Trust you, Always | By : tragic.violinist Category: Naruto AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 1525 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story. |
Chapter 1. First Meeting
A/N: Side Fic to When I'm gone chronicling the years spent together between Itachi and Kira and detailing the progression of their relationship from protector and mentor to friends to lovers. This is still AU, Obviously, and as such certain aspects go off script, Kira is indeed a jinchuriki, which tailed beast she has within her belongs to someone else in the manga/anime, but you will have to read along to find out which tailed beast it is :)
He woke up in a cold sweat, another nightmare, he would have thought he'd have been over them by now but still they persisted. It had been a year since he had left home and joined the Akatsuki. They were slowly beginning to trust him with sensitive information, he knew they wanted information on Jinchuriki but he did not yet know why. That's what he was working on with his partner in the village hidden by the waterfall. They had been in the surrounding area and let to learn anything new. Kisame had grown restless and left him behind with the intention of finding victims to take out his frustration on. Tired of waiting for him to return he decided it was time to head back Kisame could meet up with him later. He left a coded message for the man and set out.
She had to get away, a man had come and killed her parents, luckily for her she hadn't been seen, so she ran as fast as she could into the forest. She ran until her legs gave out, taking stock of her surroundings she found a small fox hole beneath a tree to take shelter in for the night. It was cold and she had to curl into herself to keep warm. She cried herself to sleep, she was all alone, her parents gone, no other family to speak of, no one to turn too.
When she woke up only a few hours could have passed, it was still dark out. She was freezing, maybe it was the cold that had woken her. Maybe she could sneak back into her home in the morning and retrieve some warmer clothing before setting out again, if she could find her way back that was. She was brought back from her musings by the sound of a twig breaking. She slapped her hands over her mouth stifling a whimper. Had the man found her, was it a bandit, an animal, she didn't know, but whatever it was it scared her. Feet appeared in front of the fox hole, they stopped, seemed to be looking around, had they heard her, she held her breath. Praying the person would pass her by.
He found a small clearing to stop and rest, he hadn't gotten much sleep before being woken by the nightmares prior to leaving. This was a good a place as any to stop for a few hours. He established a small perimeter before dropping his pack at his feet and sitting down to lean against the trunk of a tree, intending to rest his eyes and body before heading out again.
She panicked, it was the man, the one who killed her family, it had to be, she had recognized the black cloak with red clouds even in the dark, and he was sitting less than a foot from her hiding place. She kept her mouth covered, in hopes of muffling the sound of her breathing, frozen in fear.
A face appeared in front of her, “What do we have here?”
She let out a squeak before bursting into tears, “Please, please don't kill me,” she sobbed. She hoped he would let her go, it wasn't the same man as she had thought, this one was younger and he lacked the blueish pallor of the other man. He looked as her, confused for a moment.
“Why would I kill you?” He was surprised to discover a small child hidden beneath the tree he had chosen to rest against. Brilliant green eyes and a dirty face stared out at him. “Come out of that hole,” he offered his hand.
She recoiled from the offer, only crying harder as she tried to curl farther into herself. “Just leave me alone,” she wailed, her chakra lashing out at him causing him to pull back. “You'll just kill me like your friend did my parents.”
He frowned at the child, Kisame must have been the one. “I won't hurt you,” he tried to sound soothing, “Come out so we can talk.”
She looked up at him, eyes filled with tears yet to be shed, “You promise?” she asked in a small voice.
“On my life,” he offered his hand again and this time the child took it. “What are you doing out here all alone?”
“That man, with the weird face, he killed my Mom and Dad, but he didn't see me, so I ran.”
The child was shivering, whether it be from cold or fear he couldn't decide. He dug a blanket out of his pack and offered it up. She looked at him suspiciously before accepting it, “Thank you,” she said in a whisper and wrapped it around herself.
“Do you know why he killed them?” Itachi pressed, not that it really mattered, he just wanted to figure out the situation so he could decide where to drop the kid.
“Because they wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know, and I won't tell you either.”
“That is fine, do you have somewhere to go? Other family or friends you can turn to?”
“No, it was just Mom, Dad, and me. I don't have any friends.”
Itachi did a quick scan, the child possessed an immense amount of chakra for one so young, could it be... “What about a teacher you could trust, from the ninja academy in your village?”
“I don't go to the academy, I'm not allowed to be a shinobi.”
“Not allowed, why not?”
“I can't tell you,” she said quietly but firmly.
“Then you need to go somewhere, how else will you survive on your own?”
She looked at him indignantly, “Just because I'm not a ninja doesn't mean I can't fend for myself. I can hunt, and I can set traps and I know how to find clean drinking water,” she said proudly. “I just need to go back long enough to get my weapons and some clothes.”
