Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Who knew... ❯ 5. ICE CREAM? ( Chapter 5 )

5. ICE CREAM?

 

Konoha was particularly joyful and busy these last few days.

The storm had been forgotten, even if only ten days had passed. The habitants, mostly civilians and genins charged to help them, were busy carrying boards of all shapes and measures, cables, lamps with the Konoha leaf on them, boxes, clothes and table-clothes of bright colours, and the street of the centre leading to the Hokage's tower and its surroundings, right under the Hokage's monument, were practically impossible to walk.

 

Yamanaka-san, being the only flower shop of Konoha, was perhaps being busier than all the other shop-keepers. The girls at the academy were spending all their ikebana lessons preparing festoons, garlands, wreaths and bouquet with coloured and perfumed flowers, while the boys helped the genins and the craftsmen with building tables, banks and baskets.

 

Every now and then, the Shodaime would pass among the workers, smiling, heart filled with joy, pride and love for each and every leaf in Konoha.

 

Yes, the summer festival was one of the times of the year he loved the most.

 

Asuka and Hitomi were heading to the Inuzuka district to pick Tomoyo up, and both seemed annoyed with the joyful atmosphere surrounding them. A child bumped into Hitomi, who sent him a death glare, making the child run away scared.

“I really don't understand why children are so clumsy and disrespectful nowadays. We weren't like this, at their age, were we?” Hitomi asked, a disappointed look on here face.

“Hn.” Was all Asuka replied.

“I used to love this time of the year. Now I wonder what do these children and all these genin find in that goddamn festival.”

“Hn.”

Hitomi stopped walking, while Asuka, kept on walking, apparently not noticing that something was missing. The Aburame girl puffed and sped up to catch up with her friend.

“Asuka, are you even listening to what I say?”

“Hn.”

The black haired girl was annoyed. `If that doesn't work, then there's really something wrong with her.'. “OMG!!! THERE IS KAKASHI-SAN NAKED OVER THERE!!!!” this time Asuka hadn't replied at all, but kept on walking with the same depressed pace she had been having since a couple of days ago. Hitomi came to the conclusion that it was better facing her friend when they were alone, and with Tomoyo.

 

They entered the Inuzuka district, and headed to Tomoyo's door. Tomoyo wasn't looking particularly happy too, so Hitomi guessed it was something pathological, a new kind of influence maybe, that being around each other all the time they had caught in the same moment.

 

They were planning to spend that exceptionally warm day at the river, and perhaps to go and drown their problems in loads of ice creams. Only a few words were exchanged on the road to the river, but every girl seemed too involved in her own thoughts to care.

 

They reached the waterfall and sat on their towels, basking in the sun (only Tomoyo and Asuka, because the Aburame's skin was far too pale to be exposed to the sun without getting burnt). Asuka suddenly stopped torturing grass tufts, and stood up, breaking the silence. “Stop acting depressed! I know I contributed greatly to the depressive mood that surrounded us lately, but we must react!” Hitomi raised her face from the book she was reading, and Tomoyo stood up beside her friend. “You are right Asuka-chan! We shouldn't waste our youthful days with depression sadness and stuffs!!!” echoed Tomoyo. “Tomoyo-chan, did you just realize that you sounded dramatically like Gai-sempai??” Asuka exclaimed, earning a horrified scream from her friend. Hitomi stood up and began walking slowly towards the river. Tomoyo and Asuka exchanged an understanding look, and running they trapped Hitomi, splashing into the river's cold water.

 

***

 

They had been playing in the water for a while, and were now back to their towels. The river shore, empty when they had arrived, was now pretty crowded. Children were playing in the water, girls were chatting and a few boys were playing soccer.

 

“So, now that we cheered up a bit, what if we talk about the reasons for our…ehm…earlier bad mood? Tomoyo-chan, you start?” suggested Asuka.

