None of these characters are based on anyone in real life, especially not the parents. My parents are amazing compared to most. These are just the only parents I could put in my character's parent's place to shape her the way she is. 4329 words in all. be sure to leave reviews please!!!

"Took you long enough," Sasuke said the second I got in.

"I'm sorry the sunset distracted me," I confessed.

He rolled his eyes. "Between you and Kakashi I'm going to go crazy."

I smiled. "What is it that you want to see exactly?"

"Everything," he said.

"That's a very broad spectrum. Why don't you give me a more specific timeframe?"

"One week before…" He didn't have to continue for me to know what he meant.

I sighed. "I'm skipping over boring parts, and don't kill me for what you might see."

"Promise," he said.

"You aren't going to hear what I'm thinking about the situation, only what's said and seen. Give me a few minutes then touch my hands," I said getting right down to business. If I wasted my time talking he'd just get more angry at me.

I sat down cross-legged, held my hands out in front of me and began to lose myself in my memories. That's what it took for me to project my memories to be visible to others. I needed to lose myself in them and want others to see what I was in.

One week before it began… One week before my life was ruined… One week before he left me…

SEVEN DAYS UNTIL THE INCIDENT:

I looked around my personal training field. Every target that I put up was torn to shreds. What a nice warm up.

I felt Sasuke's hands touch mine but paid them little mind.

I felt a pair of soft hands snake their way around my waist. I smiled when I felt Itachi's breath on the back of my neck. "Hey," he said. "You're getting better at that."

He turned me to face hmi but didn't let me out of his arms. "I'm still lagging. I can feel that I can go faster. I know my mind has the capacity to think faster, but there's something I have to do to my body to make it be able to react the way that my mind does."

"I think you're trying to hard," he replied.

"Says the boy who sneaks away from his family to go train with a masked stranger," I spat. "Let me go, I've got more to do."

"No," he refused. I want you to sit down and relax. You deserve it. No person in Kohana can do what you just did. You deserve a break."

"Exactly no one IN KOHANA. What about the Sand Village, or a Rogue? What if someone comes and I'm not ready?" I tried unsuccessfully to get out of his firm grip. I could break the grip of his arms if I wanted to but it felt almost like I was bound to him in more ways than just that.

"Relax, Kiyomi. No one can defeat you, and if they can, you and I both know that they wouldn't stand a chance against the two of us working together. We were born to fight side by side. We were made for each other. Together we're unbeatable."

"For now," I said, giving up my futile attempt to get away. He pulled me closer to himself.

"Even if you fail do you think I'll ever let anything happen to you?" he asked. His voice was low as he whispered the words into my ear. We were very secretive about our relationship. No one could ever know about us.

I smiled up at him. I liked it when he was sweet like that; it made me feel special. He leaned down to my level and kissed me.

This is hurting too much; I need to move ahead.

SIX MORE DAYS:

"Our training went well today," Itachi said as we lay under the stars. "I think I learn more from training with you than I do from Ma-the masked guy."

"I know who he is Itachi, I'm not stupid," I replied.

He sighed. "Sometimes I wish you were. How did you find out?"

"Well, I started doing some studying since he takes up so much of your time now. While I was looking up things about your clan in the restricted files I found a picture of him. A few days later he came to talk to me in my bedroom a-"

"He was in your bedroom?" Itachi asked. He sounded angry.

"Yes." That wasn't the response he wanted. I could feel his arm and chest tighten under my body.

"What did he do?" His voice was obviously restrained.

"Talk? He stayed at the window the entire time. He didn't get within five feet of me."

"What did he talk about?" He relaxed slightly. I wasn't about to tell him that his grip on my hand was nearly crushing my fingers. I quickly decided that I wasn't going to tell him that Mandara Uchiha was training me as well.

"Just things. He talked about you a little bit, and what you two were learning. We just talked, Itachi. That's all."

"Don't trust him," Itachi warned.

I smiled. "I did tell you I came across him in studying right? I know what happened. I'm not stupid. You always seem to forget that."

"Good," he said. The uncomfortable silence that followed was nearly unbearable.

"If he's so dangerous why are you around him."

"Because I have no choice." That was all he would say on the subject. "I guess I should bring you home now."

I stood up to let him do the same thing. Less than a second after he was standing I was being carried in his arms bridal style. "Itachi!" I cried out. "Put me down!"

He just laughed and kept running.

FOUR MORE DAYS:

"Kiyomi," my Barbie doll stepmother called from down the stairs. I stopped brushing my hair and headed down the steps.

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Mrs. Uchiha wants to talk to you," she said as she motioned towards the door.

