Summary
A new year means a new start at some interesting resolutions...
A/N: This one-shot was inspired by the upcoming new year. Another look into Kagome and Itachi's developing relationship. So please enjoy!
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"Hey, Itachi?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you like soba?"
That had been the first question she'd asked when he'd stopped by to see her the day before. It had been a strange question, and one that was rarely asked of him. Not many people really cared to ask if he liked something or not. Something about intimidation tactics.
Itachi had merely shrugged and replied in the affirmative. He was still vaguely pondering the possible reasons when he absently knocked on the door one evening a few days later. It swung open and a smiling Kagome ushered him inside.
"How are you tonight, Itachi?"
"As well as can be expected of a ninja," he replied, shedding his cloak and hanging it up in the coat closet. Turning he began to follow her into the rest of the house. It looked... extremely clean.
"Have you been cleaning?" Kagome hummed in agreement as she straightened a little side table filled with sweet smelling potpouri, "Is there a particular reason?"
"I'm getting ready for the new year! You know, leaving the past year behind and looking forward to the next year?"
Ah. The new year. He'd heard of the tradition, but hadn't really ever partaken in it. It was a little difficult to do so when surrounded by a bunch of S-class criminals.
"That explains the soba question," he countered, leaning against the door frame to the kitchen, which looked as disasterous as usual whenever the priestess decided to cook. Kagome giggled happily and stirred the pot on the stove.
"Yep. Hot soba for the new year."
"I see."
"Are you staying?"
"For a while, I suppose," he replied, taking note when she sighed quietly, "Why?"
"I was hoping... you'd watch the fireworks with me tonight," Kagome answered hesitantly, glancing up at him in hope.
He really hated his hormones. And the fact that he was just too damn nice to her.
"Well... How will you see them?"
Kagome giggled then handed him a bowl of hot soba, "From the roof, of course. The village puts out all the lights and we see the fireworks!"
"... Oh," was his less-than-eloquent reply.
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Much later in the night, he had to sigh at Kagome's somewhat pathetic attempt to scramble up onto the roof. In the end, he'd scooped her up and vaulted onto the top, mindful of the shingles and the several blankets the priestess had been carrying. She'd merely complained about her lack of "Super Special Ninja Skills".
The Uchiha demanded that she never call his training such ever again. To do so would mean death. The priestess just snorted and flounced over to her blanket to warm up.
Shortly before the fireworks display would begin, the village began to put out the lights; just as she'd said. Eventually, it was dark enough that you could actually see the stars in the night sky.
Kagome shivered, which he noticed immediately, and curled into her blanket to conserve body heat. Leaning over, he gently tugged a strand of her long dark hair to get her attention. The priestess gasped and whipped around to face him. Wordlessly, he opened his own blanket and motioned for her to scoot closer. She blinked, then blushed.
"Are you sure?" Kagome asked, fidgeting outwardly while her mind screamed at her to just do it already! Itachi rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Now." The priestess "eeped" and scuttled over to him to bury herself in the cocoon of warmth. She sighed and turned so that her back rested against his front in contentment before laying her head on his shoulder. The Sharingan user quickly wrapped them up and rested his chin on the top of her head.
"You can't escape now," he muttered smugly, smirking again in amusement when she huffed.
"It's not like I want to. You're so warm!" she retaliated, elbowing him gently in the stomach. He bore the abuse with a long-suffering patience. He chose not to respond to that, content with the peaceful silence that surrounded them.
"The stars are so pretty here," Kagome mumbled, her words muffled from burying her nose in their blankets.
"I never really take the time to look at them," Itachi replied, looking up at the sky and watching his breath rise in the air, "They're always just there."
"They're... different." He glanced back down at the girl in confusion. How were they different? Stars always stayed the same!
"Different... how?" It was a niggling curiosity that had been eating him away for a while now. Kagome's manerisms were just slightly different from other people. It was part of the reason that she stood out to him. The Uchiha had always just assumed that she was from another country, but she spoke the dilalect flawlessly. There was no accent, no hesitation in her words, and no slip-ups in sentence structures or wording. His initial idea was slowly being disproven; now he really wanted to know.
