.

"So I assume you twiddle your fingers on a S-rank mission?" They paused.

And then broke out laughing at how funny it sounded.

"Fine," Itachi acceded after he had sobered. "But wake me up as soon as you sense anybody." She made another face.

"You make it sound like the're definitely going to attack us," she pointed out. He smirked.

"Shh..." he murmured, closing his eyes. Ayano rolled her eyes.

"So now you decide to go to sleep," she mumbled. He chuckled under his breath, and then he was silent. It took a while for his breathing to slow and even out, but he eventually fell alseep.

He looked like he needed it, too. He was slightly paler than usual, and the usual lines on his face were stressed by the bags under his eyes.

"Jeez," she murmured, lightly touching one of the dark bruises under his eyes. "Insomnia, much..."

"Not quite..." he breathed back, surprising her. "Just...haven't had a...decent sleep for a while..." His eyes were still closed and he looked like he was having trouble putting together a sentence.

"You're too much of a light sleeper for your own good," she said quietly. He let out a breath of amusement.

"It's quite....efficient...during a....mission....." She chuckled.

"I think you're sleep talking," she accused. "You can't even form a sentence. I told you you were tired." He cracked open an eye at her.

"Who can't even form a sentence?" he asked her sleepily. She groaned.

"You're awake again," she complained. "You can't have a thirty minute nap and not be tired anymore."

"Then shush," he told her with a smile, closing his eyes again. Ayano rolled hers. She waited for him to fall asleep again, and knew he wouldn't wake up after his head lolled to the side. She smiled before moving the cookbook closer to her and flipping it open to the page she had been reading. She leaned on her hand closest to the book and used the other to turn the pages. When she reached over to turn the page, her hand accidentally brushed Itachi's hair, and she paused, looking down at him. He slept peacefully, showing no signs of waking.

...how the hell did he get his hair that soft??

She frowned, and carefully picked up a strand from his ponytail that was laying beside his face. Wow, it really was soft. Either he treated his hair specially, or he was just born with hair she would kill for. Frowning in confusion, she gave it a sniff.

. . .

...apples...

She quickly dropped the strand of hair to press her fist to her mouth to keep her laughter form spilling out. Itachi used scented shampoo! It was just too funny! She was shaking from laughing silently, so she tried to think of more sober thoughts before she woke him up. When she had herself under control, she checked to make sure she hadn't disturbed him, but nearly busted out laughing again. She tried to turn her attention back to her book, and let him sleep.

His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the brightness in the room. He put an arm over his eyes to block it and groaned.

"Not ready to wake up?" a familiar voice asked with a chuckle. His eyes flew open as he remembered where he was. He moved his hand and blinked up in surprise at Ayano. He was still using her lap as a pillow.

"How long have I been out?" he asked groggily. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and grinned.

"Eleven and a half hours," she stated, grinning down at him. He blinked in surprise.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Nothing happened," she stated. "And you slept like the dead." He blinked again.

"I did?" She scoffed.

"I got up three times," she laughed. He sat up then, and stretched, wincing at the loud pops his back made. "Seriously, though, when was the last time you had a full eight hours of sleep?" He thought for a minute and shrugged. She frowned. "Your lifestyle is unhealthy," she accused.

"I choose it, not," he replied. "You've eaten?"

"Why are you so concerned I'm anorexic or something?" she mumbled. "I had two bowls of instant ramen, and one stick of dango. And before you even ask, yes, there are more." The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk.

"I wasn't going to ask," he objected. She hopped off the bed.

"Well, I was, so come on," she chirped. Itachi rolled his eyes and followed her to the kitchen, keeping a calm pace behind her nearly-skipping. She seemed amused by something he didn't know. She went to the fridge and he sat at the table.

"Mitarashi or chichi?" she asked, looking through the random food.

"Mitarashi," he replied. She pulled out a stick and handed it to him on a plate she snagged from the pantry, then picked up a colorful peice of chichi dango. He thanked her and bit off a whole dango. She watched him, grinning.

"You really do like dango, don't you?" she asked. He paused and shrugged.

"I guess it's my new favorite sweet," he replied. Ayano took another bite of her dango, trying not to get it stuck to her teeth.

She stopped chewing.

Something was coming. She recognized it.

"Your dad's coming," she whispered. He froze, dropping the dango and silently standing up, gliding to the front of the house. Ayano followed him, albeit more loudly, and hid behind the kitchen wall, peeking out. Itachi pressed himself to the wall beside the door, listening.

Seconds later, there was a knock.

