Chapter Two

Itachi Uchiha really ' really ' hated the situation that he was in right now. He was sick, exhausted, chakra depleted and well . . . . more importantly (( LOST)), and NO, he was not ' lost in his thoughts ' or ' lost in the road of life ' like his senpai often said but he was literally lost, and extremely and utterly pissed.

He looked around him for the hundredth time this hour trying to find anything familiar, to recognize anything, but failed ( what a surprise indeed! ).

He was still in Iwa _ at least that much was obvious_ basically because all he could see was rocks and rocks and oh surprise ! . . . . More rocks.

It was afternoon now and the heat was becoming more and more unbearable.

Every second in this heat painfully reminded him of his severe need for water ,and every step he took adverted him that his body will not withstand the lack of nutrition any longer.

After all it has been seven days since he got lost in this peculiar area that he has no idea how he got into in the first place. And to make things more complicated in these seven days he never ever came across not even one animal or one source of water.

But this was just the top of the iceberg; because in no means should this area even so much exist in the first place, that much he was certain of.

For seven days he tried to analyze what exactly is this place running his mind over and over, studying every possible angle and trying to come up with a solid theory, without any progress.

He ran his hands through his ' less than a good condition ' hair ( well ... Great. ) in utter frustration, and tried to run his mind over the facts one more time.

First there is no map or scroll that he came in contact with ever mentioned this hell hole ( He couldn't come up with anything more fitting. ), taking into consideration that he was an Uchiha so there is no way that something like ' this ' could ever slip his mind, more like his eyes _ even if he wanted to _, and also the fact that some of these maps and scrolls varied in time from many years ago till recently, and some of them once belonged to really higher ups in Iwa; so probably no one knew about this place even the people of Iwa until now at least, which is nearly impossible by the way; because this place is awfully near to the borders.

Second that in all of his seven days he never ever came across any other living being, no ants, no lizards ... nothing. He didn't even encounter a fly or a mosquito, even though after he tried to extend the little chakra he had left to sense anything but him . Unfortunately for him he was already pretty ragged up from his mission, and didn't exactly have much chakra. But between that and staying in Iwa he preferred to cross the borders first after all Iwa and Konoha weren't really best buddies ( Guess that turned out to be a very bad decision in the end. ) .

And last but not least even though this was plain obvious that this is an Iwa territory there was something clearly off about the geography in here; because even with theses keen eyes of his and with his sharingan activated all of the roads looked the same, completely identical; the rocks were the same shape, height and size and no matter which road he took nothing changed at all like he was going forward and in the same time standing still he even tried to mark the rocks but he never came across the same rock again, never again.

He even went to the extent of assuming that he was stuck in some kind of gengetsu but he quickly discarded the idea; he was a gengetsu master and a sharingan wielder not to mention that he went through every possible way to dispel a gengetsu even going to the extent of stabbing himself in the arm with a kunai but nothing happened, so this have to be real.

His body was starting to give rather quickly, his skin started to burn like crazy, his breathing became rather difficult, he was sweating and panting quite painfully , and his mouth was so dry that it hurt.

Seven days, seven long days with barely no water or food or proper sleep; he was too agitated and alarmed for something like that.

He was going insane, and his cool dominator was wearing off rather quickly for his liking .

He looked for a place suitable enough to take shelter from the burning sun, and maybe rest a little. So he sat against a rock long enough to shade him and flinched a little at the burning sensation in his back.

He was rabidly running out of options, he had no way of getting out of here, hell he had no idea what is here in the first place and he really doubts that his body could stand the strain much longer.

Itachi was losing hope and he felt really helpless for the first time since very long.

He thought back to his family back home, his brother that he loved more than life itself, oh he missed him so much, he whished that he had the chance to spend more time with him. His mother, his sweet ... sweet mother that always made the hard times less harder. His father also came to his mind and even though he and his father were very different in almost everything he respected his father and looked up to him.

Finally he though of konoha, his precious home, the reason that he was here in the first place, in a mission for konoha, but he has no regrets; because he will always be loyal to his home, and he will always do whatever it takes to keep it safe.

His vision was starting to get blurry, and he finally gave up to a deep sleep.

_._._._._._._

The first thing that he noticed when he started to gain consciousness _ and even though his mind was still pretty foggy _ was that there was definitely something else out there with him, more precisely there was someone else out there, and this someone was getting very very close to his liking.

