Chasing After You || Itachi

Ch. 9 - Friendships, Secrets, and Lies

The trip home was silent as Team F jumped from limb to limb towards Konohagakure. They'd crossed the border into the Land of Fire almost an hour ago. After watching his team's performance in the Chunin Exams, Hayama was pleased with the outcome. His students ended up passing the team portion of the exam, however they came up a little short in the individual matches. Nonetheless, they gained a lot of knowledge about each other, which was what he mainly wanted to focus on.

"Welcome back!" Hana grinned as the group walked through the front gate. The Haimaru brothers had grown a bit taller from when Tora had last seen them as they stood about mid-thigh to her master now.

Tora smiled at the Inuzuka and gave her a hug. "I missed seeing a familiar face, best friend."

Koji rolled his eyes at her comment. "Don't forget we have the day off tomorrow, best friend. Can't wait to see your familiar face at training after that." His teammate scowled and stuck her tongue out at him. Once all the guys left, the females immediately went to their usual spot to catch up.

Tora told Hana all about the Chunin Exams as they ate popsicles on the front porch of the Inuzuka household. Conveniently, she left out the details of her newfound ability as she wasn't 100% sure about it herself. Two of the Haimaru brothers lazed around them as the third played around with Kiba and his new ninken, Akamaru.

"Well, you may still have a chance of becoming a chunin." Hana smiled as she ate another bite of her strawberry popsicle. "Mom says your results are only one factor that the village looks at."

"I don't think it would really matter since it's not like I would be switching teams or anything." Tora shrugged. With a frown, she finished her popsicle and fiddled with the empty stick in her hands. "Hana... I saw Itachi while I was there."

Her friend's eyes widened and she glanced around. Kiba was still preoccupied and a little ways away from them whilst their moms were out on a mission so no one could hear their conversation. Still precautious, she lowered her voice. "How? What happened?"

"I thought it was a dream at first, but he came to the hotel we were staying at." Tora took her gaze off the barren piece of wood and looked at Hana. "He admitted to it... I felt terrible because even though I wanted to believe in his innocence, there was always a voice in my head telling me that he did it. He told me to stop looking for him, but how can I do that, Hana?"

"Sounds like you still like him."

The Dakuo looked down at the ground and let out a small breath of frustration. "Honestly, I'm confused. I still want to make sure that he's okay, you know? I'm also still skeptical about the motives behind his actions." Leaning back against her palms, she glanced back at her friend. "I feel like I sound stupid for still wanting to be around him."

Hana sighed. "Yeah, you do sound stupid, especially since he made it clear that he doesn't want to be around you."

"Ow. That was brutal." Tora winced at her words.

"But, I see where you're coming from. What kind of friend would you be if you weren't concerned about his wellbeing?" The brunette smiled at her best friend. "It's okay to like someone and just want to be their friend."

Tora thought about her words for a moment. Her feelings for Itachi had mellowed out as everything started getting more and more complicated, but Hana was right. She still wanted to be his friend. Reaching out, she tackled her in a hug, almost knocking the poor girl over. "Thank you, Hana! What would I ever do without you?"

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Tora spent the night alone at her house. Part of her problems had been solved by talking to Hana, however the bulk of them could only be solved by her mother. There were too many questions crowding her brain so she couldn't sleep. Her mother finally returned home the following night and the two ended up eating Ichiraku takeout together for dinner. Jaga frowned as she saw her daughter poking at the noodles in her bowl.