"Ayano," Fugaku called. "Itachi. I'm just here to talk." Ayano narrowed her eyes. His chakra didn't seem threatening, at the moment, and his voice wasn't angry.

They both stayed silent.

"Itachi, you can check me for weapons," Fugaku stated. "And there isn't anybody but me here. I know both of you can feel that. I just want to talk with Ayano." Itachi shifted his eyes to Ayano.

"Let's here what he has to say," she whispered. "You can take him on if he tries to do anything, right?" Itachi pressed his lips together and nodded. He opened the door and stared down his father.

"Ah, Itachi," Fugaku stated, having to look up at Itachi because of the step. "Thank you for opening." Itachi norrowed his eyes. Fugaku looked around him at Ayano. "Can we talk?"

"Yup," Ayano replied. "You can stay right there, though." Fugaku pressed his lips together. Itachi didn't move an inch.

"My apologies about the last time we saw each other," he told her. "I was a bit...pushy." Ayano almost snorted. You think? She kept her face blank. "I would just like to hear the reason why you are so adverse to the idea." She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not really the fighting type," she began. "And I'm not really enthusiastic about fighting for clan members who don't give a shit about each other." He raised an eyebrow.

"Care to elaborate?" he pressed.

"Your wife talked about my mother like she was dirt because she wanted to keep her unborn child safe," Ayano bit off. "Shisui's sister was abused." She had to wince when she said his name. The memories were like salt on the already open wound for them. "You threatened the safety of my father because I wouldn't help you. I don't see very much loyalty in this clan at all. And you want me to help you overthrow the government because of this clan?" Fugaku was speechless. "I'm not going to help anybody who threatens my family, anyways." He narrowed his eyes then.

"The clan is your family," he told her. She narrowed her eyes back at him.

"No. A clan is a group of people related by blood. A family is made of people who love each other and are willing to sacrifice for other people. You people want to sacrifice other people for your own selfish desires."

Fugaku thought over this for a moment and sighed.

"So this is your answer," he stated. Itachi tensed and Ayano nodded. "Fine. I won't try anymore. I don't have time to be getting you to join when you don't want to." He turned around and started walking away. "I'll tell the rest of the clan not to try and attack you anymore." Ayano could barely believe her ears. Was he really saying this? She looked to Itachi, who had a slightly confused and shocked look on his face.

And then he was gone. After he had turned the corner, Itachi finally relaxed. Ayano let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Itachi glanced outside for anybody else and shut the door.

"Do you think he meant it?" Ayano asked Itachi. He stared at the door balefully.

"Who knows..." he muttered. "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."She sighed. They went back to the kitchen and sat in silence. Ayano threw the rest of her dango away. She wasn't hungry anymore. They stayed in awkward silence before Ayano decided she's break it. She pressed her lips together and stared at Itachi. He met her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"When was the last time you saw Sasuke?" she asked suddenly. "Like, actually got to spend time with him?" His brow furrowed.

"Why?" She pointed a commanding finger at him.

"Answer or I will refuse to share any more dango," she warned. He cracked a smile, but answered.

"Before you last saw my mother," he answered. "The night before." She grimaced. "What?"

"That was a week ago," she stated. "Have you seen him at all since?" He lowered the dango he had been nibbling on.

"Where is this going?" he asked back.

"I'm just thinking that he's probably wondering what happened to you," she stated. "You should go see him, so he can know that you're, I don't know, alive?" He pressed his lips together.

"Why are you already arguing like I said no?"

"Because you most likely will say no," she replied cheerfully. He sighed.

"Keeping you safe is more important right now," he told her, looking back down at his food.

"Do you not want to see him?" she asked. He looked up sharply.

"I never said that," he defended. "I'm just saying that I know he's safe, and we don't know if my father was telling the truth or not." She leaned against the counter.

"So you do miss him," she stated lazily. He shot her a look.

"I know what you're asking, which my answer to is no-" She groaned.

"I feel guilty," she protested. "I feel like I'm stealing away his brother." He sighed.

"You cut me off again," he pointed out and she muttered a 'sorry,' "And I have a better solution." She rose an eyebrow. "It's called clones, Ayano." She managed a weak glare.

"Ninjas cheat," she accused.

"It's not cheating," he told her with a smile., as he leaned back in the chair. "Just thinking outside the box."

Mitarashi and Chichi are both different types of dango. Mitarashi is the kind on a stick with the sauce, and chichi kind of looks like candy and is sometimes colorful.

I hate this chapter T.T Not as much as the last one, though. I had writers block yet again, so I tried to write stuff that somehow related to the story but to me it just looks like random crap...

Review!