OMISSION

The sky was dark. Like it were made of a plane of cracked lucid glass. Above Rin, the heavens where blazing, full moon and stars shone intense and molten. Flakes of blue streaked the clammy atmosphere. Space heavy with murkiness and forlorn. Rin ignored the bright view. This was no place to be admiring the scenery, nor how breathtaking the full moon was. How ominously dazzling the stars shone overhead.

Rin had been traveling by her lonesome for hours; it had been a mere few hours since their last meeting. The words he bid her with a farewell, still swimming in her mind, "Reconsider your choice. We will have to kill you otherwise." and the way Itachi said it. So calm, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

She was fleeing from a set of men who wanted her to join Akatsuki. They seemed to appear in her way almost once a week. Wherever she turned, the question seemed to jump up, 'Join Akatsuki!'

Over her dead body

Yet, Itachi and Kisame were good with tracking. Where she went, the set of them stuck like super-glue; recently their copious amounts of threats and requests had lessened. Possibly, they were starting to understand the easy connotation of the utterance, 'No.'

But she was still escaping them.

They had trailed her to the Rain village. Headed there by foot, she travelled for days on end until she had finally reached her destination. In an alleyway, a massive shadow emerged over her. Until Rin finally turned around. Meeting two, becoming annoyingly familiar faces. A huge blue bloke, spiked up hair. His looks and size didn't even distress her anymore nor was it irksome or frightful. She had seen it to many times.

"Rin, if you don't join Akatsuki, we'll have to kill you." Kisame gave a toothed grin, exposing his razor sharp pointed teeth. She raised an eyebrow at his threats, but said nothing to him- she didn't need to. The man already knew what her answer would be; she had said the exact same word to him numerous times before.

"Rin Sayoko…Up 'till now we've been kind to you, but Leader-Sama is getting impatient and-"

"No."

She told him as bluntly as she possibly could, that would get it into their thick sculls. She had repeated the same word to the pair of them countless times. And everyone knew that when a word is repeated so many times it loses its meaning. 'No' meant nothing to her, or to Itachi and Kisame.

"We are going to have to make you join by force." Kisame tried.

She shook her head crossed her arms over her chest sternly. Kisame's hand was itching to grab his sword, which was on his back. One swing and the job would be done, with no fuss. Minus the mess he may leave behind, and the disposing of the corpse.

Beside, another was meagerly watching as the girl stubbornly refused Kisame. Time and time again. How long would this battle continue? Kisame had long lost his temper with her. Moreover, he frequently told Itachi how he would like to cut this girl's throat and be done with it. However, Leader-Sama would be very dismayed of it would come to that conclusion.

This task was hideously daunting.

She was becoming a bother. Soon enough Pein may just send out more of the rougher members after her. And to his dismay that bothered him. To see Rin dead at the others hands, maybe his own. It would haunt his conscious, ghost him in his already troubled sleep…more so than the carnage that he had seen in his near past.

What came into view was a crusted, rusty ruin of a building. At first glance, it was ugly. Dank, eaten away with red-rust, emerald pungent mould. Windows, obscure slits, crumbling by the rims, broken shards of glass scattered onto the fermentation. Bleak walls had toppled over into themselves. Soot in patches on the darkened cracked walls. This structure had practically been burned down. Paint had peeled in the heat.

The thought that came to mind to this building was, How gigantic and spacious it was. Second, the air it seemed to give off. An air which screamed; leave, turn back! Danger! The perfect place to hide from who were pursing her. The ANBU. She would seek refuge in this old construction.

Dimness around her, thin shards of moonlight appeared though cracks of the oxidized ceiling. As Rin ran, further into the black of the night her breathing was rapid and erratic. Blood rushing into her ears, oxygen swallowed in short, shallow breaths. Her throat drier than bone left out in the sun. She turned a steep left, throwing herself against a wall. Rin needed to stop, before her already weakened body gave in to her tired state. Rin's nails dug into the concrete of the vertical surface she pressed her back to. Under her breath, she uttered a profanity. Her mind rushed with what her next move should be, 'Run more?' that was too cowardly, and she had no more energy to move. 'Stay here?' Not an option, the ninja where heading her way. Rin wasn't sure if this was a dream-world, or something out of a dream which had melted into reality.

"Rin could you just consider the possibilities of what could happen if.."

"I've said this many times before, and I refuse to join your pathetic excuse of an association." Rin spat every syllable out as if it were a piece of rotten meat. Her expression turned into a scrawl. Akatsuki was a taboo. For low live. Who would want to join a band of criminals, then allow themselves to be ordered around by some pierced freak? Be treated like little lap dogs, sent of errands, 'missions.' Rin had heard only blasphemy of Akatsuki, rumors or not.

