Beyond the Looking Glass
Chapter Five
-Date Day-
Hikari stood under the largest cherry blossom tree in the entire park, waiting for her guide to arrive. This morning when she had woken up, she'd showered and gotten ready, even going so far as to fluff her hair out a bit and spray on some perfume. It wasn't that she wanted anything romantic to potentially happen or anything, but she liked to make good first impressions.
The mystery behind who she was meeting was still exciting to her. He had to be nice at least, for Kanamé to recommend him. She frowned then. She hoped she wasn't inconveniencing him too much by having him do her this favor. Letting out a sigh, she leaned against the bark of the tree and closed her eyes, enjoying the way the soft breeze caused her hair to float as she took in the wonderful aroma of the blossoms.
She didn't hear the footsteps before he spoke. "Yo." An unmistakable voice said. Hikari's eyes snapped open and she saw the tall, lean figure of Noriaki. He was skinnier than Kanamé, and now that she had seen both of them, she could see how much more fierce the younger triplet's features were than that of his brother's. He had on black ninja pants and a tight, form fitting black v-neck shirt that was sleeveless. "Long time no see."
"You have got to be kidding me." She said, pushing away from the tree. "You? No." she shook her head. "Thanks for coming out here and all, but I'll just find someone else to show me around. I'm sure you have more important things to do." She said, beginning to walk past him and out of the park.
Noriaki looked after her, his expression turning to one of annoyance. "I don't know what I did to make you hate me, but it's starting to get irritating. Kanamé said you wanted to see Konoha and I said yes. It's not that big of a deal, and it's not like I would rather be doing something else or anything."
She snorted, halting and turning to face him. "Look, I know how you are Noriaki, so you can cut the crap." She said, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not stupid, and I hate it when people lie to me."
"Excuse me?" he glared. "First of all, you actually don't know me. It's been eleven years Hikari. Eleven. That's a lot. I'm almost twenty years old now. You know me about as much as I know you. And I was hoping maybe you'd stop being a bitch for no reason for a couple hours so we could attempt to get to know each other once again."
"Well I don't want to get to know you once again, because I already know how that will end." Hikari told him, turning and walking away once more.
"What happened to you?" he asked sharply.
She glanced at him over her shoulder and raised a delicate brow. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't understand. I thought you stopped hating me before you left. So how do you hate me now? What could have possibly happened or what could you have heard that makes you loath me so much."
Sadness entered her violet gaze, and she looked to the ground. "I can't believe you don't remember." She said softly, looking back up at him. "You didn't come and say goodbye." She explained, crossing her arms in a form of hugging herself. "I waited for as long as I could, and you never came to see me. You never even wrote me explaining why you didn't show up."
Noriaki opened his mouth to reply but then closed it, since he really didn't know what to say. "Hikari…" he sighed, looking off. "It's really stupid. Okay, I was just a kid. You can't really stay mad at me for something that happened over ten years ago."
A humorless smile came to her face. "If you knew how much it meant to me to see you before I left then you wouldn't be saying that. And I'm not mad…anymore. I just don't want to be treated the same way that I was all those years ago."
"Well I promise I won't ditch you or anything, so we shouldn't have any problems." He tried to reason.
She sighed and gave him an assessing look. "Alright." she conceded. "I suppose I can give you a second chance. But if you even think of calling me a Granny, I'm out of here."
Noriaki smirked, giving her a once over. "I could call you a lot of things." He said, leaning closer to her so his mouth was beside her ear. "Granny isn't even close to being one of them." he mumbled, pulling her against him, mostly so he could feel her gorgeous body pressed against his. "Now, Goddess, on the other hand, is definitely in the top five. Along with gorgeous, possibly great." He continued, letting his hand on the small of her back lower slightly.
"And you once said I was flat and too much like a boy where I should be a girl." Hikari smirked, reaching back and grabbing his wrist, halting his hand's descent. "But just because I have curves now doesn't mean you can touch them, so let's keep our hands to ourselves, okay?" she removed his hand from her and stepped away from him.
He gave her a small pout and straightened. "Fine, fine. I'll attempt to refrain, but I promise nothing." He chuckled before walking past her. "Since it's been so long we can start with the parks." He announced. "This is Cherry Blossom Tree park, obviously because it's mostly made up of cherry blossoms. Personally, it's my favorite one we have."
"It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that your mom's hair is the color of cherry blossoms, would it?" she asked with a slight smile. "Or that your grandma's name is Sakura?"
