Your Lies || Itachi x Reader

Chapter 5.2

I furiously knocked on Chojuro's door. I wanted to bother him since I was bored and wanted something to distract myself with. "Ugh, open up, Chojuro!" I shouted, still banging on his door. My left eye twitched as I waited for him to open up.

The door opened as Chojuro's mom appeared in front of me. "Oh, Y/n. What brings you here?" she asked with a bright smile. Chojuro's mother had the same blue hair as him but she was much prettier. She looked young for her age. Before I was formally introduced to her, I had always thought she was his older sister.

"Mrs. Hirahara, I'm so sorry for banging on your door. I didn't know you would end up opening the door—" I said, embarrassed. I bowed down as a way to show I was truly sorry and as a sign of respect.

"Oh, it's quite alright. At least you're urm.. lively. I can't say the same for my son." she said. By "lively," she probably meant loud or extroverted. "Anyway, you came to see my son, right?" she guessed, now smiling with her eyes.

"Yes."

"Well, Chojuro's busy having a meeting with the Mizukage. He's busy right now, but I'll tell him you came by when he comes home," she told me.

I frowned, saddened that everyone was busy at those secret meetings while I wasn't allowed to attend them. And I had no one to bother. "Oh.. okay... Thank you, Mrs. Hirahara," I sighed, heading back home.

"Wait. I don't feel good sending you empty-handed. Let me give you something real quick." she said, rushing back inside her home.

She returned in a flash with a small brown bag in her hand. "Here. I made fresh dorayaki just now. I like to make a batch of these and give one to Chojuro every day. You're lucky I was making these right before you came." she smiled.

"Thank you," I smiled back, bowing down again.

I waved at Mrs. Hirahara as I walked away. Mrs. Hirahara was a sweet lady and usually, she would be tinkering in the kitchen. The scent of fresh dorayaki filled my nose and I began to salivate. I told myself I wasn't going to eat any sweets but, how could I resist a dorayaki.

Because Mrs. Hirahara was always experimenting with recipes, I knew this wasn't going to be a normal dorayaki.

I sniffed the brown bag. It smelled normal just like any other dorayaki. I decided to open the bag to take a look at the dorayaki. "Huh—" I blurted.

Instead of a normal dorayaki that had two pancake-like patties on the outside that were a light brown color, they were a very dark brown shade. "Did- Did she burn this one!" I cringed, holding the dorayaki as far away from my face as I could.

I sniffed the dorayaki, making sure it wasn't burnt. "It doesn't smell burnt..." I brought the dorayaki closer to my face. As I walked, I stared at it. "Wait, this smells like—" I whiffed, deeply inhaling the scent. "There's a hint of chocolate. Do the patties have cocoa powder in them?" I intensely sniffed it.

I was nervous to try it, but I brought myself to finally take a bite. I took the smallest bite I could while also trying to get some of the filling. The piece of dorayaki was in my mouth, resting on top of my tongue. I was unsure if I should chew or swallow it, holding the fear that it was burnt.

I took a leap of faith, swallowing it without giving it another thought. As I did that, I closed my eyes tightly, bracing the reaction my body would have to the dorayaki. The taste lingered on my tongue, and to my relief, it wasn't a burnt taste. "It's not burnt!" I exclaimed, wiping the sweat off of my head.

The taste stayed on my tongue and I realized it was quite nice. It's chocolate! I knew it. I thought, acting like I hadn't just thought that the dorayaki was burned. The chocolate patties weren't too sweet, but at the same time, they were sweeter than normal dorayaki. It made sense since cocoa had a bitter taste and to counteract that, you would need to add more sugar.

The filling was a vanilla & red bean cream. The cream was light and airy. It wasn't too heavy like traditional buttercream or frosting. Although it was good, I thought it was weird to mix vanilla and red beans. It's a strange combination in my opinion but surprisingly it worked.

Overall, the dorayaki tasted good. It surpassed my expectations. I expected it to be some weird fusion dish of flavors that contradicted each other like the other dishes and recipes made by Chojuro's mom. But this time, she found a way to make a dish that had flavors that complemented each other.

Even though I liked the chocolate dorayaki, I still think it can't rival normal dorayaki. Nothing can beat a classic dish. The basics, in my opinion, will always be superior.

As I felt all of these different emotions and feelings while eating the dorayaki, I realized that I was back to where I was forbidden to go. My feet automatically brought me back here without me even noticing. The bridge that connected both my village and the forest was right in front of me. And this time, there was no one guarding it.

I deeply gazed at the forest, knowing my strong desire to run through it. I wanted to be . I wanted to explore. I didn't want to be locked away here forever. And an opportunity like this wouldn't come again. At least for the next few months, it wouldn't.

If I didn't grasp it right now, who knows how long I would end up staying in the village without ever experiencing the outside world. I ate my dorayaki as I contemplated. I was still on the village side of the bridge.

Slowly, my feet began to walk by themselves, taking the rest of me along with them. I felt hypnotized like I didn't have control over myself. My body knew what I wanted but the rational part of my brain kept telling me to halt.

"The village is already at risk right now, Y/n!" it said, trying to knock some sense into me. "Your sister is clearly busy planning to do something to take care of the six-tails jinchuriki! She needs to focus on that and if you decide to run away, she'll send a bunch of shinobi to find you instead of taking care of something extremely important! If you are selfish now, you could ruin everything she's been working on for the past few days! You'll ruin your sister's image! She's the Mizukage for God's sake! She needs to worry about the village! Don't give her another problem she'll need to take care of. And she may be right for keeping you in the village. Anyone would be willing to kill you to get your bounty! Please, please. Don't make a stupid mistake like this..." it pleaded. I imagined my rational brain as an older version of me. She looked like she was in her thirties.

"This is your only chance! Take it while you have it! Wouldn't you rather die with freedom than live a life confined within the village? If you never leave, you won't get stronger! Your mother, the only ice user you know, refuses to teach you. If you leave and explore the world, you may be able to find ice users who can train you. They can help you reach your ultimate potential!" the other part of my brain argued.

"What about Han?" the rational one said, causing my body to stop moving. I was halfway across the bridge. I scanned my hands, seeing if I was in the normal present and complete control of myself. Yes, it was me. The normal me. The same old me.

I looked at the forest, longing for it. But I realized my selfish desires could potentially hurt the village. I didn't want to interfere with my sister's plans and hinder her. I didn't want her to compromise her role as Mizukage for me.

I smiled. I couldn't do it, though. The perfect moment had come to me, where no one was looking. I couldn't be stopped by anyone. But I refused it.

I turned back, walking to the village. I didn't bother to look at the forest, since it hurt me knowing that I would never be able to go in it.

I was proud of myself for rejecting temptation once, but I don't know how I would react if I were to be tempted again. Today, the rational side of me had won. But, this wouldn't necessarily be the case always.