"Two orders of Mitarashi dango, please."
"Coming right up!"
Itachi looked down at his laced fingers. "Did you hear about Hanako's father?" Itachi didn't say anything as Izumi leaned right beside him on the counter. "My mother was talking about it this morning during breakfast, she said he died in a mission." Izumi sighed. "Hana-chan must be devastated..."
Itachi looked behind the counter as the old lady carefully poured the honey colored sauce over the small sweet rice dumplings. "She probably is..." He remembered the look on Hanako's face when he opened the door of his house and she was there, in shock, as if she still didn't digest what had happened. Itachi frowned at what Izumi had said, "He died in a mission, you say?"
"Yeah..." Izumi looked at him strangely. "That's what my mother said, anyways."
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah..." Hanako smiled slightly. "Just a tough mission, nothing serious to worry about."
Itachi frowned. Of course, she was not okay. She was all covered in dirt; and hurt. She had been in that mission with her father, she had seen him die. How was she able to talk to him as if nothing had happened? She had come to tell his father that her own was dead. Of course, that wasn't a message Itachi could deliver on her behalf, she had to do it herself.
The pain in her expression, the dullness in her eyes. Now he understood what had happened, and he felt terrible for not knowing it earlier.
"I should talk to her," Izumi said. Itachi came back to reality when the miss put his order in front of him and he paid for the dango -with a thankful smile. Izumi was still talking, but Itachi wasn't paying attention to her. "I mean, I know what it's like to not have a father. I was pretty young when he died, so I don't remember much about him though. Besides, I haven't seen Hanako in years, have you?"
Itachi walked out of the store, carrying his bag of dango carefully in his hand. Izumi followed quickly behind.
"Itachi-kun?" Itachi looked at her. "Have you heard anything about Hana-chan?"
"She came to my house two days ago, looking for my father."
"And how was she?" Izumi's eyes lit up, but Itachi only looked at the ground.
"Not okay," he said. He continued walking, with a faster pace.
Izumi halted on her steps, quickly understanding his actions. Itachi didn't speak, he acted. He was too kind to tell someone he wanted to be left alone, therefore she learned to translate his body language. Itachi had grown up to be a loner, and she understood that. He appreciated from time to time her concern, but she knew that he would spent most of his time by himself -reading books in the library or training- than with company.
"Heading somewhere?" Itachi stopped in his tracks when a voice spoke to him right from above. He was walking in the middle of the forest.
"Shisui-san?" he asked, looking up at one particular tree.
"Bingo!" The Uchiha landed in front of him, holding a kunai in his hand.
"You're back," Itachi muttered.
"Stating the obvious now? Really, there's nothing you need to say to me?" Itachi looked at the ground while holding his bag tightly.
"Not really..." Shisui chuckled, patting Itachi's head.
"That was cute." He flipped the kunai he had on his fingers, and nailed it on the tree behind him. "So, do you want to train?"
CHAPTER EIGHT: Itachi and Shisui
Magsimula sa umpisa
