Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my own OC Akira (and others) and the parts of the story that aren't in the Naruto.


As the days went by, Sasuke kept his promise to himself and trained hard. He trained whenever he had time; before school, after school, before dinner, before bed and the same thing the next day. He got stronger and better at ninjutsu and taijutsu but the lack of sleep made him become thinner and sleepier. This didn't go unnoticed by his classmates and teacher and especially not by a certain student who happened to always get the seat beside him.


Akira sat at her desk, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive. So far, only Shikamaru and Iruka-sensei were in the classroom with her and it was peaceful. No-one said anything. Shikamaru was asleep, his head lazily drooping and saliva dripping from his open mouth. The girl laughed quietly to herself. What a lazy kid.

Sensei was writing up something on the board. Once again, it was all about clones and shadow clones. Akira had learned to accept that everything she 'learned' in class, she had already been taught by members of the Akatsuki.

"Hey… Iruka-sensei… Has something happened to Uchiha-san lately? He seems off." Akira asked Iruka as he finally finished the notes on the board. He turned around to look at her with a tired smile.

"It's not really my business to tell you what's wrong with Sasuke but I guess after he lost your fight it just took a huge toll on him. Or maybe he's just training extra hard now that he's not at the top of the class anymore." At the last sentence, Iruka became serious and looked at Akira's face carefully, as if trying to figure out her reaction and motive.

The girl kept her expression void of clues and stared right back at him. She blinked before speaking up again.

"What do you mean sensei? Is there someone whose scores beat the Uchiha's?" She asked Iruka innocently, although she already had an idea of what the answer was.

"Yeah, it's yours." He replied simply, still staring at her with those questioning eyes.

Shit, she cursed inwardly. She had really been trying to keep a low profile and had stayed away from the higher scores but if she was still the highest scoring student then she had obviously over-estimated the class. If the Hokage knows about this he's gonna scold me for sure. So much for keeping my talents hidden.

Iruka seemed to see her frustration and let out a laugh, which woke Shikamaru. "Don't worry; you're not beating him by far. If you want to keep your title as the top of the class I suggest you train. Or are you confident in your abilities already?" He sobered at his last sentence and went back to staring into Akira's eyes.

"What do you mean sensei?"

"You have been progressing at a very fast rate for someone who has just transferred into this class." Iruka stated simply.

Akira was about to make up an excuse when Naruto and Sasuke walked in, bickering like usual. She sighed and sank back into her seat, not noticing Shikamaru's accusing gaze on her.

"Stop following me."

"I'm not following you Sasu-gay, BELIEVE IT!"

Akira growled quietly and sank further into her seat. She had an irritating temptation to reach back and pull up her hood so that she wouldn't have to listen to so much of their stupid banter.

Akira had actually remembered her hood that day, unlike the first time she had stepped into this class room and so many days that followed it.

"Your bag is in my seat. Move it."

Akira looked up in surprise but her eyes immediately narrowed. "It's not in your seat. There's still plenty of room left so quit being a prissy and sit." She lashed back at Sasuke with equal venom in her voice.

It was the first time he had spoken to her since their clash in the school yard and she had no obligation to be nice to him. He had been giving her the cold shoulder, despite him being the one challenging her after knowing her for barely a day.

"Hn." He glared at her and sat down abruptly, nearly squishing her bag. Still, the girl made no move to retrieve it and left it there. It created a comfortable wall between the two of them.

As Iruka droned on and on about clones, again, her hood drooped lower and she fell asleep.

Akira woke to some shuffling and a loud slam of a bag hitting her desk. The girl's eyes flew open and narrowed when she saw her bag on the desk as well as her notebook, filled with notes from the day's lesson… That she hadn't written.

She turned accusingly to her left, ready to snap at Sasuke. Except, it wasn't Sasuke who was sitting there, it was Shikamaru.

"What do you want?" She said, wincing as her sentence came out meaner then she had originally intended. His eyes narrowed at her tone but he didn't comment on it.

"Well, I saw that you were asleep and decided to be nice and write your notes for you."

"Now why would you do that?" The girl mused. This boy was interesting. What did he want?

"What did you want in return?" She asked him, knowing for sure that this wasn't just his good intentions.

"I want to know your story."

