I beg your indulgence beforehand if you spot any grammatical errors or typos in this chapter. It's been a long day and I'm pretty wiped out, but I wanted to get this posted on time,. Also, I'm interested in knowing if anyone would be interested in reading some of the events from Miru Hoshi in Itachi's viewpoint for this story. Let me know in a pm or review!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Nagareboshi ("Shooting Star")

Chapter Four

When Hana stopped to unlock the door to her house, Itachi cocked his head, his sightless eyes moving as though trying to make out his surroundings.

"You don't live at the Inuzuka compound anymore?" he asked.

She shook her head before remembering that he couldn't see.

"No," she stated.

He waited a moment, but it was clear she had no intention of explaining why she had moved away from the rest of her family. It was just as clear that their had to be some sort of story there, for the Inuzuka were just like their dogs in that they preferred being in a pack. She swung the door open and the Haimaru Sankyodai rushed out their excited yelps quickly changing to growls at the sight of a stranger with their mistress.

"Hold out your hand," Hana said.

He did so and, one after another, the trio of dogs sniffed it. Kaijin, the pack leader, continued to growl. Kemuri took one sniff out of courtesy before ignoring Itachi altogether, and Kaji even dared to lick his hand. The puppy of the group then gave Itachi a demanding nudge. Hana was about to reprimand him when, to her shock, the blind missing-nin trailed his long fingers up the dog's head to scratch behind his ear. Kaji's tail swung in overjoyed circled at the attention. Hana shook her head, entering the house. Kemuri followed close at her heels and Kaji loped after him with an idiotic grin on his canine features. Since Kaijin was still growling at him Itachi went next. The alpha male brought up the rear where he could keep a suspicious eye on this stranger.

Itachi stopped just inside the door and reached backwards. His manacled hands touched the doorframe, then trailed along it to the edge of the door. He pulled it shut behind him. Hana led the way further into the house, followed by the four males in the same order they had entered.

"his will be your room, on the right," Hana said.

The Uchiha prodigy moved forward slowly, fingers brushing against the wall. He nearly tripped over a prancing Kaji, drawing a warning snarl from the alpha male. Kaijin clearly did not approve of this interloper. Itachi remained unruffled as his searching fingertips found the doorway. He stepped inside.

Hana folded her arms across her chest, settling back against the door frame to enjoy the show.

He walked into the room with his usual grace and composure...at least at first. His shin connected with a low table and he winced before regaining control of himself. The Inuzuka barely restrained a bark of sadistic laughter. She had positioned the table in that spot out of hope her unwelcome guest would trip over it. Itachi moved forward again, more slowly this time. Although his back was to her, she could picture the concentration on his face. Underneath that head of dark hair, she had no doubt the gears of his brilliant mind where whirring busily. Itachi stopped in front of the largest piece of furniture--a dresser--and ran one chained hand across it to determine what it was.

"The Hokage sent over some clothes that should fit you. Pants are in the third drawer, shirts in the second, and underwear in the top," Hana said.

'Best not to dwell on the thought of Itachi in underwear--and underwear, that is of course,' she thought.

Judging by the amount of heat currently gathered in her face, she was blushing like some silly schoolgirl with a stupid crush. She found herself grateful for the fact that Itachi couldn't see. It wouldn't do for that brilliant mind to find even more holes in her armor than he had probably already pinpointed. Speaking of the missing-nin, he had completed his circuit of the room. That done, he turned and strode toward the door. She watched in fascination, part of her hoping he would hit the table again. But he was Uchiha Itachi and he sidestepped as easily as if he possessed working eyes. He stopped in front of her. She gave into the urge to shake her head in both exasperation and appreciation. No wonder he had been called a genius.

"The next room I am going to show you is the bathroom, because you definitely need to make use of it," she said brusquely, wrinkling her nose.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Without protest, he went to his dresser and fished out clothes before following her across the hall.

The sink is immediately on your right and the toilet is just beyond it. The shower is on your left. Turn the knob left for hot water and right for cold," Hana said, tone flat and emotionless. She paused, looking hesitantly from the blind nin to the shower. When next she spoke, her voice was strangled by humiliation, "You're not going to need any...um...help...are you?"

Again, there was that twitch at the corner of his mouth that showed he was amused. For an instant, she thought he would say 'yes' just to torment her. Then, he held up his chained hands.

"Only if you intend to leave these on," he said,

She fumbled in the pocket of her jounin vest for the key she had been given. Naruto had keyed it to her chakra signature so that it could not be used by anyone else. She inserted it into the keyhole, at the same time forming a seal, and the cuffs unlocked. She then left the bathroom, taking the handcuffs with her.

"Call me if you need anything," she said before she closed the door.

.oOo.oOo.

As soon as the door closed behind Hana, Itachi went into motion. The clean clothes dropped to the floor as he reached for the shower curtain. He flung it open, reaching out to feel the shelves. There was a can of what had to be shaving cream, but no razor. He turned for the counter, fingertips scrabbling along its surface before he turned his scrutiny to the drawers.

Nothing.

His eyes narrowed in frustration. Naruto must have warned her. He wouldn't want his valuable Akatsuki captive to succeed in killing himself the first full day they had him, now would he? His chakra system flickered weakly with the force of restrained anger, but he didn't have enough strength to form a jutsu that would put an end to his useless life. Itachi flinched when he heard Hana's voice at the door, so sugary sweet that he could picture her smug expression.

