Touch Of Black - (3) - Learning The Basics

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing of Naruto. But I do own Maiko and all of her counterparts.

THE ALL IMPORTANT A/N: YAY! Reviews! XD You guys ROCK! And so will this story I hope. I've already got the general outline for the plot all planned out, and theres even a possibility for a sequel:D However I do have a request, as I don't know much about Akatsuki (As you may have probably already guessed) I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the main members. Just like, their names and a little bit about their personality. Obviously I already know about Itachi, Kisame and Deidara. But thats really it. Anyway, I'd be grateful for the help!!!

So, heres number 3! Enjoy! And review!

When Maiko was finally able to open her eyes, she cursed herself in her head a thousand times over. She was a Jounin of Konoha! A member of the Emiri clan (Not that that fact meant much to her, but it was another reason to blame herself) and yet she wasn't doing anything to try and save everyone. Any other shinobi would of, she was sure of it. But when it came down to it, she didn't know if she could. It was the simple fact that she knew she didn't have a chance against Akatsuki. Maiko was in equal strength to Kakashi Hatake, and yet he could not defeat the man with sharingan eyes...the eldest Uchiha brother. So how Maiko could she did not know. Not to mention, she feared greatly for the life of her little brother, and was more worried that if she did anything; they would kill him.

Opening her eyes, she felt very comfortable, and it didn't take the Jounin to long to realise that she was lying on a bed. The covers were black and crimson, and made of soft silk. She sat up immediately, and glanced around the room. She couldn't see Ai. But what she did see was much different, the eldest Uchiha brother sat on a chair at the end of the bed. He had taken off his cloak, and Maiko could see his mucsles; well defined and beautifully toned under the shirt he wore. HIs eyes were fixed on her eyes, she merely glanced at him nervously. And there was a long, tense pause as nobody said a word.

"What happened?" Maiko managed to say, breaking the awkwardness.

The eldest Uchiha said nothing for a moment, until he changed the subject abruptly.

"I am Itachi Uchiha," He said.

'I knew it. I knew it was something like that,' Maiko thought to herself, desperately trying to distract her mind from the position she was in. However, it was obvious she could not stop an annoyed frown arise on her face. He had avoided the answer. Had Konoha won? Or had they lost?

"You will know what happened one day,"

'One day? Does that mean I'm stuck here? Wherever 'here' is...'

"And...where is my brother?"

There was a silence once more.

"Ai. He has red hair. I was with him..."

Itachi shrugged, his face a blank wall. "I don't know who or what your talking about,"

Maiko felt like bursting into tears. Was he lying? How could she tell...she just wanted to know her brother was safe.

"What did you mean earlier by...'This one's mine'?" Maiko asked again, she needed to know what was happening.

"You ask too many questions," Itachi said coldly. "Its none of your business,"

And swiftly, he left, leaving Maiko staring at the chair where he had once sat.

"Bastard,"

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"Maiko-chan Maiko chan! Lets train! I'm going to be like you!"

Maiko turned to face the little red head who was running eagerly towards her with a large stick in his scrawny arms. Of course, it was her dear brother who managed to always track her down whenever she was training. She merely laughed as Ai swung the stick wildly around in a thought of hitting her, but it simply swung out of his hands and went flying off into the forest which was situated just outside the training grounds they were in.

"That was far too big anyway," Maiko reassured him, seeing the look of distress on his face. She quickly found him another, lighter and more 'Ai-Sized' stick. "Now, show me what you've got,"

Of course, this was all just a bit of fun to Maiko, who obviously couldn't fight properly against her own brother. Whom she could easily destroy with just one flick on the arm no doubt. But to Ai, it was deadly serious. His chance to prove himself to his father and show the world how great a ninja he could be. He just seemed to twirl the stick wildly with his arms in the hope of hitting something, it was evadable. However Maiko often let him get a few strikes. Or else he would leave feeling miserable and stupid. After a spar, of which Ai was allowed to win. He insisted that he wanted to go and fight real evil ninjas.

"Alright Maiko-chan! I'm ready!" He jumped forwards and did a kind of wonky salute to his elder sister with the wrong hand. She chuckled.

"Not quite yet, your still out of balance brother," She tapped him lightly on the shoulder which was something he wasn't expecting. And sent him falling into a heap on the floor. His stick with him.

He did nothing for quite some time until the boy got up, grabbed his stick and ran off. Maiko could definitely hear the sounds of crying and sighed frustratingly.

