Chapter 2: Dancing Around

Itachi's fingers curled around the pilfered piece of school-lined notebook paper in his hand, as he wondered whether or not he should reply. On one hand, the Uchiha had gotten chewed out by the Sandaime for his initial lapse in security, but, on the other hand, the Hokage had never expressly forbidden him from continuing his messages. The question on the paper wasn't too personal, but Itachi had never been one to release any information about himself, even one as innocuous as that pertaining to his food preferences.

'You were eating strawberry pocky, but you smell like peppermints. Which one is your favorite flavor?'

The dark-haired boy had been the one to initiate their conversation, so Naruto might be offended if he didn't continue. Finally, the knowledge that that Itachi would have to continue taking her guard shifts for another two weeks, and, therefore, would be subject to her depressed attitude, made him react.

'Neither. My favorite pocky flavor is chocolate. Which flavor do you prefer?'

Naruto had been too distracted by her mysterious ANBU source of unexpected compliments to go through with the poison ivy prank. Instead, she was distracted and beaming all throughout the day, which only seemed to make Rei and her friends even more nervous. Ignoring their pallid faces, the Uzumaki nearly ran home and fumbled with the keys to her apartment door. When she finally got in, her eyes fell on the TV, where a slip of white paper laid.

As Naruto crept closer, she could see that it was an unopened box of chocolate pocky, with a note pinned neatly to the top with a senbon.

'This ANBU must be very good with accuracy,' Naruto observed, hand hovering over the tiny needle weapon. She picked up the pocky, note and all, and fled to her bedroom, where she knew that she would be alone.

Itachi Uchiha, who was forced to wait patiently in the living room, found this irritating, for reasons that he cared not to explore.

Naruto carefully unpinned the senbon, and placed it neatly beside her hairbrush. She never used one of those weapons before, and wanted to observe it at length later. Then she quietly read the words on her note, with a smile on her face. It wasn't another compliment, but a question meant that he expected a reply, which was even better!

Itachi was left to wait in the other room, wondering what in Kami's name, Naruto Uzumaki would spend the next hour in her room doing. She simply needed to change out of her Academy clothes, did she not? How could that possibly take so long?

Naruto though, hadn't bothered to change out of her white-and-orange shirt or dark blue pants. Instead, she carefully wrote out a reply, frowned down at it, tossed it in the trash, and repeated. By the time she was done, a half-full trash can of crumpled balls of paper gave credence to her effort.

It remained a simple question, but Naruto was still nervous as she folded it into an origami crane, and put it on top of the TV. She would proceed to glance at it every few seconds for the next hour, but it was after a moment of inattention as she made herself lunch, that Naruto realized it had disappeared.

'Well, the ball's in his court, now,' Naruto thought, stomach fluttering with nerves. She opened up her box of pocky, and took a tentative bite. 'I think that I'm making a friend.'

Shisui Uchiha raised one eyebrow as he came across his best friend, Itachi, in a rather strange pose. The clan's heir was staring down at a rumpled piece of paper on his lap, with a stare that was so intense that Shisui wouldn't be surprised if the paper was set aflame. If Itachi had the Mangekyo, then it probably would have burst into fire even.

The older boy angled his head down as he walked forward, wanting to see the undoubtedly difficult mathematical equation or philosophical question that was stumping his genius cousin. He didn't bother to consider the ethical ramifications of poking his nose into what was certainly not his business. Shisui was a shinobi, and, more so, he was an Uchiha. This was what they did.

Itachi heard his footsteps, which was typical, but then he quickly hid the sheet of paper, which was not.

"Need any help?" Shisui offered, because now he genuinely was curious about the paper.

"No," Itachi's mellow voice was as polite as ever, but a sliver of dissatisfaction crossed the teen's face. If he had been anyone else, Shisui would have even called that expression 'mulish'.

"Are you sure?" Shisui pestered, falling into step by the almost fleeing Uchiha heir, "I'm very good with mathematics."

"...It's not a math problem."

"Well, I don't think there's a history question that could ever stump you, but we can bounce strategy off of old man Setsuna," Shisui bounced on his feet.

"No, thank you." Itachi's mouth drooped down, into what Shisui would have called a pout on any other individual. "This isn't an academic question."

"All the better," Shisui had a grin on his face, "Want to share with me?"

Itachi didn't immediately offer a reply, but the older Uchiha remained optimistic nonetheless. His younger cousin was the type to contemplate almost every avenue of action, as befitting his introspective nature, before responding. His patience was awarded when the other boy answered, almost making Shisui no Shunshin trip over his own two feet.

"Shisui, what is my favorite color?"

'I like orange pocky, because orange is my favorite color. What's yours?'

