Context

Coincidence had crossed their paths again. On the way home, perhaps because home now sat on the far edge of the village, he incidentally found Inada Renri at the riverbank.

Water bubbling into an unnatural shape- It crashed back into the river. She threw her arms down, shaking fists then at her side as she stomped her foot indignantly. The last failure… Mist hung in the air, dissipated enough to see but noticeably out of place. Some form of reassurance in using a jutsu she had mastered while frustrated with the process of learning another. Not his conclusion, but he accepted it.

"If I had to guess," Shisui continued beside him, "I'd say that was a half-formed water clone." Quiet for a few moments, but Itachi could feel the punchline coming. "Just so you know, stalking is already weird. Even weirder when you invite your cousin along."

Itachi made enough of a face that Shisui laughed under his breath. This had not been a planned stop on their way home following hours of training. He had also already explained his interest and it wasn't what Shisui was insinuating- which is exactly why he said it.

A few days ago, Itachi had happened to see Renri speaking with Orochimaru. Pieces in a greater puzzle fell into place. He would be an adequately influential person to get her into the academy and village.

Their interaction had been… strange. She had been much more emotive, with dramatic pouts and flickers of anger, familiarity perhaps drawing the reactions, but, at times… She had also been nervous. More than she had been when speaking with Itachi, at least. Her hands twisting fabric, the careful distance she tried to keep, the flinches in her expression… Nervous may have crossed into fearful.

He had pushed his luck in following. He had kept his distance, then too far to hear the conversation. Ill intent, foliage dying as fog obscured, for a second, he thought it was aimed at him. But the fog shifted, his line of sight suspiciously clear.

A rat-masked ANBU agent retreated as leaves died and dropped to reveal their location. Why, still, they allowed themselves to be seen at all… A fractional second, a wordless stare down, a bloodless clash. Orochimaru had shot them a look that threatened away or else as tangible as the fog. They'd heeded.

It'd been interesting. That's all. He thought Shisui would have more to add then-

"If you have a crush on her, go talk to her," Shisui said, ignoring Itachi's exhausted expression. Shisui knew how annoying Itachi found that, every adult so quick to suggest any interaction- Shisui smartly spoke before Itachi painstakingly re-explained the situation in revenge. "I'm starving, so I'm going to go." Showing off, Shisui disappeared. And reappeared. He crouched down, staring hard at the river. "From how they had reacted, I expected the Inada girl to be, you know, intimidating somehow. All I see is a kid failing at a water clone."

"Failing isn't the word," Itachi absently said. He was starting to understand that he and Shisui were the odd ones. They could essentially learn a jutsu after seeing it used once- sharingan or not. Watching his classmates struggle with the most basic of jutsu despite countless attempts… The academy really felt like a waste of his time. He could be doing so much more for the village. He could be reaching his goal. "Her only instruction had been the seal required." Renri was likely second to him in their grade, though some of the upperclassmen were probably still better than her.

"Seal? Singular?" Shisui stared at him with a brow raised into his headband. "The basic has three." He stood, hands moving, a clone materializing beside him. He let it burst into a shower of water, Itachi glaring as Shisui smiled. "If you don't figure it out on your own, we can work on it next time." Another mission… Should he feel content that he struggled to find someone capable of practicing in earnest with him? Instead all he felt was frustration. He couldn't improve this way. Not fast enough. "And, if you do, maybe it's time for shadow clones."

He hummed at that. Next time.

Itachi looked back to Renri. He supposed that would make it more difficult to learn. Most others in their class wouldn't have made it this far in a few days with full instruction and a demonstration. Without Shisui teaching him new jutsu, the stagnation of progress would really eat at him. Well, eat at him more than this slow academy pace already did. Perhaps she had no one else to ask for help.

"I don't know if you remember, but the clan really didn't appreciate them letting her stay in the village." Kid or not. Sannin's interest or not. Just another discontent on a rapidly growing list. "The timing couldn't have been worse," he added, quieter, thoughtful, but elaborating no further. He knew more. A pause, they watched Renri lose control over another blob of water. Unimpressed, unconvinced, but he asked, "Think she's a spy?"

