Summary
In the process of training, he realizes that her aim is abominable, as well as a few other things...
A/N: So, this is a little more light-hearted than the last chapter. It is also probably the most important one too. I just thought that this would be incredibly amusing!
This chapter is a lot longer also. Please don't expect the others to be this long. I felt the need to reward you guys for your patience with me. Also, I wanted to get everything in this segment fleshed out and ready for the next few chapters. Oh, I'm so excited! I hope you enjoy!
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Today was June 9. He hated this day.
True, it was his birthday, and he was now nineteen. On that disturbing note, there was a good chance the others would possibly attempt to throw him a 'party'. Last year had been difficult enough; what with the enormous deal Kisame had made about him being 18. Not to mention the threat of strippers. It was a day he'd shoved deep into his head along with all the other traumatizing memories he'd experienced. AKA- his entire childhood. This year, he wanted nothing more than to stay the hell away from the base and do something leisurely and productive.
... Maybe he'd start training Kagome today.
'Anything to keep away from here.' With that thought in mind, Itachi gathered several weapons scrolls and some interesting theory books before sneaking discreetly out of the base.
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After a dizzying trip into the village that took much less time than it should have, Itachi quietly let himself into the priestess's house.
'I am going to teach her how to set traps,' he thought, annoyance briefly flickering across his features as he shut and locked the door, 'and maybe how to use her damn key!'
It was nice being back in Kagome's home. Everything had slipped back into a sense of normalcy for him after their initial reunion about a week ago, and other than the occasional worried glance, the priestess in question had bounced back and was as cheerful as he remembered.
'The fact that this feels normal to me is a testiment to my state of insanity. I'm surely putting her in danger, and yet... I can't really find it in myself to care.' It was true. While he was definitely on guard about a potential attack on the innocent girl, he was more thrilled to be in her presence than anything else. The pacifist in him had stopped railing angrily. The killer inside was also quietly content, and his world had balanced itself back out again. Life was finally back to the way it should be, in his opinion.
Padding in the direction of the den, the faint smell of paints reached his nose before he turned into the small living area, curiosity rearing in his head. What was she painting this time? Pulling the black cloak from his shoulders, Itachi laid it over the nearest chair and quietly tiptoed over to Kagome. He was sure it wouldn't have mattered if he'd led a heard of elephants through the den; the priestess was extremely focused on her work, at the moment. Leaning over her shoulder, it took a few seconds to realize what she was putting onto the canvas.
"That's the clearing where the well is, correct?" the prodigy murmured quietly, trying not to make her jump. He failed, unfortunately, and if it hadn't been for his superior reflexes, Kagome would have smeared paint horribly across the half-finished portrait. Instead, he captured the hand with the paintbrush centimeters before it touched the canvas.
"Itachi!" the priestess squeaked, meeting his gaze with shocked blue eyes. He was close enough to her again that he could see the flecks of grey in them, reminding him that her eyes weren't completely jewel-toned. Which meant their noses were practically touching. "You scared me."
"I apologize, Kagome. I thought you heard me come in," he whispered, leaning away a little to put some distance between them. For a moment, his vision swam with his rapidly beating heart, and a part of him whined in annoyance at stepping away from her. He proceeded to squash that whiny voice as thoroughly as possible.
"It's okay! I was just passing the time," she replied, taking a deep breath and setting the wet brush in a cup to clean. She'd been so close to ruining her picture that she needed a moment to gather her wits before she tried again. Turning to the stoic Uchiha she proceeded with her next question, "So, what's up?"
"Nothing really. I thought today would be a good day to start training you, since it's not raining," the prodigy answered, wincing slightly when the priestess let out a hoot of excitement. Jumping from her seat by the window, she danced a ridiculous jig around him while she happily sang about training. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone respond to the word 'training' the way you just did."
"Sorry! I'm just... tired of being useless, you know?" Kagome drooped a little, scuffing the floor with her bare foot in a painfully shy way, "You're the first person to ever sit down and try to help me like that. Everyone else just expected me to know what I was doing."
"You were never taught the basics? In anything?" She shook her head rapidly and flinched when he glared at nothing in particular. "And they just assumed you would survive on, what? Sheer dumb luck?"
