Predecessor

Spooked

Sakura looks left. Then, she looks right.

She looks back at Itachi, eyes round. "Me?" she asks, pointing to herself.

"Yes," he confirms with a nod of his head. "You, Sakura-san."

Even still, she casts a glance over her shoulder and her mouth falls open.

/////

Itachi shares a stick of dango with Sakura. Her bare feet gently swish over the surface of the lake. She takes small bites of her sticky treat.

Between them lies Indra, head resting on his hand and one leg propped up. He eyes the dango that he most certainly cannot eat with a longing gaze.

"It smells so good," he mumbles, licking his lips.

"Well if you were alive, maybe Itachi-san would share some with you too," says Sakura.

Itachi glances up quickly, chewing slower. "Did he speak? Just now?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, he did. He wants to eat my dango but..." Sakura violently swishes her arm through Indra's transparent body and the space between the two pointedly. "...he can't."

Itachi blinks. "I see."

They sit on a wooden dock that peers over a small lake, stretching through the village. By now, the sun is setting and she's due to be heading home to Anko soon.

Hand it to Itachi for presenting her with surprising news just when she has a mini mission to complete at the hospital. When he had confronted her about her invisible partner, she found herself to almost be late, and she couldn't have that!

She then proceeded to spend the entire day in and out of the present, mulling over Itachi's news. She couldn't even pay the right amount of attention to her idol and future spouse all thanks to him.

But is she frightened? Not at all. Is she confused? Very.

"When did you first see my, erm...ghost?" asks Sakura carefully. She glances around, hoping to get a glimpse of the apparition that apparently stalks her, but she only sees Itachi and Indra. She doesn't know whether or not go be excited or disturbed about the fact that she has a ghost following her - has been for a long time - but it doesn't feel scary.

"When my Mangekyo Sharingan was awakened," Itachi replies.

"What's a Mangekyo Sharingan?" she questions. She knows much about the Uchiha, but she's sure that - of course - their clan has their fair share of secrets.

"It's another field level of expertise in my clan's visual prowess. Unlocked only when..." He doesn't finish his sentence, eyebrow crinkling, and moves on to the next subject: "His name is Ashura. Otsutsuki Ashura."

"Otsutsuki?" the Haruno exclaims, straightening her spine. "The spirit that follows you is an Otsutsuki, as well!"

"I figured as much. Otsutsuki Indra and Ashura are brothers," informs Itachi, looking straight ahead over the lake. "Otsutsuki Indra, in fact, is my clan's ancestor. The very first Sharingan-wielder."

If Sakura is surprised Itachi is sharing this with her, she doesn't show it. She's inwardly curious as to how he knows who the Otsutsuki are. She spends a lot of time reading as a past time and she can guarantee she has never seen a single book on any Otsutsuki descendent.

At the academy, they've learnt the history of Konohagakure, however it ends at Senju Hashirama - the Shodaime Hokage. They never stray onto any further generations of the clans involved in Konoha's formation. It's not exactly common information so what he's telling her can be considered clan secrets. She isn't sure she wants to know them either.