Kisame's facial appearance darkened, to something that held a high amount of annoyance. Quickly he reminded himself not to kill this girl, not to tear her limb from limb. His fists balled, nails started to dig into he soft flesh of his palm.

"Hn…" Itachi opened his mouth. He spoke lowly, and aridly. Kisame turned to face Itachi, nearly gasping at hearing his silent, normally rigid partner make a sound. So he was actually going to waste his breath on verbalizing with Rin?

Odd.

Idly Itachi turned to face Rin, for a moment his empathetic expression changed as his gaze settled on her- if one could stare at that expression for long enough, one may have found some form of sentiment. That fleeted as abruptly as it came. Itachi's features hardened, like the hardened man he was. A missing nin, whom betrayed his village, slaughtered his clan. Hated, scorned by everyone. Everything about him was long written with ridicule, disdain, horror, fear and his hands washed with innocent blood. No one could accept, not if feebly love someone such as him. All hope in this matter was lost the day he gave up his humanity by taking the lives of his own kin. In addition, feeling was like re-opening old sores, and allowing them to seep with maroon, translucent liquid. Letting it drip onto the floor in small globules. Indeed not a pretty sight to see. Something he never wanted Rin to see, or experience. Itachi regained his composure fast. Before all became horribly bloodstained from his open abrasions.

"Rin your making a mistake to reject us. Soon we'll have to become more…" He paused as if searching for the correct words, or perhaps he simply didn't have the correct wording to bring across his deeply unsettling point.

"More atrocious with having you join our origination. Soon you will not have an alternative. You are dabbling with dangerous people, who won't give a second thought of when…we, will need to kill you. " Itachi hummed his warning, he loomed closer to Rin. Underlining his monotone was some hidden form of skittishness. The way he said 'kill you' with so much hushed trepidation. His diction almost faltered, with uncertainty. And his throat was arid, he needed to swallow.

These were all signs of someone who was lying though their teeth.

She stepped away from both of these men, holding an arm up, a katana raised. Itachi spoke with a certain air that made Rin's blood curl, pulsate faster though her veins. Forced her spine to contort and twist with a certain heated nervousness.

Itachi continued to speak, in a slow, memorizing velvety husky tone, "Our next meeting won't be so casual."

Kisame laughed heartily at that. Orders had already been given that if they failed in bringing her back, he would have to execute her. Too much information had been given out to her about Akatsuki in advance. Information that only selected Akatsuki members should know.

"She's getting away!"

A ninja screeched shrill into the chilled air, pointing a gloved finger in Rin's direction. Rin heard their footsteps trod closer to her. Rin gulped whatever spit was left in her mouth to swallow. She rested her head back onto the wall, biting her lip so hard there was a glob of blood in her mouth. With a quivering hand she wiped the sweat from her brow.

A set of dark apathetic vermillion eyes squinted into the prolonged night. Seeing a small, crimpled figure scamper. Run from enemy ninja, who were hot on her heels in pursuit. His ears perked up slightly as he heard faint pants echo through the abandoned building's walls. Into the structures depths. So, they had her cornered.

Their silhouettes danced along the dimly lit labyrinth of hallways in the complex infrastructure of the building. Him watching from the rooftops sitting on his hunches, alert to any sudden movements within a five-meter radius of him. And he moved himself forward, dropping into the gloom of the bottoms below.

Rin jumped off the ledge she was standing on, and then felt a warm sturdy object ram itself into her face. Something that felt like a brick wall. Someone, she realized. They smelt of…dango? She looked up at what she had run into. A set of ebony orbs met her warm hazel ones. She studied the jagged stress-lines that ran vertically over his ashen cheeks; shadows flirted over his delicate features.

"You!"

Was all she could hiss out before the man moved out of her way with a monotone grunt, his forefingers placed over her lips pressing them shut and Rin suffocated her own voice. There was a tense silence, as they both studied each other. Rin looking at his pale face and effervescent ruby eyes. Ringed with black swirled specs. Him examining her figure, face and her shoulder length hair. His gaze was angry and aggressive; the rest of his expression was passive, if not even expressionless. He was a cynical man, who had suffered through great pain in his life. Rin recoiled from him, subduing a yelp that wanted to escape her lips form their impact, and the sheer force he used to pull her out of the way.

Much to her apprehension, Rin hung on every last of Itachi's words that rolled off the tip of his tongue. Never had she heard him speak so much. Even if his sentences where immediate and short-lived. Surely it must be some kind of great fest to have him physically speak to her. Every other meeting they had, Kisame would attempt to convince her to join to no prevail.