His hand quickly traveled to his kunai pouch and in a split of a second he was ready to attack, but he neglected the small fact that he doesn't really have the energy to actually move an inch more let alone launch an attack on this person.

He pretended to stay asleep till he felt something getting near his face and he was fully prepared to die a quick death, but what he really didn't anticipate was what happened the very next moment.

A small hand touched his forehead hesitantly at first before it rested there, then he heard a small sigh of relief.

Then the hand left his forehead before he heard a cloth being dipped in the water, then picked up, squeezed, and he felt a cool cloth against his forehead first, then his checks, chin, and neck.

The cool water in this hell of a weather was a total bless.

He felt this person getting too close for his personal comfort before a soft breath touched his face.

" Ano, shinobi-san, it's okay to open your eyes right now. " Her voice was so soft and faint and took him completely off guard ( How could this person tell that he wasn't actually asleep! By the way this was a very hard thing, considering his abilities. ) so his eyes shot open and his onyx eyes was greeted with the most green eyes he had ever seen in his entire life, two pools of green and deep ocean stared back at him with curiosity, a little fear, but what struck him completely was the sheer amazement and fascination that he never seen in his life.

Sure he was considered a prodigy and a genius in his own village, he was also viewed and looked at with different looks by different people, mostly admiration, envy and fear, specially fear. He even had a fan club and a lot of fan girls too. But this look was different, completely different in so many ways.

Then the next thing that happened almost render him speechless because this little girl's eyes brighten more, like that is even possible ! and without moving she said " WOW !You are very very beautiful. "

For a second they started at each other, then she seemed to realize what she had just said, her whole face became bright red, and she went completely silent.

Then she also seemed to realize how close they really were, so she went back to her sitting position in front of him and straightened her back.

He didn't speak at all and kept observing her quietly.

The first thing he noticed about her was pink, she had pink hair ! She was the first one with it that he had ever seen in his life. Also he noticed that she was very small and young, probably the same age as his brother. She looked so innocent that it struck something very deep in him.

God, sometimes he forgot that he was supposed to be young and in innocent too ( At least he whished that was the case. ) He was only eleven years old after all, which meant that she is approximately six years old give or take a year.

She continued talking with the same enthusiasm " I mean I have never seen anyone with black hair and eyes before in my entire life. your hair is so pretty and looks like black silk and your eyes are so black and deep. I really have never seen anything this beautiful. "

She looked confused for a second then said " you are even more beautiful than Ryuu -kun. "

She suddenly stopped and put her hands on her mouth, though for a moment, then got completely serious and said like she was warning him " but you should never till him that. "

" Because Ryuu-kun is the best. " She said while smiling.

Itachi really didn't have any idea what to say and after a moment of silence he finally said.

" Ano, Do you have any idea where I am ?! "

She suddenly seemed to remember something then she looked so worried and said " shinobi-san you really shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous for you here."

" Where is here ? " Itachi demanded.

She quickly averted her eyes the stuttered " Unfortunately I . . . I can't tell you this shinobi-san "

She didn't look him in the eyes for sometime.

Itachi sighed heavily then said " can you at least tell me how much time I was out. " He was already getting frustrated.

" I really don't know but I found you here three days ago. "

Then her checks redden a little " I tried to move you a little but I couldn't so I just put a blanket on you. "

Itachi looked at himself the first time he just really noticed the blanket.

" You were very feverish." She looked sad and compassionate.

" But don't worry shinobi-san you are fine now, I promise. " she said.

" I made you my mother's special recipe for regaining health you should be fine now. "

" You must feel drained because you just woke up put I promise that you will be fine soon. An hour maximum. "

She chewed in her lower lips and whispered " I might not be as good as my mom was but I assure you it will work. "

He didn't miss the ' was ' but he choose not to comment on it.

" Shinobi-san " she didn't talk until itachi looked at her.

" Promise me that you will leave as soon as become well. " Itachi didn't say anything, but he didn't fail to notice the change in her tone.

" Please, please promise. " She clasped her hands in a pleading gesture.

" I don't know how. " He murmured under his breath.

" Don't worry about this shinobi-san. " She smiled, then said " I brought you this. "

She got something out of the bag and handed to him.

He took it and studied it carefully. It was a necklace, a very simple black necklace with a three metal circles in it.

