Summary

For some reason, the thought of her not being there bothers him...

A/N: At over 350 reviews, I am completely blown away at how amazing you guys continue to be. You're support is very appreciated and I love hearing from each and every one of you! I'll just keep churning along, then. I'm running out of ideas again. Hehe. Can you tell yet? -sighs-

Anyways, please read and review!

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She was dozing on the couch when he saw her next. Really, he'd thought about not bothering to show up; what with Kisame asking weird questions. What the hell did he mean by 'How does she taste?' anyway? Surely the shark man wasn't implying-

Itachi flushed, the sudden urge to go back to base to turn his partner into sushi almost overwhelming the precarious hold on his patience.

'And they call me a genius.' Nudging her with a hand, he supressed the urge to laugh outright when she bolted up right and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"GIANT HOUSE-SIZED DOGS!"

Taking a deep concentrated breath, Itachi bit his lip to contain the urge to ask, but it escaped anyway.

"Bad dream?" He wanted to kick himself. It was such an obvious question. Kagome gazed up at him helplessly, wide blue eyes brimming with sleepy unshed tears.

"No, I just like screaming random phrases to nobody in particular," she replied, blinking her eyes and ridding herself of the sleep in them.

"... Oh." What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"Itachi?"

"... Yes?"

"Sarcasm."

He leveled a glare at her innocent smile.

"Not funny."

"Sorry," Kagome giggled, despite the fact that her friend looked ready to smack her, "I just couldn't resist."

"I'm sure."

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He tried to immerse himself in the scrolls he'd purchased that day. Really, he tried. But he couldn't ignore her. Not when she was peering over his shoulder like that!

"Stop. That." He tried to make himself sound polite. It probably didn't work. At all.

"Stop what?"

"The shoulder... and the reading... and- Just stop!"

"Well, you could always read it out loud?"

"... No." That would require him to actually focus on what was in front of him and not on the way that she smelled. It was... pleasing. Okay, that was a bad idea.

"C'mon! Please?"

"Absolutely not."

"You're no fun today," Kagome huffed, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall in agitation.

"I'm working. It's not supposed to be fun," he replied offhandedly. Rolling the scroll, he deduced that the information in there was useful indeed, but not what he was looking for at the moment. The priestess blinked, shifting in her spot in apology.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave," she mumbled, turning to go upstairs. A hand on her wrist stopped her and she glanced back at the Sharingan user. He looked nearly as perplexed as she felt. Awkwardly, he dropped her wrist and looked away... sheepishly? Was she reading that right?

"... Stay." He wasn't sure why, but he felt that if she were to go now, she wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day.

She stayed. And somehow, he seemed to relax again; as though they'd never argued.

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"What's that one say?" He wasn't going to get anything accomplished today, was he?

"It's an intricate demostration of the usage of chakra to sever and repair arteries," he replied, spreading the scroll out to let her see the limited pictures.

"Why are you studying medical stuff?" she asked, confused by the sudden turn of interest in the Uchiha.

'Because I'm trying to find a way to keep from going blind,' the former heir thought, not wanting to voice that out loud. Kagome would absolutely flip. And then she'd try to find a way to help; which might not be such a bad thing... No! He didn't want to get her involved!

"A good ninja is always prepared," he said instead, patting her head accordingly when she nodded sagely.

"Ahh, I see."

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A/N: Is it just me or was this incredibly easy to do? Especially when I'm really tired. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm really glad to have your support!

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