Itachi had put careful thought into his response. He didn't want to choose red, because that was cliche for an Uchiha, and reminded him of bloodied shinobi and deadly fire jutsu anyway. Blue was nice, but could be linked to the Uzumaki's eyes, which might be interpreted the wrong way. Same for yellow and orange. The dark-haired teen associated green with an eccentric taijutsu master, black with assassination corpse scrolls, brown with the Doton jutsu he always had difficulty mastering, white with Uchiha mourning clothes, purple with a choking body, and pink with his mother's bright cheeks when she was furious with either him or Sasuke.

In the end, he had chosen a dignified, peaceful, and understated color that reminded him of the misty fog around the Naka River.

Naruto did not see it that way. 'His favorite color is gray?! I'm getting the feeling that this guy is a really boring person.'

There wasn't another box of pocky waiting for her, but the note had been pinned with another high-quality senbon. Naruto carefully placed the weapon beside her sole other senbon, and penned another note. This one was far easier than the last, because the blonde girl had spent nearly the entirety of her class doddling potential questions in her notebook. The Academy sensei didn't call her out on it, since none of her teachers particularly liked acknowledging her existence, but Naruto had been too absorbed in her own giddiness to care.

On another note, Rei Fukui and her friends had never been more creeped out then by the cheerful grin on the deadlast's face.

'My favorite food is ramen, especially the miso ramen at Ichiraku. My least favorite food is vegetables. What foods do you like or dislike?'

There was a sense of relief, as Itachi looked down at the next message. This was one that didn't trigger an identity crisis to reply to.

'My favorite foods are cabbage and onigiri with seaweed in it. My least favorite food is steak, but that's unfortunately what I'm eating now. You should try more vegetables. They're necessary for a healthy body, and they don't taste too bad if you decide to steam or stir-fry them. What's your favorite part of the day? Mine is early in the morning, before anyone else is awake.'

"Itachi, I told you that there's no paperwork allowed on the dinner table!" the Matriarch of the Uchiha Clan's usual melodic and polite tone had hardened with irritation. "Dinner is a time for us to come together as a family, and I refuse to tolerate any work done at that time."

"Yes, Kaa-san," Itachi replied, folding the paper up and slipping it into his pocket. He didn't bother to protest his innocence, as Mikoto turned her sharp gaze to her sheepish husband.

"That goes for you too, Fugaku," the woman scolded, "Put that police report away."

"Yes, Mikoto," Fugaku Uchiha, Head of the Uchiha Clan and Chief of the KMPF, sighed.

"Good," Mikoto looked satisfied, "Now, Sasuke, why don't you share how your day at the Academy went?"

Itachi focused his attention on his younger brother's excited story, as he returned to picking at his steak. Once or twice though, his thoughts flickered to what his new pen pal's reply would be.

Onigiri was a dish that was simple enough even for Naruto, so she decided to make a batch of them with purple cabbage and salted seaweed. There was an initial problem with her neglected rice cooker, the vegetable in question had to be tracked down at the nearest grocer, and her kitchen was a mess afterward, but it was finished. Itachi watched the young girl's attempt at cooking, feeling somewhat flattered by her effort, and took her rummaging through her fridge, as a chance to add more salt to the rice bowl. He preferred his onigiri to be on the salty side.

Naruto's sticky rice balls were a little deformed, and tufts of purple could still be seen sticking out, but she was mostly satisfied. The blonde girl carefully positioned it beside her small TV, and placed her latest reply next to the plate.

'I know that vegetables are healthy, but I still don't like to eat them. Maybe I'll try to stir-fry them next time, and see if that tastes any better. My favorite time of the day is just before nightfall, when I can look down at Konoha from the Yondaime's Head. Almost every house is lit up, and the streetlights on the main roads are on, so it's a cluster of shining spots from above. It can't be seen in the summer thunderstorms though, which I really dislike. Do you like thunderstorms?'

"Aniki, what are you doing?" Sasuke Uchiha, recently turned eight-years-old, and in possession of an insatiable curiosity where his older brother was concerned, asked. "Can you play with me?"

"In a minute, Sasuke," Itachi answered, a gentle smile crossing his face as he saw the happy child. This injury had given him the unexpected benefit of spending more time with his little brother. "I need to complete some ANBU work first."

Meaning that another note had to be devised for Naruto, because any actual paperwork for the most secretive military force in Konohagakure was done in Headquarters. Nevertheless, Sasuke's eyes lit up, and he tried to peer around his brother's arm.

"That's so cool, Aniki!" Was the younger Uchiha's enthusiastic reply. "What are you doing? Are you writing a mission report? Did you fight any super power shinobi? How did you win? Can I see?"

"Something like that, and no, you cannot," Itachi replied, amused. It was heart-warming to see how much faith Sasuke put in him, but could be somewhat daunting as well.

"Why not?" Sasuke whined.

Itachi's brief upturn of his lips was all of the warning his brother received, before the teen's finger shot forward and poked the boy's forehead.