"Finding everything you need?" she called.

His hands tightened to fists before he let out a calming breath.

Best to bide his time for now. The opportunity would come.

"Yes," he responded.

With no other choice, he retrieved the clean clothes from the floor and set the on the counter. He stripped out of his dirt- and blood-encrusted clothes. Stepping into the shower, he fumbled for a moment with the knob. A stream of hot water cascaded down onto his weary body. He tilted his head upward into the stream, letting the warmth ease the aching of his eyes. He couldn't stop the soft groan of satisfaction that escaped his throat. It had been weeks since he had ben able to shower. This stream of hot water felt heavenly.

He managed to differentiate between the bottles in the shower, finding a reason to be grateful he had been assigned to Hana. Had it been any other kunoichi, he would have come out of the shower smelling like flowers. The practical Inuzuka, however, chose scentless soaps.

When they were younger, she had taken pride in telling him the scentless soaps made it harder to track her. Of course, Tsume had found her only minutes later and had hauled her daughter off to finish cleaning the kennels.

His own parents had never been able to find him when he didn't want to be found--not that they had come looking for him often. Usually they let him go about his own business, satisfied so long as the glowing reports from first his academy teacher, then his sensei, continued. Mikoto, his mother, had made an effort to keep an eye on him when he was younger, but that had changed after Sasuke was born. The little boy welcomed his mother's attention while Itachi had been aloof even as a child. Mikoto hadn't understood her eldest.

Then again, no one really had.

Itachi shook his head as though to displace the melancholy thoughts. It wasn't like him to reflect on his past like this. He regretted nothing. His past simply was...and dwelling on it would change nothing. Decisively, he shut off the water as though turning off his own thoughts. He stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rack, and dried off. He then made himself decent, though he left his torso bare. Opening the door, he stuck his head out.

"Hana?" he called softly.

"What do you need?" her voice was so close to him the he flinched.

With nearly all of his chakra drained, he wasn't able to sense her and--as a tracker--she had been trained not to give er presence away by breathing or walking loudly. He had been able to hear her earlier, he realized, only because that was what she wanted. The playing field had been reversed and he didn't like it.

"A razor. I need to shave," he said.

He couldn't see to be sure, but his jaw felt itchy so it was probably true. He felt her eyes on him and fought a smile when her breathing became audible. She had finally noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. His predatory instinct raged to life at the tiny gasp she made. He bared his teeth in a smirk just as feral as Hana's own, something wild gleaming in his onyx eyes.

"Something the matter?" he asked, voice dangerously soft.

.oOo.oOo.

Hana's brown eyes narrowed. She instantly understood that her reaction had turned her into prey. Her shoulders squared and her chin lifted.

"Nothing at all," she said confidently, "Although I am going to have to be the one to shave you."

Let him make of that what he will.

By the time she returned, the half-insane glimmer in his eyes had faded away, replaced by his usual blank expression.

"Have a seat on the toilet," she commanded.

He quietly returned to the bathroom seating himself cautiously. She held in her sigh of relief. Itachi, she was learning, was very much like one of her dogs. Or perhaps a more apt comparison would be that he was like a wolf. As long as she showed confidence, he listened to her. The instant she showed any weakness though, he would turn on her.

Hana retrieved the can of shaving cream from the shower as she went by. She dispensed some of it into her hands before setting the can aside on the counter. She carefully spread it over the missing-nin's jaw. Hana moved away to wash the remaining cream off her hands, taking the razor with her. She focused intently on the task of cleaning away the faint stubble from Itachi's jawline. It was better to concentrate on that than the onyx eyes boring into her. There was something terribly intimate about shaving a man, especially when she had to move even closer to him. She could feel the heat radiating off his body. Her hands were trembling finely by the time she was done.

"There," she said, voice sounding falsely cheerful even to her own ears.

She felt Itachi tense beside her when one of the hand slid into his hair.

'Remain in command,' she reminded herself.

"The Hokage also wanted me to cut your hair," she said.

There was a subtle flexing of his freshly-shaven jaw that she had always associated with irritation.

"Would you rather the Akatsuki locate you? There were rumors after you arrived yesterday, but Naruto-sama has already neutralized those. With this hair-" she tugged not-so-gently at some of the long strands- "you are easily recognizable."

He dipped his head in the slightest of acknowledgements. Hana gave a wolfish smile as she retrieved the scissors from her vest pocket. Gleefully, she went to work on his damp hair.

-evil laughter- And I will leave you with that semi-cliffy...mostly because I am not entirely sure what his hair should look like. I was think maybe a bowl-cut like Rock Lee...j/k. Anyway, suggestions are welcome, though I'll probably go with my own idea.

Please leave me a review. Even if it's just a sentence, it will cheer me up and inspire me to write!

Akai-sora: Well, we won't actually see too much of Naruto in this story, at least as far as I have planned out, but he will be making an utter fool of himself in Michiko's story. ;D Also...I don't think I would want to see you in the torture field. You would definitely give Ibiki a run for his money.
Thanks to Diablo's Heir, Jester of Fools, bookworm007, unbeatablehinata, SmalButPowerful, and yourtypicalpsycho for reviewing last chapter!