Hiya, this is Quiddity! :D

This is a OC x Itachi story!

So, this story has been in my mind for a while and I wrote the first version of it some years ago. I decided, after seeing the numerously horrid mistakes and cheesiness, to rewrite it, but then I had no idea what to do with it. I later had an epiphany! To post it up somewhere, yay!

Since I'm still a newbie writer and I have yet to learn much more about writing, please do review this story or PM me or whatever you feel like. Thanks :)

DISCLAIMER: All Naruto characters do not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.

Chapter One: Of Nightmares

Can I be dreaming once again?

I'm reaching helpless, I descend...

You lead me through this maze yet I'm not afraid.

lyrics by Red.

Pink stargazer lilies grace the emerald field, gently rocking in the wind. Their vibrant colors both blind and entrance me, beckoning me closer. As soon as I made a step towards them, a scream erupted from somewhere. The blue sky, green grass, and the pink petals all turned to a crimson red. I turn towards the scream but all I see is a dead woman on the ground with her eyes opened to the sky in shock as her dark blood drowns the lilies in a sea of crimson.

Falling to my knees, I fail to catch my breath. My phantom fingers touch the woman – a touch me – only to feel the flesh disintegrating: first into rotting, ancient flesh, and then into dust. The dust flies away from me and guides my eyes to the man with red eyes.

I scream, tears making streaks across my pale cheeks. I grab the sides of my head with my fingers, feeling the warm flesh to make sure I was alive. Strong arms embraced my sobbing self, warmth seeping into my cold skin.

My sobs quickly turn into silent tears through many years of practice of self-control. I closed my eyes, allowing him to pull me into his lap as he stroked my unusually pigmented long hair. Brushing his lips against my forehead, he waited until I was breathing evenly.

"Yuri, Yuri, Yuri..." he murmured softly, "The same dream again?"

Wordlessly, I nodded, burying my face into his chest as tears forced their way through my tear ducts. Pathetic sobs escaped my lips as I placed my fingers on my lips, willing them to stop quivering.

"It's only a dream," he said, pulling me away from him. He crouched down a bit, kissing my tears away. He moved my hand away, kissing me lightly on the lips.

"It felt so real," I allowed myself to whisper. I pulled him closer to me, my arms wrapped around his muscular chest.

"But it wasn't," he replied, cutting off anymore of my words. He pulled me back to the bed, one arm under my head and the other around my waist.

I played with a strand of his silver hair as I reached up to kiss his lips through his mask.

"Mmm... Kakashi?" I murmured. I woke alone, as usual. My alarm clock read 6:21 AM. I turned my gaze from the clock to the empty side of the bed. I touched the covers with my fingers. Still warm...

A piece of paper was placed neatly by my head. Getting up and out of bed, I grabbed the note, reading it as I made my way to my closet.

Yuri,

You were sleeping so soundly after such a bad nightmare I couldn't bear to wake you. Sleep well, if you're still asleep. If you're not, a bath is ready for you and there's breakfast at your table.

- Hatake Kakashi

Infuriatingly unemotional, as usual. I crumpled and tossed the paper into the trash basket as I opened my closet.

I picked out my usual kunoichi attire: a cherry red sleeveless shirt and short black ninja tights until a white skirt. Grabbing my kunai pouch, bandages, black gloves, and of course, my undergarments, I strolled into my bathroom and soaked in a hot steamy bath.

I hissed as fresh wounds met piping hot water. I bore with it, allowing the pain to consume for an instant before I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip, fighting against the pain as a thought crossed my mind.

Pain. That was all there was to a ninja's life.

My reverie was interrupted by my acute senses. I sensed someone hiding behind the window of my bathroom.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?"

"Sharp as ever," he said with some amusement, pushing open the door. He was twirling a porcelain cat mask on his left index finger, sitting on the ledge of the window with his back to the side, a foot dangling on the inside of my bathroom. "I was actually trying to be stealthy that time."

I stepped out of my bath nonchalantly, pulling on a bathrobe as I let the water drain my sweat, blood, and dirt.

"I didn't become an ANBU captain at 13 for no reason, you know," I replied simply, stepping into my room again, noting that the bed sheets had been folded. I sat on the stool of my white vanity, brushing a boar's hair brush through my pink hair. Kakashi followed me, standing behind me and watching every one of my movements intently.

I sighed, placing my brush down. I swiveled around in my stool, facing the silver-haired jonin. He leaned down towards me, his breath brushing against my lips. Pulling his mask down, I pressed my lips against his, my arms around his neck. He placed one hand on my cheek tenderly before I pulled away abruptly.

"What are you going to say that's going to piss me off?" I asked innocently. "It better not have to do with my ANBU mask you've been holding."

He sighed, plopping on the bed and trying to pull me onto his lap.

I rose my brow, my arms crossed against my bosom.

"Alright, alright!" Kakashi surrendered, his hands up in the air. "The Hokage-sama has an S-classed mission for you. Even I'm not supposed to know what it is. That's why I retrieved your mask from the trash dump behind your apartment building, Yuri."