Itachi raised an eyebrow at the child, “and what will you do if you run into bandits, or rogue ninja?”
“I'll run like I did tonight, I'm fast, I can get away.” She told him this even if she didn't really believe it herself, she only got away tonight because he hadn't know she was there, if he had, she would probably be dead.
“I'll tell you what kid, in the morning I will go with you back to your house so you can get your supplies and then you can continue on your way. But you need to promise me you will be careful, the forest is no place for a little boy out on his own.”
Her eyes flared up, “I'm not a boy, I'm a girl,” she spat at him, “and I don't need your help, I can do it by myself.”
Not a boy, Itachi was surprised, she had very short blond hair and her clothes were baggy and decidedly boyish, he held up his hands in surrender, “Okay, I'm sorry, but even so, the forest is less a place for a girl alone than a little boy.”
“That's not true, I can beat all of the boys in my village and that's with no training at all, besides Mata-” she slapped her hands over her mouth, praying he wouldn't notice her slip up.
“Yes?”
“Nothing, but the point is I don't need your help.”
“What's your name kid? And how old are you?”
“My name's Kira, and I'm nine years old.”
“Nine years old huh?” The same age as Sasuke, he thought to himself, there's no way I can just leave this kid out here to fend for herself. “What if I were to offer to teach you a couple of jutsus, would you want my help then?”
Her eyes lit up in excitement at the prospect, before being clouded once again with suspicion, “Why would you want to do that?”
“I told you, this is no place for a little girl by herself, it would be better if you knew some jutsus, even if only to create a diversion for you to get away from attackers.”
Her smile transformed her face, “Okay mister you have yourself a deal.”
Itachi gave her a little smile of his own, “Are you hungry?” She nodded, and he took some food out of his bag and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and wolfed it down. “You should get some rest now, I'll wake you in the morning an we can go by your house to pick up supplies okay?”
“Thank you mister,” Kira curled up in a ball, the blanket he had given her wrapped tightly around her body and went to sleep, as her savior watched over her.
The next morning they set out for her house, she wasn't sure how get back at first but he knew the way to the village and she could find her way from there. They found the place surrounded by people, someone must have discovered the aftermath of the attack. They stayed back a distance, as to not be noticed, and watched. When they removed the bodies of her parents from the house she buried her face in his cloak and sobbed.
“Come on, we'll find you supplies elsewhere, you shouldn't have to see this,” Itachi led her away gently, his thought turning back to his brother and what he had forced him to witness.
She was quiet for a long time after that. Following after him without a word, only the occasional sob to indicate she was still there. He let her grieve. They stopped around midday to eat before continuing, he wanted to put as much distance between them and the village before stopping for supplies. He didn't want to risk her being recognized, if his suspicions correct about her, he also didn't want to chance running into Kisame.
That night as she slept he pondered the situation, he wouldn't be able to look after her for long, he would have to return for to the Akatsuki before they started to wonder where he had disappeared to. He would have to teach her as much as possible as they traveled. He would leave her as close as he dared to one of the non-ninja villages before heading back.
The next day they stopped for supplies, Itachi picked up a multitude of beginner scrolls as well as some basic weaponry. Back in the forest he carved a target into a tree and handed her a set of kunai. “Try to hit the target.” he told her.
She gave him a look that clearly said, are you kidding me, “I already told you, I can hunt, I already know how to hit a target.”
“Then it shouldn't be a problem for you,” he told her with a small smirk.
She sighed and did as she was told, hitting the center of the target everytime, “See I told you so.”
“Alright,” he laughed at her, “I just wanted to get an idea of what your skill level is at right now.”
“You could have just asked, my Dad taught me how to use all the basic weapons, kunai, shuriken, and a sword, I'm best with a bow though. But I imagine that doesn't count for much with this huh?”
“Not really no, but it would still come in handy in a pinch, we can pick you up a bow in the next village we come to if you like. Were you taught any taijutsu?”
“A little.”
“Okay, pack up your stuff and we'll keep moving. On the way I will teach you some basic hand signs, when we stop to make camp I will start to teach you about chakra control so you can put those hand signs to use.”
She packed up quickly and followed after him, she was quiet for awhile before her curiosity got the best of her, “Where are we going?”
“I haven't decided yet, I will probably leave you close to one of the villages in a few days.”
“Can't I stay with you?”
“I'm sorry but no, I need to get back to my group.”
She frowned for a moment before asking another question, “Did you know that man? The one who killed my Mom and Dad. You wear the same cloak as him.”
Itachi sighed, trying to figure out a way to tell her without frightening her off, “He belongs to the same group as me, but I'm not like him.”
She seemed to accept it, “What does that slash mean across the across your headband?”
“It means I left my village.”
She waited for a further response but he clearly wasn't about to offer anymore information than that, “What should I call you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I can't go on calling you mister forever, so what should I call you? Should I call you sensei?”
“This is only a temporary arrangement, I will only be with you for a short time, but you may call me Itachi.”
She beamed at him, “Okay, Itachi,” she tested it out, “How old are you?”
“I'm fourteen. Why do you have so many questions?”
She seemed to really consider her answer before speaking, “I dunno, I guess because it's boring to walk and not talk about anything.”
“You shouldn't concern yourself with talking, you should be focusing on learning those hand signs,” he gently scolded her.
Kira dropped her head in shame, “Sorry Itachi.” She didn't say anymore after that and just concentrated on the task he had set for her.
Itachi felt slightly guilty, she had simply been curious, really he was surprised that is had taken her so long to question him. “It's very important to keep a low profile while on a mission lest your enemy hear you, think of it like more training.” She seemed to brighten at that as she continued at her task.
That evening when they stopped he explained the basics of chakra control to her and set her to work while he prepared a meal. In the morning he told her that he wanted her to work on her chakra control as they walked, “In battle your opponent is not going to stop and wait for you to power up, you will have to get to a point where you can call upon your chakra at a moments notice." She was a quick learner and within just a few days her control was at a passable level for her age, which was good considering her lack of formal training. He taught her to make clones, do transformations and use objects for the substitution jutsu. They would all assist her if she needed to make a quick escape. He also helped her develop her taijutsu a bit more. They spent a day working on traps, both setting and detecting, his time was growing short and he would have to leave her soon, he wanted to make sure she was as prepared as possible for that time.
They had just stopped for the night when he turned to her and handed her a pouch full of shuriken and a pair of kunai. “Alright go catch us something for dinner,” he told her.
“Wait, what?” she looked confused.
“You said you could hunt, so hunt.” She nodded and went to collect the bow he had bought her only to find him blocking her path. “No, use the weapons I gave you.”
“But, my bow...”
He silenced her with a shake of his head, “training,” he reminded her and placed a hand on the top of her head, musing her hair, “get going.”
Kira set off in search of game, it took almost an hour but she finally spotted a couple of rabbits grazing on a patch of grass, she took them both out with a couple of shuriken knowing if she had only gone for one the other would retreat before she had a chance to kill it.
She used the kunai to skin them, which didn't work as well as her knife would have, but got the job done none the less. She took the skins with her, thinking the fur might come in handy once cured.
When she got back to camp she found a fire burning brightly but otherwise devoid of life. Thinking that perhaps Itachi had gotten tired of waiting, and went to seek out food himself, she approached the fire, she only got a couple of steps before she found herself dangling upside-down by one foot. For a moment she panicked before she saw Itachi drop down from a tree and land in front of her, a small smile on his face.
“We just finished discussing traps and then you walk right into one. You must always be aware of your surroundings.” He cut her down, gently lowering her to the ground.
“Now I have to clean these again, they're all full of dirt,” she huffed at him. She picked the rabbits up and went towards the near by stream, skipping over a second snare as she passed it.
Itachi smirked to himself, at least she had learned her lesson. When she returned he took the game off her hands and spitted them over the fire. He came to the conclusion that she was prepared enough for him to leave her, they would come close to a large village in two days time. It was sufficiently sized that she would be able to integrate herself without drawing too much attention to herself.
When they came to the outskirts he told her of his plan, “I'll get you set up with a small place and then I will take my leave.”
Kira looked sad for a minute but did not cry, “Do you think I'll ever see you again?”
“I suppose it's possible,” he didn't want to give her too much hope on the matter.
“Oh okay,” she flashed him a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. He felt bad but he couldn't let her get attached.
When it came time for him to leave she waved at him from place he had provided for her before going back inside. She knew she would miss the man that helped her so much, if not for him she could very well be dead now, but he had told her from the start that it was temporary. She would always remember him, but that's all he would be now was a memory.
She would never see him again, but every few weeks he would stop by the village to check in on her from afar, just until he was sure she was alright on her own, that's what he told himself at least.
~Six months later~
Kira was just returning from the market, she had established herself by trading game and animal skins to some of the merchants. She had told them her father was ill and he relied on her to run the household, as she always kept herself looking presentable, they didn't question it. She had read over the scrolls Itachi had left her with, and practiced every night. The village was a safe refuge for her, but this night was different. She had a terrible feeling in her gut as she walked home after dark. There were lights on in her house, and she could see shadows moving inside. She ducked into the shadows, venturing as close as she dared to see who was inside. It was a group of four men, bandits more than likely, and they were ransacking her place. She sensed a presence behind her and before she could turn a hand clamped down over her mouth. The person picked her up like she was nothing and took her inside.