I walked over to the door, curious as to why Itachi's mom would be here to talk to me. "Hello, Mrs. Uchiha. What can I do for you today?"

"Kiyomi," she said. She looked very troubled. "Could you walk with me for a minute?"

"Of course," I said. I quickly slipped my shoes on and walked out the door. When we started walking she didn't say anything. I guessed that she was trying to figure out how to word her question. It surprised me when she headed towards the woods instead of towards town. She only started talking when we were out of view from the road.

"Kiyomi, you're close to Itachi, right?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I responded immediately. I didn't know where she hoped this conversation would go, but judging from our placement she didn't want me to tell Itachi about our meeting.

"I-is he doing okay?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, has he been acting strange lately? He's always going out somewhere to do something. I don't know what he's getting into. Maybe it's just a mother worrying about her child too much, but something's not right. If it's a secret mission that's okay, just tell me that I don't need to know and I'll be on my way."

"Mrs. Uchiha..." jeez I don't know how to word this. I looked over at her, a worried mother. She just wanted to know that her son was okay. "He's being trained by someone… someone that he wouldn't want anywhere near his personal life." That's about as truthful as I can be. "He probably doesn't even want you to know that much."

"Oh, well… that wasn't what I was expecting. It's just, he's neglecting Sasuke too. He's never done that before. He adored his brother. I j-"

"Adores," I interrupted. She used past tense. Itachi loves his little brother.

"Excuse me," she said as though she didn't understand what I said.

"He adores his brother."

She smiled. "I'm just worried that's all."

"I know. Sometimes I worry about him too."

"Has he ever missed a meeting with you?"

"You mean training? No. Normally he comes and finds me when he wants to train. He always finds me at one-thirty sharp."

"No, I meant has he ever missed a meeting with you. Like when he sneaks away to have lunch with you, or watch the stars late at night." I mentally froze.

"I-I'm sorry?" I tried my best to make it sound like I had no idea what she was talking about.

She laughed. "I'm his mother, he can't fool me. I've seen the way he looks at you when you're over at our house, how happy he is when he comes home late at night, how hard he has to try not to reach out and grab your hand when you're sitting beside him and we're around. When you're not there when we're eating he looks out the window toward your house, or at the empty seat that someone forgot to put away the night before."

I ducked my head and tried to hide my blush. "Does Mr. Uchiha know?" I asked, ashamed.

"No, my husband is as blind as a bat when it comes to love." She paused. "I'm glad my son has found someone he can spend his life with, and that it's not one of those trashy girls who keep throwing themselves at his feet."

"No, he's never been late," I said quietly. "You said that Sasuke was being neglected." I was happy to change the subject. "Maybe I could come over and train with him sometime?"

"I'm sure he'd love that." She turned and smiled at me. "I don't' think I'd have to tell you how mad Itachi would be if he knew…"

"No, you don't. This conversation never happened Mrs. Uchiha," I promised.

"Thank you," she said as she turned to leave the woods. "Oh, by the way," She turned back to me. "I can't imagine anyone that I'd want to be my daughter-in-law more than you." I could feel my face burning when she said that.

She left before I could reply. How would I even reply to that? I wasn't even thinking about us getting married. Of course, it was common for girls to find their love at this age in our village.

THREE MORE DAYS:

I looked at myself in the mirror. Itachi better have a good reason for having me so dressed up. I had on a short semi-low cut black kimono with sparkles imbedded into the lower torso area. My waist long hair was tied up in to a neat braid. I had a gentle layer of make-up on, which I found completely useless. I was wearing the ring that Itachi had given me on my right middle finger. It didn't mean anything to the world's standards but to me it was everything, Itachi had given it to me.

I watched as Itachi silently slipped through my opened window. "You look wonderful," he said in a whispered tone as he embraced me gently. He kissed me and spun me around. All of my anger for him dissipated that quickly. A smile broke on my face.

The room stopped spinning and I could finally see him. He was wearing a nice blue shirt that hugged his muscles in all of the right places and pair of black pants. "I could say the same about you," I said. I giggled slightly. Great, the enchanting atmosphere that always surrounded us was getting to my head already.

"I'm taking you to diner," he explained as we both snuck out the window again.

"Really? Where?" I asked. I didn't know of any place that required dressing up in Kohana.

"Wait and see," he said. I did just that. We walked hand-in-hand along empty streets. If someone walked by one of us would fall behind to make it seem like we weren't together. We had to keep us secret.

"I heard that you trained with my brother today," Itachi said, making small talk.

"I did," I confessed.

"Why?" The dreaded question.

"Because I know how much time you're spending with your new trainer and I knew that Sasuke would be lonely."

