I'm so sorry about the REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY late update……end of school and all, so it gets kind of busy. Oh well, summer is in two weeks, so be thankful? :D well, enjoy!

Chapter 2

When I fluttered my eyes open, I imagined myself to appear in my old, boring bed. With plain white bed sheets and a comforting smell of lavender. Too bad my imagination was well off. Looking at the black and red room, it took my longer than I should have to realize that I was in the Akatsuki base. It was rather lovely—I was stuck in a base full of murderers.

After fumbling around with the sink in a sick attempt to turn the faucet on, I diligently brushed my teeth. Having a dad as a doctor can make you very conscious about your health—even dental health. Yeah, that was right, I had a health bill of perfection. Well, close enough, anyways. After ridding my mouth of potential cavity-makers, I turned on the faucet in the bathtub and took a cold shower to wake me up. I shivered after I came out, wishing that I never had done that. Maybe that was the reason I never took cold showers. Oh, and that my parents said that it was bad for you—too bad I never actually listened to them anyways.

After the shower, which definitely woke me up, I began to grasp reality—this was an Akatsuki base, and I could be killed for this. I realized—it was either get killed by the good guys with hate written all over my grave, or killed my the bad guys and die with honor. Personally, I preferred neither, not that I had a choice.

Assuming that Pein-samma would have wanted to see me, I tried to find my way around the base. Apparently, trying wasn't enough. I ended up at an obsidian door. I wondered what was inside there. This was the Akatsuki, so there must be dozens of weapons and scrolls in there. I was curious, but if I went into a room that I wasn't supposed to go into, I would be killed…….well, that was my assumption. Curiosity (or stupidity) got the better of me, as I slowly turned the knob and stalked into the room.

The room was rather normal, despite it's dark outer appearance. It had clean white linen on both the king sized beds. The floor was made of light wood, giving it an airy feeling despite the fact that it was underground—yikes. There were a bunch of cabinets and drawers, all a crisp, fresh white. It all seemed to be good quality material that a normal ninja could live without. Damn, the Akatsuki were living in luxury. Suddenly, the idea of staying didn't seem too bad. Plus, my life back home was normal and bland, something you would find out of a little picture book. I did not want to live in a picture book. Call me crazed, but I would prefer a life full of stories than one with a happy ending.

"What are you doing here?" A masculine, cold voice came from the doorway, sending shivers down my spine. With my ninja reflexes, I whirled around, only to meet face to face with one of the most dangerous men in the world.

Itachi Uchiha.

Sure, our village was slow on the intake of the Akatsuki, but Itachi was like a world-wide celebrity. Only not in a good way. If someone had told me I would have met him a few years—days—ago, I would have laughed at them in scorn and conclude that someone hit their head too hard. Of course, I would have been wrong.

Itachi stood there, not moving, his emotion never showing. Some people rumored that he was a good looking guy, but I'm guessing that it was an understatement. He would have made fallen angels cringe. He made me feel unconscious about myself. Normally, I would say that I looked at least presentable. But this situation was anything but normal. I had cuts all over myself and my wrist and ankles from the chains. Overall, I looked like I've been dragged through hell and back—which wasn't too far off from reality.

Besides him being eye candy, he was staring at me. It was everything but flattering. He looked at me with scorn and an undeniable amount of hatred. Suddenly, it didn't seem to surprising that he killed his whole clan. I grinned cheekily to hide my fear. But it probably looked like I was wincing in pain anyways.

"Answer my question," His voice was cold and lacking emotion. I blinked at him. I don't blame him if he thought I was mentally challenged by now.

"I was…….looking for the bathroom," I replied lamely. Normally, I was more than a good liar, but hey. Normally, I wouldn't ever have met Itachi. I could almost imagine him scoffing at my answer—but that would have been out of character. He just stayed there, stoic.

"Out," He commanded, pointing to the door. Great, I was now a sad, lost puppy, according to his tone.

"Why?" I mocked an innocence, testing his limits. He just glared at me—this time, with the Sharingan. Fearing that he would Mangekyou my ass, I sheepishly scampered out the door. Hey, I was queer but not stupid.

Once I got out of that hell room, I wandered the halls freely….or as free as you can be in a base with a bunch of S-ranked criminals. Feeling like a bird in a cage, I went back into my room.

