I do not own Naruto~
She shivered and tightened her arms around her waist as she walked down the compound streets. It was almost fall, and she was going to need a new jacket. Itachi was on an ANBU mission. Turns out his father had been telling the truth, and now the most she got from the other clan members were glares. They were almost as good as smiles compared to how they would occasionally try to attack her. She passed by Uruchi and Teyaki's shop and gave a small wave through the door, which Uruchi replied with a smile. The guards let her pass through the gates without a word, though it always mad her uncomfortable being anywhere near them.
No one greeted her as she walked to the store; she didn't know anyone in this area of the village outside of the compound. She bought a cheap jacket, nothing flashy, just something that would keep her comfortable. She put it on over the jacket she wore on the walk there and with a sigh, began the walk back. Before she got to the compound gate, she noticed a dark-haired, familiar boy walking towards it. Itachi apparently sensed her, and turned around to wait for.
"Hey," Ayano said cheerfully when she caught up with him. "Mission fun?" Itachi shook his head.
"It's never fun, but it went well. I have another tomorrow." She frowned.
"Leaving the village again?" He sighed, passing the guards without a glance.
"There are apparently bandits keeping merchants from traveling through the Toge pass." She made a face.
"That far? They better pay you well," she stated, crossing her arms. The Toge pass was nearly on the border between the Grass Country and the Fire Country.
"Eh," Itachi shrugged. "I've been farther." She rose and eyebrow.
"How far?" she asked. He thought for a minute.
"...Tea Country?"
"Good Lord!" she exclaimed, her brows shooting up. "That could not have been fun." He smirked a little and shrugged again.
"I'm used to it." She pouted.
"Dang ninjas..." she muttered, and Itachi's smile widened. But then it dimmed slightly, and she frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Can you do something for me?" he asked suddenly. She raised an eyebrow.
"Depends," she replied. He almost looked like he was chewing his lip, surprising her. "Are you overworking yourself again?" They paused in front of her door.
"No, no," he quickly defended. "There's going to be a meeting tomorrow night, and they might try to get you to go, so I was going to ask if you could stay at your friend's house?" She blinked. "I'll have my hands full with keeping them away from Shisui's sister, so I might not be able to keep them away from you if they try." Ayano winced.
"I'll call her and ask if I can go to her house," she mumbled. Itachi looked really relieved.
"Thanks," he told her sincerely. He glanced at the watch on Ayano's wrist. "I promised Sasuke I'd train with him. You don't mind if I...?" She blinked.
"Of course," she replied. "You don't get to see him much, lately, don't you?" He shook his head.
"Not really," he admitted. "Between this clan nonsense and missions." Ayano winced again. How much of his time was she taking up? He saw her expression and his eyes widened.
"No, I don't mean it like that," he said quickly. "I choose to spend time with you. It's almost like a break."
"A break?" she repeated. He shrugged yet again, averting his eyes.
"I don't have to be anybody around you," he explained. Ayano's eyes widened. So she got to see him? His true self?
"What about Sasuke?" she asked, her voice sounding surprised. He let a small smile grace his lips and looked back at her.
"I have to be the role model," he stated. "Unfortunately. I can't mess up in the clan's eyes, and so he sees the 'me' they envision, and he tries to beat that 'me.'"
"I think you're wrong," she said suddenly. He rose an eyebrow. "You don't have Sasuke down completely." He was silent, waiting for her to continue. "You said it yourself at your birthday. Sasuke wants to spend time with you. He's not just trying to beat you, he loves you." She smiled. "Even if the clan favors you." His eyes were wide and he had a slightly surprised look on his face. "Well, you shouldn't keep him waiting," she told him scoldingly. She turned him around and pushed him. "See you tomorrow!" He looked back at her.
"Thanks," he told her with a smile. "See ya." She grinned.
"So, yea, Mom thinks I should go see some of my old friends because I live so far away from you all and haven't seen you in forever," Ayano stated, twisting the phone cord around her finger.
"That's a great idea!" Ayame gushed over the phone. "I'll get my mom to pick up some yummies, and we have a bunch of movies! This is gonna be so much fun!" Ayano grinned.
"Don't forget the dango!" she told her, getting excited as well. She hadn't seen Ayame in a while, except for when she had temporarily run from home, but she hadn't had a sleepover in forever.