"You know that I know when you're lying," he said simply.

"A family member of yours came by and asked if I had some time to spare." That wasn't technically a lie.

"Hmm... Did you have fun?"

"Yes we did. I was helping him with his aim. I like your little brother, He actually listens when I tell him that his stance is off."

"That's because his actually is off."

"So is yours," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked. He knew perfectly well what I said.

"You were .05 cm's off. If it were a moving target…"

"Well, it wasn't. My stance wasn't off there was heavy wind."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, your stance was still off."

I felt my back slammed into an ally wall, my hands were pinned above my head. "Did you want to say that again?" he asked. I could hear his teasing voice through his dangerous tone.

"Your. Stance. Was. Off." I made every word sound like a sentence. I looked straight into his eyes, daring him to try anything.

He pressed his body tightly against mine, allowing me no room to escape. I should have take advantage of it before. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I really don't think it was." His breath taunted my lips. He was evil. He moved his lips gently against my cheek. I tried not to move, not to give away emotion.

"I could have fixed it if you had let me," I said. My voice sounded weak. I could feel him smirk against my skin.

"How can you fix something that was never broken?" he asked, moving his lips down my jawbone.

I'll save the argument for later. "Didn't we have somewhere to go?" I asked.

He chuckled; I could feel his body moving through my own as if we were one. "We do," he said. He stood there a second more before he moved away from me. I took a deep breath in and wondered how long I was holding it. He offered me his hand and we continued down the street. I very carefully avoided talking about stances for a little while.

We had just gotten out of dinner and I was starting to head home. I felt his hand grab mine and pull me in a different direction. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said tauntingly.

"That's what you said last time," I whined.

"I didn't realize there was a limit on my word choices." I could hear the smile in his voice.

We continued with idle chatter for a little while, specifically avoiding stances. We passed houses with sleeping people and entered the woods. We kept walking for what seemed like forever. Finally we stopped in front of this beautiful giant house in the middle of the woods.

"We're here," Itachi announced.

"What is this place?" I could hear the wonder in my voice as I let go of his hand and started towards the building.

"This, will one day be our house," he said.

I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked. "Our house?"

"If you want it to be."

I could sense my confusion and excitement. The excitement part was the only part that had any clue what he was talking about because I was almost completely lost.

He could see how confused I was. He chuckled. "Kiyomi, I don't care what my family would say to you not being a Uchiha. I was wondering if… when we're old enough of course, you would consider marrying me."

That was a shock. I had never even considered marriage. Why would I, we're only thirteen. Sure, people secure their future at a young age in the village, but Itachi never seemed like the kind to do this kind of thing. He obviously had been thinking about his future a lot for some reason though. Right now there was no doubt in my mind that, that was what I wanted to do. I couldn't see myself anywhere else.

"Of course, Itachi," I replied. I didn't think that he'd actually be able to keep his promise, of course, but there was no harm in saying yes now.

TWO MORE DAYS:

I opened the door to my house. I had started training early so I ended at twelve-o-clock today. "Father," I called. I wanted to tell him what I found out.

"For crying out loud girl! Do you have to be so loud?" I followed the sound of his voice to where I already knew he was. He was in the kitchen fixing another alcoholic beverage for himself.

"Father, guess what," I made sure I was quieter now.

"I don't have time to play guessing games. I have too big of a headache. Leave me alone!" He pushed me out of the kitchen before I could say any more.

I'd go tell my stepmother then. "Mother," I called, quieter for my stepfather. Yes I called them 'father' and 'mother' but I was adopted when I was young. I knew where she was too. She would be in her room doing something with her looks.

I knocked softly on the door. I didn't hear anything, so I figured that it was okay to go inside. That was a mistake.

I opened the door and saw two people Leaning against the wall, there was a man kissing my stepmother. I was out of there in a second. That wasn't something I never wanted to see. I went up to my room and just sat there.

At exactly one-thirty sharp Itachi jumped through my window. "Hey, why weren't you out-what happened?" I guess I looked as chaotic as my brain was.

"I walked in on my stepmother and some guy. My stepfather's drunk again. Same old story," I said.

"It's different this time. It never upsets you this much."

"Yeah well, maybe I'm just tired of it!"

"Oh crap… you know him." He always knew what was wrong.

I looked away. Was I really that readable?

"Who is he?"

"Look downstairs, I'm sure he's still there."

"Um… I'd rather not." He looked at my door as though it was the only thing keeping him from his worst nightmare.

I didn't say anything.

"Just tell me who it was." His voice, though persuasive, was gentle.