Lying down on my (surprisingly) comfortable bed, I wondered silently what in the hell I did wrong to deserve this. Sure I skipped school frequently to play ninja. But who in the world would want to listen to some teacher rant on and on about things you already knew anyways?

Suddenly, someone knocked my door, interrupting my lovely train of thoughts. I sat up so that I looked like someone didn't beat the hell out of me and threw me onto the bed. The person who was knocking didn't even bother for a 'come in' of some sort.

In came a man with silver hair.

"What the fuck are you looking at bitch?" All I heard were the profanities. I mentally added him to my hate list.

"I'm guessing people like you are the reason why we have middle fingers, eh?" I gave him a cheeky reply, demonstrating my thought.

"What the fuck did you just do to me, you fucking shit-face?" He screeched. I had to literally grip the bed so that I wouldn't launch myself at him. Obviously, I enjoyed life.

"Shut up, Hidan," Another man with a masked face hit the first man on the head. I silently applauded him. "And you," His attention suddenly snapped to me. "Get going." I wondered why everyone talked to me like I was some dog. Nonetheless, I listened to him.

I followed him and the swearing man into what seemed like a living room. Well, maybe if they got rid of all the gothic, black decoration out, then it would. I could be kidding about the black, but I wasn't—the whole entire room was wrapped in obsidian darkness—tables, beds, chairs, walls, floors—it was all dark. I silently wondered if this was what a black hole looked like.

"Sit, Rin," The Leader gestured to a seat. I just rolled my eyes and sat down.

"I'm guessing that you're not going to talk about teddy bears and flowers with me," I replied snarkily. He just looked like he was about to murder me. The thing that surprised me was that he didn't.

"No I didn't," His peculiar eyes bore into my icy blue ones, "You are weak." I snorted, thinking that he was about to say something, oh let's say, that I didn't already know about.

"That's what happens—"

"You will be training under the Akatsuki," He rudely interrupted me. Though I hated the 'I am god' energy that was emitting from him, I looked at him dumbly because of his offer. Demand would have been a better choice of words.

"But I will be marked a missing-nin," I grumbled. Technically, I wasn't even a ninja, so they couldn't have.

"You will still go home to Amegakure, but instead of attending that school, you will be training with the Akatsuki."

"Understood," I nodded. I was an expert at sneaking away, so this task would prove to be simple.

"You may return home for now," He gestured to the door. I refrained myself from rudely saying that I would have gone home if I knew where it was. I mean, he was nice enough not to kill me.

Apparently, I had to rely on a big clay bird to transport me back to Amegakure. Luckily for me, the bird could maneuver itself safely to Amegakure and drop me off there. By the time I was a mile away from Amegakure, I was hugged by the rain that I surprisingly missed—just a little. I groaned, wishing that I had wore more than my pajamas. Actually, I had no choice. The Akatsuki never gave me a spare change of clothing. I sighed gratefully, glad that Konan had washed my clothing for me. it was the least they could have done.

By the time I walked into my doorway, I looked like I just walked off a cliff into a pond. My father looked over from his evening newspaper, barely glancing at me until his attention shifted to the paper again. Thanks for your care, I thought bitterly. My mother was busily doing some calculations—probably taxes. She, like my father, just merely glanced at me. I ignored her enthusiasm to see me as I plopped onto the pure whit coaches, my hand immediately reaching for the remote. Only, it wasn't there.

Most of the out things weren't there. I scanned the room. The TV, usually mounted on the wall was screwed off and gently packed into a box. The only sofa left in the room was the one I was sitting on. The others were unseen. The kitchen looked a little sad and empty, with boxes and boxes of utensils. As my eyes darted from one detail to another, I probably looked more than a little traumatic.

"Darling," My mom's eyes finally left the piece of paper she was madly scribbling on, "we need to tell you something."

"What," I snorted, "we're moving to a tropical island so you can feed me to the sharks on the way." The frown on my dad's face deepened.

"We wouldn't do that," My mother put her hand over her heart as if in shock. Yeah, I was more than sure that she would feed me to some sharks for a new diamond necklace. Maybe even for a plastic one.

"And I would never die," I replied sarcastically. By this time, my father got bored and left the room quietly.