"Come on, we're best friends! I know you can't live without your dango, so my mom's getting that too. You need me to come meet you?"
"That's okay," Ayano said quickly. "I still remember the way there."
"Well, okay, then..." Ayame mumbled. "I wanted to see your new house, too! How's your Mum?" Ayano bit her lip.
"She's staying at a friend's house tonight, because she's about to have the baby," Ayano lied.
"You're home alone!??" Ayame nearly screeched over the phone. Ayano had to hold it away from her ear. "Forget my house, let's party at yours!" Ayano grinned.
"The guards won't let you in," Ayano laughed.
"Well then they can take the stick out of their but." Ayano laughed again. "So, come on, we haven't talked in forever! Are there any cute guys in the compound?" Itachi's face flashed through Ayano's mind and she blushed. Why did his...?
"I-, well," she stuttered. Ayame squeeled on the other end of the line.
"Well don't tell me everything!" she told her. "We have to have something to talk about tomorrow! You're going to tell me all about it!"
"Kay," Ayano laughed. "See you tomorrow."
"Ja ne!" She put the phone back on the charger with a grin.
It was a cool autumn day, and she found out she didn't need the heavy jacket she had bought the day before. She threw clothes and a CD player in her bag and made sure to lock the door behind her. There was barely anyone out on the streets, but for some reason she still felt the need to sneak around the place. She found herself taking the smaller roads to get to the main gate, but of course she would be stopped by the guards.
...And Ayame Ichiraku causing a bit of a scene.
"Jeez, I just want to go get her," Ayame was standing in front of the gate scowling at the two guards. She widened her eyes at Ayano. "There you are!" The guards turned to look at her and she felt herself flush in embarrassment. "Come on, this place is dreary!" Ayano walked over to Ayame.
"Mind us asking where you are going?" one of the guards spoke up, eying the bag slung over Ayano's shoulder.
"Just out," Ayame answered for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her along.
"Please refrain from inviting people to the compound," the other guard said sourly to Ayano, who flushed again and mumbled an apology.
"Jeez, who kicked their puppy?" Ayame sighed loudly when they were out of hearing range. Ayano was going to try to scold her, but she couldn't help but grin at her friend's silly phrase.
"You did, apparently," she giggled. Ayame made a show of taking a bow in the middle of the road. Ayano jumped in front of her and tapped her on each shoulder with her CD player.
"Lady Ayame, I know dub you the Purple-Flying-People-Eating-Uchiha-Puppy-kicker. Er," she grinned. Ayame jumped up, clasping a fist over her chest.
"I shall own my ridiculous name with pride," she stated loudly. Ayano giggled. It had been a while since she could just be silly with someone. "Now, come on! My mom picked out all kinds of yummies and I can't wait to stuff my face!"
"But I don't wanna runnn," Ayano whined.
"We got Mitarashi," Ayame whispered in her ear.
"Let's go!" Ayano yelled, pumping her fist into the air. They began running to Ayame's house--well, Ayano was trying to, but her bag kept hitting her legs when she tried--and eventually they started a race, Ayano grabbing her bag and holding it to her chest so she could run easier. When they got to Ayame's house it was a tie, and both girls were panting.
"Hey, Ayano," Ayame's mom greeted as she walked out of the living room to give Ayano a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever, hun! How's it going?" Ayame's mom, Mrs. Ichiraku, looked just like her, except older.
"Good," Ayano replied with a grin. Ayame had wandered of into the kitchen, where a joyful cry of 'yummies!' ran through the house. Ayano and Ayame's mom walked in to see Ayame diving for a bag of chips with an almost feral look on her face. Ayano burst out laughing.
"Her dad dropped her on her head," Mrs. Ichiraku grinned at Ayano, who sniggered.
"You're just jealous you're not a purple-flying-people-eating-Uchiha-puppy-kicker-er," Ayame retorted with a mouthful of doritos.
"Do I want to know?" Ayame's mom asked.
"Nope!" Ayano replied cheerfully. She set her bag down and joined Ayame in her swimming in junk food. Mrs. Ichiraku just laughed and shook her head.
The night went by fast to Ayano, but she had fun. She and Ayame got sick of junk food afer about two hours, so they went and watched sappy love-story movies, and then Ayame tried to get Ayano to tell who she was blushing about when Ayame asked her in she thought anyone was cute. That took about an hour.