"That's about how I managed to live through the gathering of the Jewel Shards," the priestess admitted sheepishly, "I picked up some things here and there, though. And Sango showed me a couple of moves sometimes." Itachi sighed rather loudly and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. It looked like he was going to have to start from square one. Inwardly, he groaned. He'd hoped that she'd at least have some form of training.
'No time like the present to start. I can imagine killing her idiotic friends later.'
"Very well. First things first, you need to go change," the Uchiha started, a professional business-like tone creeping into his voice. He'd never actually had a student before, but he was sure it wouldn't be too difficult. After all, if Kakashi Hatake could do it, then Itachi could breeze through this! He was, after all, a genius.
"What should I wear?" The Sharingan user glanced over her current attire and willed the heat from his cheeks. Despite being in an oversized shirt and knee-length shorts with various colorful paint smudges on it, she looked... cute today. It was the only way to describe it, as much as it made him want to twitch.
"Something you won't mind getting dirty," he replied, nodding in the direction of her room upstairs to find something else to change into.
"... What kind of training are we doing, exactly?"
"A little of everything." Kagome blinked, then nodded slowly as she grinned up at him. Why was she smiling like that?
"I'm warning you now, Itachi. You have your work cut out for you." With that line delivered, the priestess scrambled off to go find something else to put on.
"Kagome!"
"Hmm?" She stopped and turned-
-only to have the Uchiha standing a hairs' breath away from her. Reaching out a hand, Itachi used his thumb to wipe at her cheek.
"You have a smudge. Make sure to clean that." Cheeks dark red in embarrassment and heart pounding erratically, Kagome nodded and dashed up the stairs.
"Get a grip, Kagome-girl. You're acting ridiculous," she muttered to herself, shaking her head visciously and banishing the image of the young man downstairs with the light of amusement in his dark eyes. Rummaging quickly through her closet, she stripped off her painting clothes and donned a set of robes she'd sworn she'd never wear again. Glancing in the mirror, Kagome snorted distastefully and secured her long hair in a high tail.
"I really do look like Kikyo now." Waving off her annoyance, the former time traveler flounced down the stairs and presented herself to the Uchiha waiting patiently for her. He blinked slowly, let his gaze travel up and down her for a moment, then shook his head and pointed back up the stairs.
"No. You are not wearing that."
"Why not? I don't care if it gets dirty!" Kagome whined, crossing her arms petulantly over her chest and huffing. Between one heartbeat and the next, Itachi had swept her over his shoulder and started carrying her up the stairs. "Itachi! Put me down! I can walk!"
"Not if you're being stubborn. Your sleeves will catch on everything, and I'm sure you don't need any help in tripping yourself up anymore than you already do," the former heir replied, stepping into her room and depositing her back on her feet. He then proceeded to sift through the contents of her closet to find something better suited, "Besides, I thought you didn't want to be compared to Kikyo." That stopped her protests immediately. While he had to admit that the two girls did look remarkably similar, he still preferred Kagome.
After a few minutes of searching, and wondering how she would even wear some of the things in her closet, he unearthed a pair of soft dark blue cotton capris and an equally soft dark grey t-shirt. Glancing at her shoes, then discarding several options, he pulled out a pair of grey tennis shoes and handed the bundle to the priestess while gesturing in the direction of her bath room.
"Now, go change. Then we'll go."
"... Fine," she grumbled after a moment of staring him down. Kagome loped off to the other room to change. While she did that, Itachi picked up a pair of precariously tall strappy pink stilettos with his finger, then shook his head and tossed them aside.
'Honestly, she'd break her neck before she'd get out the door in those.'
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"Firstly, I'd like to see how your aim is," Itachi started, handing her a holster of kunai and pointing at the tree in front of them about fifteen paces, "Hit that tree. It doesn't have to be in the center." He hoped this wasn't going to turn out like her pathetic archery lessons he'd watched a few times. Kagome gave him a painful look, then stared down at the throwing knives with trepidition. Swallowing, she finally pulled one out and gazed at the shiny surface.