"No," Itachi eventually concluded. There did seem to be something going on in the background, but… "She's..." She kept to herself. As in she didn't seem to socialize. She focused on her studies. As in she spent every moment outside of class training or reading alone. While on the surface she seemed unsupervised and free to roam, she probably wasn't by virtue of suspicion. Suspicion she admitted to being aware of yet did nothing to… Successfully lessen. "She's too awkward."

Shisui snorted back a laugh. "Sounds familiar," he whispered too loud to be considered 'to himself.' His smile faded back to something more serious. "But I don't think so, either. She was cleared to stay in the village after interrogation. She mustn't know anything."

Interrogation. Konoha employed many mind-reading jutsu. Yet, to go so far as to use that on a kid, they were incredibly suspicious of her.

"I'm seriously gone, now," Shisui announced over his stomach growling. He waved, and no sooner he disappeared, fast as ever.

Itachi lingered. It would be a while before Father returned home and Sasuke should be taking his nap.

Renri liked to imagine she dealt with frustration quite well. Today, however, she wanted to kick the water and scream.

It had been days! She should have made more progress than this: a misshapen water blob that burst despite her full concentration on it! She wouldn't have her feet in the water, caked in mud, if it wasn't. She racked her brain for everything she knew about water. Was it a surface tension thing? How did she fix it?

A twig snap had her whipping around.

Her foot slid in the mud as her brain fizzled to a stop. Why and how? With a splash, she face-planted in shallow water. Pushing herself up, the cold water almost felt refreshing as a wave of embarrassment swept over her. Soaked head to toe already, she found no rush in standing to face him.

"Good afternoon, Renri-san," he greeted, having kept walking, not a hint of a laugh in his tone. Her eyes snapping to meet his face, the slight curve of his lips betrayed him. He stood at the edge of the water.

She sat in the water, hair dripping into her eyes. "Itachi-san," she returned as best she could while trying to keep wet hair from sticking to her mouth. She may allow herself to float down river to the falls if she accidently inhaled her own hair and choked on it.

A hand offered to her, she stared at him a moment before accepting the help. The mud was, apparently, slippery. Once standing and safely out of even ankle-deep water, she began wringing out her hair so it'd stopped dripping into her eyes. She would certainly find a way to trip in front of him. Again. Couldn't risk not seeing.

"You seem… close to using that, already," he pointed out. Like always, it didn't sound teasing so much as a blunt observation. With some attempt to sound positive.

She sighed, wanting nothing more than to pout. "It's nowhere near practical use." That was her definition of 'using it.' How long had he been watching this time? Attention occupied with squeezing water out of her shirt, she felt a bit bold. "You know, I haven't seen anyone around here the last few days. I thought it must be out of the way." He had found her last spot, too. Not that she would call her spots hidden, but the coincidences were adding up enough to become the opposite.

Meeting his gaze again, he glanced around, her attention following. A thin layer of fog remained from her little tantrum. "For this area and weather, fog is unusual." The half answer kept her studying him. The river wasn't along some commonly used path, but instead deep in the trees.

She nodded, dropping it. Didn't matter much. "I'm better with that one," she mumbled, more to reassure herself. The water clones refusing to immediately work bothered her. Then again, she had taken a while to catch onto the hidden mist jutsu. Probably two weeks. With brother Renta and Renki's help. But she was also younger, then, so it was no excuse.

"The hidden mist jutsu is D-rank in difficulty. Water clones are C-rank."

She deflated. Only one step above? If that was meant to make her feel better, it sort of did the opposite. She should be better by now. That'd been her first jutsu…

"Were you watching long?" She hadn't noticed him. Not that she would have. Terrible habit. Since stepping foot into the village, she just accepted that if someone wanted to walk up and kill her, they could. Orochimaru was right. She needed to work on that. He even seemed to think she would be good at it.

"Not long."

She leveled her gaze with his again. They stared back at each other in silence. She didn't appreciate this game of speaking around a direct question. Picking apart his words, already, he knew when she had started. Maybe…

"You…" Trailing off, she looked to the less intimidating ground, at footprints in the mud. "You followed, the other day, didn't you?"

The conclusion she had reached had been that one of Danzo's men had been tailing them. Orochimaru had pointed them out to her, in the past. Probably to unnerve her. Even if she bothered to pay attention, she would have never been able to pick out someone of that skill level herself, let alone do anything against them. Still…

"Why?" was his simple response.