Akira blinked at his bold comment but he continued before she could cut in.

"I know that you have secrets and several things up your sleeve. I don't want to know the future."

Akira blinked again at him, this time in amazement. Was he there when she had told the Hokage all that stuff?

"No, I wasn't eavesdropping I just happened to walk pass his office just at that time."

Akira's mouth turned into a grim line and she contemplated on what she should do. Should she tell him her story? Or should she just run and let him annoy her forever? There was nothing she could tell him that would harm her in any way. And besides, having a friend for once would be nice.

"I will tell you my story," Akira finally said, rolling her eyes as he grinned lazily at her, "But I can choose whether or not to leave some things out. You must not tell anyone else. After this, you may consider me the enemy but trust me, I will forever fight for Konoha unless something that concerns the life and death of millions comes up."

Shikamaru nodded and stood. He walked to the door and beckoned her to follow him.

"Where are we going? Iruka-sensei is gonna crack it if he finds out that I'm skipping again."

"We'll deal with that when it comes. I'm taking you to a place where we can talk and not be overheard." He led her into the forest and kept heading deeper inside it. Akira followed him carefully, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

She wondered why she was trusting him so easily. Maybe it was the child in her, yearning to open up to someone. Akira sighed. She barely knew this guy.

"Hurry up! Troublesome woman." He called out and picked up his pace. The girl bit her lip. She was starting to feel unsure about this.

He stopped at a clearing and flopped down right in the centre. Akira hesitantly sat opposite him and dragged her hood off. Now that she was here, she might as well tell him. If he told anyone, she'd just have to kill him.

"Well, let's start from the beginning shall we?" The girl shuffled around until she was comfortable and began the story, the story of herself.

"Well, as far as I can remember is at age five so I'll start from there. When I was little, I lived in a big house. There were so many adults around and I was the only child so there was tons of fussing about things that concerned me. My dad and mom were from separate clans and so this meant that I had to work twice as hard. I was succeeding not one but two clans.

"My parents' marriage was supposed to be an arranged marriage but they fell in love at twenty-one and only then did they find out that they were supposed to get married. They didn't care, they were planning to anyway." She paused and looked at Shikamaru. He was listening intently.

"As the years went on I grew up pampered and spoiled rotten but never once did I experience the love of my parents. They were so in love with each other, they just left me to the care of the maids and nurses. I was about seven by the time I realised that wishing for a normal family was hopeless and stupid. I decided to leave, run away and find a different happiness."

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose in a questioning gaze and she continued.

"I ran away from the Leiko house on the night of my seventh birthday. I didn't know how long I ran for but I soon ended up in a town. It was old and constantly raining."

"Amegakure?" Shikamaru guessed. Akira nodded and continued her tale.

"I walked into a diner, all wet and soggy and immediately everyone looked up at me. I reckon that would have been a funny sight. Short little seven year old kid just standing there at the door, dripping wet from the rain. I was ushered inside and everyone was murmuring about me. I glared at the people talking and soon the chatter started up again, everybody soon forgetting about the wet girl.

"The shop owner led me to the back and gave me a towel. I explained my situation to him and he offered me a place to stay but I refused. Later that evening, as I thanked the shop owner and was about to leave, a hand came onto my shoulder and stopped me." Akira paused again and looked at Shikamaru. She was always wary about talking about herself, bit there was something about him that made her feel safe.

Shikamaru and Akira sat there until dusk. She had told him about how she had gotten accepted into the Akatsuki and how everybody trained her.

She left out the parts about Itachi. She also carefully removed anything that would be harmful to the Akatsuki from the story. Although they all thought her to be gone, memories wiped, Akira knew that they would come for her if she spilled their secrets.

He sat and listened to her patiently as she explained to him why she had chosen to stay with them and had not escaped. He had given her a guarded look at the mention of the older Uchiha but Akira remained indifferent.

As she bid him farewell, Shikamaru smiled lazily at her and waved.

"See you tomorrow, Akira-san." The girl smiled back at him.

"Bye, Shikamaru."

Akira didn't mind talking to Shikamaru. All she did was open up to him a little. It was nice and rather comforting. She would never admit it, but having a friend provided her with at least some comfort.

