A chunk of my 'Amy' series, quite a distance into the future...no joke, I have almost 6 years of this plot swirling around in my head--I just can't write it all!

(Sorry, Tsuki, but my fanfics come first, but yours is on its way!! Eventually!!)

Notes:Icey-A Dragon that can breathe an icy vapor and can shrink to fit snuggly in Amy's cloak pocket Said 'Cloak'-achieved by Amy from a visit to the Veron Mystics from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!; it has no major signifigance to this (part of the) story Jakotsu-One of the Band of Seven from the anime Inuyasha (he is a ghost, a spirit, meaning he is dead)
Sayu-Train Heartnet's lost beloved from Black Cat (she's a spirit)
Haku-He's not alone--Zabuza's there, too, he just doesn't get a chance to speak in this sequence (both are spirits)

~ItAcHi JoInS tHe TeAm~

Amy couldn't help but stare absently at him. Was he really serious!?

"Well?" he asked. "What do you say?"

"No, no way, absolutely not! What the heck are you talking about!? I don't want to be your subordinate, and you have no reason to want to be mine! The stakes are hardly worth it! Are you that desperate to fight me or just that confident that you'll win?"

Itachi did not answer her.

"He has GOT to be off his rocker!" Icey hissed from inside Amy's cloak. "Does he really think you're that stupid, Amy?"

Jakotsu had other ideas. 'Yes! Amy, say yes, please! He's so handsome, I just want to...want to...!'

Amy involuntarily shuddered. "Hey, hey! None of that when I'm in earshot!"

Itachi gave her an odd look, and Amy smiled apologetically. "No, I'm not crazy, but thank you all the same," she told him.

Ignoring it he said, "Think about it a little more. If I were to become your subordinate, I would no longer be a part of the Akatsuki, and..."

Amy looked at him expectantly. "And?" she prompted.

..."And I will leave my brother alone."

While her outward expression did not change, Amy was completely taken aback. Was it really true? Then could Sasuke forget all about getting revenge, before he ended up waltzing into the waiting jaws of Orochimaru?

"Do you still not agree...?" inquiried Itachi, revealing nothing in his face.

Amy's thoughtfulness began to show well on her face; she just managed to pull herself away from another one of her ill-timed ADDitations. "Do you," she finally asked, swear on your own conditions?"

He nodded. "You have my word. And yours?"

Unsure, Amy looked up the sky, as if the answer would float on by for her.

That's when Sayu spoke up. ' 'Only fight a battle you're sure to win,' ' she recited, from when Amy had battled alongside Bankotsu at the dome of the Spirit World.

A slow but sure smile crept up the side of her mouth at this, and she now looked at Itachi with an air of complete determination and confidence. "You have my word as well! Let's have at it!"

And suddenly, as she looked him in the eyes, the sharingan she was rather familiar with turned into a sharp-edged triangle.

-~~-~~-~~-

Next thing Amy knew, she was floating in a space of nothingness. She knew full well what was happening, and full well what she should do: absolutely nothing. And rightly so, for beloow her squirmed many starfish, some with detached limbs, each squirming ever so slightly. Above her swam huge octopi, their gaping undersides flapping in the water that could not be felt. To her sides and behind her, squids of all sizes and colors drifted about, their eyes shifting to look at her from every possible angle. Amy did not move her head to look, did not avert her eyes from straight ahead, did not give in to her stronge urge of curiousity. This was an extreme case of 'curiousity murdered the whole of the cat species.'

The mangekyo also brought Itachi into her mind as well, with a form looking like his floating before her like one of her qhostly companions. "Why not take a look around? After all I did to set it up for you..."

"I'm sure you did," Amy said tartly. "Not. Kind of early for this move, isn't it? I ran right into that one. You could have done this the whole time, you know--I don't see why you had to get me to make a deal, too. I'm sure you would expect anyone to die in the middle of something like this."

"Actually, I was expecting you would be smart enough not to look. If you are careless enough to face my mangekyo head on, you would not do as my subordinate."

"Hmph, how rude. And I don't like it here--my curiousity's bound to get the better of me sooner or later, anyhow. Please let me out so we can actually have a real, man-on-little-girl fight."

Itachi only shook his head slightly.

Amy sighed. She then asked, wait, how long have we been here?"

Although it was hidden by the Akatsuki collar, she could tell Itachi was smirking slightly. "Not even a mere second yet."

She grinned back at him after this. "Oh, really...? So no time has really passed at all since I got here...that works for me." And suddenly a white-hot glow eminated from her Soul Star, summoned by her herself, and cut through the black murk that was the mangekyo's terrible spell.

The image of Itachi stepped back in the water in astonishment--and then vanished as everything else dissolved as wel.

-~~-~~-~~-

"Ha. Take that." Now it was Amy who was sneering. "Bet you didn't know I could break free of your mangekyo sharingan. Then again, neither did I."