"They... just are," the priestess replied lamely, still afraid to tell him anything about her past. She had only known the former heir since the end of July. Aside from the initial likes and dislikes, Kagome knew next to nothing about his past or what he was truly capable of. He'd killed before; that much was obvious, and he was in a strange organization that he chose to keep a secret. A distant boom brought them out of their musings.
"Look! It's starting!"
"I know," he deadpanned. His curiosity was washed away briefly when the first firework exploded in the sky, showering the area with bright green color.
Kagome gasped and watched the fireworks in awe. Itachi pointed out several shapes that she 'oohed' and 'aahed' over.
One was even in the shape of a multi-colored butterfly when it exploded. The priestess clapped at that. He merely watched her grin breathlessly up at him before the next boom echoed in the distance, drawing her attention again.
Her smiles and laughs were infectuous, and soon he was grinning too. Wrapped up in their blankets with eachother to stay warm, the former Uchiha and the priestess happily celebrated the start of the new year together. Even with their doubts of eachother, they were still content to stay together.
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"This year, My goal is to study hard so that I can pass the exams to work at the hospital!" Kagome sighed, snuggling into Itachi's embrace shortly after the fireworks display. She had no idea how he did it, but he managed to stay completely comfy and warm throughout the entire fireworks display.
'He's like my own personal fireball,' she thought, giggling inwardly at the mental image of a chibi Itachi holding a flame out with his palm while she roasted a marshmallow over it.
"I see. An admirable resolution," he replied, nodding when she smiled up at him.
"What about you? Do you have a resolution?"
"... Don't die?" She felt her eye twitch.
"Itachi!"
"I haven't... thought of one."
'Though it would probably be along the lines of checking on Sasuke to see if he's become stronger,' the former heir thought, gazing up at the stars in the sky with a melancholy air. Kagome nudged him and he was brought out of his musings.
"Don't think too hard, Itachi. Your brain might explode." He huffed and ran a hand up her side where he knew she was ticklish. The priestess squirmed and giggled.
"I appreciate your concern, but I assure you it would take far more than thinking to accomplish such a feat." Revenge was a bit petty, but it did make him feel a bit better when she finally called mercy after a few minutes of holding her down and making her laugh uncontrollably.
"I suppose, if I had to make a resolution, it would be to be here more often," he finally decided, avoiding her wide blue eyes and forcing the heat from his cheeks. He was lucky it was dark because he failed miserably.
"You... want to spend more time... with me?" Kagome asked breathlessly. She was thrilled, of course. This would mean that Itachi would be around a lot more often. It would also mean that she'd have to start shopping a little better. The Uchiha had berated her on her food choices a couple of times; insisting that they were not "healthy enough". But hey, the ramen was only there as a last resort.
Itachi hesitated only slighty before nodding quietly. That was what he wanted.
Right?
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Kagome sleepily agreed to returning to the warm house and helped gather their blankets up again. She'd planned to just toss them down to the ground, but Itachi swept her up in him arms and vaulted off the shingles before she had the chance to complain.
Suddenly, she was a lot more awake. Their brief stint in the air brought back a lot of memories of rides on Inuyasha's back, and she watched the world plummet in their descent with fascination.
"That was... so cool," the priestess whispered in the Uchiha's ear, and he raised a brow in question. She elaborated, "When we were up in the air, for just a second, I felt like I was on top of the world. It was... amazing."
That was... an interesting way of putting it. Itachi considered her words carefully before replying, "What about the descent?"
"It felt like my stomach was in my throat. It was... kinda thrilling."
"I see."
Kagome giggled and pulled him into the house when he awkwardly set her down.
"You're staying tonight, right? I've got an extra room? And a couch?"
"It looks as though I don't have a choice," he countered, glancing at his captured hand in amusement. Really though, he didn't mind her need to drag him along on whatever adventure she'd deemed worthy for the day. He was used to it by now.
It was just how Kagome was.
She chattered brightly to him as she made hot chocolate and headed to her den. He followed willingly, occasionally commenting on something she had to say.
A few hours later, they were both unintentionally asleep on the couch.
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His senses screamed at him in alarm and he came awake immediately. Whipping the hand under his pillow out, he pressed the kunai into the person standing over him and Kagome.
Kisame's face blurrily grinned down at him.
"Still sharp as ever, Itachi," his blue partner muttered quietly, glancing at the dark-haired girl wrapped up in the Sharingan user's embrace, then back at Itachi. A fully activated Sharingan greeted the shark man and he supressed the urge to shiver. Even after years of being around it, the Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit still unnerved him.