A part of her worried for her own sanity. She wondered how she could allow herself to open up to someone so easily; someone who, before that day, had never said a word to her.


The next morning, Akira woke up to some knocking at her door. She grumbled silently and picked up her knife just to be sure. Everyone just loved to wake her up at an ungodly hour.

The girl felt a familiar chakra behind the door but was too sleepy to discern whose it was. As she yanked the door open she growled.

"Kakashi I am not in the mood. I told you to stop waking me up so early." Akira said to the jounin.

"Uh… I'm not who you thought but uh… can I talk to you?"

Akira's eyes widened as she realized it wasn't Kakashi. "What are you doing here, little Uchiha?"

He growled at her name for him but quickly calmed.

"Actually, that's part of the reason why I'm here." He mumbled, looking down to his feet. It was obvious Sasuke wasn't used to speaking more than two words.

"Come in. Sorry about the mess, it's just I'm always too lazy to clean up." Akira moved aside to let him in.

He stood awkwardly in the hall way and she sighed. Leading him towards the lounge room in silence, she wondered what he wanted to talk about.

As the girl flopped onto the couch, he sat down next to her. She turned to look at him.

"What did you want?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Uh, well, I was wandering why you always call me little Uchiha. Emphasis on the little." He looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Shit…" Akira muttered under her breath. She looked down at her hands and decided to tell him.

"I knew your brother." She didn't look up. She didn't want to see his expression.

"What?"

"I knew your brother." Akira repeated. He sighed and the girl was forced to look up at him.

"I heard what you said idiot, I just couldn't comprehend it. How did you know him?"

Akira scowled. She had told him she had known Itachi but she couldn't tell him how.

"You're going into bad territory." The girl cautioned him. Akira berated herself for letting him inside. She should have known he was going to ask about his brother.

"I said," Sasuke started to raise his voice, "how did you know him?"

Akira glared at him and stood up. She was about to tell him to get out of her house when a hand grabbed her arm.

Akira's temper rose a little. Outside, the clouds thundered and the sound of rain appeared. The little droplets on the window raced each other downward, reminding Akira much of herself and him.

"Sasuke…" She growled and the arm on her froze. "Let go of my ar-"

"Say it again."

Akira turned around to look at him in confusion. "Say what?"

He just repeated his last sentence.

"Sasuke! What do you want?" She yelled at him, her patience running thin.

"Say it one more time."

She growled louder at him, trying to rip her arm free without hurting either one of them. But it was no use. He had her arm in a vice grip.

"Say what, damnit!"

"Say my name again." He said, licking his lips, looking at her weirdly.

"Sasuke?" She said, a little more controlled now. He was acting weird. What was up with him? Before she could question him, he disappeared.

"What the hell?" Akira shook my head and went to grab her weapons. She was in dire need of a vigorous training session.


After their little "chat" Sasuke avoided Akira like she was the plague. Not that she minded, of course. She was too busy training. What she was training for, the girl had no idea. Maybe she just wanted to keep her strength up so if he ever came for her, she would be able to prove her worth. Akira threw the knife at the tree she was currently abusing.

"Who am I kidding? Everyone back at the base thinks I have lost my memory. It's not like they're going to keep looking for me! After all, I was a disposable tool. one that they would like to have had but one that they did not particularly need." She sighed and sat down, leaving her knives embedded in the tree, now decorated with holes and other marks.

A shadow passed her and Akira looked up at the cloud. Envy coursed through the girl's veins. Clouds were so free…

"Jealous of a cloud? What's become of me?" She murmured, still stuck in her daze.

"That's pretty pathetic."

Akira whipped around, on guard.

"Ita- No, it's you."

He was also looking at the clouds when she whirled around but Sasuke's eyes flew down to meet hers as she spoke.

"Hn."

Akira winced when she realised how she had mistaken the young Uchiha for his prodigy brother. Again she cringed, realising the silent compliment and insult she had just given.

"What are you doing here?" Akira didn't mean for it to come out as an accusation but he had been avoiding her for the past few weeks and she was still sour about that.

The girl took this chance to actually look at him. He was her age and yet the last time she saw him, she had acted as if he were younger than her, a nuisance. Over the past weeks he had really grown and slightly matured, although his attitude didn't seem any better.