"How... How do I hold it?" she asked timidly, glancing at him in question. The Uchiha blinked, then back up his mindset several steps. Right. Newbie. He needed to start at the very beginning. After carefully showing her how to position her fingers so that she wouldn't slice them open, or off, he slowly demonstrated several easy techniques for throwing them properly. Kagome applauded each time he hit the tree, and though it was a ridiculously easy accomplishment, he was still glowing with pride inwardly.
"Your turn. Remember what you just learned and try to use those techniques." Nodding with a little more confidence, the priestess turned to face the tree and fluidly drew the kunai from its' sheath. Itachi inwardly congratulated himself. Teaching wasn't so hard. He didn't see why his sensei had complained so much! His heart almost stopped when, instead of flinging the extremely sharp projectile forward, Kagome's fingers slipped and his own kunai head straight for him! Only his superior reflexes saved his eye from being jabbed out. Catching the blade swiftly, he leveled a flabbergasted look at the horrified girl now facing him.
"Itachi! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? My fingers-! They just-! Tell me you're okay?" she babbled hysterically, dropping the remaining blades in shock and starting over to him. He held up a hand to delay her inevitable crash into him to inspect for possible harm on his person.
"It's fine. I'm fine. I caught it in time." Holding up the kunai, he watched her breathe a sigh of relief, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes.
"Maybe... this isn't such a good idea," she mumbled, hanging her head in failure.
"I'll just stand somewhere else, Kagome. Try again, but keep your grip a little tighter," the prodigy encouraged, stepping off to the side and watching her form. After two more near fatal accidental attempts, he resorted to hiding behind his current tree, not trusting her to fling the next one his way.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Itachi? I've almost killed you a few times," Kagome asked again, awkwardly throwing the next blade and missing the tree she was aiming for altogether. This was almost as disappointing as her archery training.
"I am perfectly capable of dodging errant kunais. Keep practicing." There was no way he was teaching her ninjutsu until she had a basic concept of chakra and balance.
A few hours later and two chakra explanation books later, he decided to come out of hiding and see how she was doing.
He had to hand it to her. For a somewhat-civilian, her aim with a kunai was, at best, tragic. Surveying his surroundings, and wondering how the hell she'd managed to almost kill him three different times, the Sharingan weilder realized that she was right. He really did have his work cut out for him. Glancing up, he almost did a double-take; something he'd prided himself on never doing.
'Is that kunai... How did she hit that tree branch way up there?'
"Let's... take a break," Itachi sighed, throwing a slightly concerned look at a blushing Kagome when her stomach growled loudly. She merely grumbled an affirmative, gathered the kunai she could find or reach, and followed him sedately back to her house. She was too tired to complain, and it wasn't even noon yet!
"Have you found a comfortable way to throw them yet?" he asked a few moments later.
"I don't know. I felt like an idiot doing all those weird poses," the priestess muttered, shaking her head and raising one hand into her line of vision. It trembled slightly from the effort.
"You'll get used to it eventually. This will help you build up some more upper arm strength," Itachi explained, pulling a kunai idly from his holster and twirling it absently end over end before replacing it fluidly. Kagome stared at the action, amazed that he hadn't stabbed himself. She'd gotten several shallow cuts on her hands and arms just from trying to hold the damn things! "It is my hope that you will be able to achieve a more accurate hit rate within the month."
"So soon?" Kagome asked, surprise etched onto her features, "It took me forever to learn how to become even decently accurate with a bow.
"You said you taught yourself though," the Uchiha replied. The priestess nodded in the affirmative.
"There wasn't really time to be taught how to properly use and handle one." At his slightly confused look, she elaborated, "The hunt for the Jewel Shards? Defeating Naraku was more important than being more accurate."
"True. Your success rate, however, suffered greatly because no one took the time to show you the basics." An idea struck him suddenly. "Bring your bow with and we'll work on that too."
"You know how to use a bow?" the dark-haired girl choked out. Itachi nodded, an arrogant grin creeping onto his face.
"I am a ninja, Kagome," he teased gently, ruffling her hair and guiding her around a fallen tree. Even on her best days, Kagome was still a bit of a klutz. He was hoping to fix that too, but didn't plan on holding his breath. Some people were just naturally clumsy, and she just happened to be one.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Super ninja training and all that," the priestess scoffed, waving her hand in dismissal at the blank look he sent her. Shaking his head, Itachi muttered something under his breath and stopped her for a moment. Taking her by the shoulders, the former heir pulled her close enough that their noses almost touched.