"That was nothing. Nothing at all. How you will become a great ninja like father expects I do not know Ai," She said, before quickly getting back to some serious training.

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Whilst Maiko had been too busy thinking about her brother, she did not notice that the blonde haired man; whom she now knew as Deidara and had into the room and was leading her down a long hallway, they didn't have to walk far when she was led into a kitchen. Inside she saw many of Konoha's citezins running around ovens and chopping up vegetables. It seemed that they were cooking.

"Explain to miss Maiko-san what your doing," Was all Deidara said, before giving Maiko a shove inside and then closing the door, locking it shut.

She glanced around, but still; she saw nobody whom she really knew, nobody who she was friends with. Not properly.

"Excuse me?" She asked, faces looked up from their work. "But...what are you all doing?"

"Working," replied one of the women. "We have too,"

This time a man began to speak. "It seems that we have been taken prisoner, most likely to be pawned. I heard my master discussing it with another member of Akatsuki. I think we're going to be used to get the nine-tails boy from the Godaime (Fifth Hokage),"

'So..Naruto is what they want...but...Konoha is okay!?' Maiko thought, cheering up a bit.

"I wonder how they are all doing. I saw many deaths before I was taken. I'm surprised that the village is still in one peace," A woman said.

There were many agreements, and Maiko was swiftly given a post at the oven, she simply had to stir whatever they were cooking.

"And what will they do with us in the meantime? Before they try to trade us..." Maiko questioned.

"Exactly what we're doing now. Being put to work. Not all the villagers were taken, we are but a few. There are many others around here somewhere. My husband is with them," A woman replied, her voice saddening at the mention of her husband.

Maiko turned to the man who had spoken earlier.

"What did you mean by master?"

'You ask too many questions'

She remembered what Itachi had said and decided that this would be her last question. She had wanted to ask about her brother, but it seems the other prisoners were getting agitated by her ignorance of the whole situation.

"We have each been assigned to seperate members, although...I don't recall you being with anyone," He answered.

Maiko nodded. "I was knocked out unconcious by Itachi Uchiha. I woke up in a room with him staring at me. And now I'm here,"

No one said anything for a while. Until everyone began exchanging stories of their lives and what they were doing before the attack on Konoha. Maiko explained the fact that the Emiri clan were not all that good in her eyes, that she didn't know where her brother was and all she really wanted to know was know that he was safe. She stirred the bubbling pots endlessly, whatever was cooking smelt delicious. But Maiko was intelligent enough to know that the food was not for them.

The prisoners worked in silence from then on, until the door was unlocked and they were given strict orders to begin serving the meals. Maiko was chosen to be one of the 'waitresses' and found herself travelling from the kitchen into a large dining room (Which was packed with Akatsuki members - something which Maiko found strange as she didn't realise there were so many) carrying the same plates of food to all of the Akatsuki. In those few hours she had spent in the kitchen, she had become fond of a girl the same age as her. The girl was named Okia, she had bright green eyes and long hazelnut hair which toppled down far beyond her shoulders. Maiko and Okia had chatted together for a while, trying to make the situation seem a lot less unpleasant.

They each carried more full plates out into the large dining room (For what seemed like the 200th time) and Okia made Maiko happy by saying the simpliest of things: That all men were idiots and if you rearranged the letters in male you got lame. Maiko laughed, but stopped abruptly when she saw Itachi glaring at her. He was on the table she was serving, and as she set a plate out in front of him he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down so that her eyes were level with his. She stared into those emotionless onyx orbs for a moment as he whispered;

"Don't get to comfortable Maiko,"

He loosened his grip on her wrist, but did not let go. Maiko pulled away from him and went swiftly back to the kitchen. Itachi stared at her back until she vanished, before smirking triumphantly. Kisame, who sat opposite him, chuckled evilly.

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It seemed to Maiko, that the hours flew by, the meal was over, and then they all had to begin cleaning up. Which really wasn't something any of the prisoners was up for, but they did it anyway. Maiko had been given the task of sweeping. She didn't know why, the floor seem fine to her. But perhaps it was because everyone else in the kitchen had a job, and they didn't want her to feel unuseful. Okia was busy putting all of the pots and pans away after they had been cleaned. She couldn't help but smile as she heard her knew friend Maiko singing to herself as she needlessly swept the floor.