"I just came to apologize. Sorry about the other day, I just kind of lost it." He rubbed the back of his head. Was that a small tint of red she saw on the Uchiha's face?

"About that," Akira looked at him criticizing his facial response, "what was with all the 'say my name again' thing?"

He scowled at her and his blush deepened. "I didn't say that!" He denied loudly, glaring at the girl.

She just laughed slightly and patted the ground next to her, "Sit down, Sasuke, there's a lot I need to tell you and I don't think you want to stand up the whole time."

He fidgeted with his shirt a bit before actually deciding to sit down, "Hn." he stated as he flopped down beside her.

"What were you going to tell me?" He asked, looking at Akira curiously. There was a deep look in his eyes that sincerely reminded the girl of the other Uchiha brother. She banished the thought from her head and smiled sheepishly at Sasuke.

"Actually, I know you have a lot of questions for me so I was wondering if you just wanted to get it over and done with and just ask me now. I don't actually know where to start so just shoot your questions. Although I might ask some questions to you in between." Akira warned him, in case he was like his older brother and hated to be interrupted.

"How did you know my brother?" Wow, she thought, cutting straight to the point.

"He was one of my teachers."

"How did you meet him?" He asked me. I paused, not entirely sure how to answer this one.

"Well, I think it's best to tell you what happened to me first." I looked at him, asking silently for permission. He just gave me a nod and I continued.

"You may not know this and I'm not very sure I should tell you but it's the only way for you to understand. I was born from the heirs of two clans, each with their own Kekkei Genkai. I was treated like royalty in the house and it annoyed me to no end. I was closer to the lady in the kitchen than my parents." I shook at the memory before continuing, avoiding Sasuke's peering gaze.

"It became too much for me, the pressure of which Kekkei Genkai I would attain pushed me to my limit. I took upon myself to flee my family on the night of my seventh birthday. It might seem like I was fleeing from my responsibilities but I was a seven year old with no parental love. This was something that was set on my mind for a long time coming."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but did not say anything.

"As I ran that night, I had no destination in mind and I soon collapsed in a forest, depleted of energy. That was when your brother found me. He took me back to the Akatsuki hideout where the Leader there granted me the 'honour'," Akira exaggerated the word, "of being a member. I refused. Although I would have been the youngest person to ever join the Akatsuki, I had no wish to be part of the killings. Instead, I asked to be trained and he offered me the choice of training with ninjutsu, taijutsu or genjutsu. I couldn't pick so I boldly picked all of them.

"I was trained by most of the Akatsuki members but Itachi and I grew the closest. That was how I met your brother. The Leader had obvious plans to use my help whether or not I wished to give it. Sometimes I would be taken along to their missions and I would have been forced to heal them, or to save them. It was only because of your brother that I managed to survive and eventually escape."

"Did you love him?" he asked as soon as she finished, not skipping a beat.

"What?"

"I asked you if you love him. You speak of him so fondly."

Akira smiled wryly at Sasuke and wondered how he was so perceptive. Uchiha genes…

"Listen, I think that's enough for today but I will answer your question, just not now. I'll see you in class tomorrow. We have the Genin Examination tomorrow with Iruka-sensei so let's both do our best!" The girl stuck out her hand to Sasuke and he grasped it.

Akira smirked.

Without any warning, she brought her fist up to his face. The girl's smirk only grew when he caught it and lifted his right leg, trying to hit her in the stomach. Neither of them had let go of the other's hand.

"See you tomorrow, little Uchiha." Akira said as she teleported back to her room, a jutsu she had usefully dried out of Tobi.

That night, Akira had peaceful dreams; for once they weren't plagued with the Akatsuki or him.


The next morning, she woke up later than usual and even though there was still a decent amount of time before she had to be at school for the exam, Akira panicked. It was only when she was looking in the mirror after she had finished dressing, did the girl realize that it would be a genin test and she was a jounin.

"Why am I worried?" Akira shook her head in amazement and dropped the thought of skipping breakfast from her head. The girl sat down in front of the table and poured herself some cereal whilst contemplating who she was going to annoy that day. She wasn't usually very annoying, or very social. But something about that day just made her feel a little more accepting and outgoing.