Tomoyo sighed. “Well; it is just that recently I felt a little…left out. You girls, especially you Asuka” Asuka pointed questioningly at herself “yeah, you…well, you are always a step before me…this is for Hitomi…Asuka, you are like 100 meters ahead! I fear that I am not able to keep your pace, that I will never be as good as you guys are now, while you will keep on improving day by day, until I will eventually retire and you will see me working at the Ichiraku. Not that I have anything against Ayame-san, but it's just…not me. Well? Do you hate me now?” Asuka spoke first. “Is…is this all?” Tomoyo nodded. Hitomi hugged her friend, and so did Asuka. “C'mon, you silly head! What makes you think that??? Personally,” Hitomi said “I am forced to train like hundred hours a day, and I hate it! And then, then we both are chuunin, and I mean, we are only thirteen! It's normal! It is Asuka-chan here the one who isn't normal…and personally I find her inhuman strength quite scary.” Asuka slapped her friend lightly on the head. “Why do you speak as if I wasn't there? Hitomi-chan, so that's what you think about me? Uh? Scary, uh?” Tomoyo giggled. “And I always envied your techniques and the feeling you have with animals, and especially the relationship with Aki.” Reassured her Asuka. “Hei! It wouldn't be a bad idea if every now and then we showed up at your training sessions with Kakashi-san and Gai-san!” suggested Hitomi. At the sound of the “K” word, the jounin's expression darkened. “Yes, it would be nice! And you could always learn something from me, you know…” said Asuka, teasingly. `Quit it with the “K” word, Asuka…' she though to herself.

Tomoyo was feeling better now, and it was Hitomi's turn to speak. “I…” she began; it was evident that she was quite embarrassed. “I think I like…someone.” Tomoyo and Asuka grinned. “Someone...someone…aren't you going to tell us who he is, Hitomi-chan?” asked Asuka, but Tomoyo was already jumping up and down. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew you liked him! I knew you liked that Kabuto guy! I just knew it!” “Whaaaat??? You mean Kabuto (::), the son of the medic??? Is it him Hitomi-chan??” Asked a puzzled Asuka.

Hitomi was blushing madly. “Yes…yes it's him! And now don't start mocking me…or else I'll regret telling you!!” Asuka smiled. “Mocking you? Of course I won't…why should I…after all, all the times you mocked me for Kakashi, or even worst, for Itachi, all these times I enjoyed it…really…so! The ice princess Aburame Hitomi has a heart after all!” Tomoyo laughed, and Hitomi just glared.

 

“It is your turn, now, Asuka-chan…what's wrong with you?” inquired Hitomi.

“Oh, nothing…”

“Ah!” exclaimed both girls “and you define your recent depressed mood nothing! But do you even know how dead you looked? You just drag your feet from one place to another, not listening to what anybody told you, and giving just “hn” as a reply! You looked very Itachi-like! Not that Itachi looks dead, he doesn't drag himself around either, but I must confess that getting something more than “hn” from him is really difficult…”

“Was I really this bad?” Asuka couldn't believe it.

“You were! You were!”

“Oh. Well. There's nothing wrong with me. It's just life I suppose.”

“Come on, spit it out…there is no need to lying to us.” Tomoyo said.

Asuka seemed thoughtful, but then she sighed and began her explanation.

“Ok. There are a few things I didn't tell you about my stay at the Uchiha's. First…I began feeling…strange around…you know…him…” “Itachi” suggested Hitomi. “Yeah, around Itachi. Like…awkward…warm…I blushed madly at whatever he did, I was worried, and I suppose I was looking for his…let's call it approval. And then I liked talking to him, and I liked being *around* him. And then I saw him without…without his shirt on…” and here she blushed. “You…you what??? Why didn't you take a picture??? Omg!!! He…how…how does he look??” Tomoyo was freaking out “Ooooh Tomoyo look at her face!! He must have looked…good, to say the least, judging the shade of her face…”

Asuka tried to look away, but then she grinned and joined her friends “Good? If he was good looking? He really is in a good shape…to say the least…and I won't tell you anything more, because here the subject is *me* and not Uchiha's chest…then…then he wished me sweet dreams, and I practically didn't sleep. Well, I don't like feeling this weird around him. I don't. And then there is Kakashi-sempai. You guys know I like Kakashi-sempai since…forever. And the day before yesterday, Monday, we ate together at the Ichiraku… and then when he was walking me home, he…he…he kissed me.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I…I didn't know you two were dating” said Tomoyo, quite shocked.

“But apparently they are kissing” grinned Hitomi.

“NO! No! It's not like that! He kissed me…on the cheek. No big deal, really.” `But it had been enough, at the moment…how stupid I am' thought Asuka.

“So, the problem is basically that you don't know if you like more Kakashi or Itachi.” Said Hitomi, summing up the question.

Asuka was horrified. “I do not like Itachi! This is for sure!”

