"How are you recovering?" A short old man asked Akane as she entered his office.

"You know, I'm feeling just peachy could we kind of...Speed this up a bit?" She flashed a false smiled at him.

"Do you have somewhere you should be right now?"

"Oh noo. No no noo. Just wanted to uh get back home and get some rest. So what'd you call me in here for Ol' man" She stood closer to his desk, smiling like she was mental. He excused her rude choice of words and began to speak.

"I've received some tragic information. I understand Deidara has been captured by the Akatsuki." He leaned over and moved a couple things on his desk. Everything seemed to hit Akane like a ton of bricks when she really thought about her sensei "Would you," He paused and leaned back in his comfy chair "Happen to know anything about that?"

"I was there. I tried my best to fight them off but there were three of them. at the rank of those guys I really didn't stand a chance." She lied. There was no way in hell she was really serious when she fought them.

"In contrary to what I usually do and what the average ninja would do in that kind of situation. In other words, You should have fled and left it to police ninja to handle that. I've seen you fight and what I have witnessed is something very extraordinary. "

"Onoki-Sama what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the skill you possess is spectacular. As of right now, You're on the run."

"The run? Running from what? What am I running from?"

"The Akatsuki. I'm keeping you under strict protection from the leaf village. They should be here by about noon tomorrow." The Tsuchkage looked laid back; further pissing Akane off.

"Well this is just awesome! Where do I sleep? Where does my family sleep? I can't just stay here all night."

"That's where your teammates come in"

xXx

shit. Of all motherfucking times to be gone, they have to be gone now. Did anyone bother to tell them to stay at home? Maybe it's a good idea they left because if they didn't they would probably be dead. But then again I can't even head in the direction of home. Nope. Wanna know why? Because they could be there. So I have to waddle my crippled ass over to the shop and help these pathetic fucks out. Damn my family really, because if I go over there and they're gone, ass will be kicked and I mean mine.

Akane dismissed her thoughts and entered the small restaurant her family owned. She went straight to the front desk where her cousin stood ringing up someone order.

"Deichi, where is my family" She hissed at her strawberry haired cousin.

"They're in the back room" Without a thank you, she turned to where he'd directed.

"Mom? Dad? Izum-"

"Oh thank god you're here" Her younger sister cut her off "We need help, this place is more crowded than usual"

"Um kind of in the middle of something so if you could just pack up and leave that would be great" Her sister stared at her with a face of mockery.

"Psh. Right I'm just going to stop what I'm doing to help you with your ninja missions"

"Izumi , this is serious. We need to close down shop and be done for the day."

"mhm I'm listening." She replied blankly as she set food on a counter and rang a bell.

"Did you not notice that I got shit faced yesterday? And that my fucking sensei is all the way in some other village by now?"

"Akane! Watch your mouth" Akane sighed as her Mother's presence was sensed.

"Mom please close up so we can all go home." Akane's mother closed a few bowls of food before rolling her eyes.

"You've been really full of it lately. Now is just not the time. Beside what are you in such a rush for anyway." The room was hot and humid with the smells of fresh food. Akane got closer to her mom and spoke low.

"We aren't save here. And I'm not full of anything."

"Not safe? Like how?" she said with an unbelieving look on her face.

"Itachi. He's back-"

"Now stop lying to me-"

"I'm not. When I really got a good look I noticed it was him, the one who killed Shisui."

"Now don't go blaming him. He's a sweet boy he wouldn't hurt a fly"

"He killed his entire clan single handedly without any help. I think I think I can blame him for the death of my old friend. Plus he knew I wasn't normal right about when I drew last measures and used the fire ball jutsu" Her mother's eyes widened at her words.

"Don't close up shop. We'll leave and I can get some other people to work here while we're gone." Her mom threw off the apron and other cooking gear.

"mom," Izumi spoke " where are you going?"

Akane along with the rest of her family sat themselves in the purple haired teammate's home. Akane decided to talk alone with Minaru in the kitchen. She took a swig of her green tea as he spoke.

"I can't help you for long you know that right?"

"Yeah I know. Onoki- sama said I'm on the run. Why didn't you hold me ba-"

"incase you haven't notice, I don't control your actions and I sure as hell tried to hold you back. You really do have yourself in a sticky mess because you haven't even fully recovered. I bet you still have bandages around your waist." Akane set her tea on the counter and snaked her arms around her teammate's waist to calm him down.

"There's no reason to be angry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. "

"Yeah yeah don't go kissing up," He rested his head on her shoulder "I just want you to be safe…something you never do."

"I try…Besides I'm not very stressed out about this. I feel like it'll all go away. Tomorrow afternoon, when the ninja's from the leaf village come-"

"Leaf Village? I hate those guys!" Minaru backed away from her, "I can't believe Tsuchkage would use last resort ninjas"

"Why are you angry about everything. Cool the fuck off and be grateful someone is here to help. I'm so sick of your shit! I'm better off living with Itachi Uchiha!"