"Ah shit I promised Sasuke I would meet him today, didn't I?" Akira slapped a hand to her forehead.

The girl shrugged her shoulders indifferently, oh well. He's not gonna come after me with a giant pitchfork, she thought.

She cleaned up quickly and decided to take her sword with her that day.

"I might as well bring something to scare the sensei with." Akira said darkly, before throwing a vibrant smile upon her face.

She jumped through the neighbourhood, not even caring that she was late. It was a beautiful day and there was nothing to worry about. Then again, she wondered, was the weather ever bad in Konoha?

"I don't think I've recalled a single day it's rained here in Konoha. Hmm… Strange difference compared to Amegakure…"

When Akira arrived at the academy, she decided against walking into the classroom the normal way; through the corridors. Instead she climbed up the wall to her class room. The girl lifted open the windows, noticing everyone lining up for something, and slipped in quietly.

"Okay, good job, Sakura. Sasuke, you're next." Iruka-sensei said as Sakura emerged from her transformation.

Sakura looked to Sasuke, as if asking for praise but Sasuke merely ignored her and walked to the front of the room.

"That was rude, little Uchiha." She commented to herself quietly, so that no one knew she was there yet. Akira's chakra was already masked so they couldn't sense it.

Sasuke did his transformation and returned to his seat.

"Okay, next is Akira." Before Iruka-sensei could say anything else, and before Akira could reveal herself, Sakura opened her big mouth.

"She's not here yet, sensei. Akira probably slept in, again."

A few snickers rang though the room. Akira took that as her cue.

"Who said I wasn't here yet, Sakura?" The girl smirked at Sakura's shocked face as she stepped out of the shadows, right in front of her.

"So, sensei, I just have to transform into something right?" Akira smiled and the sensei nodded. Normally Akira didn't care much for sucking up or for being disrespectful, but she felt especially cheeky that day.

Akira laughed as she transformed into Kakashi, "I'm Kakashi, all big and mighty. I can't stand not knowing everything. Lalala~"

She held the jutsu until Iruka sensei nodded before dropping it and bending over laughing. Shikamaru muttered something rather rude and Akira frowned. She poked her tongue out at him, rather maturely.

Everyone did the transformation pretty well but Naruto… He transformed into a naked girl, covered only by smoke. They looked like clouds to Akira.

Iruka-sensei cleaned his nose-bleed before calling each one of them up to do the clone jutsu. Sasuke did it perfectly, as expected and before she knew it, Akira was snapped out of her reverie.

"It's your turn Akira, and don't try anything funny."

She looked at Iruka for a second, what could I possibly do with a transformation Jutsu that would be funny? She thought.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The girl shouted as she traced her hands into the correct hand seal. Five solid shadow clones of herself popped out and Akira glanced at Iruka. He was trying to mask his surprise. His reaction made her wonder if Hokage-sama even told him about her abilities.

Once again, just like the transformation jutsu, everyone went pretty well except for Naruto.

Iruka-sensei dismissed them all with a disappointed facial expression. He was clearly upset about Naruto's performance and that reaction got Akira's blood boiling. How dare he be mad at Naruto! It wasn't his fault he was a Jinchuuriki! She unintentionally growled at him and everyone left the classroom, not wanting to face the wrath of the girl.

Only Naruto, Sasuke and Akira remained. The girl stood and walked over to Naruto. Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her but didn't say anything.

"Hey, Naruto, don't be upset, I'm sure there's another way for you to pass!"

He looked up at her, smiling, but his eyes fell when he saw the Leaf headband around her neck. Akira laid a hand on his head and ruffled his hair before smiling at him again.

"I'll support you, every step of the way, because I kind of understand how you feel." She whispered to him. He looked at her again and she smiled brightly at him.

"Believe it! Trust yourself that you can do it and you will succeed, Naruto. I know you can." With that, Akira walked out of the classroom. The girl looked up as she bumped into someone.

"Shikamaru? What are you doing here?" She blinked up at the boy.

"Talk."

Akira looked around quickly before sighing. Shikamaru obviously had something he needed to figure out. It must have been bugging him for him to scratch up the energy to ask her.

They both walked over to the clearing where they had spoken the other day. Wanting to ask the boy her own questions, Akira spun around only to see him lounging lazily on the forest floor.

