Three Weeks Later
Asuka could hardly believe it when Itachi showed up in the middle of the night, standing in her bedroom doorway. She quickly rose from the bed and went to him, seeing that he was hurt.
"Itachi, what happened?" Asuka asked, seeing the blood soaked through his robe on his side.
Itachi scowled at the memory and pulled off his Akatsuki robe, revealing an enormous raw, bloody wound.
"I pissed off Deidara so he threw one of his fucking bombs at me. I deflected most of it, but I was already weak," Itachi said, partly delirious.
"Deidara? Of the Hidden Stone Village?" Asuka asked tonelessly.
Itachi knew she would remember him. He was the one who caught her. Lucky for him he was not the one who interrogated her or he would have been dead already. It had happened just before he went to recruit Deidara.
She forced him to sit on the bed and got her medical kit from the bathroom. It would have been nice if she knew some medical jutsu…
"Itachi, this is bad…" Asuka said after removing his shirt and then poured alcohol on it to disinfect the wound.
Itachi watched her treat the wound carefully and noticed how worried she looked. He didn't understand why she cared about him, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to be near her.
"How bad does it hurt?" she asked, trying to judge how serious it was.
"Not much," Itachi lied.
She finished wrapping his side and carefully pulled him into a sitting position.
"Here," she said, handing him a bottle of sake. She knew he was in pain, and the alcohol would help.
"I'm going to be here for a few days until it heals a little more. As long as you don't mind," he said, taking a drink of the sake.
Asuka furrowed her eyebrows. "It's your house."
Asuka propped her pillows against the headboard and pulled Itachi up to lean back on them. He seemed like he was enduring incredible pain and she wished there was something she could do. She got a cold, wet cloth and placed it on his forehead after removing his forehead protector. It seemed to make him feel better, but only a little. She handed the bottle of Sake to him again, knowing it would numb the pain.
Asuka curled up next to Itachi and relaxed when she felt his breathing calm as he fell asleep. It would be better if he slept through this part. Anyone in his condition at a hospital would be in an induced coma. His flesh on the right side of his body was completely burned.
Deidara.
Asuka stood up and changed into her outfit. He had to be close…
She lowered her chakra level to a point it could not be detected and cast her invisibility jutsu and deadened the sound of her movements. She sensed a strong chakra presence nearby and remembered that Itachi said the house was close to a hideout. She
found it easily and was glad it appeared to simply be a resting place and not one where the Akatsuki gathered.
Inside the stone entranceway she heard voices.
"Itachi is going to destroy you when he is rested, Deidara. It was a foolish thing to do."
"I warned him not to insult my art."
"Art is timeless and last through the ages. Itachi was right; explosions simply obliterate art and beauty to leave only destruction."
"Art is fleeting and in it's truest form when it only visible for a moment, Sasori, unlike those disgusting dolls of yours."
Asuka was within ten feet of them and they had no idea she was there. Deidara looked just as she remembered and she was glad she could finally pay him back for what he did to her and for hurting Itachi. She formed the hand signs of one of the jutsu's Itachi had taught her in her youth. It had taken her years to perfect it, but she had done it nonetheless.
"Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu," she whispered.
A burst of flames lit the cave and several hit Deidara on his side, leaving a wound as bad, if not worse, than Itachi's. The uproar she caused made her flee the hideout, but not without a smirk on her face.
Itachi's wound took longer than it should have to heal, but Asuka didn't mind him staying there with her. For the first time in a while, she didn't feel so alone.
Late one evening, Asuka was changing Itachi's bandages. It was nearly healed enough for him to be able to leave, but she didn't want him to go.
"Asuka. Thank you."
She gazed up at him and smiled, "You don't need to thank me."
Itachi's light expression faded as he held her violet eyes on him. "I am going to Konoha soon. Come with me."
Asuka narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I want you to go back to stay," Itachi said.
"You think they would welcome a missing-nin back with open arms? Besides, I've told you, I will never return to Konoha," she said bitterly.
"They don't believe you to be a hostile enemy like me, you can tell them anything and they would believe it. Tell them I took you and you escaped. It is the best thing for you," Itachi said, standing up and pulling on his Akatsuki robe.
"No Itachi."
Asuka sat on the bed, staring out the window. There was nothing left for her in Konoha… not since Itachi left. There was no way she would leave his presence.
"Why are you going there?" she asked as he turned towards her.
"A mission."
Asuka glared at him. "When will you be back?"
"I don't know."
Asuka held back the tears as Itachi left without a backwards glance.
AN: Itachi and Asuka are 18, team 7 members are 13.
Several weeks had passed since Itachi had left. She wasn't sure how many, they seemed to blur together. She was afraid to leave for too long; scared she would miss Itachi if he showed up. Before, when she lived in the Hidden Rain Village, she could handle the loneliness with the understanding she would never see Itachi again. Now, she felt like her life was in slow motion, not really living because he wasn't there. He would come back and that was what kept her alive.