Kisame was still laughing at Itachi's words. The Blue Man was still in utter, flabbergasted shock that Itachi was bothering to explain the situation to Rin. It all was hanging on a thin thread, which was unraveling. Maybe Rin didn't understand this, but once that wire because fully unglued, so would he and would end her life. With ease, and a grin on his face too.

"I strongly advise you to join Akatsuki."

Itachi finally finished. Rin sucked in some air. Her head swaying form side to side, giving them her answer of refusal.

"I'm sorry Itachi, no."

Itachi sighed in defeat. Her rejection made his heart sting. A bullet pierce through his heart. Of course none of this pain showed on the surface. His appearance was cool, calm and collected. Numbed. Maybe even more calmed than before. The more verbal hits he took from her the more hard-bitten and listless withdrawn he became. But under his long sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak his fingers twitched, burned…ached to just pull her with to the Akatsuki base.

If he had given in to those urges, it may have made everything so much easier.

Rin's brow knitted. He stepped out of her way, a frown appearing on his features. He gestured a hand for her to move on. And he lifted a finger to his mouth. Rin looked at him a moment longer, a gentle tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach washed over her, as she looked at his handsome face. Rin nodded, understanding what he meant. Stay quiet, and try to escape. She could trust him. He merely watched with tired eyes as she backed away from him. How could he have been so stupid as to show himself?

"This is your last chance to join us, without us having to take drastic measures." He sounded very earnest, nonchalant even.

Though, his tone was beginning to waver. Voice shot and raw from never having to divulge so much to one person at a time. The after-effects of staying silent, mouth sown shut for so long.

But her needed to convince her. For her sake, and his own.

Rin snorted. Didn't he or Kisame get it? She parted her lips to speak again, give them a piece of her mind.

"I'll never join Akatsuki!" Even her nose wrinkled in disgust as she said Akatsuki, with a great amount of distain and pure abhorrence. Her tone sprinkled with total acidity. Rin held her chin up high, Kisame sneered at Rin,

"Reconsider your choice. We will have to kill you otherwise."

Itachi's tone was alkaline, a base to Rin's acidic pitch. Kisame raised an eyebrow, was there a smidge of emotion mixed with what Itachi had said? Distress or even, worse pleading.

Both he and Itachi knew, when they met Rin again there would be no begging of 'Join Akatsuki now, or else' then it really would be the 'or else' part.

Itachi felt a droplet of sweat appear on his hairline. How could she have this affect on him? He could feel his pulse increasing. Beating against the walls of his capillaries. Could Rin and Kisame ear it too? How much he was worrying for her life? His stress-lines were elongating. He could feel them growing, stretching becoming more jagged on the crevasses of his wan visage.

Rin warped around on her heel fleeing from him too. She fled further west, swaying anxiously. Moving, lost in the murky corridors. They twisted and turned, in no clear way. If she went on like this she would surely be caught. Her body was refusing to keep going on anymore. Rin sprinted into a straight line. Her chakra was dangerously low, although she could not remember how this happened. It felt like she couldn't access chakra at all.

Blind panic rose in her throat as she realized she might just be cornered. The other ninja, she could hear the pitter-patter of their shoes as they came closer to her.

A cold kunai met the flesh on Rin's skin. Hands pulling back her head. Her gaze slid from in front of her to who was tugging her back. His other hand around her waist, face to the nape of her neck.

She had seen him before. Many times before.

Other chakra whirled around her. A strong amount of chakra stood out prominently form all of the other chakra levels raging. It was all she could sense. The other ninja all looked the same. Long raven black hair, wearing ANBU uniforms. Idle pair of stress lines running down their faces. The night firmament colours bled into a vivid scarlet, the streaking clouds a dark, charcoal black.

Then it hit her.

'Idiot!' she mentally scolded herself.

As Rin crumpled into a wall, face flinching as the jagged stone cut into her back. Honestly she was exhausted. The illusion around her had faded, melted around her. The sky was back to its normal colour. No more black contrasted against a maroon. The same man wasn't surrounding her anymore. And she was in an alleyway. A lost, forgotten dirty alleyway. Dampness filtered through her clothing. Her stomach reeled with nausea. Without warning she spat up her breakfast beside her. Rin grimaced, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Her head felt like someone had smashed an iron into it, and left her for dead.

Crows fluttered around her. Not one, but more like a flock of the birds. A man then materialized from it. Rin narrowed her eyes,

"Itachi…"

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