"Why do you want to know so much? You realise I cannot tell you everything."

"Mm." He replied, with a small inclination of his head. Akira frowned.

"You need to let it out. Something's been bugging you for days and it's making me feel uncomfortable in class."

Akira cringed inside. So he was only doing this for his own gain. "What do you mean? Nothing's been wrong."

"Every time you see Sasuke, you flinch. You can't even look the boy in the eyes. You fall asleep and jolt awake every time Iruka-sensei says 'jutsu' and you can barely walk around without banging into people, or things."

The girl bowed her head. Shikamaru was observant.

"It hurts. It hurts me physically, every time I see him. They look so much alike. I can't bear the thought... I can't imagine what I would do." Despite her vague answers, Akira could tell that the boy understood what she was talking about.

"You've been through so much for someone your age. I mean, we're only twelve. You have barely scratched the surface of your potential. Don't let your past haunt you, Akira."


Akira sighed loudly as she thought over Shikamaru's words. The boy was so wise and thoughtful and observant that it unnerved her.

She had thought to ask the Hokage about him and his family but decided not to. Her last meeting with the Hokage had resulted in him scolding her for revealing too much of her potential in class and Kakashi trying to pry more information out of her. As relaxed and laid back as the jounin seemed, he was evidently very wary of her.

A shadow passed over her head and Akira looked up. Her hands clutched the seat of the bench tighter.

"What did you mean when you said you kind of understand how he feels?" Sasuke asked her, looking down at the girl.

"Well, he has been alone all his life and I kind of have too, although differently to him," she paused and looked at him straight in the eye, "and you. I didn't have my family massacred and I didn't have rocks thrown at me either. I had people around but they never spoke to me, never supported me. They acted friendly when someone important was nearby but as soon as they were left alone with me, I would start getting yelled at and scolded for things I didn't do.

"Servants would always blame me for their misery, saying I was the cause of the suffering and soon I became so much alone. I was about to give up before I decided to run away. When I collapsed in the forest I really did think that I had no hope, at least before…" Akira trailed off, turning away from him.

She felt a hand on her shoulder but the girl still didn't look back.

"Before you met my brother, right?"

She nodded at him and he smiled painfully at her. It wasn't a smirk, it was a real genuine smile. Even if all it showed was pain and suffering, it was a smile.

He grabbed her arm and started leading her somewhere. She didn't protest as she knew he wanted to show her something.

"Welcome to the Uchiha compound." He said when they arrived. Akira realized he was still holding her arm and she pulled away. She looked in awe at the place where Sasuke's clan got murdered.

"It looks so sad, doesn't it?" She asked Sasuke, peering at him cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah it does." He replied. Akira wandered around, looking at all the houses before she stopped in front of one that didn't look so old and dusty.

"Is this where you live?" The girl questioned him rhetorically.

"Hn," was all he said before walking inside, not even bothering to remove his shoes. Akira was unsure whether she should follow suit or take off her shoes politely.

"Just come inside!" He said from inside the house. Akira sighed and stepped inside the house. As soon as her foot was in, she was hit with a blast of memories and feelings and emotions.

Akira followed Sasuke's voice and saw him standing in what must be the living room. He was holding some picture frames. She walked over to him and he handed her the pictures. They were of two different people.

"Akira, meet my parents, Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha." He said quietly.

Akira nearly dropped the two picture frames.

When her heart race had calmed, she placed them back on the shelf where she thought they had originally stood.

Sasuke shuffled around a bit and she turned back to him. His hair was covering his eyes and his hands were clenched into fists. It was pretty obvious he was hurting. Akira sighed.

The wrapped her arms around his neck in an embrace. She had to lean on her tip toes to reach his ears. She whispered words of comfort to him and warmed her hands with a friendly chakra. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and leant his head on her shoulder.

They just stood there, hugging. His breathing returned to normal pace and soon slowed. Akira felt him falling asleep on her so she sat down slowly, not letting go of him.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Akira chuckled quietly before laying him down, his head on her lap. The girl began to feel drowsy herself, so she placed a chakra blanket over the both of them, to keep them warm before also closing her eyes. Akira fell into a dreamless sleep.