I threw my hands up in the air. "I knew it! Kakashi, why couldn't you have just said no? I want a normal life. I gave up being an ANBU captain when I was fourteen years old. I want to be a normal jonin or even better, a normal girl. For the past four years, I have been running across this continent, on crazily suicidal missions or killing people. Kakashi, I don't want to be a murderer anymore. I want to be a good older sister to Sakura for once. For the first time in ages, we're finally going out shopping and... I don't know, Kakashi! Why do I have to fight for the most natural things in the world to work out for me?"

Frustrated beyond belief, I sucked in a deep breath of air before I was interrupted. Both of our heads swiveled to my door. A scuffle of shoes and the front door slamming shut brought us to our senses.

"Nee-chan? Are you home?"

I muttered a curse. Fast as lightning, I kissed Kakashi's forehead before he disappeared into thin air.

"Sakura, I'm in here."

In seconds, I had dressed in my normal kunoichi clothes, about to pull on my gloves when Haruno Sakura, my insufferable little sister, peeked in. She grinned at me before bounding into my room, hugging me hello.

"Hey, little girl, what have you been up to?" I smiled, ruffling her hair with a bare hand.

"Nothing really. I sneaked out of the house before Mom and Dad would start the whole Sunday breakfast ritual began," she rolled her eyes. A habit she inherited from me.

Sakura and I were basically identically alike. She had the same soft pink hair I had, obviously growing it out to imitate my long, waist-length hair. Her pale porcelain skin was akin to mine. The only thing slightly different between us was the more narrow jaw line I had and our eyes. Hers was a soft jade color while mine was a brighter, clear emerald pigment. Neighbors and villagers often commented on the unnerving resemblance between us whenever we shopped together.

"Good job, kiddo."

As I pulled on my shoes, she tried on my gloves which I had neglected to put on. They were obviously too long for her fingers. When she raised her palm to me, the tips of the gloves sagged like an empty sack of potatoes.

"Potato bag fingers," I snorted.

"Hey!" she retorted. Sakura's eyes fell to the ANBU mask that was lying on my bed. "Oh."

Sakura turned to me, her face turning a disappointed pink.

"I'm so sorry, kiddo," I apologized, crouching down to her size. "I thought I was free but Kakashi told me that I had a mission assigned today."

"It's okay," she struggled, adjusting her headband protector. Sakura forced a smile. "I know you're busy."

"Oh, Sakura..." I murmured as her eyes pricked with tears. She hugged my waist tightly as small tears leaked out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry, baby. I wish I could be a better old sister. Tell you what, first thing when I get back, we're eating out and shopping. It doesn't matter what Mom or Dad says, we're going shopping and you're sleeping over, okay? First thing, I promise!"

"Really?" she said, sniffling.

I laughed, wiping her tears away with a finger. "Of course. I love you, even though I can't show it most of the time, Sakura!"

She lifted up a pinkie promise. "Promise to keep your promise and to never tell anyone that I cried over something like this?"

I sensed her newly founded teenage rebelliousness kicking in. Smiling, I hooked her pinkie with mine and knocked her head with mine gently.

"Promise."

Clad in my ANBU outfit of a black turtleneck sleeveless shirt, black ninja pants, gray torso armor, metal arm-guards, and my porcelain mask hiding my face, I waited for the Hokage to finish with his last contract. His secretary scurried away quickly when he saw how deadly my narrowed emerald eyes looked.

He gestured to come closer and I strode over, my long ponytail swishing behind me.

Swiftly, I knelt on one knee.

"Haruno Yuri, ready to take orders."

The old man breathed in his pipe before saying slowly, "No need for formalities. Since you hate these missions, I'll tell you what I want you to do, Yuri-chan."

The old Hokage acted as my grandfather in the past years of my life and as such he knew everything about me. After my parents and I had argued when I was a child about my future, the Hokage was the one who had stuck up for my convictions. He dictated that if I wished to graduate early, live away from such overbearing parents, take the chunin exams, etc., then so be it. Because of the Hokage, I lived a freer, albeit unusual, life growing up.

I got off the ground, dusting my pants off. I jumped onto his desk, my legs swinging off the edges as he drilled me on what was happening.

"I know you have no wish to do anymore of these tedious tasks, but I'm asking you to do one more mission as a personal favor. I firmly believe that despite the numerous shinobi there are in Konohagakure, you are the only one who has a chance of succeeding in this mission." The old man took a moment to puff away at his pipe. "In reward, you will both be paid properly for a successful job and relieved of any shinobi duties that you do not want to engage in."

My head turned, my eyes wide as I tore off my mask. "Seriously? You really mean, that, Jii-san?"

He nodded slowly, turning his gaze away from mine.

"What's the catch?"

"Your mission is to capture the S-classed missing-nin Uchiha Itachi."

Author's Note:

Okay, I know what you're thinking: what the hell is Kakashi doing in this story? Just trust the author and read along. (: