Disclaimer: Own nothing.

Pairings: ItachixUsagi, past somewhat onesided IrukaxUsagi

Together in all these memories
I see your smile.
All the memories I hold dear
Darling, you know I'll love you
Til the end of time

Memories, Within Temptation

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BAM.

Sarutobi, to his credit, didn't even twitch as the door to his office flew open. Of course, it might not have been a bad idea, seeing as the precariously wobbling stack of papers the old man was working on signing wavered, then toppled onto his head. The chuunin who'd barged in immediately dug the Hokage out, apologising profusely until the old man raised a hand.

"What is it, Leiko? I know you didn't come in to help me sign my papers." Though it would have been nice, for a change...Ah, well.

"Lord Hokage, you have to make them stop! They're practically ripping apart the forest, and no one can get near enough to them without being blown away! Between the two of them, they'll destroy the village in no time!" The chuunin babbled, waving her arms frantically. Sarutobi frowned, having a bit of an inkling who this 'they' was. All the same, it never hurt to ask...right?

"Who are you talking about, Leiko?" The Hokage asked resignedly. The woman's eyes practically popped out of their sockets, and Sarutobi half-wondered if he should call the medic-nin in case they really did fly out.

"Anko and her apprentice, Usagi, who else?!" Leiko all but screamed, hands tearing at her hair in a manic fashion. Sarutobi sweatdropped and took a cautious step away from the kunoichi-- if she was going to snap, he didn't want to be the first to go. It didn't help that Leiko had been victim of Usagi's pranks one too many times (never without good reason, though).

"Someone has to stop them, my lord. Those demons will wreak havoc if left to themselves!" The chuunin proclaimed fiercely. Sarutobi's eye twitched at the name given to two of his favorite--oh yes, he was biased in their favor; how could he not be?-- kunoichis.

"Why, Leiko, I had no idea you were so eager for a challenge. If that is your wish, then go, by all means-- I know how boring it must be to guard my office at all hours," the Hokage said wickedly, enjoying the jolt of fear pass through the woman's body. "Off you go then, and good luck!" Still shell-shocked, Leiko exited his office.

Sarutobi left the papers where they were and leaned back into his chair, grinning like a chesire cat. One of the perks of being Hokage was having free license to royally screw people over. Besides, Leiko was due for her monthly beat-down from Usagi.

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"Sen'eijashu!"

The blonde dodged the snakes with a yelp, struggling to keep her bruised body from failing her even as exhiliration flooded through her veins. The snakes' heads buried themselves in a nearby tree with a resounding crunch, and Usagi could only imagine-- no, scratch that, she knew what would have happened if she hadn't been a little quicker on her feet. She had been struck with Sen'eijashu only once, as a genin, and once was enough. Usagi sent a half-exhausted, half-amused glare to her former jounin instructor over her shoulder.

"Oi, Anko-sensei! No fair, using techniques you never taught me!"

"Like I would, brat," the dark-haired jounin retorted, brown eyes glittering with sadistic joy. "What else do I have to hold over your head?" The blonde chuunin pouted sullenly, turning away as if she was going to cry so that Anko wouldn't see the one-handed seals she was making.

"And don't think I don't see those," Anko reprimanded. "Didn't I teach you to be more subtle?"

Usagi turned around, a sheepish grin on her face. "So you did..." Here she paused, a mischievous light in her eyes. "Old hag." As always, it never failed to get a rise out of the jounin.

"WHAT?! HOW CAN I BE OLD? LOOK AT MY SUPPLE SKIN!!" Anko screeched wildly, whipping out a kunai, sadistic fury back in full strength.

"There's wrinkles around your eyes," Usagi pointed out cheerfully. With another unearthly yell, the dark-haired woman charged her former student. The blonde smirked, the resemblence to her sensei at her most evil showing itself clearly, and extended her palm.

"Raikurai no Jutsu."

A burst of lightning surged forth from her hand, heading straight for Anko. The jounin dodged at the last second (though not enough to escape a good singhing) and hurled her kunai in her student's direction. Usagi ducked, then flung herself at her opponent, feeling the roar of adrenaline inside her body, even after six straight hours of intense training. Thirty minutes later, Anko and Usagi lay flat on the ground, panting from exhaustion.

"You know," Usagi volunteered, her voice barely more than a whisper. Anko tilted her head toward her former student, waiting.

"The Hokage told us we weren't allowed to do anything above C-ranked jutsus while we're training in Konoha."