Why? Why, what? She hummed, empty ended question requiring more thought. She paced to a nearby log, sitting down, twisting more water out of her hair. Why accuse him of following? She decided to answer that.

"Because of Orochimaru-sama's behavior," she eventually said. "He had been amused with more than just me. He also kept looking around." And ignoring her. She realized, now, he only bothered to point it out this time because she had two stalkers opposed to her semi-regular ANBU one.

Itachi's next question earned an immediate sigh.

"Why did you meet with him?"

He was being difficult. Again, hidden in a single sentence, he had seen the entire interaction. He knew the answer. Though… She still found herself happy he asked.

She grabbed her overshirt off the log, glad she had taken it off. It could serve as a towel. "Want to sit down?" she offered now that her shirt was out of the way. A hair out of place, a bit of dirt clinging to his pants, small singe on his collar, he had probably been out training before this. "If you want, I have snacks in my bag."

"No, thank you," he declined as he sat down beside her.

Mulling over her answer another moment, wiping the water from her face, she decided. "Because he helped me get into the academy, and I don't have anyone else to ask jutsu questions of." The truth happened to be that simple. Picking at a soaked bandage on her arm, she peeled it away. Nasty green-hued bruises covered her skin. Her arms, a few on her torso, the dull pain lingered. Any tighter and she may have had broken ribs. "You saw the result," she added, staring at the back of her hand as she finished removing the wrappings. She was glad her hands had been spared. Thin little bones would have snapped under the pressure.

Hand injuries were deceptively dangerous.

Setting aside discarded bandages, she caught his expression. Focus on the deep bruises, brows pinched, he had seen how, but not the extent. She may receive a bit of circumstantial, preferential treatment, but that was the most minimal kindness Orochimaru had to offer her. Especially when she pushed her luck and disappointed him.

"Why not the library?" he asked as she started to unravel the bandage over her opposite arm. "It has scrolls on many low-ranked, common jutsu," he added like that fact hadn't taunted her forever.

He earned a brief glare, before she turned away, pouting to herself. "You're sort of frustrating," she said under her breath. "Because the head librarian is very sure to confirm credentials before allowing anyone in that section." Old man had his desk nearly blocking the entrance like he took no greater joy than thwarting improper entry. "I'm not quite charming enough to get him to overlook my grade in preference for my skill level."

She assumed Itachi had a line of people willing to teach him; he probably didn't need to use the library. Even if he did, she also assumed they'd let him do whatever, professed genius he was. She may be a touch jealous of him, okay?

That left her with two unsatisfactory options. Wait until she reached the appropriate grade, or sneak in.

Resting her chin in her hand and her elbow on her leg, she watched the river. "You're being nice about it, but this does feel like an interrogation." Go sneak in, Orochimaru says. The consequences of being caught were too high when mistrust already ran this deep. The risk to reward didn't match.

It's not like he would teach her if she got thrown out of the academy. Then she'd never be useful.

"Why don't you get access?"

She whipped around to face him. Itachi was actually a little bit infuriating. The rumors of upperclassman bullies running scared from him were making sense, now. They had tried and failed. No matter how slap-able, he could probably dodge and retaliate. "I can't even graduate this year," she said sourly, attention back on the ground. "My grades haven't improved enough yet, either. I don't want to waste more time waiting."

"You shouldn't interrupt." His slight smile when she went to glare at him, she covered her mouth, trying to stop from giggling. A smile formed behind her hand. He knew he was being difficult. "For someone following unasked questions, you're missing something obvious."

Something obvious? She'd tried most everything, she thought. She leaned in to learn this great, obvious, secret.

"Ask your teacher."

She opened her mouth only to close it. Hanging her head, genuinely mortified, she allowed dramatics. Because it didn't get much more obvious than that. Takuma-sensei could probably get her permission. At least, he could get her partial access to what he considered appropriate to her skill level. Which beat having no access at all. How had she not considered that?

Because she couldn't rely on other people. Often through no fault of their own, but hers. A stubborn independent streak as much as rejection on her own terms… And simple fear.

She smiled, looking back at Itachi. "Thank you." Her head tilted to the side when his brows pushed together. "Why do you think my gratitude is so strange?"

A pause as he considered, he eventually said, "Because you genuinely mean it despite it being unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?" She hummed, deciding to dig in her bag to fill silence.