"We're part of the story, part of a tale, we're all on this journey. No one's t-"

Maiko stopped quickly when she noticed all of the other servants glancing at her. She blushed slightly. "Sorry, bad habit,"

"I didn't think it was that bad," One of the older women in the room commented.

"Yeah, you have a good voice Maiko-chan!" Okia smiled, and Maiko was glad she had met her. She was so...happy...so cheerful. Despite the whole situation, Okia just seemed to act like it was nothing. However, perhaps that was really all it was. An act. Perhaps Okia was one of those people who kept their true feelings to themselves and tried to look as bright and perky as possible. Maiko could not be sure.

Thinking of that made her wonder what kind of person she was, until it hit her.

"I'm the kind of pessimist that only misses things when their gone," She mumbled to herself. It was true of course, she never really appreciated her brother Ai as much as she did at that precise moment. He was always a pain to her, whenever she looked at him all Maiko really used to think was that he wouldn't live very long and so what was the point of getting attached to him? But now, it seemed Ai was all she really seemed to think about. Her clan, they could take care of themselves, sure, they weren't much in Maiko's eyes, but they were powerful to a reasonable extent.

Although, that did not stop Maiko from wondering whether they had made it or not. One of the servants had earlier mentioned that many were killed. Could the Emiri clan members be amongst those?

Night crept along and the prisoners finished their work. Group by group they were taken away by their 'masters'. Maiko noted that all of Kisame's 'servants' were women. She felt sorry for them a great deal, but also felt very glad that niether herself, nor Okia were one of them. Deidara was Okia's master, and when she along with the rest of her group were taken away. Maiko was the only one left in the kitchen. There was one lone candle lit on the table, the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness, she made her way over to the windows. Which were barred. But she could still see the night sky, pin pricked with stars and lit up by a golden moon. A song came into her head, one she always used to sing to herself when she got bored. And, at that moment, she felt herself singing it to herself again;

"They painted up my secrets
And the lies they told to me
And the least they ever gave me
Was the most I ever knew
And I wonder where these dreams go
When the world gets in my way
What's the point in all this screaming?
No one's listening anyway."

The words seemed to flow gracefully from her mouth, she had not the greatest talents when it came to singing. However her voice was in tune and was good enough for her. Maiko was not the kind of person to judge herself.

"My voice is small and fading
And I'm hiding here unknown
And my mother loves my father
'cause she's got nowhere to go
And I wonders where these dreams go
'cause the world got in my way
What's the point in never trying?
Nothing's changing anyway,"

She had been about to move onto the next few lines, when she noticed the kitchen door was open, Itachi stood at the doorway and motioned for Maiko to follow him, she nodded, moved from her place by the window and blew out the candle before leaving. She followed Itachi back to the room she had woke up from unconsciousness for the second time in. The two stepped inside and he locked the door behind him. Maiko stood stock still, not knowing what to do with herself. She felt a blanket and a pillow thrown at her and caught them quickly.

"You can sleep on the floor," Itachi said.

"But I-"

"Or else I'll unlock that door and let Kisame steal you away in the middle of the night," Itachi added bitterly, he pulled off his shirt and Maiko couldn't help but stare at him. At the shape of his body, which seemed so perfect, if it weren't for the many scars he bore.

"Hunter nin," He mumbled gruffly, flopping down onto his own bed before blowing the lamp out.

The room was even darkner, and Maiko crawled down onto the uncomfortable stone floor, resting her head on her pillow and pulling the blanket over her body. It was going to be a long night. How could she sleep knowing he was right over there; he, who had commited thousands of crimes and who could no doubt kill her while she was asleep and she would not even notice. Not to mention there was the thought of Kisame sneaking into the room. She shuddered, turning over and closing her eyes.

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Maiko dreamt of many things; of her brother, her clan, the village...even Itachi. There was death, and a lot of blood. There were memories she wanted to remember and some she wanted to forget. There was Kakashi and his students, the fifth hokage...her own sensei was even there. It seemed to Maiko that everyone she ever knew and loved was there, but they were all dead, or being killed right before her very eyes by...Itachi and the other members of Akatsuki. In dreamland Kisame was equally as disgusting and she seemed to fear him even more. It was odd, a scary and horrible dream which she didn't want to be a part of, she shook herself awake, only to find it was still pitch black.

All except for a pair of red sharingan eyes staring right at her from across the room.

'Itachi..'