Tomoyo looked at her friend. “You don't? And how come that you feel weird around him? And above all, how come you didn't go mad for Kakashi kissing you? On the cheek, but he still kissed you.”

“I…I don't know…I felt good at the moment…but then I thought that I misunderstood…I must look like a little sister to him, so his was just a fraternal display of affection. Or worse…what if he was just pretending? If all he wanted was a good laugh at my expenses?” Asuka was really afraid that he was making fun of her; after all he was a handsome jounin in his early twenty, what kind of interest may he have in a kid of her age?

“Asuka, don't say nonsense. You know Kakashi better than that, you know he cares about you, and he wouldn't ever do such thing to anybody, especially to you. Besides, perhaps you really misunderstood, and you are just like a little sister to him. Don't think that I believe you have no chances with him, you know that Tomoyo and I would be the happier persons on earth if he did; it is just…that perhaps he cares not in the way you would want him to, and we don't want you to be too hurt.”

Asuka was on the verge of crying. Hitomi had spoken all of her doubts and fears.

“And also, Itachi is a very attractive boy. Maybe you were just attracted, perhaps you really don't like him. But maybe…maybe you do like him, or are beginning to like him, and this may be what keeps you from thinking positively about Kakashi. After all you spoke with him, you know him a little better then we do. Maybe you saw something other than the “jerk” you thought, or wanted to see in him.”

Again, Asuka was speechless.

Just ten days before she was absolutely sure that what she felt for her Kakashi-sempai was more than an ordinary crush. But now…that Uchiha had ruined everything. She wanted to believe it was his fault, that he used his Sharingan or whatever to enter her mind, and staying there.

But she couldn't.

“Ne, girls, what about taking another bath? It is so damn hot here!” she put on a smile, trying to convince herself that everything would be alright. She couldn't lose her sleep after two boys, she was a kunoichi, she was an Anbu, and shinobi don't put their feelings before their duty.

 

How she wanted to really believe in that.

 

***

Shisui had managed to take Itachi out. He wanted to eat an ice cream that night, and even if Itachi didn't like sweets and stuffs he hadn't refused.

Shisui was hoping to see a girl.

Itachi was hoping to see the girl.

 

After admitting the truth, after admitting that he liked the Yoshizumi girl (he still couldn't bring himself to call her Asuka in his mind) his restless mind had calmed down a little. Now something else was keeping him busy. Now that he knew he wanted her, he had to find a way to have her, and to make her want him.

He knew he would have hurt Shisui. But Shisui wouldn't have suffered for too long.

 

Shisui knew she would have come for ice cream: he knew she had no forthcoming mission, and he had seen her hanging around with her friends that afternoon, talking about an ice cream that night. Actually, he hadn't heard her friends' reply; but if there was even the smallest chance of seeing her, he would be there waiting for her. Not that he planned to do anything particular; he just wanted to see her. He was happy like that. He had seen her that very afternoon, more tanned than usual, and with a delicate shade of red on her cheeks and on her nose. Perhaps she had gotten a little sunburnt at the river, but that colour on her cheeks made her look like…like…'like a peach', his mind suggested him, even if he didn't see why would the light blush on her cheeks be compared to a peach; he guessed it made sense, at the moment. He loved peaches, and Asuka-chan looked like the most delicious one he had ever seen; still unripe, but promising the sweetest taste once matured. For a moment he had also wondered if she could really smell, and taste like a peach.

 

Of course, he hadn't told Itachi that he had seen Asuka-chan, that afternoon. Shisui had grown suspicious; Itachi showed too much interest in her. Or, at least, more interest than he had ever shown for any other girl. And the thing bothered him.

 

Itachi and Shisui were sitting on a bench in the park, not far from the ice-cream shop, enjoying the evening breeze. Shisui was eating his second chocomint cone, while Itachi was just sitting, and staring at nothing in particular.

 

If Itachi hadn't had a reason to sit on the goddamn bench in the goddamn park in front of the goddamn ice-cream shop, he would have rushed home, hitting hard all the goddamn giggling girls blushing and giggling and waving and trying to talk to him. But he thanked his self control, and kept on sitting quietly on the bench.

 

The park was nice at night; lamps lightened the pebbled paths, and the tree branches showed a vast portion of a peaceful starry sky to the people sitting on the wooden or stony benches enjoying the light breeze and an ice cream, or simply the company.

