This is the first chapter of "Lonely Souls", the sequel to "The Saddened Painter and the Lonely Shinobi".

This chapter contains pretty much only explanations, no real actions, that will come later. So, I hope you'll enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor the picture (Modified it, but still not mine)

Warning: May be a boring chapter, but don't give it up! It's necessary to the plot.

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Had she been anyone else, she'd have started yelling at him a long, long time ago.

Seriously, what kind of sensei makes his student practice throwing kunais for FIVE HOURS?! He had never done that before. And the targets weren't even changing. He had woken her up at five a.m. and led her here, in that stupid clearing, had set ten targets in different places, and told her to hit them all. And she did, hitting the bull's eye each and every time. Then she turned to him, grinning, knowing she had reached his expectations of her. But then, instead of the single nod of acknowledgement he'd always give her before moving to a new exercise, he'd just blinked and said, "Again." Confused, she'd gathered her kunai and started again, doing just the same as the first time. Only to hear once more this quiet, infuriating "again." If she didn't know him she'd think he was trying to get a rise out of her. But she did know him, to an extent, and she knew that was not his style. Because he knew such behaviour from him would only serve to decrease her already low self-confidence, and if he had really wanted to make her angry, he'd have mentioned her almost wedding, and commented on how a good wife she would have been. If there was one thing Tsuky couldn't stand, it was being denied her status as a kunoichi. Because, she hadn't suffered torture and betrayal to still be considered a civilian. Not when she could keep up with an Akatsuki member.

Well, keeping up was a big word. It was more like being able to avoid being beaten to a bloody pulp by crazy members. Seriously, what was with them and blood? The first time she trained with each of them, they had all tried –and succeeded- to beat her up; she'd spent months now trying to understand exactly what was going on in these crazy criminals' mi-

"Tsuky."

She jumped, startled; she'd forgotten he was there. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes; he was watching her with something akin to annoyance, and…was that amusement?

"Don't get distracted. In a fight, you would be dead."

Tsuky scowled. He wasn't the one who'd been up since five in the freaking morning just to practice an accuracy that was already excellent. Besides, the bastard had his eyes closed the entire time; she was almost certain he'd been sleeping for the past hour or so. Maybe even more, and yet he never missed anything of what she did.

"In a battle, I wouldn't be doing the same thing over and over for five stupid hours," she muttered, so he wouldn't hear it. If that exercise had a purpose, then she was completely missing it.

"Your accuracy is decreasing."

Tsuky looked up, and glanced at the targets. He's right, she thought; over the past hour, she had somehow stopped hitting the middle of each, and her kunai were slowly drifting towards the edge. She scowled again; of course her accuracy was decreasing! She wasn't about to keep focused on such a repetitive and long task as-

Blink.

Blink.

Oh.

So that was the purpose of the exercise.

Sometimes she really hated him.

She looked back at him, only to be met with the infamous Uchiha smirk, one that said, took you long enough.

Alright, Tsuky. Breath in, breath out. You can't beat him to a bloody pulp and you can't yell at him for waking you at five in the morning for a stupid exercise teaching you something you already knew.

That is, that her attention needed to always remain focused, or else her accuracy and efficiency in battle would decrease significantly.

But the exercise in itself was stupid.

You are never doing the same thing for such a long time; the battle is always moving, so it's true you have to always be on guard. But five hours like this? That was ridiculous. Unless he was trying to determine exactly how long she could stay focused on a task? But he should have told her, then. She wouldn't have reacted the same if he had told her exactly what it was about. So, that meant he'd wanted her to become unfocused, so he could prove his point. But he had proven it; she knew what the purpose of this exercise was, now. So why was he still watching her like that? Wasn't the exercise over? Unless there was even more than just learning she should stay focused.

Look underneath the underneath.

What more could he have done?

The answer was evident.

She cursed.

"Kai!"

The air rippled around her, slowly dissolving; trees appeared everywhere, dismissing the clearing she was previously standing in; the targets changed place, and she was suddenly aware of the river's gentle chant not ten feet behind her. And, of course, Itachi was nowhere to be seen. Her cheeks burned in shame upon realising that, when they started the exercise, they had indeed been in a forest with a small stream, and not a clearing. Now that she thought about it, the targets had all been in plain sight while in the genjutsu, whereas he had hid them in the forest at the beginning, out of her reach, so she had had to target them almost blindly. She didn't know when the genjutsu had been casted, but one thing was certain: he really was frightening when it came to genjutsu, and wasn't called a master for nothing. He'd taken advantage of her lack of attention to slowly shift the landscape until it had transformed into something completely different, and she had never noticed.