The day Itachi did come back, his chakra level was so low she could only imagine what he had exerted it on. She was outside, near the canyon under a thick blanket of stars and in a light, but bitterly cold wind.
"Itachi, what happened?" she asked, noticing the tension in his eyes.
He turned his gaze out over the canyon as he spoke. "I saw Sasuke."
Asuka stared at him as she realized this was why he was so distant.
"He turned out just as I expected he would. He tried to kill me," Itachi said, a hint of a smile briefly appearing on his face.
Asuka frowned. "Itachi, why did you leave him alive? You were ordered to kill him. I only understand it to a certain extent… But I don't understand why you want him to become stronger than you so badly."
Itachi's expression changed only a little, but the dark look that came over his face gave her chills.
"You are far more perceptive that I'd like for you to be," Itachi said.
He turned and went inside, Asuka following. She grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"You know you can trust me Itachi… Even for you I can tell this burden is a lot to carry on your own," she said.
Itachi stared at her. She was startled when she saw his black eyes burn red with the Sharingan.
"This will effectively use all of my chakra, so I may be unconscious for a few hours. Don't worry, I'll be fine," Itachi said just before his eyes shifted into the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Asuka felt fear grip her as she felt the world around her fall away, and a dark, red sky replaced it. Before her, Itachi stood, a darker version of his former self.
"Itachi… where are we?"
"You are in my illusion. Here I can show you what you want to know."
(HERE INSERT ITACHI'S BACKSTORY WITH COMING CHAPTERS INFORMATION)
- This is when he tells her the truth, that Madara Uchiha is still alive and Sasuke has to be strong enough to defeat him because he is the only one who can. Asuka hates seeing him like this, so torn… He confesses that he had tried to think of another way, any other way,
but there wasn't one. He had no choice but to join Akatsuki and follow Konoha's orders. Everything he did was to protect the village and especially Sasuke. Asuka can't believe he was going to let everyone thing he was a horrible traitor when really he had sacrificed everything for others. He forbids her from telling anyway and she cries, not understanding why it has to be like this. He tells her it's enough that she knows who he really is. Sasuke can never know. Asuka kisses him, finally able to understand how he could do such horrible things. She is in love with him by now and distraught when he leaves her.
- Post time skip – Three years has passed and Itachi hasn't been to see Asuka for six months. Sasuke is with Orochimaru and Naruto has just arrived back in Konoha after his training with Jiriaya. Itachi and Asuka are 20, team 7 is 15. – Naruto Part 2 begins -
Asuka was in the forest near her home, mindlessly throwing kunai at a target. She refused to let her skills suffer from her mundane life and was training from dawn 'til dusk. The sun was soon setting and she decided to go back inside. She threw her last kunai rather hard before she turned away and headed back. However, when she didn't hear the dull thud of it hitting the target, she stopped.
"You would be of use in Konoha. I don't see why you stay here."
Asuka's heart started racing as she recognized his voice. She turned to find him standing several feet away from her, holding her kunai knife.
She couldn't stop herself as she threw herself into his arms and grasped him tightly.
"I wasn't sure if you were coming back," she said.
"Come on, let's go inside," Itachi said. When she refused to let go of him, he picked her up and carried her with him.
"Any word on Sasuke?" she asked.
Ever since she had heard about Orochimaru wanting the Sharingan, she had been scouting all of his hideouts she could find, looking for any sign of Sasuke. The only thing she learned was that Orochimaru was keeping Sasuke's whereabouts completely secret and only he and his right hand man, Kabuto, knew where he was at any given time. She desperately wanted Itachi to find him and tell him the truth to get him away from Orochimaru, but he felt certain that Sasuke would be fine.
"He is still with Orochimaru. I've heard he has gotten much stronger," Itachi said, setting her down inside the house.
Asuka recalled the severe way Sasuke let his anger and pain build up inside of him… if that was what drove him, she felt certain he would become stronger than Itachi someday…
"Let me get you something to eat," Asuka said, moving about the kitchen.
Itachi sat quietly at the table as she set food in front of him. He ate way too quickly.
"What have you been doing?" Itachi asked, as if he was aware she was doing something he wouldn't approve of.
"What have you been doing?" she countered, her tone irritated. "I've heard what the Akatsuki are up to… are you sure you have this under control?"
"It's all up to Sasuke now," he said.
Asuka watched him carefully, waiting for his eyes to give away his emotions. He seemed resigned.
The evening passed too quickly.
"I need to go," Itachi said, rising from his seat in the living room.
Asuka bit her lip, wishing there as something she could do to make him stay.
"Can't you stay just a little longer," she asked quietly.
A: I wrote all of this before the new manga chapter, I swear, lol. Next chaper really pushes the pg:13 rating... we'll see. Please review!
