Chasing After You || Itachi

Ch. 5 - Fishy Behavior

Tora yawned for the sixth time as she stood in the back of a meeting between Mr. Akanishi and the Kiyoshi village head, a young woman by the name of Lady Satomi. As the two were having a leisure tea time, Tora was trying to stay awake. She never had much interest in politics and stuffy customs. If she were to be honest, she was very uncomfortable as her legs had long gone to sleep since she'd been sitting on her knees for the past two hours. Turning her head, she looked over at her teammates. Izumi sent her a small smile as Koji met gazes with her and turned away in that instant.

"I bid you farewell, Akanishi-san." Lady Satomi stood up. She opened a handheld fan and held it in front of the lower half of her face, the ends of her eyes crinkling, inferring that she was smiling. "Safe travels."

Tora and her team stood up as Mr. Akanishi bowed and left the room. As they were leaving, Tora noticed a peculiar glint in Lady Satomi's eyes. The woman shifted her gaze to the children and smiled innocently, which caused Tora to smile back and bow her head before leaving. Something didn't seem right with that woman, but maybe she was just seeing things. All she knew was that her legs felt like static as she was trying to regain feeling in them.

It only took half an hour for everyone to get their things together before they left the Kiyoshi village grounds to escort Mr. Akanishi home. Tora stretched her hands to the sky as they walked, finally feeling like herself again. The sun was out and the day was nice, not too hot and not too cool. The only thing that would make it complete was to take a nap.

"Tora, what are you going to do when we get back home?" Izumi asked as she walked next to the feline female.

Tora tilted her head in thought. "Probably take a nap. You?"

"I'll unpack my things, then maybe I'll go see Itachi-chan if he's not on a mission and eat some dango." Izumi smiled, clasping her hands behind herself.

Tora nodded in thought. Of course, she would go see Itachi-san. "Hey, Izumi.." She said as she thought aloud. "How long have you and Itachi-san been dating?"

Izumi blinked in surprise at the sudden question before her face acquired a light blush. "Well, um... Itachi-chan and I have never officially said we were boyfriend and girlfriend." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "We hang out a lot and everyone just started calling us a couple. Honestly, it's a little embarrassing..."

Tora turned to Izumi in surprise. Sure, Itachi was always quiet and to himself in class, but she thought he would've said something by now. "But you like him, don't you?"

"I love him." The female told her seriously, abandoning all previous signs of self-consciousness.

Tora smiled at the female's honesty. "Then that's all that matters." On the outside, she seemed completely satisfied with Izumi's confession, however on the inside, she was very disheartened. How many times was she going to disillusion herself into thinking she had a chance?

.

The group was halfway through their trip back and had stopped to take a quick break. Once everyone was okay to move on, they were about to continue when Hayama-sensei held his hand out to catch everyone's attention. Tora frowned as Izumi inched closer to Mr. Akanishi. Koji reached into his ninja pouch, his fingers brushing across the handle of one of his kunai.

It was about nine ninjas that dropped from the trees, dressed in all black with hoods and masks that covered the bottom halves of their faces. They didn't have a hitai-ite visible, so it was unknown which village they were a part of, and each had their own specific ninja tool in their hands, no doubt ready to start a fight. Hayama-sensei stepped forward and eyed the ninja before speaking. "What is the problem?"