"Now that's just far too obvious." He said with a small smile, though she didn't see it.
She chuckled. "Alright, so what's the unobvious reason you like this park so much?"
"I think flowers are pretty." He shrugged. "Green trees are boring, but pink trees are exciting." Noriaki explained before leading her out of the park and stopping once they were in front of their old Academy. "You remember the Ninja Academy."
"Of course, I have a lot of memories from here. Some better than others." She nodded. "It hasn't changed a bit."
"Not really, bunch of annoying kids running around, teasing one another. It's almost like it's a generational thing." He nodded, hearing a bell and then seeing the kids run out to the yard for their lunch break. They watched the kids together for a bit before they saw a young boy chasing a girl with blonde hair around with a bug in his hand.
"You know I'm pretty sure you did something like that to me once." The pale haired woman observed, watching the girl run.
Hikari gasped and Noriaki tensed slightly when the girl tripped started crying loudly, making the brown hair boy stop chasing her and look scared for a moment. He tossed the bug aside and went to help the girl, only to see she had a scrape on her knee. They couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious by not only the look on his face that he was apologizing, and then he leaned in and kissed her knee.
"That is so cute." Hikari said softly, covering her cheek with her hand. "I bet he likes her." she said to the Uchiha next to her.
Noriaki watched the scene closely, almost as if he were calculating something. "Hm." Was his only reply. He started walking once more, leading her off towards the playground and then the shops.
They walked in silence for a while, until eventually Hikari looked up at him. "I know it's been a while, but I don't remember you being this quiet."
He looked off, his hands forming to fists in his pockets so she couldn't see. "I told you I would be good. So…I'm filtering."
She arched a brow. "Filtering?" she almost laughed. "Noriaki…I'd rather hear your vulgarity than deal with your silence. You can even try to feel me up one more time."
Noriaki huffed and glanced back at her. "My brother told me specifically to behave. I've only just now realized how little I have to say." He frowned and then shook his head, before facing her. He smirked his normal cocky smirk, and lifted his hand, brushing his fingers down her cheek. "It's pretty hard though, so I'll take my permission to be devious and charming." He smoothed his hand down her throat and cupped the back of her head, bringing her closer so they were but a lips' distance apart. "Maybe I can kiss it and make it better from being so mean to you when we were little." He said softly, feeling her breath mingle with his as it picked up.
Hikari felt her heart pound in her chest as she stared up at him, not sure what to do, or even say in that moment. "It'd have to be some kiss…" she said softly. "I mean, it's been eleven years."
"Well, then you might want to hold on." He smirked. "I wouldn't want you to fall from your knees giving out." he said, wrapping an arm around her to fully press her against him. He leaned in slowly, actually giving her a pause so she could pull away. When she didn't, he kissed her, something unleashing inside of him that he didn't know he was holding back, but he wanted this to be the best kiss she'd ever gotten in her life. He wanted her to be so mind blown she would completely forget he'd ever wronged her. His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't deter. Why did he even care that much? She was a complete stranger to him now, she was nothing more than an old friend with an insanely erotic body he wanted to conquer and devour and make her beg for him to dominate her. But even he couldn't deny there wasn't something more stirring inside. But being the strong and egotistical man he was, he refused to delve, and instead focused on the amazing kiss they were now sharing in front of a square of people.
Hikari let out a quiet moan as she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she lost herself in his kiss and the feeling of his mouth and body pressed against hers. She couldn't believe what it was making her feel. She'd thought she'd hated Noriaki, and hadn't even planned on giving him a second chance. But he was proving to be something she hadn't expected, and this kiss was proving to her that they had something between them. Something that she might have to explore with the Uchiha before she had to return to Kumogakure. Eventually they had to part in order to breathe, but they stayed close together, for Hikari could feel her knees wobbling. "That…was even better than I thought it would be." Hikari panted, a bit short of breath.
Noriaki looked pleased, but kept his arm around her waist and his other hand tangled in her hair. "I'm glad you like it." he replied cockily. "I could do so much to you…" he said in almost a whisper, letting his fingers trail up her spine. "Anything you want, I would be willing to do. Anything at all." He emphasized.
Hikari swallowed as she looked up at him. "Noriaki…I can't…I've never even kissed someone before today." she admitted, a dark blush coming to her face. "I mean…nothing more than an awkward peck."
"It could be non-sexual things." He chuckled, unable to stop himself from adoring how cute she looked when she was blushing. Though what he imagined her looking like with that same dark red look was her naked and tangled in his sheets. He could hardly contain his erection from the mere thought of taking her virginity and hearing her cries from beneath him.