"Rin," She hissed.

"And you expect me to hiss your name too?"

"Don't talk back to your mother."

"Granted that you acted like one," I had to control myself from lashing out.

"I try! You never try." So the blame was mine now. Great.

"Why should I try to be a mom?"

"You know what I meant!"

"I don't care," I turned to walk away.

"Don't you walk away from your mother!" I swiftly turned around.

"That's all the word 'mother' means to you. it's just a word of authority to you, isn't it? You don't even act like a real mom—like I'm actually your daughter! You, and dad both, just act like I'm something you found off the street in a cardboard box and took home because it was there! You treat Himeko like she's a little princess and that she's just perfect. Well, in your world, she might be! But you don't support my dreams! A real mother would encourage what I want to be!" I huffed at her, anger dripping from every syllable. She looked at me with a mad, yet still lady-like frown. After a staring contest fueled by rage, she daintily flipped her hair and walked away, her heels clanking on the wooden floor.

I could not believe the difference between mother and daughter. She was lady-like all the time, possibly even in her dreams. She was poised, calm, and elegant. She viewed life as a code. It was as if her destiny was already carved onto stone. Me, on the other hand, was certainly not lady-like. I was never poised, I had certain anger problems, and had snarky remarks. The only thing that was remotely well-mannered about me was my subtle elegance. That was, until I got mad. I lived life like a game—every move you made could change the outcomes of it—only, you never came out alive.

Just as I stormed over to my room, I bumped into the miniature version of my mom—Himeko. To be more specific, I stepped on her foot. If it weren't for the past situation, I would have laughed and told her that she deserved it and that she should have been glad that her toe didn't break. But today, I was too much in dolor to make my usual snarky comments.

Himeko looked at me like I was the foulest thing on the planet. Well, I came close. My raven hair was all disheveled and my mouth was set in a scowl. My icy blue eyes, already kind of cold, was glaring daggers at her. Let's not mention the various red welts on my skin due to the constricting chains. Yeah, I looked like an angel. She promptly stepped around me like I was a rock in her path. I restrained myself from choking her pretty little neck.

Ignoring her rude departure, I sulked to my room. Maybe it was my already crappy mood, but I felt like I should just go rogue. I doubted that anyone would miss me at all. I was gone for this whole day, came back with a nice abundance of red scratches, and no one spared me a glance. A 'Oh my dear god, Rin. Whatever happened to your gorgeous self' might have been a little too much, but a simple 'are you okay' might have been called for.

But then again, I was used to this.

I positioned myself on my bed in the most comfortable way possible. Looking to the bland, plain ceiling, I wondered why we had to move. Personally, I couldn't care less whether we moved from Amegakure to the bottom of the ocean—I had nothing special here—but it moving to a different town might confuse the Akatsuki on my whereabouts. Wait, they were the Akatsuki after all—they probably had spies in every nook and cranny of this world. Pushing aside the problem of locating me, I pondered about where we were moving. There were chances that we would move to a town without a ninja population to reduce my infatuation in the ninja lifestyle. More like the rogue ninja lifestyle, I thought cynically. But then it hit me—we were going to Iwagakure.

Now, one would ask, Why would people that scorn the very presence of ninja plop themselves into a bustling ninja city? It's very logical to say that this decision was irrational. But it was not. They would move themselves to Iwagakure to keep tabs on Miroku Suzuki, the oldest child of my parents—and my older brother.

With blue eyes and platinum blonde hair, he was the spitting image of my mother, except she was nothing like her. While she would fret about her business whereabouts, he would be slaying some people for a mission. That was right—he was a ninja. Not just a ninja, but an ANBU for Iwagakure. I practically worshipped him for getting to that status.

While I worshipped him, most of mother and father's prestigious friends scorned upon him and probably wished that he plopped dead on a mission. But then again, they wished that upon me as well. Miroku left the household four years ago, when he turned twenty one. He left not saying goodbye to my parents, but he to me. I was thirteen back then and would have begged him not to go, if only I didn't pursue the same dream. Now we were going to Iwa to live—more like stalk—with him.

That night, I fell asleep happy, with only a slight worry about the Akatsuki.

Please rate and review :D

Inspire me!