Itachi was now bent over infront of her, huffing and puffing, broken by the energy taken along with the shattering of the sharingan. They were back in reality again, on the same forest path as they had been not even a second before, with him suddenly doubled over in the blink of an eye.

"That's what you get. Seriously, when someone mentions a 'fight,' I expect a 'fight.'

'What happened?' asked Haku. "Please do tell us later, Amy."

"I will," she told him, then loked back at Itachi. After a thought, she then walked up to him, and kicked him over onto his back. An arch of mystic crystal formed over his ankles and neck, spikes dripping down from their undersides to brush his skin without touching it. "Now, I want you to think it over, you little offer. I don't want someone to follow me unless, for one, they can trust me enough that I can trust them. And to trust others, we must trust ourselves. I have no use for someone who would turn their back on their comrades at the drop of a hat or the turn of a coin, nor a use for one who does not believe in my abilities enough in that they see me as someone not to trust in a situation. The same goes with the rest of everyone who follows me, everyone relies on everyone else. If you cannot accept terms such as those, and cannot open your heart and mind, then take your stupid subordination offer with you for another. You have a nice hour to think before the mystic crystal that binds you disperses. I pray you do not get eaten by anthing passing by, by the way."

And, simply leaving him with her words, she stalked off, ignoring Jakotsu's displeased rant.

-~~-~~-~~-

Not far from when and where she left Itachi behind in the forest, a familiar voice caught Amy's attention. "Amy. What are you doing, here in Kanoha?"

Mildly startled, Amy looked a ways down the road she was on to a nearby wooden fence, next to which walked Gaara, accompanied by Rock Lee. She gave him a big, friendly smile. "I could ask you the same thing, but it's a little too obvious. I just left some business a ways back, maybe about 200 yards or so. Ah, on that note, could I ask you two for a favor?"

"What kind of favor?" Rock Lee inquiried, just as Gaara replied, "Anything you ask, Amy."

"Well," she continued, "the business I left behind needs someone to around to make sure nothing goes up and tears it to pieces. Would you mind keeping any big or dangerous animals or any people from heading that way, from either this direction or otherwise? It will only be for about 55 minutes or so--you an leave after that."

"Why?" asked Lee, once again talking at once with Gaara, who answered with a "Yes, whatever you say, Amy."

'Excuse me for asking,' Sayu now piped up, floating over to hover above Gaara's shoulder, 'but why are you so keen on doing it without questions? After all, I know what happened and even I think that the way she said it sounded suspicious.'

The sand ninja gave a small smile, however grim it still made him look. "I trust Amy enough to not have to ask, and I want her to be able to trust me, too..."

At this Amy blushed and beamed in quick succession. "Well thank you for that, Gaara." She walked over and gave him a companionable squeeze around the neck. "But I'd still trust you either way. You're one of my good friends!" And with one of her trademark grins, she waved them goodbye with a thank you and headed her way again.

Gaara watched her go for a moment, still smiling slightly, then erased it as his hand rocketed up to grab the back of Lee's suit; Lee's head jerked as he was stopped from moving forward. "Please don't," he told him, outwardly emotionless.

"But now I'm really curious...!" he whined innocently.

-~~-~~-~~-

"Stale mate. Again."

"We have SERIOUSLY got to stop doing this," Shikamaru sighed, though he smiled. "It's getting kind of tiresome."

"I think I know what you mean. Though I uppose it's better than winning all the time. I'm rather glad I finally found my match." Amy bean to replace the game pieces.

"Well, I suppose I am, too..." Shikamaru started to say, until he noticed that Amy's expression suddenly became weary. At that moment the door of the Nara household slid open and a coal-black kunai shot itself to land with a thud beside Amy's left foot.

The girl turned halfway on her seat, an emotionless smile coming to her lips. "Well. The weasel has apeared again. What's up now?"

It was obvious who it was in the black with red clouds and the curtained straw hat. He walked in and stood not far from her, his eyes oddly black instead of their usual red and giving a look that told Amy that she should probably know.

She did. "I see. Did you think real carefully about all that stuff I said about what it takes to join our crew?"

Itachi nodded grimly. "I did. M'lady."

At this Amy went from an air of stoicnicity to her normal, childish one as she made a mocking face. "Just don't use the word 'M'lady' and you've gotten in. Welcome to the group."

That was when Amy was aware of the stare Shikamaru was iving her behind her, and she turned back to him.

"What's...going on?" he asked, eyeing Itachi cautiously.

She paused a moment, and then smiled brightly. "A change. For the good, for the better, for the worst, for the uknown, it's still the best word for it. How it works out will depend on this guy and this guy alone." She then brushed the pile of black chess pieces into the bin, and stood up, tipping her hat. "See you later, Shikachan."

Shikamaru made a face. "Girls," he muttered with disgust.

Comments? Is anyone OOC? Tell me! Please! Thank you! And don't be freaked if ou don't understand some parts. Tell me, and I'll clear them up, maybe by simply wrting another story!