It started at the hideout, where the bomb caused a good portion of the dark halls to be crumbled down and become exposed to the sunlight. The stunned faces of Naruto and Sakura caused a chuckle from behind. Sasuke looked up to the source of the sound. The wind passed through the large fields of grass and the long black cloak with a noticeable red cloud pattern on the person who stood above them. Sasuke took a subtle grip to his sword as he stared down who he suspected to be his older brother; a man who was a part of the criminal group: Akatsuki.

The figure stood on the opposite side of the exploded circle from him, standing still and silent. This person took off their rice hat, allowing their lengthy grey ponytail, which went past their waist, to be revealed, and unzipped the dark coat to uncover a petite body in a short black dress, accompanied with the usual shinobi equipment such as bandages and a weapon bag.

It wasn't Itachi. It was her. It was the other missing member.

Nerine.

"Nerine!" Naruto gasped.

"I'm glad to be acknowledged at least, after standing here for quite a while," She murmured, letting her lips fall on a slant; a tiny smirk teased her former allies. "I'm just hurt that you noticed Sasuke before me."

She turned her unblinking eyes towards the tall and brooding man. Narine didn't say anything; she only stared. Staring for what seemed like hours, Sasuke finally made a move. He vanished from his original place to beside Nerine. He had his sword against her neck and he forced it hard.

"What do you want me to say?" Nerine asked, ignoring the spectators, the unoriginal squad seven, below.

Sasuke's eyes glared at her intensely. He still held onto the katana tightly as he half spoke,"...Why?"

"Why?" She repeated, "You, of all people, want to know why I left my home, my allies and my life?" He saw where she was going with this. She scoffed. "And also..."

Sasuke felt tense.

"Your brother has taken me."

A pair of eyes opened and sudden blindness consumed its sight. Sasuke sat up, tossed his bed sheet duvet to the side and grunted. He was pissed. This was not the first time he had a dream containing Nerine. He'd say it was the fifth one within 30 days.

But why now, of all times? Is it because he was perhaps getting closer to his goal of killing Itachi?

"Why is she always wearing that cloak...?" Sasuke whispered as he grabbed his hair in frustration. Maybe these were dreams of truth. Maybe Nerine did join the Akatsuki shortly after his leaving from Konoha. Maybe she did do intimate things with the person he hated the most.

Sasuke wanted to see if this was true, but he wasn't going to let his curiosity get the best of him.

"I have better things to do than to think about a girl I haven't seen in more than two years," Sasuke said as he stood up from his bed. "She isn't important to me."

"Nerine!" A cheerful voice called out.

A small girl turned 180 degrees to face her smiling friend. "Sakura?" She said.

"You'll never guess who just came back!" Sakura was giddy with joy as she squealed this.

Before Nerine could say anything, the pink haired girl dragged her across the streets of Konoha until they stopped at an overwhelmingly tall telegraph pole. The two young girls faced towards the sky and despite the sunrays that stung their eyes, they could easily make out the figure.

"...Naruto..." was the one word that escaped Nerine's diminutive lips.

The gleaming boy looked down upon them all, and jumped to their level. "Sakura, Nerine! You two don't look different at all!"

Sakura was annoyed at this statement, thus commenced the beating of Naruto. He was still pretty dense, despite his physical maturity. Nerine was touched when seeing her friends bicker. It was a long time since they were all together... but in this case, it was almost.

Nerine didn't think things would be the same again after Sasuke's leaving.

Nerine

I dreamt of him again. In my dream, he was colder than ever and couldn't care less about me or my feelings. Two years ago, Sasuke was very important to me, but now he's gone.

I miss him. I hate him for that.

He left without a word; not even informing me. Sasuke said goodbye to Sakura though. He probably favoured her more than me. I still remember the morning I heard about his disappearance. I was upset, depressed, in denial... but most of all I was angry. Why couldn't he say goodbye to me? Am I not worth one simple farewell? Not even a subtle wave? Sasuke wasted my time. Two years of slowly getting attached to someone... gone.

I opened my eyes. It was dark. I sat up and exhaled.

3:24am.

Closing my eyes again as I listened to the solemn breezes pass through the trees outside my window, I felt useless. I was no special shinobi. I didn't have any particular specialty like my friends did. Even if I did, would that be enough to reach Sasuke?

No.

I don't want him back.

I want him to feel the gut wrenching pain, his heart sinking deep into his chest, his eyes burning from the developing tears that I felt. I want him to feel worse than when his entire clan was massacred. He was always a fucking jerk to everyone. It should be time where he gets a taste of his own medicine.

I opened my eyes once more after thinking all of this. My fists clenched into my bed sheets and I cringed. I lifted my head and before I could muster a frightened gasp, a hand covered my mouth roughly and someone straddled me, forcing me to lie back down on my bed. I was far too stunned to fight back.

Akatsuki...