"You do understand why I'm doing this, right? By going directly against what I'm supposed to, I am now not only putting my life on the line, I am also risking yours. It goes against everything I want to do."
"And what do you want to do, Itachi?" Kagome asked quietly, her blue eyes staring him down and insisting on the truth. Really, how was he supposed to resist her when she was watching him like that?
'To run and take you with me,' he thought, swallowing the urge to actually say the words out loud.
"I want you to never have to be afraid of a ninja that could so easily try to take advantage of you. That is why I'm teaching you these things." Kagome sighed at the serious tone he'd taken and finally nodded.
"Okay. I get that you don't want me to get hurt. I know," she muttered, flushing in embarrassment, "I'm a walking talking trouble magnet. It's not like I don't know that. I guess... I'll try really hard. So don't be so worried, okay?"
Itachi huffed and released her, taking several steps away and gaining their distance again as he continued to try and will the heat from his face. He probably shouldn't have gotten so close to her. Why did he keep doing that?
'I can't help but worry. But why?'
"For now, let's go eat! I'll race you there!" Kagome giggled, darting off in the direction of the village. Itachi blinked, let his worries slip away, and smirked as he gave chase. There was one thing he wouldn't have to work with her on very much. The girl was a fast runner.
'Dodging shouldn't be much of a problem for her.'
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After lunch, he chose to move on from target practice. He didn't think his nerves could take much more unintentional death threats at the moment.
"Hand-to-hand is easier to teach when you have an opponent to spar with."
"Right. And you're going to be my sparring partner?"
"Correct."
"But what if I hurt you on accident?" Kagome asked worriedly. Itachi gave her a blank stare.
"If you can land a decent hit on me, I'll step up your training."
"Itachi! Be serious!"
"I am being perfectly serious."
"I don't want to hurt you!"
"I am a trained professional, Kagome," the Sharingan user replied, sliding into a defensive stance and raising a hand, "Now, attack me."
The priestess stood there for a moment, wide-eyed and anxious, before raising a hand and slapping at his weakly. Itachi could feel his eye starting to twitch.
"Is that how you plan to evade someone that comes at you with intent to kill?" he asked dangerously soft, elicting a shiver from the girl. He stepped forward; she retreated. "When someone is trying to hurt you, you hurt them back." His hand snatched her wrist, pulling her to him closely. "When they target the people you care about, you take them out without hesitation." The former heir swept her feet out from under her, and Kagome landed on her back with a soft "Oomph!"
"And when you strike at them, you kill," Itachi whispered, kneeling over the paralyzed girl and tapping a fist against her throat.
Kagome took a deep breath and nodded, letting the Sharingan user pull her up. He proceeded to flip her over his arm and she went tumbling into the dirt again with a gasp.
"Itachi!"
"Do not think of me as friend, but foe."
"Do I really have to do this?" the priestess whined, sitting up and rubbing her back while throwing him a glare.
"If you wish to survive-" he stopped, the words he'd used on his brother at the tip of his tongue. That type of motovation wouldn't work on her. She'd give him a disturbed look, pat him on the head, and then offer him a cookie or some other such sugary confection. "If you wish to survive, you must remember that I won't go easy on you."
She pouted for a few more seconds before finally sighing and nodding. Itachi held out a hand to help her up and she took it again. 'She's not learning.' He moved to trip her up again as soon as she was on her feet. This time, Kagome flailed her arms, but didn't tumble to the ground. 'Not so helpless, then.'
"Better, but your arms should remain close to your body, otherwise-," the former heir instructed, snatching one of her wrists and performing a series of tiny movements that had him wrapped around her, her wrists clamped in one of his hands and his other arm around her shoulders.
The priestess let a breath whoosh out when he not-so-gently pulled her back to his chest. "Otherwise, you'll end up trapped and unable to get loose. You're helpless now, without your hands. Completely at my nonexistant mercies." He whispered the last sentence into her ear and the almost intimate contact made her jerk suddenly and flush.