Frightening indeed.

Tsuky shook her head. Once again, she was reminded that they did not play in the same field. She was very average, probably jonin level or so; but that was nowhere near good enough. For a month after Itachi took her away from Konoha, she had been healing. Even after six months, the scars on her back left by Ayano were still there, like an ugly proof of who she used to be, what she should have been. They would fade in time, but for now, she was still painfully aware of the terrible torture she had been through. Itachi had been there all along the way as she screamed in her sleep, begging an unseen shadow not to hurt her; begging her father to stay, not to leave her alone. Her nights had been restless for a while before settling once again. During that time, while Itachi had kept watch over her nights, Deidara had watched after her days.

She had been surprised, the first time she awoke to find the blond bomber tending to her wounds. Apparently, he'd been doing so for a while, but she had never awoken in his presence before. And, he had been the first to make her smile again, when he'd just jumped ten feet in the air upon realising she was awake, and blushing profusely at being caught stroking her hair. She'd giggled then, and when he'd snapped at her that he was just wondering how she could fight with hair so ridiculously long without tying it like he did, the giggle had turned into a full out laugh. A laugh she'd soon regretted, as her healing muscles couldn't handle the sudden tension, and let her know in very painful way. He'd grudgingly tended to her wounds again, and had introduced himself. They'd chatted for a while, before being interrupted by Itachi.

Tsuky frowned. Itachi had grown…strange, since he brought her here. He was always on edge around the other members, when she was with him at least. Because when they were training, he'd revert to the personality she knew, the silent, observant sensei who had been building up her strength for the past three years or so. And yet, something had changed in their relationship. That time he'd interrupted her conversation with Deidara, he'd almost frightened her with the intensity of his glare. And he hadn't even been glaring at her; Deidara had been on the receiving end of it, and the blond had almost bolted out of the room at the sight. Itachi had finished what the blond had started without saying a word; and then, right before he left, and without even looking at her, he'd told her to stay away from Deidara and the other members. A warning she didn't understand, since as soon as she was healed he let them beat her up under the guise of training, even if he was always present when it happened. So far, she'd seen Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu and Hidan, even if the two had been quick to dismiss her, Zetsu, who'd scare the hell out of her when he melted out of the ground right underneath her feet, and of course, the leader.

That had not been a pleasant experience.

Tsuky was walking behind Itachi, in a dark corridor of the Akastsuki's headquarters. Of course it wasn't the main building, she'd been told; this was just a hideout, the main base was elsewhere. And she wasn't meeting the leader himself, but a hologram. Even if Itachi had warned her to be respectful, and not to lie to him. Because apparently, hologram or not, he had the power to kill her before she could blink. Such a reassuring thought.

They reached a black door that seemed to absorb all lights; there wasn't a lot to begin with, so she resorted to use her Hoshigan to see in the dark, a move that had been approved by Itachi, if the single nod he gave in her direction was anything to go by. Both had stopped, and Itachi stayed quiet. He knocked once, and the door opened on its own, as a silent invitation to enter. He stepped away from it and let her cross the threshold. She felt him pat her back, lightly pushing her towards the room.

"Remember: be respectful and don't lie," he whispered, before the door closed behind her.

She breathed deeply, trying to still her nerves. Now was the time to prove herself worthy of being trained by Itachi. He had already deemed her worthy of it, but he wasn't the leader of Akatsuki; the man hiding in the shadows was. And if he wasn't satisfied with her, it would be over, here and then. Itachi wouldn't be able to do a thing.

She refocused on the shadows surrounding her; despite the Hoshigan, it was difficult to see anything. Whereas the sharingan was meant to see in the dark, because it was used to predict an opponent's moves at any time, the Hoshigan was meant to target the mind; something that had no tangible form, meaning no real improvement of her vision.

Well, a bit, but not enough in the potent darkness of the room.

She suddenly became aware of a powerful chakra residing a few feet in front of her; had it always been here, or had it just appeared out of nowhere? Had he been hiding it from her, to gauge her reaction? Impossible to tell.

Something moved before her, and she was instantly on guard. She didn't know what was expected of her, exactly. From Itachi's words, she had guessed he would only talk to her; but what if he wanted to judge her fighting abilities? Or worse, what if he had already decided she should die? What then?

