Life. Hear me and scream for release. Black ravens engulf me and blood sews my deathly frame, I walk the line between death and birth- Nothing but a shade of black- a tint of white, I drift in search of anyone willing to embrace me if even for the barest seconds. They scream to me, hissing evil at me whenever their ensnaring fingers near- their hatred, their envy, it burns like a glowing iron, pressing at me every resting second. "Why? Why did you do it? Why did you.. kill us?", the caring ones whispered. "Disgrace! You were our hope, and you betray us? Miserable bastard!" the hateful ones scorned. But only one whispered not. And this was the one that haunted him, in bright sunlight and in misted night, the one that always drifted behind the others, eyes averted in sadness and wishing. The only one he truly hated his government for, the only one whose blood still stained his hands, the only one he ever loved. The one that truly compelled him to join his organization, to become a black demon of death instead of a pure white angel of good. 'Eve', an experiment created by Konoha as a new generation of ultimate weapon, a beautiful angel with piercing ruby eyes, sandy skin and luscious blonde hair, she was a model from the twenty first and eighteenth century together, who attracted him beyond measure.

"Hurry up!" came the grating but somewhat kind voice of his partner, Kisame.

"I'm moving." Itachi replied, jumping forwards on the endless expanse of forestry at speeds past most elite ninjas comprehension, slapping his sense back into himself. This was the moment of truth, if he completed this one mission then he would have her back, Pain swore an oath on his life. With the sacrifice of a Jinchuuriki that could also be absorbed, Pain would have the energy and far more besides to revive one. The target was the controversial target by the name of Naruto Namikaze, the demonic container who had recently become a genin. Kisame was perhaps his one friend in his organization, who opted to help with no reward. The pair had purchased and sealed the most effective, custom made camouflage suits ever devised, seamless cloaks of 'invisibility', cushioning the air., sound, and chakra signature of the wearers, with the cost of a miniscule (to them) amount of chakra. Itachi moved his hands in the Ox sign, signaling to his partner to activate. They cloaked, and only they could sense each other. Lit guard towers were scattered all over the border, with seeker nin stationed with archers. There were four entrances to the city, each with a triangle of towers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Itachi and Kisame whispered, and two clones of each of them appeared, a pair scaling each of the towers. The towers were easily two hundred feet tall, beams of crimson wood spreading upwards. With oiled efficiency the clones and originals eliminated the guards and transformed into their likeliness, not breaking stride. The real ones produced another shadow clone and dropped from the inner lip of the flat, railed boxes.

Itachi and Kisame moved forward at an average pace, not in any hurry. The child was in the low-class district, the two knew all the circumstances and didn't give a whit of care; they'd had worse and were cold blooded killers. They even walked on the roads, as the tiles on roofs would displace, and not a hint of their presence could be known. The five to six story buildings became shorter and more graffitied; the dumpsters and walls were nearly painted. With the Tiger sign, Kisame signaled Itachi to start the next phase.

"Koppu Kiri (Glass Mist)," they whispered. The air became minutely paler, but one could see clear blue strings of chakra crisscrossing the area within a hundred meters of the area, becoming more concentrated the closer one got. "Koppubunshin (Glass Clone)," Itachi let out. Several clear clones emerged, encircling the perimeter on the lookout. They then, masked from detection, walked right through the ordinary metal door with a 17 burned into the green metal of the door, shutting it delicately. Itachi withdrew a crimson, ordinary looking scroll and searched. The place was like a branch, one straight section with four rooms symmetrically divided down. A restroom, kitchen, a storage and a bedroom. The two cautiously detected again, spotting the classic Jinchuuriki chakra in the bedroom. Itachi, silent as ever, strolled in the open doorway. The room was dark, but he could see it was decorated with small toys . The boy himself was snoozing in an unsightly manner, drooling all over his pillow and making a racket in excess of most cicadas. Itachi supposed it would be wise to not remove the stimulus, so he recorded the sound on a scroll and swiped the fire-red scroll over his head, sending him into the void of a scroll and placed the recorded noise on the pillow. The sound was the exact same. Now that multiple alarms had been tripped because of the small chakra swirl, so he signed again to Kisame.. It was time to 'go loud'.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," the two of them shouted. Twenty transformed clones popped out, quickly destroying the walls and using transportation techniques to escape the village. Footsteps of ANBU were quickly heard, who shouted a warning.

"Return Naruto to us or we will use force." declared a lead ninja. But, confusedly, they looked around and saw twenty random people strolling around in a civilian way. Most of them looked up, confused. One called out:

"They went over there!", pointing to the right of where the duo went. The ninja, obviously thinking it was another staged kidnapping, spun and sprinted in the opposite direction, hands on blades, maces, kunai, and throwing knives. The clones sighed, and moved in their own direction.

With Itachi and Kisame

The two were sprinting down the same exit they had same in, which was devoid of ninja. Itachi loved it when a plan worked well, and this was no exception.

"Shunshin," the pair whispered, and the two of them were nearly a mile out of the village. The partners dispelled their clones, and knew that the ANBU had caught wind and were pursuing them hotly. Kisame, thinking on his feet, summoned several water clones and Assist-transformed into a band of thugs and Naruto, who moved backwards a bit and sloppily surged forwards. They were nearly fifty miles from their accessible base, and needed to cover at least half of the distance today. Pain, after all, was as rigid as a board in most cases, but was trustworthy and honest. They continued using Body Flickers until they were a mere ten miles away in deep forest, at midnight. They were in the Forest of Bushes, an area literally blanketed with short leafy cover, resulting in Itachi summoning a room sized area out of the ground, with some dirt spilling out of the edges, and clambering in with Kisame, and replacing the dirt, even melding the ground slightly to make the bend seamless.

Darkness. Pumping adrenaline. "Kisame, lets go!" Itachi exclaimed, quietly. Kisame levied an odd look upon him, but rose and helped Itachi escape their residency. Dirt clung to his fingers and to his clothes, but excitement thundered through him like white lightning. They, although still cautious, sacrificed a significant amount of security for speed, zealously darting through the forage, their cloaks protecting them from the long earthen thorns, until they reached the entrance, which was... nothing. It was merely a thin wall, which they punched through. Inside was a darkly echoing room with two lotus-shaped stone seats. The two strode up and sat in a meditative position, while a familiar burst of shock jolted them into the Akatsuki master chamber, seeing with eyes that were not theirs. An austere, gargantuan dome with sheer rock faces was what they beheld, shivering like the first time they had been here.

"Greetings, Itachi, Kisame. I trust you did as instructed?" Pain asked, though it was much more of a statement. Itachi inclined his head, but Pain could see the glimmer of excitement around his body, disturbing his usually controlled demeanor.

Author's Note: This is an old document I had forgotten about, written at least a year ago. I really liked the idea, so I decided to revise and upload this, as I haven't written in so long. If you would like me to continue, please review. I haven't written in the longest time and really need a motivator to finish what is, in my opinion, a good story. Thanks.