"I'm not angry about everything!"

"YOU CLEARLY ARE!"

"Well I'm sorry I care about my friend slash ex-girlfriends well being. Next time that Uchiha asshole comes around, instead of getting help I'll let him have your ass!"

"Maybe I'd enjoy that. He's ten times more skilled than you!"

Shinchi lay next to Akane on the green grass under the glowing stars.

"I can't believe you said that to him. What were you like..Implying when you said it?" Shinchi's words were slow and slurred.

"Both ninja and sexual skills. I feel like such a bitch though, he's letting me stay at his house and I just treat him like complete shit? What kind of friend is that?" The black haired boy was silent after she spoke.

"Shinchi?...Shin..Shinchi?" Akane pulled herself off the ground enough to see her friend had fallen asleep. Akane smiled to herself and decided to take him home. The red head threw his limp body over her shoulder and focused chakra to her feet to get him home.

The walk home was short and silent along with his small house. The lack of movement in the house told her it was empty so she carried him to his room and threw his heavy body on the bed. Shinchi began to snore quietly causing Akane to lightly shake her head. She took this small moment to snoop around in his things. There wasn't very much secrets in his room, just various pictures of family and friends. She picked up a small photograph of her and Minaru.

Some sounds at the front door made her set the frame down and focus her attention frontward. She turned her head to the snoring Shinchi.

"Shinchi wake up! Someone's here" Shinchi moved a little before opening his eyes.

"what is it…" Akane ignored his question and walked towards the front of the house.
Its far too quiet for it to be his parents.

"Shinchi lock your bedroom door. I'll be back" Shinchi still half asleep, hadn't thought and did what she'd told him.

There was a strong knock at the door making Akane jump. The redhead took a deep breath and approached the front door. She pulled it open to see…no one.

"eh…Where'd they go?" Akane stepped out of the door and lurked around for anyone. She stepped off the porch to still see not a soul.

"Mmph. Rotten kids." Akane stepped back into the small house and shut the door. She was calm now and felt as though she could let her guard down. Akane made her way to the back room when she heard Shinchi yell.

"AKANE LOOK OUT!" Before Akane could react, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. Akane hit the ground with a loud thud.

A loud boom made Akane's eyes shoot open.

"ugh..oh my god. It was just a dream" she whispered to herself as she looked around to find herself in a completely unfamiliar area. It looked a lot like a four-star hotel; Some place close to a casino. Akane started to get nervous when she looked even more around the room. She could hear the sound of someone in the shower. Lying next to her was an Akatsuki cloak. The shimmering water stopped making her lay back down and pretend as though she was sleep. It most likely wasn't safe to run with her not knowing what was outside the door. Akane was sure her heart had stopped beating and the tips of her fingers went cold. The door to the bathroom slid open and she shut her eyes tighter.

Oh my god who is it? I can't believe I got myself kidnapped by a bunch of psycho paths I just want to get out of here alive. I can't even tell who's behind me it's like I'm so scared I can't sense chakra.

Akane could hear the sound of something metal clanging together and skin on skin. There was a sharp breath of air from the stranger's mouth; much like an inward sigh.

"…I can tell you're awake…" A deep smooth voice spoke, indicating it was Itachi. This gave her a few more reasons to be nervous. Instead of trying to hide even longer she shrugged and got off the bed; close to the wall as she stared like a deer in headlights. To her surprise, Itachi wasn't naked. He wore sweatpants and no shirt, his hair was down and almost the same length as hers. Itachi's appearance didn't make anything less nerve-racking. Akane's hair was a mess as it was waist length and often got tangled. She had dark circles around her eyes within second from fear and her skin was a sickly pale from the sight of Itachi. Her skin was moist and cold. She stood, stiff as dead animal her breath was sharp and heavy.

" Why are you so frightened?" Akane couldn't speak. She stood frozen in one area. Itachi stepped closer and she stepped back. This continued until her back was against the wall.

Shit

"C-ca-can I-I leave. P-please. I'm scared" Akane struggled to breath when she spoke.

"You didn't seem scared two days ago…or were you just bluffing…" Itachi wasn't even looking at her when he spoke. He was focused on a few sheets of paper and pinning his hair into a pony tail.

"Where…is m-my sensei?"

"Gone." His answers were effortless and without any emotion. Akane shuddered. She was alone in a hotel room with a half naked cold blooded killer. As far as she knew, there was absolutely no help on the way. While his back was turned she took that moment to edge herself closer to the door. Closer…closer…closer… Soon enough Akane could grab the knob and be gone. Of course that wasn't according to Itachi's plan, who'd thrown a Kunai at her head barely missing between her eyes.

"Just because I'm not looking doesn't mean you can get away" He immerged from his seat and grabbed Akane by her arm making her sit next to him.

"Let me go!"

"Stop talking. You're annoying me." Akane was about to speak out of turn but figured it wasn't necessary and kept quiet. Words couldn't come to explain how frightened she was.