"Ah! Not... fair... Itachi!" Kagome growled out, wriggling against him in a way that suddenly sent shivers down his spine.
'Make her STOP THAT!' a voice deep inside him hissed. Instictively, he tightened his hold on her wrists and the arm banded around her spasmed just slightly. Why was he so... jittery?
"Owww!" Kagome gapsed breathlessly, wondering what was up with the prodigy, all of the sudden. He was acting... odd. Like he wasn't actually there anymore.
Standing there wrapped around the weakly struggling girl, it hit him like a tons of bricks suddenly. He almost staggered from the revelation. Like being slugged in the stomach by a significantly stronger fighter. Like a chakra charged fist swinging in to deliver-
Okay! He got it!
He was irrevocably, irreversably, completely and utterly in love. With Kagome. Oh. Hell.
'But... when? How?' and then, when his mind had barely caught up with the base facts, it reeled off in a completely different direction with the thought of something else, 'WHY? This... This is not in the plan! The plan was perfect! The plan was faultless! The plan was my ticket to freedom!' And then... And then she'd come along, brandishing a bottle of nail polish and ruining everything he'd carefully worked for with her cute smile and pretty smelling hair and sparkly blue eyes and-
His jaw went slack for a moment. Hellfire and damnation! Now that he realized what exactly was wrong with him, he had it bad! He could wax poetic if he wanted to; and somewhere in the back of his head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Kisame whistled "I told you so!" while giggling manically about the poetic bit.
This was not happening! He was an S-class criminal. He'd killed more people than he could take the time to count. He'd massacred his clan without blinking an eye. He was in cahoots with an organization that was hell-bent on taking over the world!
'This is not happening! Only fools fall in love!' He glanced down at Kagome, whom was watching him with concern through lowered lashes; long pretty lashes that kissed her flushed cheeks when she blinked her blue eyes-
'Stop it! Right now! This is not the place or the time for such ridiculous thinking!' But then, when was, in his life. He dropped his arms suddenly and backed away several steps, eyes a little too wide, breaths coming a little too short. He needed to get away. Now. Before he did something stupid. Like lean back over and sniff her hair again.
Or kiss her.
"Itachi?" His hand twitched, the sudden desperate need to do just that filling him.
"... I need a moment." And then he was gone, leaving a bewildered Kagome behind in a growing state of panic.
"...Did I do something wrong?"
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Several hundred yards away, he paced rapidly in another clearing of the forest, mind whirling erratically from one point to the next with dizzying speed.
'Okay. I love her.' Check.
'She's nice and sweet.' Check.
'I have no problems talking about whatever I want because she'll listen and not fly completely off the handle.' Check.
'I still need to tell her about my bloody past.' Check.
'She's from another world.' Even though it was insane to believe it, Check.
'She is not Uchiha.' Check. No matter what Kisame says.
'She is excellent with children.' Check.
'I could see her with my children.' Flushing darkly at that thought, Itachi put a tiny mental check next to that one too. Actually, he hadn't even considered the idea of children until Kagome had come along. Taking a deep breath, he stopped and stared off into space, then cursed out loud and flung a shuriken at the nearest tree.
"I'll put her in danger. I could get her killed. Affiliating with me would immediately mark her as 'Kill on Sight'. I don't want her to get hurt." And then another thing occured to him.
"She's been through so much already." Grinding his teeth, the Uchiha glared hatefully at the tree, rationality fighting a war with recently awakened emotions. Emotions he was sure he'd never get the chance to have. Emotions that he had no real understanding of.
He froze when he thought of something else.
"I just left her there all alone!" Itachi hissed out loud in shock, darting back in the direction he'd left the priestess.
'Stupid fool! How could you just leave her?' that tiny voice in his head snapped as he flipped through trees and bound over boulders. 'What if she's killed?' The thought alone made him move that much faster.
A few moments later, he was skidding to a halt in front of a windswept Kagome, absently checking to make sure she wasn't hurt. She blinked innocently at him and worried her lip. He tried every tactic in his head to keep from watching that tiny movement. Of course, he failed. For once. Damn his jittery emotions.