Her cheeks darkened as she felt his arousal, but she smiled. "I don't even think you know how to do non-sexual things."
"I could learn." He almost pouted. He inwardly berated himself, why was he sounding so foolish? And romantic. But he forced himself not to grimace, but as he looked at her face, somehow he didn't care. She looked so cute, and he could see her as that sweet little girl he'd teased so many times.
Hikari's smile widened, and she opened her mouth, about to say something when-"Noriakiiiiii!" a woman cried out, getting the two's attention. Hikari looked over and went wide eyed, seeing a woman just as busty as her, with long brown hair and bright green eyes, wearing a revealing kimono, and in Hikari's opinion, too much make-up. But the way she smiled and waved at the Uchiha implied that they had done naughty things together. Hikari stiffened and stepped out of his hold, right as the other woman came up and pressed against Noriaki. "You haven't come to see me in a while my sweet Uchiha." She purred, tracing her finger along his jaw. "I'm beginning to think you've forgotten all about me." she pouted.
He blinked and Hikari could tell that he had no idea who this woman was. "Uh," he pulled away from her, noticing Hikari's demeanor. "Who are you again?" he asked, not sounding sorry at all that he couldn't remember.
"Oh you remember who I am!" she laughed. "It's me, Sakano. You know, your favorite girl in the Red Lights District." She said, lowering her hand to his erection.
"You know what?" Hikari held up a hand, completely appalled. "I'm just going to leave you two to get reacquainted, since you fuck so many women you can't even remember who they are. Though I guess I should count myself lucky you even knew who I was, and we haven't done a thing." She said flippantly, beginning to walk off. "Thanks for the tour Noriaki, I appreciate you taking time out of your day for little old me."
He forced Sakano away and went after her. "Come on Hikari! She's just a whore!" he tried to reason.
She glared back at him. "So what does that make me?" she asked.
"You're Hikari." He said as if it were obvious. "I told you I would try, I'm trying. I swear. The timing…is just…I mean, obviously I'm attracted to you and want to do terrible, terrible things to you. But I can hold off, I think."
The violet eyed woman shook her head. "I think it would just be best if you stayed away from me."
He gave her a hard look, but refrained from speaking. "Fine. It's not like I can't find something far more interesting to do than walk around all day with an annoying Granny like you!" he snapped, turning and walking off.
"You can do me Nori!" Sakano swooned, following after him and taking his arm.
"Get off me." he snapped, jerking his arm from hers and disappearing in a swirl of sand.
"I knew I was right about you." Hikari whispered as her eyes filled with tears. She turned to run off, immediately colliding with a hard body and knocking the ice cream they were holding out of their hand. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry." She apologized, looking up to see a handsome man with vivid fuchsia eyes framed by light brown locks. Then she remembered her appearance and wiped at her eyes. "I can buy you another one."
The man laughed and shook his hand from the mess that was on his hand from the crushed cone and gave her a charming smile. "Don't worry about it." He assured her. "It was just ice cream, probably good I didn't eat it. I'm trying to watch the calories." He joked, noticing her slightly red eyes immediately. "I doubt we could all eat whatever we wish and remain as pretty as you are."
Hikari laughed slightly, sniffing once as she got a hold of herself. "You flatter me." she said with a smile, instantly liking him. "I hardly ever eat what I wish. It's like you said, you gotta watch your calories."
He only continued to give her a friendly grin, before walking over to a water fountain that was free to the public. "Well, if you insist, you can join me and I can get you one as well." He told her over his shoulder as he cleaned his hand.
"I'd really like that." she said. "My name's Hikari, by the way."
"Hideaki." He introduced himself once he turned back to face her. "Akechi Hideaki." He took her hand and kissed the back of it before straightening. "You must be new, because I've never seen you around before."
"I guess you could say that." she shrugged. "I lived here until I was seven, and then moved to Lightning with my dad. We're here sort of on a mission, but I think he wanted me to get to come back and see my friends, because we're staying for a couple of weeks."
He arched a curious brow as he started to walk with her. "Your friends? Who would they be, I might possibly know them."
"Uchiha Kanamé and Uchiha Izayoi." The white haired girl said. "They're the only ones who wrote to me after I moved, though it was mostly Izayoi who continued, and even then the letters stopped after a few years. But the life of a shinobi is a busy one, for them especially, if all the rumors I heard were right." she said, not begrudging the lack in communication at all. "I'm hoping maybe now that we're older we might be better at staying in touch."
