十六 | You are troublesome, you know that?

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十六
brewing storm

Ever since the day Kuina was introduced to the four members of the Akatsuki, she had locked herself in her room, trying to avoid as many people as she could

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Ever since the day Kuina was introduced to the four members of the Akatsuki, she had locked herself in her room, trying to avoid as many people as she could.

All of the members had forced her to look through their lives, and much to her disagreement, she had no choice but to comply. So, after that day, her heart weighed heavily, and her energy was drained.

Fortunately, perhaps because most of the members had immoral pasts, she was able to embrace their ends; she didn't feel as sad as she did when she saw Itachi's life. With Itachi, who had always been honorable yet framed by the world as evil, she wanted to do anything, so he would have the justice he deserved.

She must have hid her face from the members for around a week, and during that week, she had never once seen Itachi. She did catch very brief glimpses of him leaving the hideout early at dawn, but he would disappear and return when she was already dead asleep.

When she asked Kisame where Itachi went, he would tell her, 'Oh, he's probably gone out to take care of businesses regarding his little brother,' or, 'he's been dealing with a lot of illness relapses lately, so he probably went down to buy some painkillers.' And with those words, worries filled her.

That night, she was pondering over the same old thoughts of her captors as she lay in her bed, unable to sleep. The sky was brewed with a storm as the rain poured down heavily against the rooftop. The strong wind by the window sills gushed against it, trying to tear it down.

Kuina curled up in her bed as she pulled the blanket over her head. She had never been particularly afraid of stormy nights, but she had never been able to manage a sleep with it rumbling furiously overhead either. And right then, she couldn't fall as sleep even though she was terribly exhausted. Every time she closed her eyes and was about to drift off, a thunder would roared, shaking her wide awake again.

She snuggled against her pillow as memories of stormy nights just like this flashed in her mind, and she felt tears begin to sting at her eyes. She suddenly recalled how her mother would always make her a cup of warm milk with honey for her to drink on nights like this. She also remembered how warm her mother's embrace was and how gentle her mothers' words were. But above all, she remembered very well that in that life, her mother would never come back.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped it against the pillow and sat up on the bed. She knew she needed to get herself together. There was no point in crying over the past that couldn't be changed. After all, she was the Fragrance, and she knew best that in the end, everyone would die. It was just the matter of how early or how late.

Rubbing her eyes, she shook off the depressing thought and decided that instead, she would make herself a cup of warm milk with honey so that she could sleep and get rid of all the sad thoughts.

Wearily, she yawned and made her way out of her room and down the corridor. As she approached the kitchen, she realised that someone was there. A very dimmed candle was lit, flickering against the wall, shining wanely against the dark silhouette.

She rubbed her eyes again, making sure she wasn't seeing things and realised that the figure was Itachi.

He was wearing his Akatsuki cloak which was drenched wet as if he had just come back from outside. Water ran down his hair and face as he stood in the kitchen with a glass of water in one hand and the other was placed on the kitchen counter to support himself. He breathed roughly, bending over the counter as he began coughing.

Kuina froze and her breath grew haggard. She looked at him and then at the corridor, knowing she should scramble back to her room and pretend she didn't see anything. Yet her feet were glued on the spot. Her heart hammered as she stared at him from within the shadow of the moonless night.

Itachi clenched his hands around the glass of water, and with his gaze remained cast down, he let out a soft grunt. "Are you going to stand there forever?" he questioned.

Kuina almost jumped and colour was drained from her face. She shifted uncomfortably, and feeling terribly awkward, she was about to rush back down the corridor and to her room. Perhaps, if she did so fast enough, he would just think he had mistaken her to be there.

But before she took a leap, she heard him cough once more, and this time, blood painted his hand crimson. Her eyes widened in horror, and instinctively, she quickly rushed over to him.

Itachi glanced up at her, his soaking hair plastering over his face. "You shouldn't come in here. . ."

Just as he finished his sentence, she felt something sharp pierced into her feet, jerking intense pain up her legs. She whimpered, confused, but then she looked down and saw several pieces of broken glass sticking into her feet.

Itachi looked at her, his jaw clenching. "I told you, you should not come in here."

Her eyes widened as she dropped to the floor, her feet too limb to hold herself up. A wince plastered her face when she looked at her torn feet with several pieces of glass sticking out.

She tried to push herself to stand, but that made the glass dig deeper into her skin. In the end, she fell back down with more pain than before. She gritted her teeth and with her shaking hand, she grabbed one of the pieces of glass in her sole and violently jerked it out of her flesh. Tears filled her eyes as blood spurted from her wound. 

Itachi looked down at her with a grimace. But then he grumbled as if he could no longer stand watching her stupid actions. At last, he walked over to her and crouched down to her level. A sigh parting his lips. "Let me see," he demanded, and when she refused to comply, he grabbed her feet forcefully, making her whole body grow rigid. He ran his hands over the kitchen drawers and grabbed out a roll of bandage. "You are troublesome, you know that?"

She looked down as he plucked out the glass from her feet with such a surprising amount of tenderness in comparison to his persona, and it felt almost painless.

She watched him, her lips dropping into a frown. "Sorry," she sniffled, her gaze wavering at the way he was treating her wounds. "It's fine. I can do it myself," she told him as she tried to move her feet away, but he didn't let go.

"I was the one who broke the glass," he muttered as he began to dab the blood dry. "And you do not have to say sorry when you did nothing wrong."

She looked at his hand and cast her gaze away, her face heating up slightly. "I just don't want you to be mad at me, that's all."

He raised his brows slightly. "How silly," he murmured as he began bandaging her feet with clean bandages. "Why would you think I would be mad at you?"

"Well, you always give me a dark look like you're going to kill me or something," she murmured, her words coming out more frank than she intended.

"Is that so? I was not mad, Fragrance. I was just exasperated that you ran blindly in here and got yourself hurt despite my warning," he spoke as he looked up at her with his cold and dark eyes. "And who do you think would have to deal with the trouble you bring?"

Kuina returned his gaze, but unable to hold it, she quickly looked away. She opened her mouth to apologise, but then she closed it and lowered her gaze. "I know. I just panicked."

"You are just clumsy," Itachi remarked before he brushed his hands together and pushed himself to stand up. Leaning back against the kitchen counter, he tilted his head to the side, peering down at her. "Now, then, tell me. Why are you awake at this hour?"

*

𝐹𝑅𝐴𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸
うちはイタチ

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