"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"
"No!" he answered, a little too quickly and breathless for his liking. He was warm. Too warm. And if he wasn't exceedingly careful, he was going to do something ridiculous.
"Do we need to stop? Are you feeling sick?"
"No. I'm fine," Itachi answered again, this time calmly and with a slight bite. Damn his illness for revealing itself to her! "Let's continue. Keep your arms close."
"Right. Arms close," Kagome repeated, tucking them close to her body in a defensive way. It was a move that he'd seen before, and had to inwardly congratulate her. So she did have a little training here and there. It was just so minimal that she would need a complete overhaul.
"Now, show me a fist."
She gave him a deadpan stare before bringing up a fist. Reaching over, he tightened the fist and tucked her thumb under. She blinked, giving him a questioning stare.
"Leaving your thumb out like that gives you a higher risk of breaking it," Itachi explained, patting her fist and letting it drop. The priestess glanced at her hand for a second, then grinned. "Now, punch me."
Kagome swung out, visciously aiming for his head, and Itachi leaned to the side. The dark-haired girl went sprawling into the grass.
"Too wild. You need more control. Don't use every bit of your weight until you're better centered. Now, do it again."
Kagome nodded, gritting her teeth and getting up. She would land a hit on him before the day was done! An idea suddenly popped into her head. She wasn't sure if it would work, considering it was Itachi, but then, it was worth a shot to knock him off balance.
"Sooo... Does this mean I should start calling you Itachi-sensei?" His heart skipped a beat and his face was red in about two seconds. What the hell was she doing to him? She swung out again in the next heartbeat, catching him enough off guard that he flinched, but still caught her hand and twisted her momentum until she tasted dirt again.
'Damn his ninja-ness!' the priestess thought. Yeah. Epic fail.
Or was it?
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"When you have a good sparring partner, it makes it easier to learn automatic defensive moves," Itachi explained, correcting her stance again with a tap of his foot and raising her defensive arm a little more, "For instance, I could fight one of my clones all I wanted, but the fact is that I know exactly how one of them would react in any given situation. It becomes a moot point, then, when I'm able to pre-determine my initial strike. It's-!"
He held up a hand to make her stop moving. The forest had gone eeriely silent. Almost like a predator was nearby.
"Itachi? What's-!"
"Don't talk yet-!" A familiar chakra signal suddenly blazed to life and beared down on them. Reacting instinctively, the former heir dove for the priestess, despite her squawk of protest at being handled so roughly, and rolled them out of the way as an enormous sword swung where they'd been standing.
"You fool! What if I hadn't dodged in time!" Itachi snarled the moment they were on their feet again. Kagome merely stood there, gaping in shock at the massive man that stood across from them.
'Is he... blue? Is this some kind of joke?' the dark-haired girl thought, blinking and rubbing her eyes again. Yep, the big blue guy was still there, giant bandaged sword and all, 'Wait! Are... those gills?'
"You don't give me enough credit, Itachi. I knew you would react accordingly," their opponent replied offhandedly, "In fact, you moved faster than I've seen you move in a while. Funny how that works, huh?"
'So they... know eachother?' Kagome thought, watching the intruder very carefully. He shifted just slightly, and she tensed, waiting for the moment he would swing that monster of a sword again. Why, exactly, was it bandaged?
"You followed me," Itachi accused a moment later, Sharingan eyes beginning to whirl in his agitation. Kisame held up a hand and pointed to the bushes. They moved and another figure stepped out of them.
"Konan-san?" the priestess exclaimed, surprise clear on her features. Itachi was just as surprised inwardly, then remembered the time the woman had gone to get him medicine. They had to have met at that point.
'Damn meddling paper-user!'
"I showed him where you were, Itachi," Konan replied, waving off the former heir's ire and turning a small smile onto Kagome, "How are you, Kagome-san?"
"I'm... well! Yourself?"
"Good."
"Why. Are. You. Here." Itachi bit out, fury building inside him. They weren't supposed to know about this! How was he going to train her in secret if the entirity of Akatsuki knew about her?
"Leader-sama insist I keep an eye on you," the blue-haired woman shrugged, striding over to Kagome and clipping a small paper butterfly in the priestess's dark hair. Dismissing Itachi's undeniably homocidal aura, she nodded in approval and held up a hand. "Here, hit my hand."
