Bonds and Fates | Chapter 1

Title: Nail Polish

He was going to kill Leader-sama. It was plain and simple.

In light of recent events, he should have seen this coming. Also in light of recent events, Itachi Uchiha realized that joining a criminal organization was probably not in his healthiest interests. But then, he wasn't going to live long anyway, so what the hell? Why not?

No, it was the fact that he joined a criminal organization whose "fearless leader" seemed to have a strange obsession with nail polish and billowy clouds. The cloak he hadn't minded; he had even come to accept the requirement of painting his nails the dark garish purple color. At this point, after nearly 5 years of wearing the stuff, the scent was second-nature to him.

It was the fact that his "fearless leader" had decided to give the Uchiha genius the "honor and privilege" of purchasing a new bottle of nail polish for Every. Single. Other. Akatsuki. Member. And it was the fact that he was now standing in front of the local drugstore, sans the red cloud cloak, debating on going in to peruse colorful bottles of nail ware.

'I need a new job,' the former heir thought in annoyance, glaring darkly (without his Sharingan. Apparently, the red eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb.) at the entrance. Several people behind him on the streets gave him odd and bemused stares while a child quietly pointed out to her mother that "The funny looking boy is trying to have a staring contest with the store, mommy!". Itachi's eye twitched just slightly.

'Okay Uchiha. You can do this. You've done things that would make that child scream and cry in terror for at least the rest of her childhood. You will walk into that store and... buy nail polish!' his conscience cringed at the thought, but then thought of the time Konan had sent Deidara to buy things for her during her monthly. It cheered him significantly. Looking down at his hands, he absently noted a small chip in his polish that hadn't been there the other day and sighed quietly. Finally gathering his wits, he walked into the drugstore. After all, Leader-sama had given him this solo mission; he never failed his missions, no matter what.

As soon as she stepped out of her house, it began to rain; heavily.

Fate was apparently laughing at her again.

After nearly 2 years of being stuck in this parallel Ninja-verse, Kagome Higurashi figured she would be used to the random, not to mention weird, things that happened around this particular village (cough City cough). Like the excessive amount of rain, the slightly obsessive villagers that practically worshipped their leader, and the occasional nut job that decided to attack said village.

Most of these people didn't really take kindly to strangers, but the elderly couple that had found her unconscious, beaten, and bloody body in an old abandoned well had been uncharacteristically sympathetic to her cause. When she finally woke up, it was several days later and she was in the Amegakure Hospital. She was later told by the doctors that she had two cracked ribs, a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, and her lungs had been punctured.

It was a miracle she was even alive, they said. Kagome snorted and blamed it quietly on her guardianship of one Shikon no Tama. The cursed jewel wasn't going to let its' "precious protector" die so easily. Especially not after everything she went through to get every single broken shard back together.

The priestess sighed and shook her head.

'No use in dwelling on things I can't change,' she thought morosely, opening her umbrella, 'Right now, I need some allergy medicine. I can just feel the itchiness creeping up on me.' Stepping out into the street, she quickly made her way to the nearby drugstore.

"Why are there so many colors?" Itachi muttered under his breath as he glanced at the several rows of colorful polish, "That shade of orange is ridiculous."

'I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the fact that my family members were a bunch of power-hungry, grudge-holding, highly obsessive nut-jobs,'the Sharingan wielder sighed and shook his head, mentally discarding the polish color he was looking at on account of the sparkles in it. He would not lower himself to wearing shimmer purple nail polish.

"What's the difference in any of these?" he sighed, almost willing to give up and just leave this embarrassing situation for someone else to deal with.

"It depends. Are you wanting it to last for a while?" a voice next to him stated. Itachi would swear to anyone else that he didn't jump in surprise.

"What?" 'How did-?' he glanced at the girl that had literally snuck up on him. She smiled at him disarmingly and pointed at the bottles of varnish. He noted absently that her own nails were colored a nauseating hot pink color.

'I'm getting dizzy just looking at that color,' the Uchiha thought vaguely, 'What person in their right mind wears that horrifying pink. She'd be an easy target with those fingers.'

"Your nail polish," the girl replied, giving him a look that screamed 'don't be stupid', "Do you want it to last for a while?"

"What makes you think it's for me?" Itachi countered immediately, glaring at the offending color on her hands. She raised a brow and slowly moved her blue eyes down to his hands. He had the decency to avert his gaze and hide his hands in his pockets. He would not turn red in embarrassment damn it! Sadly, he could feel his face heating up just slightly.

"It is a pretty loud color," she sighed, gazing morosely at her fingers, "I wasn't expecting it to turn out so... bright."

"I may go blind from it," Itachi muttered before his eyes widened in surprise. 'I can't believe I just made a joke. What is wrong with me?'

The girl laughed lightly and shook her head,"Yeah, me too. I think this one is going to the little girl down the street. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

"Indeed," he replied, sighing quietly before moving down the aisle discreetly and glancing at another row of darker colored nail color. He cringed and shook his head, before muttering under his breath, "I can't believe I'm about to do this." He turned back to the girl who was contemplating a dark silver color that would suit her more than the pink she was wearing could ever hope to achieve. "What would you recommend?"

She glanced back at him, cocking her head to the side and studying him intently. Itachi suddenly felt like all his sins were being laid bare and it unnerved him more than he imagined it would. For the first time in his relatively short life, he felt ashamed of his life. He shook himself mentally and the feeling disappeared. His life wasn't his own the moment he annihilated his clan.

'What was that?'

"Well, what are you looking for exactly?" the girl asked, glancing back at the color she was clutching before coming to a decision and dropping the silver-filled bottle in her shopping basket.

"Something that won't chip easily."

"So, long-lasting. How about this?" She picked up the previous bottle of polish he had been holding and showed it to him.

"I will not demean myself to wearing shimmer!" Itachi hissed venomously and watched with a tiny amount of satisfaction as the girl flinched and set the bottle down quickly.

"Sorry. It looked like the closest thing to what you're wearing now," the girl replied sheepishly, then began to search the other bottles. He did the same. For a few moments, they kept to themselves.

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