Unnecessary… How? With the kunai, Takuma had moved them out of its path. A path that would have, then, ended with it safely in the ground without need for further intervention. Itachi hadn't needed to do anything. Yet he had. Because what if the teachers hadn't noticed?

Then, a moment of lesser peril, unnecessary to him, perhaps, but vital for her. Not only for the acknowledgement of her talent as unintentional reassurance, but for the more important act of setting aside pre-existing ideas from the mouths of others to listen to her side. A miniscule kindness, perhaps, but enough for her to finally realize her reputation was affected by her actions, not solely a total of the actions of a clan she had never properly met.

"I suppose…" She retrieved her bento box of snacks, the assortment her attempt to cheer herself up after the frustrating turn training had taken. She'd even managed to dodge Anko to gather them. And squander her allowance for the month. "That your kindness towards me is unnecessary as well, but I very much appreciate it." She held out the container, smiling when he reconsidered, tri-color dango apparently irresistible. "So, I want to say thank you."

He seemed to have no good response, instead chewing, glancing off into the distance. She selected a flower-shaped monaka, watching him from the corner of her eye.

She spent much too much time speaking of herself. Yet, this wasn't a conversation driven by her own curiosity. Just his. What about her did he find interesting enough to waste time asking for her input when he had concluded so much on his own? After all, she would consider him much more fascinating. She should be asking him every question imaginable, pestering him just like their classmates until that fascination faded.

Pestering. Her brows furrowed. Was it pestering? Or just an attempt to get closer to a classmate? To become friends?

Had that been her mistake?

Ingrained in her, perhaps it was a piece of the problem. Friendship was, ideally, not one-sided. She didn't ask light-hearted questions of her classmates because they seemed unimportant and unnecessary. As unnecessary as her gratitude seemed to Itachi. Yet that created distance. Distance Itachi carefully maintained from the start with a simple greeting mirroring her first and a scant seven words that then steered the entire conversation to her and only her. So few words spoken, so much of him must be hidden in the context between the lines.

"I want to be friends with you, Itachi-kun."

He almost looked like he choked at the declaration, dark eyes snapping to her own, face half-hidden by his shirt's tall collar. She flashed a smile as he continued to stare.

No answer. It stung, a touch, but she hadn't expected him to immediately accept the idea. That's not how this worked.

Their snacks finished in silence, Itachi stood. "I have to go," he said, no indication of that being the truth or an excuse to escape. His eyes flickering to her, he realized that. Softly, maybe even shyly, he added, "My younger brother will be missing me if I don't go now." He took a few steps, looking over his shoulder. "Good luck training."

Another few steps, he paused once more. She tilted her head to the side as he turned to face her. Holding up his hands, a series of three seals. "For water clones," he explained, running through the set again.

Her eyes widened.

Covered in bruises, no demonstration, and partial instruction. Offering the rare reward of him personally instructing her, Orochimaru knew he had given her two options. The first, to fail. She could abide by the rules, struggle helplessly, and miss her chance. The second, take what she wanted. Obey, and be rewarded.

She had accidentally stumbled across an option three.

"I like it here, in Konoha."

Itachi paused, glancing over his shoulder again.

She couldn't pretend to know about the rest of the Land of Fire, but- "It feels… peaceful." Because, even for someone unsure if they would be killed without any room to argue, she found comfort here. In the stressing of camaraderie and teamwork. In the most minimal valuation of life. "You want to know, right? I don't mind you asking."

After all, he had offered her an unnecessary fact about himself without any necessary reason. For her, having that was enough.

"Renri," he began, her name said with a trace of hesitance, "where were you from originally?"

That was all the acceptance she needed. She positively beamed as she answered, the name never said so cheerfully.

"Kirigakure."

A/N: Next chapter will be a flashback, since the pieces are in place now.

Thanks for reading!

fausterin: Thanks again for leaving some reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying a bit of sleuthing! These chapters have been so short compared to my last story lol. No room for exposition with several things going on in the background. Of course Itachi couldn't help following, he knows he's stumbled onto something he shouldn't have and must investigate. It's not like school is keeping him entertained. Obnoxiously everywhere and manipulative, that's Orochimaru all right. Spared may be a strong word, repurposed is probably better haha… Yeah. He's a problem for everyone.