Kagome did so, elicting a raised brow from the kunoichi.
"There was no power behind your movements. Do you not know how?"
"Umm... I never really learned how to fight hand-to-hand," Kagome replied sheepishly. Konan nodded, then turned to Itachi.
"I take it you plan on teaching her," the kunoichi stated, getting a Sharingan enhanced glare from the Uchiha.
"When you leave." Konan scoffed.
"Not likely. I hope you don't think you can do this by yourself, Itachi. With upcoming missions and the careful watch on your movements, you'll be hard-pressed to keep her a secret for much longer."
"Secret? Me?" Kagome asked, tilting her head to the side innocently.
"Damn, she's really that innocent?" Kisame muttered, shaking his head and strapping his sword to his back again. "Have you told her anything, Itachi?"
The prodigy in question merely hissed angrily and snapped a glare at his partner.
"I have every intention of telling her," the Uchiha replied, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to try and center his emotions before collecting himself and turning to Kagome. At least, where Kagome had been before. She'd disappeared.
"So... you're a hanyou, right?" the priestess's voice spoke in Kisame's direction. Itachi whirled around and tried not to gape at the casual way the girl had started talking to his bloodthirsty partner. No one called Kisame a hanyou and lived to tell about it!
"That's right. How do you know that?" Kisame answered, curiosity piqued. Itachi let out the breath he'd unconsciously been holding.
"Well... I have my ways. I've never met a shark hanyou before, though. Is it hard to breathe when you're not in the water?"
"Not anymore. When I was younger, I had some difficulties, but now I can breathe air just like water," the blue man replied, crossing his arms and grinning sharply down at the small human, "You scared?"
"Not really. I've met a spider hanyou that was terrifying. After all, he tried to kill me several times," Kagome shrugged, smirking slightly up at the surprised look the taller male sent her, "So, if you try to kill me, I probably won't be very happy; but then, all of the people I became friends with tried to kill me in some way or another when I first met them. I'm not the kind of person that judges by what everyone says. I have to see that darkness myself before I can be convinced that someone is truly evil." Smiling up at the shark man, she patted his arm before turning back to a stunned Konan and Itachi.
"So, who's up for some target practice? I think I should really work on that." The two humans nodded in unison and watched Kagome skip away merrily.
"She's something else, Itachi," Kisame muttered, rubbing his arm absently where the priestess had patted it. Unbeknownst to her, when Kagome had initiated the contact with him, her powers had flickered to the surface to test, and eventually shock, him with a warning vibration. It had left an odd taste in his mouth; knowing that a potentially dangerous person had such a pure personality. And for her to be right there and not immediately judge him? In a way, he could honestly see why his stoic partner seemed so drawn to her.
Kagome was an interesting person.
"Yes. She truly is," Itachi murmured, observing quietly as Konan began to instruct the priestess on the benefits of shuriken versus her arrows.
The two men stood for a moment of silence before the taller one addressed the shorter one. "Are you going to really tell her?"
"... Yes. She deserves at least that much."
Kisame watched his partner out of the corner of one beady eye before sighing almost imperceptibly. "You'll be fine. You heard what she just said. The whole judging thing; she'll definitely see your side. After all, she likes you." Itachi scoffed elegantly and reached up a hand to rub his eyes tiredly.
"I suppose I can count on the two of you to not say anything to Madara," the former heir muttered quietly. It wasn't a request; Kisame knew. Itachi didn't make requests of others. He either threatened, or they died.
"Konan actually likes the girl. You know she'll keep quiet. The only person she might tell would be Leader-sama."
"That is what has me a little... bothered." It was true. The last thing he wanted was for Pein to find out about Kagome's abilities. It would mean doing several very drastic things to ensure the kind girl wasn't enslaved into the Akatsuki. "And you?"
"I'll keep quiet... for a price."
Oh, damn.
"Name it."
"I'll get there." With that ominous statement, Kisame moved towards the girls with a grace someone his size shouldn't have normally possessed. "Hey, girlie!"
"Hmm? It's Kagome, thank you," the priestess replied primly, sending an annoyed glare at the amused shark-man.