"Hey!" Sasuke's hands flew up to the tiny red dot forming on his head.

"You're not old enough," Itachi answered automatically, turning around and picking up his pen. He could feel Sasuke's impatience shuffling of feet from behind him, so the older brother jotted down at a quick reply.

'Thank you for the onigiri; they were delicious.

Thunderstorms can make my missions uncomfortable, but I like the rhythmic fall of raindrops against my window. The rain washes away your presence when you travel, so I guess that I appreciate it when I'm fleeing from an enemy, but not when I need to track down a target. The Hunter-Nin department- they specialize in tracking down missing-nin- almost universally hate thunderstorms.

Is Ichiraku your favorite restaurant? I like to visit traditional cafes, but I don't have any specific one that I've enjoyed more than the others.'

'You bought me pocky, so I was glad to return the favor. It was my first time making them though, so they wouldn't be as good as the stuff you normally eat, I guess.

Ichiraku serves the best ramen in Konoha, so it's definitely my favorite, even if I didn't visit many other restaurants. Do they have tea ceremonies in those traditional cafes you like? I don't know much about those. You keep leaving senbon with your notes. Are they your favorite weapon?'

"Okay, so this is one mission that is finally done!" Miroku Natsori, codenamed 'Bee', cheered. This assassination had been relatively short, since the target resided in the Daimyo's court, but the corrupt noble's paranoia had made it stretch out to nearly a week's time. "Let's go to Sayuri's Bar!"

"It's Itachi's turn to choose the post-mission meal," Yugao Uzuki, codenamed 'Cat', reminded him. Along with their Team Captain, Kakashi Hatake, codenamed 'Dog', these four made up ANBU Squad 6.

"That's true," Kakashi hummed, noncommittally, "We'll go where he wants to."

"Aw, but Itachi never makes a choice," Miroku groaned, referred to his mostly silent, dark-haired companion, "We'll end up going to Sayuri's anyway."

"Nevertheless, it's still Itachi's turn," the purple-haired woman refuted, "Itachi, do you have any venues to suggest?"

"I would like to go to Ichiraku Ramen," the Uchiha answered quietly, ignoring his teammate's reactions. Miroku's mouth dropped, Yugao did a double take, and Kakashi even looked up from his hentai to lazily blink at him.

"What? You're finally offering a restaurant for the first time ever?!" Miroku's voice dripped with shock, "I definitely have to see what this Ichiraku Ramen has to offer!"

Ten minutes later, a pretty thirteen-year-old brunette was blushingly handing a bowl of miso ramen to the indifferent Uchiha heir, while Miroku grinned knowingly from beside him. Once again ignoring the less than professional attitudes of his team, as even Kakashi's eye curved upwards happily, Itachi split apart his chopsticks. He took a few bites and decided that, while he had no personal love for ramen, this meal had been well-prepared.

Inside of his pocket lay his next note to Naruto.

'I'm sorry that it took so long for me to reply. My team and I had to go out on a mission, and I wasn't able to keep in contact with anyone at the village.

As for your question, senbon are useful tools for medical purposes, but I don't use them often in missions. They have minimal piercing power, and I prefer shuriken and wire to hold my enemies down. Why do you like to prank people?'

Naruto Uzumaki had been far quieter than was her habit after the ANBU notes had abruptly stopped. Her morose attitude had been so uncharacteristic that Takemiya-sensei even called her up to his desk after class to ask if she was okay. The blonde had mumbled something indistinct, and then fled home.

When she entered her apartment, it took over an hour until she saw the brown-paper wrapped package balancing precariously on her TV. A little shocked, she picked up the package and brought it to her room, while the bearer of an ashes-and-peppermint scent sat on the building across from hers.

'A book on… tea ceremonies?' Naruto thought, messily tearing the package up, 'And a box of senbon!'

She was less pleased to read the slanted script of the accompanying note, but had to reluctantly admit that monopolizing her ANBU Guard's time was improbable and selfish. The blonde girl had begun to write out a reply, when she unexpectedly paused.

'How honest do I want to be?' Naruto took a peek at the battered book on tea ceremonies lying on her bed. She had flicked through it, and the ANBU's writing could be found scrawled in the margins. With the barest of hesitation, the Uzumaki girl ripped out another notebook page and began a new note.

'Thank you for the book and senbon. I like to play pranks because they're challenging and fun, but also because it's a good way to get people's attention. For some reason, most of the adults pretend that I don't exist, but when I prank them, they at least pay attention long enough to yell at me. Why are you sending me notes?'

Itachi Uchiha was an individual that regularly questioned his past actions and present decisions, in an attempt to secure the most beneficial future. He had employed that same thought process to this reply, but even the genius Uchiha Heir had no idea how much he would change history with this one response.

'Because I want to be your friend.'