Calm down, she thought, panicking won't help you. Stand strong and prove him you can be trained, and that you won't be a burden to the organization. You can do it.

She let her eyes meet the shadows before her, knowing somewhere in there the man was observing her, silently. She could almost feel him circling her, like a predator wondering what his prey would do. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of bolting. True, she was scared, and she was certain he could feel it; her heart was beating so loudly in the deadly atmosphere of the room, he couldn't not hear it. Whatever he was looking for, he must have found it, because suddenly the tension of the air vanished, and a cold, unfeeling voice called out to her:

"Come closer."

It took her everything she had not to turn back and run. She could suddenly see him, or rather, his eyes. The Rinnegan. She'd read about them in the Konoha library, and although there wasn't much knowledge to read, the little she had learned was enough to know this man possessed tremendous power, and was not one to be messed with. Let's not forget he'd created the most powerful criminal organization of the world, feared by the five great shinobi nations. If someone was capable of scarring this world beyond recognition, then it was him without a doubt. Just then, she realised the predicament she was in; the man had created an evil organization, powerful enough to be a real threat to the world. What was his ultimate goal? Why did he create the Akatsuki? Does he want to conquer the world? That's what every villain wants to do, right? But if it was his goal, then what was she to do? She may have left Konoha, but she wasn't evil. She wouldn't kill unless she had a good reason, and world domination wasn't a good reason. Would he feel her reluctance to join? What then? And even if he didn't, and allowed her to join, would she be able to stand the violence the organization would undoubtedly bring in her world? Would she be able to stand back, watching as innocent lives were taken, all for the sake of a power-hungry man? And if she couldn't stand it, what would she do?

Because one thing was certain: Itachi would never let her go. Not after the trouble he went through to get her here.

She shook herself, and approached the still man. His creepy purple eyes shook her to the core; it felt as though he was invading her very soul, reading her every thoughts. As if he could see everything she was hiding from him, and in a sense, she guessed he could; the eyes weren't called the window of the soul for no reason. Her own eyes had always been very expressive, Ayano had told her so right before she died. Her feelings were portrayed in her eyes, bare for the world to see –something the leader probably wouldn't miss. She stopped at what she felt was an appropriate distance, close enough to show she was not scared, but far enough to show respect. She thought she saw him approving her choice, but she might as well have imagined it. If it weren't for his eyes, she might have thought he was dead.

"Tell me why I should allow you in the Akatsuki."

Tsuky almost let herself relax. That question was easy; Itachi had told her his reasons for training her, so she had to say what he told her back then. At least, she hoped so; she couldn't afford to fail now. He had asked a question, but she knew he wasn't asking her to convince him. Rather, he wanted to know if she was aware of her strengths and weaknesses, and the ways she could be useful to the organization. He was probably trying to see if she could really be an asset, considering her background. She had to prove she was a true kunoichi. She took a deep breath –which she seemed to do a lot since entering this room- and answered:

"I awakened the Hoshigan, which is a powerful doujutsu that had not been awakened by anyone for the past fifty years or so. While not as powerful as the Sharingan, it can be useful when it comes to getting information rapidly and efficiently. Besides, this will bring the number of doujutsus in the organization to three, which is a feat in itself. The Akastuki will become more powerful, if only by the knowledge people will have of the amount of powerful kekkei genkai it has."

She hoped it was the correct answer. She had mentioned the Hoshigan and nothing of her individual strength, and she knew he had noticed, but it's not like she could have said anything about it. She was not as strong as them, and she had no real experience when it came to fighting. But he had to know this; Itachi had talked to him before bringing her before him. And Itachi wouldn't have let her meet him if he didn't believe she had a chance of making it out alive. So, this would have to do for now. She couldn't think of anything else. The answered seemed to satisfy him, though, because his next question was not related to her strength as a shinobi.

"Why did you leave your home village?"

Damn. She didn't want to answer that one. Her past was none of his business, and there was no way she'd tell him about her past self, the one she used to be before Itachi came along. She mentally cringed upon recalling how weak she had been. But if Itachi had told him…then should she be truthful about it? But then again if he had, no need to repeat herself. And somehow, she doubted he wanted to hear the whole story. No, he was probably waiting for a short answer, straight and to the point. In other words, what she wanted to achieve at the Akatsuki, and that she couldn't with Konoha. So. 'Mind your own business' was out of the question; 'I do not wish to talk about it' would be perceived as a weakness, so no. 'It's complicated' wouldn't do either; so let's stick to a blunt truth, without going in details. She also needed ta assure him that her ties with the village were broken, without being obvious about it, and even if it weren't exactly true; she'd never be able to harm anyone she had known in Konoha but he didn't need to know that. So, she needed to be truthful while staying vague, respectful while telling him not to pry, and detached from her village without being sincere. Great.