"Right. Did you know that today is a very interesting day?" Itachi resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. No! Kisame wouldn't dare!
"Really? I thought today was any other day," Kagome answered, tilting her head in question and wondering what the hanyou was getting at.
"Not when today is precious Itachi's birthday!" While the priestess's blue eyes widened in shock, Itachi had to use every modicum of patience and calm he possessed to keep from outright maiming his partner. And then some. Konan just let a small smirk flutter across her face before her usual stoicism took hold again. The blue-haired woman had known that Kisame was planning something along the lines of embarrassing his young partner.
"Is... this true, Itachi?" Kagome asked quietly, switching her gaze from an obviously proud Kisame to the twitchy looking prodigy. After a moment of gathering himself, he finally nodded haltingly, expecting her to want to throw a celebration.
"Well... it's your birthday today, so do you want to keep training, or do something else? It's whatever you wish," the dark-haired girl asked, fidgeting just slightly when he gave her a surprised glance. No one ever asked if he wanted to do something just because he felt like it. It was always orders. Apparently, there would be a lot of firsts with Kagome.
"I... " glancing at his fellow Akatsuki members, he took a few steps closer to the priestess until he could quietly finish his sentence, "I want you to be safe. Nothing more. If you could truly grant a wish, that would be it." He thought it was a decent idea. What he didn't expect was for Kagome to flush darkly and suddenly become extremely interested in their shoes. Had he said something wrong?
"Itachi... When you're nearby, I do feel safe. So, you don't have to worry about me," she replied just as quietly, biting her bottom lip anxiously and suddenly meeting his gaze. Her cheeks were still red, but she was smiling, "That's really sweet of you, though."
The former heir resisted the urge to moan. "I am not."
"You are! You wouldn't have said that if you weren't!"
"I'm not sweet!" he hissed, forgetting about their smirking audience for a moment, "I merely wish for you to be properly outfitted with the ability to defend yourself!"
"We'll see about that! I bet you're hungry, so let's go home! I'll make you a cake! You're still too skinny!" She poked him for the effect and he batted her hand away.
"I dislike cakes!" Itachi protested vehemently, "And I'm not skinny!"
"You won't hate them when you're drunk!"
"And you think you'll get me drunk?"
"Who knows? Anything can happen, Itachi. It is, after all, your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way."
"Thank you. I have never been drunk," he argued, then added quickly, "and I don't intend to ingest enough alcohol to do so, either!"
Konan and Kisame looked on in slight awe as the two teenagers argued like there was no tomorrow.
"... You ever seen him this happy before?" the tall blue man asked, glancing at the elegant woman watching the theatrics with an air of amusement.
"No. I haven't. It's good for him, though, to actually act his age. He deserves it," she replied, amber eyes flashing with calculation. She had to wonder if Kagome had intentionally made the Uchiha genius forget about them. The priestess confirmed the kunoichi's thoughts when she flashed a grin in their direction while Itachi wasn't looking.
'Yes. She's definitely good for him. I intend to keep it that way,' Konan thought, nodding to the younger girl and following the duo in the direction of the village. Kisame loped behind her, then stopped and looked around the clearing. Despite his misgivings, he really did believe Konan. Kagome was good for his uptight partner that had become something like a younger brother to him.
'I hope you know what you're doing, Itachi. Madara won't let either of you live if he finds out the truth.'
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A/N: Aaaaaaannnnd that's a wrap! I really do apologize that this took so long! Lots of things have been going on in the real world for me. I am going back to school in the fall, so I'm working on getting everything in that corner together. On top of that, I'm working a lot more now, so that's been taking up a lot of my time.
So the ending of this chapter was not how I'd originally planned it. In fact, I wasn't planning on putting Konan and Kisame in there, but it does move the plot along in the right direction. I hope I've done some justice and laid a bit of your fears to rest. Now that Itachi's figured out that he's in love, he can take the proper steps to ensure that Kagome will stay by his side... for good. No more running for him. He's in it for the long haul. As for Kagome, she's getting there. She just needs a little more time.
So, with that being said, The next update could be anywhere from two weeks to a month in coming. I do appreciate your patience, and I thank you for your continued support. Until next time guys!