" Please put this on this is supposed to guide you to the exit and to the person who made it. "

She averted her eyes away " I made it myself so it might not be to your liking. You can throw it after you get out of here . It will stop working anyway. " She shook her hands in assurance.

It was a while before she talked again " I will stay with you until you get well enough, then I will start walking away and after half an hour you should start moving. "

He didn't help but to think about this weird kid, one moment she was acting very like her age, the other she was way serious like she all grown up.

She extended one of her hands to him, he looked at her hand perplexed at first, then he looked at her and she was encouraging him to extend his he extended his hands carefully so she took his hand in hers and looked straight into his eyes.

" Promise me. " Again with the serious tone, but he also noticed the hint of superiority in her voice, and he got slightly irritated.

" On one condition. "

" Huh, what? "

" Tell me about this place. " he demanded.

She sighed then moved to sit beside him instead of in front of him.

" I guess this is fine, you won't remember anything about it anyway. "

He was about to ask what did she meant by that, but she continued

" All what you will remember that you got lost. Not where. " She explained.

She sighed deeply then continued" This, like my father said a protective certain, it's supposed to protect us, with any way possible, from evil people . . . And by evil people he means shinobi. " She said then looked at him straight into the eyes.

" Then . . . Why ?! " He was really confused now.

She brought her knees resting her chin on them to her chest and rapped her arms around her legs.

" I really have no idea. ". . . " This ... This was never suppose to happen. " She looked more confused than him.

It felt like hours before she spoke again " My mom always used to tell me that not all shinobi are bad people, she told me that people always fear what they don't understand. That's why my father fears shinobi, because he just doesn't understand, and clearly doesn't want to. She also told me that different isn't always bad. It's just ... Well different. "

He suddenly felt sorry for the girl, she is just a little kid, but she now looked like a grown up.

" Are you going to hurt me shinobi-san ? "

" No. " ( Where did she got that though? )

" Then mom was right. " She smiled, a real and soft smile.

" How did you find me ?! " He was curious.

" I don't know I just did. "

" But again mother always knew when people, always civilian people, are in the belt. I guess I'm just like my mother. "He voice was full of love yet sadness.

They didn't talk again for at least half an hour, Itachi could feel his chakra and power coming back quickly.( Well this recipe whatever it was, was clearly working. )

Half an hour later he was feeling really good.

He tried to use his chakra but failed. ( What the hell! )

" You can't use your shinobi magic in here. "

How did she sensed that ?! he couldn't understand, especially because there was nothing special about her chakra she was just like any civilian, but again she was just a kid.

But he sensed a very strange thing about her chakra, but no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't identify it. Combine that with the fact that she was the only one who found him, and sensed his chakra. This sure is a new puzzle.

But she seemed too reluctant to talk about a lot of things, and he didn't want to pressure her for answers.

He was, even if it wasn't obvious, very grateful for her help, she practically saved his life, and for that he was thankful.

She stood up then gave him a small bag " you will find a water can and some onigiri and bento in here. " she handed him the bag the waved he hand and said.

" Good bye shinobi-san I hope that you find your way back home. "

He hesitated for a second before speaking slowly " thank you. "

" You are welcome shinobi-san " she grinned .

" Itachi. "

She looked confused for a second before smiling.

" Nice to meet you Itachi-san my name is Akari. "

He didn't help but smile too " nice meeting you too Akari. "

"Good bye Itachi-san. "

_._._._._._._

Itachi waited for half an hour before starting to move, but before he started moving he put the necklace that Akari gave him, and as soon as he put it, he felt a jolt of chakra in his body, and he felt a strong but a fast electric current in his head before a small but bright thread of a blue and clear chakra appeared before his eyes and he just knew that he should follow it. He didn't help but look back to find another thread fading slowly where Akari disappeared.

Then he looked in front of him and followed the thread.

Two hours later Itachi felt a very dark chakra approaching where Akari headed, and it was approaching very fast.

He didn't know why put he felt that something really bad was about to happen, and somehow he felt that he had to stop it, no matter what.

So, he turned around and all what he thought about was that he had to get to her, and he had to do that fast, suddenly the fading thread from earlier appeared and it's color was as red as blood. ( Well that looks very bad. )

So he decided to followed the thread running as fast as he could.

_._._._._._._

Well, I hope that you liked it.

Till next chapter.