 

A question was teasing both boys' mind: it was already 10pm…would she show up at all?

 

Shisui was about to stand up to buy his fifth cone, while Itachi was about to tell him to quit it with the ice-creams and to go straight home, when they heard a familiar voice.

 

Both boys' hope renewed, and they turned to face her.

 

Hitomi Aburame, wearing a white, long sleeved t-shirt and black shorts, was walking in the park with the other girl, Tomoyo Inuzuka, in a red little summer dress.

Shisui put on a big smile, and rushed towards the two chuunins.

 

Itachi, for once, was grateful for his loud cousin. He headed in the same direction, walking slowly, with that grace that was unique of his pace.

 

“Hei! Hei! Tomoyo-chan! Hitomi-chan!” screamed Shisui to the girls. They turned to see who was calling them, even if they had already guessed by the voice. The two black-dressed cousins walked towards the girls, who had stopped beside a wooden bench.

 

“Hello, Shisui-kun!” greeted Tomoyo.

“Hi Shisui-kun…the answers to your questions are no, yes, and in a few minutes.” Smiled with a malicious expression Hitomi.

“Yo girls…my…my questions?” Shisui was scratching the back of his head, confused.

“Hello, Itachi-san” greeted politely both girls, eyeing the approaching Uchiha. “Yes, your questions, Shisui-kun.” Confirmed Tomoyo. “As to if we know where Asuka-chan is, if we're waiting for her, and when will she come. No we don't know where she is, yes we're waiting for her, and she should be here in a few minutes.” Ended Hitomi.

 

Itachi was really grateful for Shisui, he really was.

 

Shisui blushed a deep shade of red, and began stuttering things like “how do you know” and “is it this obvious”. A girl with a navy blue sleeveless t-shirt and a short white jeans skirt, long dark hair covering her face, was running towards the small group. She stopped beside Tomoyo, hands on her knees and panting lightly. “Hei…girls…I'm so out of shape…I want something to drink right now or else I'll collapse on the floor.” “Hei Asuka-chan, you're late” greeted Tomoyo. “Yeah, and there is also somebody else waiting for you. You know it is not polite to make a gentleman wait.” Added Hitomi. “Gentleman? I haven't seen Kakashi in days, and surely he is not waiting for me here, we weren't supposed to meet” She stood up, moving a few locks away from her eyes, only to face a blushing Shisui and a Itachi in one of his trademark “I'm a badass” pose. “Shisui-kun! Itachi.” Said Asuka, smiling warmly to the blushing boy and merely nodding in acknowledgement to the Uchiha prodigy. Tomoyo and Hitomi felt the tension increasing between the two jounin, who were seemingly beginning a stare contest. “Come, Asuka-chan…didn't you just say you wanted something fresh?” Tomoyo touched her friend on the shoulder, and Asuka seemed to relax. “Yes, why not! Itachi, Shisui, will you have one too?” Asuka seemed to offer a truce to the long haired boy. Itachi nodded, apparently replying positively to both offers, ice cream and the truce.

 

“Ohayo boys! Are you taking these young girls out for ice cream?” greeted the ice-cream man smiling “Oh, but you boys are just two, when the girls are three…so which one is taking two?” Asuka sweat dropped. “Good evening, Yazawa san. No, these two boys are taking nobody out. We just met by chance”, cleared the young jounin. The ice-cream man didn't seem to believe her; after all, he had seen Shisui and Itachi sitting on the same bench for a while, and Shisui had eaten four cones. But the cold glare Itachi sent him was enough to shut him up.

 

“I will have a chocolate and vanilla cone, please” asked Tomoyo. “And I…mmm…just green apple…may I have some whipped cream on it?” “Sure, Hitomi-chan.” “Caramel and nuts, please!” exclaimed Shisui. “Coming, coming!” smiled the man. “And for you, Asuka chan? The usual?” “Of course, Yazawa-san!” “There you go…lemon, peach and strawberry.” He said handing the cone to the girl. The boys were already about to head to the bench, when someone spoke. “I want the same as Asuka-chan, please.” Shisui's eyes seemed about to explode. He raised his finger, pointing it at Itachi. “Itachi! But you don't like sweets and ice-creams!” “I do love ice-cream, Shisui. Especially lemon, peach and strawberry.” Was the answer of the handsome Uchiha.

 

Shisui understood.

 

It was a declaration of war.