If Anko could have face-faulted while laying on the ground, she would have. Since when had they ever followed the Hokage's rules? In any case, the old man had only laid down the 'rules' as a front to placate the whiners who couldn't stand a little noise. It would be a shame, Sarutobi had said firmly, to hinder the training of such fine kunoichi simply for the peace of mind of a few sticklers.

"You know the old codger doesn't care," Anko said, rolling her eyes. And here she thought Usagi had something important to say...

"Yeah, at least until some snooty council member starts screaming about the-- whatever they call us these days, demons, murderers, traitors and that we have to go or they'll wake up with their throats slit," Usagi summarized tiredly, wearily scanning the sky for interesting cloud shapes that she could look at to take her mind off whatever was plaguing it. Anko rolled over to face her former student and propped herself up with her elbow.

"Alright kid, fess up. What's on your mind? You only talk about shit like this when you're depressed. The rest of the time you laugh and make a big joke out of it."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. Am I really that transparent? For a few seconds, the chuunin considered lying, then reconsidered. Lying would only piss Anko off, and Usagi was too tired for another spar, verbal or physical.

"You know what tomorrow is," Usagi said, and left it at that. Anko blinked for a moment in puzzlement, then understanding dawned. The jounin struggled to her feet, then offered her hand to the younger woman.

"Come on, kid. Stop playing in the mud so we can both go home." The chuunin allowed herself to be pulled up, then tugged slightly at her former sensei's hand to make her stop.

"You won't tell the Hokage anything about this, will you?"

"I won't," Anko said shortly. "Now stop worrying and let's go before the old man decides we need a babysitter-- speak of the devil."

Leiko stalked into their training ground, then stopped a good distance away. Probably scared she'll get fried, Usagi thought, and she has a damn good reason to be. Usagi and Leiko had been classmates, but that was where the friendly terms ended. The older girl had always been jealous of the 'prodigy' of the Tsukino clan, and resentful of how an eleven year-old had been bumped up to chuunin status. Usagi had just plain disliked Leiko for her attitude and how she picked on those she saw as below her.

"The Hokage has sent me to tell you to cease your training immediately, as it is disturbing the public," Leiko stated coldly, gray eyes like pieces of flint boring into the two kunoichi across from her.

"You can tell the old man we've already finished," Anko reported, sauntering off toward the village, probably already dreaming of dango.

"Snake bitch," Leiko muttered softly, once the jounin was out of earshot. Unfortunately for her, Usagi was still in the vincinity and had very sharp ears.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu."

Leiko froze, unable to move-- well, actually, that was the jutsu's doing. Usagi patted her ex-classmate's cheek lightly, smiling and making sure to show her pointed canines.

"There's a reason you failed the jounin exam, Leiko. You never learned to keep your mouth shut," Usagi observed sweetly as she walked away. "I'll send somebody to unfreeze you...eventually...someday... if I remember...yeah."

Such was the extent that Usagi would go to for her precious people.

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Thok.

Usagi slitted her eyes open blearily, wincing and raising a hand to shield her face from the sunlight.

Thok.

What was that annoying sound...?

THOK. THOK. THOK.

"Stupid bastard! I'll beat you, just you wait!"

Usagi's eyes widened, then narrowed. Channeling her chakra into her feet, she stood upside down on the tree limb and poked her head out of the brush.

"Just who do you think you are, you-- AH!"

Usagi swung herself to the left just as a shuriken soared past the spot where her face had last resided. Her control wavered, and the chuunin crashed to the floor and landed in an ungraceful heap. Just as quickly, she was up again and spitting mad.

"What the hell?!" the blonde bellowed at the intruder. "Do you mind? I was trying to take a nap!! You are so--" Usagi's voice petered off as she got a good look at the intruder. It was a short, blond boy with huge sky-blue eyes, warm tan skin, and whisker markings, three on each cheek. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit that the girl had to blink at for a few seconds. An evil thought flitted through her head, and a sinister grin reminiscent of her sensei grew on her face as she evaluated it.

"...so...sooo..." The boy backed up nervously as Usagi moved toward him, then yelped as his back hit the tree. The chuunin towered over him, and he gulped at the menacing figure she cut out.

"CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTE!!" Usagi squealed, glomping him and squeezing ferociously. The kid's eyes bugged out and he let out a strangled sqauwk of protest, at which the girl promptly released him. The boy fell onto the grass, then was up again in an instant.

"What's the big idea?! Are you trying to KILL me? Don't you-- huh?" the boy squinted at Usagi, whose hand was pressed over mouth and her shoulders were shaking. "What's wrong with you?"

At this, the blonde chuunin lost it and fell over laughing hysterically at the expression on the kid's face. His insulted face didn't help matters any, and it only served to make Usagi break out in a fresh peal of giggles. Her laughter petered off slowly as she sat up and wiped the tears of mirth off of her cheeks.

"Sorry," she gasped, still smiling. "I know I shouldn't have, but I wanted to see what would happen if I jumped on you. I really am sorry!" Usagi protested to the disbelieving look on the orange-clad genin's look. "Look, what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," the boy said warily, looking ready to bolt. Usagi rolled her eyes, thinking, He must be afraid I'm going to squish him again. She got to her feet and brushed off the dirt that had gotten rubbed in, still thinking. That name, Naruto Uzumaki, it rang a bell somewhere in a head. Where had she heard of him before...?

Wait a minute...Hadn't Iruka said something to her about a prankster in his class? Usagi checked the boy out from the corner of her eyes. Orange jumpsuit, loud personality, whisker marks...Yep, this was Naruto, alright. The pranks he pulled had most of the chuunins and even a few of the jounins running around like crazy people-- not Usagi, though. She prided herself on always finding someplace else to be and making sure it was in a station that would get her a good view of the spectacle when those situations arose.

"You were in Iruka's class, right?" Usagi asked nonchalantly, just to make sure. A beaming grin spread itself across Naruto's face, and he pumped a fist into the air.

"Yeah! Iruka-sensei's the greatest!" he cheered, and the chuunin couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm.

"He is indeed," she agreed, and to the questioning look she received, she said, "Iruka and I knew each other as genin, since I liked his jokes and he liked my company."

"Iruka-sensei made jokes?" Naruto said skeptically.

"Scary thought, isn't it?" Usagi said, smiling, even as a darker thought struck the surface of her mind, What am I doing? Do I really want to get involved with another lonely person again? Any idiot can tell this kid is starved for affection.

"He's very lonely," Iruka said, sad brown eyes downcast as he turned away, looking at the sunset. "He doesn't have any friends in his class, or any others. He's completely alone..."

"Uzumaki can't be that alone if you're looking out for him," Usagi said practically, leaning against the desk. "And surely not everyone hates him. You don't, after all. I don't. We count for something, right?"

"But I can't be there all the time..."

"Listen, Naruto," Usagi said, making a split-second decision as she checked the contents of her wallet. "Iruka told me you liked ramen, so I was wondering if you wanted to come eat with me. I'll be paying, of course-- what's wrong?"

"Me?" Naruto said, pointing to himself, blue eyes wide and startled (a very cute expression on him, Usagi noted). "But, you don't even know me..."

"I've heard enough about you from Iruka," Usagi said kindly, grabbing Naruto by the arm and towing him in the general direction of Ichiraku's ramen shop. Almost immediately, their positions were reversed and the chuunin was the one being dragged.

"Woohoo! Alright, ramen, here we come!"

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"Be careful, you'll choke," Usagi said worriedly, twirling her chopsticks around her fingers as she watched Naruto practically inhale the noodles in his bowl. She couldn't remember the last time she'd taken someone besides Iruka out to eat (a certain blond genin's constant craving for ramen drained the poor man's wallet surprisingly often), and she'd hate to have it end in disaster.

"Did you hear?" Naruto said to her, after successfully polishing off his third bowl of ramen. "There's going to be a meteor shower later tonight! The last one was seven years ago, but I didn't get to see it that time..." He didn't notice how Usagi's chopsticks stilled, and her eyes darkened sorrowfully.

"Meteor shower, huh..." she whispered, more to herself than the boy next to her.

"Please, Itachi-sensei? We never do anything together!"

"No, Usagi. I have duties to attend to."

"...alright. I understand, sensei..."

I did, I just didn't want you to see me acting like a spoiled child...

"Itachi-sensei! I thought you said you weren't coming!"

"I changed my mind."

"Won't you get into trouble? I don't want you to be punished because of me..."

"Look. It's starting."

But you still came. I didn't think I meant that much to you. Maybe I never did.

"Itachi-sensei?"

"Yes, Usagi?"

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile."

"..."

"You should do it more often."

I only wish...

"Hey, look!! It's Kakashi-sensei! Sensei, over here!"

Usagi almost fell off the stool she was perched on at Naruto's shouts. She scrubbed the half-formed tears from her eyes, sternly telling herself the sting in her eyes was from the steam from the ramen, and looked in the direction that the genin had indicated. The chuunin's eyes fell on the dark-haired boy trailing behind the masked silver-haired jounin, completely ignoring the pink-haired girl walking beside him. Usagi shut her eyes resignedly, and turned away, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut.

Maybe she should have stayed home after all.

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