"I left," she began quietly, choosing her words very carefully, "because the village prevented me from reaching what I truly want. Since it went against the rules, I was some sort of an outcast. Itachi offered me a way to achieve my dream without betraying my ideals, thus resulting in my being here."

She'd purposely left an opening when it came to what she wanted. He had to be interested in it, and so if she was lucky, he wouldn't pry into her reasons for leaving but-

"What do you want to achieve?"

Bingo.

She did not hesitate.

"True freedom. I believe freedom isn't about being able to do whatever I want, whenever and wherever I want, but rather the possibility of doing what I must and choosing to do it, not being forced to. Being born in a ninja village made me obligated to something I did not choose, something I didn't agree with. Therefore I left, looking for a place where my beliefs and my duty would be able to coexist."

It went unsaid that she had chosen to obey Akatsuki's rules; she had not lied about anything, sticking to half-truths and staying rather unclear as to exactly what she was talking about. He thought it was Konoha when it was her clan, but he didn't need to know that. She had affirmed her personality, while making it obvious that she would abide by his rules and orders. She had appeared strong, and smart; the two qualities she needed to have here, and she thought she must have passed his test. She did not make any mistakes that she was aware of, had been truthful, and respectful. Unless he called her out on her relationship with Konoha, she was safe. She wasn't a good liar, so if he did, she was dead. There was no way she could tell him she would kill people of her village if he ordered her to. She wouldn't be able to. In the end, however, it appeared she was worrying for nothing, for after this he began telling her about Akatsuki's goal; an obvious mark of trust on his part. Even if she couldn't quite hide her shock upon learning their goal wasn't world domination –well, it was, in a way, but it wasn't the real objective- but world peace. The worst organization in the whole world, composed of only S-ranked criminal, was fighting for world peace. In a quite radical way, yes, but world peace still. And the part about the bijuus didn't make it any easier to swallow.

Especially when she learnt Naruto was the last one.

Tsuky lay down on the soft grass, thinking; that part about Naruto had changed everything. She wanted the world to be at peace, but she disagreed with their answer to the shinobi world's problems. She didn't think scaring people into submission was the best way to go. She knew she was being hypocritical; killing strangers didn't bother her, but killing Naruto did. He was her friend, the only one who hadn't laughed at her attempts to fight the rules; she wouldn't let their friendship go to waste, no matter what; she'd find a way to save him.

But there lay the problem: she was with the Akatsuki now. She couldn't rebel against them. She did not have enough power. But when would she ever have? Itachi was so much stronger than her; she had no hope of ever beating him, not in the little time she had left. Because they would begin hunting the bijuus soon, and Naruto would be in danger. And she wasn't sure she could help him, not when her own situation was so troublesome, to quote Shikamaru.

She was involved with something she didn't agree with and was branded a traitor to the people she truly belonged with, now that Ayano was gone. And she couldn't do anything about it, not with Itachi and the other members always by her side. She briefly wondered how they were doing, all of them. Whatever happened, she hoped they would be alright.

She got up and headed to the hideout. She still had a dark-haired Uchiha to yell at for ditching her in the guise of training.

XxX

She had no way of knowing it, but at the same time, far, far away from her, blood splattered on the walls of a dark room deep underground, and a dark-haired teenager, so much like the one she went to find, was standing in the middle of the scene, unharmed. While there were dark red stains on his katana, none had dared landing on his clothes, which remained white and untouched, a stark contrast to the darkness of his heart. The boy -no, young man; he hadn't been a boy for a long, long time- wiped his blade on the dead skin of his latest kill, a huge, long white snake who used to be human. A monster had died; and what no one else knew, not even the young man at that time, was that another had been born in his stead, far stronger, far deadlier. Or maybe the monster had always been there; after this, something had irrevocably changed inside of him. He'd lost yet another part of his innocence, and this time, he'd crossed the point of no return, the point where the scars would remain branded in his soul, and even Time wouldn't be able to heal them. He sheathed his blade and left the bloody scene, barely acknowledging the distraught spy who, looking for his master, entered the room and found the body just as he was leaving. He had a task to fulfil, and no one would stand in his way.