"I would have activated the traps at the front door had you been anyone else, Kisame," the Uchiha snarled quietly, carefully maneuvering Kagome so that he could prop up on his elbows. A quiet snore from her made him want to smile, but he refrained with Kisame in the room. Glancing around, he absently noted that they must have fallen asleep on the couch. What time was it?
"So, is this the 'girl' Deidara keeps trying to wheedle out of you?" the blue man cut right to the chase, examining the girl that had captured his young friend's attention.
"... If I say yes, will you stop asking?" Itachi bit out, gritting his teeth in annoyance and still glaring at his partner. Said partner grinned, showing off a set of very sharp teeth.
"Sure. Then I'll just move on to other awkward questions." Kisame suppressed the urge to chuckle when Itachi just groaned and put a hand to his face in defeat.
"Then, yes. This is her." The bet was his for the taking now.
"... She looks Uchiha." That was an odd thought. The Sharingan user blinked and looked the sleeping priestess over again. Dark black hair. Smooth somewhat pale skin. Pretty features. Had her eyes been the typical obsidian, then yes, she would certainly pass as Uchiha. He'd never considered that possibility.
'She'd fit right in as one of them.' Insert sarcasm.
What a scary thought.
"Why are you here?"
"Mission," the shark man replied shortly, not willing to divulge the information when there were other ears listening. No matter how unconscious the owner was.
Nodding absently, he scooted away from her to try and remove himself from their warm cocoon. Kagome moaned and snuggled closer to him in retaliation. Eye twitching, he tried to keep from sighing at the display of affection and instead ran a hand through his messy unbound hair in agitation. Kisame snickered somewhere behind him and Itachi resisted the urge to just go ahead and stab the blue man with the kunai.
Then he'd have to explain the future blood.
Which would lead to questions. And then introducing Kisame to Kagome. That... would be bad. Kisame could make anyone scream in a matter of heartbeats. He didn't even have to look at them!
Hell, he was blue, for God's sake! If Itachi's Sharingan eyes weren't freaky enough, his battle partner in general would have you running for the hills just at the sight of him.
"Kisame." He whispered so that he wouldn't wake up Kagome. He didn't know how lightly she slept.
Judging from the way she snored minutely, he could guess she was a heavier sleeper than him.
"What?"
"Get out."
"Hell no."
"I'm taking her upstairs. So unless you want to explain your presence in her living room to her, I suggest you leave." He wasted no time in leveling another red-eyed glare at his partner. Kisame finally grumbled under his breath and turned to leave.
"I'll be outside."
"I don't care. Just leave."
The door closed loudly, making Kagome snort and startle awake, before blurrily surveying the unkempt Uchiha she was sprawled across.
"M'tachi?"
"I need to go."
"M'kay. Goo'night," she mumbled before rolling back over to try to sleep again.
"Kagome, I need to get up." She shifted, then sat up.
"Oh. Sorry."
He followed her up the stairs to her room, only mildly concerned that if she fell in her haziness she'd crack her head open. When Kagome managed to crawl into bed unharmed, Itachi swept the blankets over her and smoothed them down unnecessarily.
'Why am I delaying?'
"I'll be back."
"I know. Be safe," she replied, snuggled down into her pillows and sighing in contentment. The Uchiha muttered something under his breath, smoothed down her dark hair and rose to leave. He jerked when a strand of his hair was yanked. Glancing back, he glared at the smug look she threw him.
"That was payback for tickling me earlier."
"You want me to seek vengence?"
"No. I want you to play fair next time!"
"Impossible. I'm a ninja. We never play fair," the Sharingan user smirked, relinquishing her hold on him and sweeping elegantly out of her room.
He left her pouting, anticipating what she'd throw at him next time.
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A/N: And a Happy New Year to you all too! And there's another poll. In my profile. I appreciate your votes! And reviews!
So, since there was such a massive influx of people liking The Red Sin, I'm planning on really focusing on that next chapter after I get a couple more of this one done. If you haven't read that yet, you're welcome to take a moment to do so.
In the mean time, I will be trying to center myself back into Something Blue. The genres and the characters from both are so different, I'm afraid I might try to mix the personalities. Bear with me please.