He seemed to become more interested in her and chuckled. "The Uchihas huh? Kanamé happens to be one of my best friends. We went to the Academy together, him and Noriaki of course. Izayoi is a bit hard to get to know." He smirked. "What with all those boys trying to seek out her attention for the wrong reasons. She doesn't have many friends due to her brothers." He explained.
"Oh yes, I remember." She chuckled. "Scaring away even girls who tried to befriend her." she said, a shadow briefly flashing over her eyes, before it disappeared and she smiled once more. "I don't remember you though, and I'm sure I'd remember someone so charismatic."
Hideaki shrugged. "I wasn't too much of a talker when I was little. Kanamé and I were friends first. Noriaki always made fun of me because I liked to read and sit with Kanamé instead of go out and tease everyone. Don't get me wrong, once I got more comfortable with him I got a bit devious. But," he chuckled and stopped once they were back at the ice cream vendor. "Too bad I didn't get to meet you. You must have left just as we all got into the academy."
"I was only there a little over a month." She said, wanting to change the subject, as it was getting into dangerous territory. "Actually, I'd been walking around the village to see what had changed when I ran into you. It's nice to see that most of it is the same."
He nodded in agreement, getting them both ice cream cones and paying the slightly confused vendor before offering Hikari hers. "Good ol' Konoha." He said, going with her and sitting down on a nearby bench.
"So Hideaki, tell me about yourself." Hikari said, taking a lick of her treat.
The brunette glanced over at her, smoothing out his loose white shirt, since he was just dressed casually for his usual afternoon walk. "About me?" he mused. "Well…I like to think I'm a pretty laid back but serious guy." He chuckled. "I'm in the Anbu…but other than going on missions I rather like wasting my time doing nothing but strolling around."
Hikari smiled at the brunette, liking him even more. "Would you mind if I joined you on one of your strolls while I'm in town? I like taking walks as well, and they're more enjoyable when you have good company."
"Sure." He nodded, giving her a small grin. "Just let me know when you'd like to join me. I usually go in the late morning."
"Okay." she said. They continued to lick at their ice cream a bit, Hikari giving him a sideways glance as she took in his profile, noticing once more how attractive he was. Thoughts of Noriaki came to mind, but she pushed them away before they formed, focusing instead on Hideaki and the next thought that entered her head. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked before she could stop herself. She blinked. "I mean…er…you must have someone…you're so nice and attractive." She laughed a bit uncomfortably.
Hideaki glanced over at her, chuckling before he looked off. "I don't have a girlfriend, no. There was someone once…but I was stupid and immature at the time and messed everything up and now she hates me." He sighed, attempting to act as if it were no big deal, but she could tell, even just meeting him, that his own word pricked something inside him she could only match to sorrow. He leaned back against the bench and met her gaze, "She lives far away though, so I doubt reconciliation is possible. She's also a pretty big grudge holder." He smirked, his somewhat light and cocky attitude returning. "How about yourself? I suppose you have men crawling over themselves to get a chance with you."
Hikari scoffed. "Yeah, but they're all pretty shallow. And while the flattery is nice, it's something I've been hearing since I turned twelve and started developing early, so you start to tune it out after a while. Plus my cousin's done his best to keep me single." She sighed. "But I'd rather have someone who sees my abilities than someone who can only see my beauty."
"What about someone who can see your heart?" he wondered. "Isn't that more important?"
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "Yeah, that too." She finished her cone then. "It's a shame it didn't work out with that girl. Seems to me you have the fine makings of a boyfriend." She laughed.
He smirked. "I'd like to think so, at least now." He said lightly. "I've gotten much better, I've attempted going to get her and proclaim…or beg for her to give me another chance. But I can't ever seem to get past her grandfather." Hideaki grinned. "I find it a challenge, but after our last encounter she's done away with me. So I attempt to move on." He said, rising and offering his hand down to her. "Enough talk of solemn things though, why not you and I go and cause some mischief and explore?"
She returned his grin and took his hand as she rose. "I do love mischief." She giggled.
"Excellent." Hideaki snickered. "My kind of girl."
Hikari beamed, and, keeping her hand in his, they began to walk. She was glad she had run into Hideaki today. He had been the perfect person to lift her spirits after what Noriaki had done to her. She resolved then and there never to give the middle triplet a chance ever again, and instead set her sights ahead, towards the brunette next to her, with the kind fuchsia eyes.