Ayano suddenly paused in their game of charades, lifting her face up in the direction of the compound.
Why were the chakras disappearing?
"Ayano?" Ayame asked, peeking around to look at her face. "What's up?"
"Something's...happening," Ayano whispered back, her brow furrowing. They were depleting rapidly. What if...?
She gasped.
What if they were starting the revolt!?
"I gotta go home," she told Ayame suddenly, wheeling around to look at her.
"Huh?" Ayame replied. "Why- wait!" But Ayano was already out the door, throwing on her shoes and racing down the street.
"I'll call you when I get there!" she shouted back.
The streets were empty on the way back to the compound. The cold air bit at her cheeks, and she was grateful for the full moon overhead, lighting her way. Her legs and lungs were burning, but she couldn't stop. What was she even going to do? Why was she going to the compound? Why wasn't she going to the Hokage?
Because he already knew about it.
She passed the compound gates, noticing how the guards weren't at their posts. She paused when she stepped onto the main street. Nothing was out of the ordinary. All the house lights were off, and she didn't see anyone moving around in the streets. She closed her eyes. She still felt chakra moving around, but it wasn't in masses like she expected them to be. With her breathing heavy, she took a few steps forward, glancing around at the shops. A few shops still had their lights on, except Uruchi and Teyaki's bakery.
Ayano frowned. They should be closed by now. Why was the door open? She walked towards it, peeking in.
"Uruchi-san?" she called. "Teyaki-san?" The back lights were off, and there was a bowl of batter on the counter with a spoon next to it. It looked like it had just been quickly thrown there as if they left in a hurry.
She received no answer. She frowned again and walked into the store, picking up the bowl and spoon warily and taking it back to the kitchen, where she covered it and put it in the fridge. She tossed the spoon in the sink and walked back to the front. She saw a bowl filled with banana bread on the floor behind the counter, obviously it had been dropped. Her worry increased. She still didn't feel anything suspicious. Why had they left so quickly?
She picked up the bowl, ready to toss the bread in the trash.
She stopped.
Outside, noises sounding like crashes and thumps came from the other stores, and the lights they had been casting onto the street vanished. She stood frozen, staring at the door.
Some mass of chakra was jumping from store to store. It was huge and dark, almost as bad as the imp-man's chakra. It felt repressed, but her Sharingan activated on it's own, anyways. She waited.
Something black moved past the door, almost too fast for her too see, but see managed to because of her eyes.
A black cloak, long, spikey black hair, and a white mask with red designs swirling around the one hole in the left side of the mask.
He turned his head and she saw the flash of Sharingan as he glanced at her.
And as soon as he appeared, he was gone.
Madara lightly landed on the ground after he had jumped from the roof of the main house. He sheathed his bloody katana, not even bothering to clean it. He wore the Uchiha blood on him like a medal.
"Your brother's almost here," he stated. Itachi didn't answer, just stared blankly at something far away. He was clad in his ANBU armor, and his mask concealed his face. "And there's one left over hiding on the main road. I can't stay here any longer, you take care of it." The younger Uchiha left without a word to go kill the survivor. It didn't occur to him to make sure Madara actually left the village. His thoughts were too mixed up then for him to think the way he needed to think, to act the way an ANBU should be, completely calm, during a misssion. He landed on the main street silently, using his acute senses to try and find the survivor so he wouldn't have to hunt for them. He felt a spark of chakra coming from Uruchi's bakery. His eyes widened. Was it just his imagination, or was that chakra overly familiar? He flickered to the doorway of the bakery, holding his bloodied katana to the neck of the person who was just about to try and escape.
His eyes widened and a gasp of horror almost passed his lips.
Those eyes, that face, that girl...
He just stood as still as a statue, not even moving. Ayano had her eyes wide, whatever had been in the bowl she was holding had fell.
Cliffy! ):D Don't i suck? xDD
And on my views of the latest chapter of Naruto, I don't know whether to hate Kabuto for bringing Itachi back like a corpse, or love him for bringing him back at all...You should have seen me when I saw the RAWs. xD My Dad, in the other side of the house, heard my rather loud yelling of profanities xD
And have any of you ever read the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series? I did like three years ago, and I love the series, but none of my friends have, so I was the only one freaking out when I saw the trailer...
Review!