“Look what I found creeping around outside,” he said to the other men in the house.
They looked at her with feral looks in their eyes, she tried to fight back but she was outnumbered and outmatched, they weren't just ordinary bandits, they had some form of ninja training, and while they may not have been high ranking they still knew more than she did. She knew if things continued the way they were she wouldn't last much longer. Her field of vision was narrowing, the last thing she remember before she blacked out was the look of fear on one man's face.
Her head hurt, as she opened her eyes, it was light out and she was laying in her bed. She turned her head slowing, blinking a few times trying bring the world back into focus. Someone was sitting at her desk looking down at something. Slowly her surroundings became sharp again, the person at her desk wore a black cloak with red clouds, long black hair tied in a loose ponytail. Itachi. She let out a slight groan as she tried to sit up, drawing his attention to her.
“You're awake.”
“Itachi, are you really here? Or am I seeing things?” with how her head felt she supposed anything was possible.
He chuckled, “I'm really here, how do you feel?”
“My head hurts, but wait what are you doing here, why did you come back?”
“I was in town on business,” he lied smoothly, really he had stopped by to check on her but her wasn't about to tell her that, “I heard a commotion and came to see what it was, I found you unconscious, along with five other individuals also out of it, you don't remember what happened?”
Kira shook her head, “Just bits and pieces, I remember finding men ransacking the house and being attacked but that all.”
He frowned at her, “Nothing else?” she shook her head again, “Not even maybe something offering it's assistance?”
Kira's eye widened in fear, no, there was no way he could know her secret, she bit her lip, “I'm not sure.” she dropped her eyes from his gaze, unwilling to look at him.
“You have something inside of you don't you, something very special.”
She shook her head violently, “No, don't say it, it's not true, it isn't,” tears began to stream down her face, it had been months since she allowed herself to cry, not since the day after her parents died.
Itachi was startled by her reaction, “Kira, it's okay, it's not a bad thing,” he assured her.
“Yes it is, that's why everyone hates me, that's why that man killed Mom and Dad, because of me, because of what I am,” she sobbed.
Itachi wasn't sure how to respond to that. In a sense she was right, he remembered the young boy from his own village, how he was treated buy the populace. While it was true Kisame had been in town looking for information on her when he killed her parents it wasn't the reason he killed them. After all the man hadn't known their daughter was the one he was seeking, but if he had it wouldn't have changed anything. He couldn't very well tell her that though, and he had to tell her something as she was becoming hysterical. "Kira," he snapped forcing her to give him her full attention, "being a jinchuriki can make life very difficult, but it doesn't mean that everyone will hate you. Those who do just don't understand, they just need a chance to know you for you are not what you carry within you. Tell me, how do the villagers here treat you?"
She wiped the tears from her eyes, "they treat me like a normal kid, but if they knew they wouldn't."
"Maybe, maybe not. I'm not saying that everyone will accept you but that is a risk you will have to take whether you are a jinchuriki or not. You just have to be careful of who you trust with your secret, I don't hate you."
She sniffled, "you don't think I'm a monster?"
Itachi gave her a small smile, "no I don't think you're monster." He glanced back at the papers he had been examining before she woke up. "Did you draw these?" he asked as he picked one up, it was a picture of what appeared to be a younger Kira standing between two adults he assumed were her parents, he could see the similarities between them.
She looked sad again when she saw which one he was looking at, “Yes,” she took the picture out of his hands, “I don't have any photos left of them, I didn't have time to grab anything when I left.”
He looked at some of the other spread across the desk, they were very good and featured a series of different subjects, their were pictures of scenery, animals, more of her parents, sometimes with her, sometimes solo. He did a double take, she had even drawn a couple of him.
The first one could be considered frightening, without knowing the context, it was just his face framed by what appeared to be roots, his ponytail hanging over his shoulder, and his eyes, she had put so much detail into them. It was the first time she had seen him, no wonder she had been terrified.
The second was of him sitting by the fire, cooking meat, probably the rabbits, he appeared deep in thought staring into the flames. "They are very good," he told her.
Kira smiled at him, "thank you," she paused for a moment, "you can have one if you like, that way when you leave again, you won't forget me," she said quietly.
He smiled sadly at her, at least she realized that even though he had come back to check on her that he would be leaving again soon, he picked up the one of him by the fire and folded it up to slip inside of his cloak, reaching over to ruffle her hair, "thanks."
He stayed with her that day, just to make sure she wasn't too shaken up from the previous night's events. She seemed to be handling it alright, when he had asked her about it she told him it wasn't the first time she had been outnumbered like that. When she was younger sometimes the other villagers would try to attack her, but the demon within her would always keep her safe. Matatabi, she called him. He waited until she was sleeping to slip out, it was time for him to return.
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