Uchiha Sasuke wandered on the corridors, freeing prisoners as he went; the monster laid dormant in his soul. Soon it would awaken, and erase every feeling, every rule, every morals the ninja ever followed. It would grow stronger and stronger as the days went by, as he would come closer and closer to fulfilling his goal. Monster and Human were free to walk hand in hand, but the Uchiha's iron will kept the darkness at bay, caged in the depths of his soul. He couldn't afford to let it free now; he had yet to give up on everything. True, he was now only loyal to himself and his family's memory; but it didn't mean he had forgotten everything he had ever learned. He did not want to, right now. Those rules were a part of him, and he felt no need to break them, for he didn't feel restrained by them. But the still water runs deep; if these rules ever were to hinder him in his quest, there was no doubt in his mind that he would throw them out the window without a care in the world; such was the dark creature he'd become away from the only light in his life: the people he could have called friends. But they were nothing to him now. If they lived their lives peacefully, away from him, then good for them. But if they were to interfere in his quest…there would be no mercy for anyone.

Except for her.

Whenever he'd felt on the verge of giving up, he'd thought about her. She came from a powerful clan, and yet wasn't allowed to become a shinobi. Sasuke believed women to be weaker than men, but that's only because the only experiences he had had with women were his mother –soft, kind, and gentle; the epitome of beauty and submission- his fangirls –weak, pathetic beings, who weren't worth anything in his eyes- and her. She was different from the other women he knew, but she was still weak. It wasn't her fault if she was, and Sasuke preferred it this way. At least she was safe, and he could come for her anytime; she'd be there. She was the only one he'd ever considered as someone to rebuild his clan with. She was the only one he could stand for more than five minutes –if only because, like him, she didn't talk unless she had something useful to say. They used to talk for hours, thinking, debating together under the stars when sleep evaded them both–each for their own reasons. For him, it was because of the lost family and happiness, and the memories of who he once was, for the stolen light of his childhood, and the tainted image of an older sibling who used to be the world to him. For her, it was because of the sadness of a future never meant to be, for a dream which would never come true, and for a weakness she couldn't change. Neither ever said anything about their feelings, their nightmares; they didn't need to. Their souls understood each other like no one else did, and they were content to live it at that, in comfortable silence; but the silence held secrets, and secrets prevented them from growing as close as they could have been. Secrets prevented her from telling him about her training, and him from telling her about his departure. Maybe they weren't as close as they thought they were; maybe they shared a different closeness, one that only they could understand. Maybe they didn't need anything else. They understood each other; but while one had been cursed to darkness by the one he trusted the most, the same person had saved her from it, someone she'd never thought she'd ever believe in. But Sasuke didn't know that, didn't know the depth of the despair she'd been in. And that would be what would separate them, whereas it had been what had brought them closer in the past. She had found a light, where he'd remained in the darkness.

Back in the academy, she had been one of the few who didn't fawn all over him like some lost puppy. He knew she was gifted when it came to painting, but it wasn't enough to catch his attention.

Yet her mind was.

He could still remember it like it was yesterday; he'd been heading to the training grounds to train, like he always did after class, and stumbled upon her. She was standing in the middle of the clearing, eyes glazed over as she watched the sky without seeing it, lost in painful memories –it was obvious in her eyes, full of a sadness so strong so deep and so much like his own. He'd been stunned that day, to the point that he hid behind a tree before she could see him, mentally cringing at his stupid behaviour. But he couldn't help it.

The memories of that night were still fresh in his mind, and he was but a child who desperately sought comfort, despite being already hell bent on revenge. He came back the next day, and the next after that. She knew he was there; but she never commented.

The night he talked to her for the first time was the night that brought them close, and yet also the night that forever set them apart, not that they knew it at the time. It had been the night of her father's death, the night her dreams had been shattered; the night where she had entered a world different than his own.

Maybe Fate would allow their paths to cross and intertwine again. Only Time could tell.

But for now, as he stood before the deserted base with his three new teammates, two things crossed his mind.

First, his mind focused on his ultimate goal; on the man he had set to kill.

Then, his thoughts went to her, knowing the sooner Itachi was gone, the sooner she would be by his side.

It wouldn't be much longer now.

"Wait for me, Tsuky," he whispered, and the wind carried his words away to the person of his thoughts –who remained oblivious to them.