Stand By Me

STAND BY ME - chapter 13

I walked throughout Konoha and saw none other than him. Itachi Uchiha. I rolled my eyes, I was not in the mood for him. It had been a couple of days since that meeting in the Uchiha compound. Yes, I was still mad. I crossed my arms and stopped walking, glaring at him, the Uchiha walking up towards me. This was going to happen eventually.

"Aya, we need to talk." Itachi spoke, rather calmly. We sure as hell do.

"What do you want from me?" I spat out, frustration clearly lingered in my tone. It was loud enough so that my voice turned a couple of heads. I didn't care.

Itachi clearly didn't like this. He sighed, closing those eyes of his for a moment.
"Let's do this some place quiet."

---
We sat down on fresh, green grass, with a clear view of the crystalline ocean water. Inhaling nature's scent made me somewhat calm. Itachi was right to bring me here.

It was silent between us for moments, sharing a plate of dango placed between us. I guess this was his way for apologizing.

"Aya, what I said in the meeting-"
"This isn't about what you said in the meeting." I quickly retorted, facing towards him, his eyes on mine, waiting to hear more.
"I'm listening." Itachi said.

"The way you were staring at me, Itachi... I..." I bit my bottom lip, "Tell me you don't think differently of me, knowing what Orochimaru has done to me?"

Itachi seemed baffled by my question, his eyes slightly widening.

"Since when have I been one to discriminate?" Itachi said, with a small smile.
I sighed.
"I was more concerned with your safety, Aya. Harbouring such chakra is a dangerous game."  Itachi continued explaining, his tone sharp.

"Fine." I crossed my arms, "But your parents... they..." My fists clenched.
"What about them?"
"Itachi, your parents, especially your father, looked disgusted at me."
I heard Itachi chuckle.

"It's not funny..." My head dangled downwards.
"Why would you care about what my parents think?" He asked another question.
"I want them to know that I'm worthy of being with you." I responded.

Itachi moved the plate of dango between us, and inched closer to me, our eyes locked onto each other.
"What they think will never come between us. Understand?"
I sheepishly looked to the side. "Okay..."
"Look at me, Aya."

I turned my gaze towards his, and was stunned. There was an apparent blush on his cheeks. It actually looked quite cute on him.

"My family welcomes you just as much as I do. We've known each other for so long." He said.

"Mine does too..." I said.
"There's nothing to worry about." He smiled. I felt Itachi wrap an arm around my small figure, pulling me closer to him, both of us admiring the sunshine.

"Aya, I'm sorry. I can't stand the fact that I've hurt you." Itachi spoke.
I looked up at him, my eyes wide. I wanted to do nothing but kiss this man right now.
"I forgive you." I laid my head on his shoulder, continuing to nibble on the dango. Itachi chuckled.
"I'm glad."

---

Several months had passed by, and Itachi and I had gotten undeniably closer. We would walk hand in hand in the village - it wasn't a secret anymore. A lot of people knew that Itachi and I were "together".
"She's my girlfriend."
I'll never forget the day that Itachi said that to his mother - who already had an idea of how close Itachi and I were. I couldn't contain my excitement, because it made it official. He's my boyfriend.
Being with Itachi is, for the most part, one of the greatest things that had occurred to me. Each day I learned something new about the prodigy. One thing that stuck out to me was how selfless and giving this man was. It had me awestruck. I would almost become frustrated, because I know, deep down, how exhausted he must have felt placing everyone's needs on top, and dealing with his last. But that's who Itachi was. And that's the man I was falling in love with. Every now and then, I'd make sure to carefully hear Itachi out, with him occasionally venting about his troubles.