I looked away from him. I felt him sit down on the edge of my bed. His arms wrapped around me gently and pulled me into his chest. I gave up. "It's Inabi Uchiha."

Again his body tightened. "Police," he hissed. "They should know better. And a Uchiha policeman, that's unacceptable. It's people like him who kill the name of our clan."

I turned and put my hand over his mouth. His voice was rising too high. "That's why I didn't want to tell you." I moved my hand from his moth and stood up. I walked over to my window and looked out at the peaceful neighbors. They never had troubles like this.

He stood up a few minutes after me. I was sure that he was trying to control his temper. "I needed to know." His voice came from directly behind me.

"You can't do anything. He's aloud to have an affair, so is she. It's bad but they won't be punished for it."

"Yes I can. I can tell his wife."

"No, don't get involved in things that aren't yours, please." I turned to look at him. "Please, just leave it alone." He seemed to freeze when he looked at me.

He looked like he was trying to say something. His mouth opened but he wasn't saying anything. "O-okay," he said finally. "I won't."

"Thank you, Itachi." I hugged him. Sometimes he needs more physical thanks than verbal, so I stayed in his arms that day. We were comforted by just being with each other. We didn't train that day; we just stayed together all night. That was the first time we fell asleep in each other's arms. He left early that morning when he had to go train.

ONE MORE DAY:

I met with Mandara again today. He trained me, as he usually did once a week then left as quickly as he came. I trained with Sasuke, and for the life of me I couldn't find Itachi. He didn't come and meet me at one-thirty like he normally did, and he wasn't there at night either. I wasn't going to admit it, but that startled me.

THE DAY OF:

It was early in the morning when I first woke up. The sun wasn't even rising in the sky. I never woke up this early. Something was wrong. I looked carefully around the room. As my eyes passed by my window Itachi silently crept in.

"I'm sorry I didn't meet you yesterday. Some… things came up that were inescapable. Today's going to be pretty busy too. I'll be back later tonight though," he said. He started to climb back out the window.

"Itachi wait!" I said in an urgent whisper. He stopped. "Can't I at least have a hug?" I asked innocently. I was going to say something else but something about his posture told me not to.

He turned back to me, walked to my bed and hugged me quickly. Something was defiantly wrong.

When he reached my window he turned back to look at me again. He looked sad. He was in front of me in the blink of an eye. This time he hugged me tighter as if we were never going to see each other again. Then he was gone.

I waited up for Itachi that night. I knew that he was going to need me. I saw him creep through my window silently. He was in his ANBU outfit, but he was missing his cloak. He was limping as he walked.

"What happened?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"I'm tired, Kiyomi. Help me," he said.

He wanted me to use my healing technique. I forced my chakra into my hands and it quickly became visible as a blue glow. He put his hands on top of mine and I forced my chakra into his body. It was slightly painful for me, but if it helped Itachi…

"What happened?" I asked again.

"I was in a fight," he said. He was watching my hands intensely.

"Why? Was it Inabi?" I asked.

"Him and many others."

"I told you not to get into other peoples business."

"That's not the reason."

"Then why were you fighting him?" I could feel my body quickly growing tired. I began to pull my arms away.

Itachi grabbed into my hands with such force that I thought he might break much more than the skin that was broken. "They were fighting me because I was killing them. I killed my entire clan."

I could feel my face turn dead white. "What!" That was way to loud. It would have woken up my parents.

I was getting to tired to control myself. I had to get my arms away. I kept trying to pull them away. Nothing was working. I watched as my blue chakra slowly changed to black. As the black appeared the pain grew worse. It was like nothing I had ever known before. It turned my blood into liquid fire on my already burning skin. The black chakra quickly spread across my arms to my upper torso as Itachi kept taking the last of my blue chakra.

"LET GO!" I screamed. I could feel tears leaking from my eyes. It just made the burning worse. The black chakra was spreading across my body.

That's when my parents came in. Itachi let go and went straight for the first person to enter the room, my most likely drunken stepfather. I shot up to try to help him, but the pain got worse as I moved. It was killing me, I noticed. Burning my skin and soon my organs.

My mind felt like the only controlled thing in my body, and it was telling me to save my stepmother. I got to her as quickly as I could. Standing hurt alone, placed with running it was crippling. I stood in front of my stepmother, facing the red eyes that had promised never to turn against me.

I felt the kunai forced into my stomach and I screamed. The liquid that poured out was worse than the blood on my hands. It was worse than lava. I was blacked out before I hit the ground.

My eyes snapped opened and I was breathing heavily. Sasuke had pulled his hands from mine and was staring at me from a few feet away.

"You two were a couple?" he asked.

"Questions later, sleep now," I commanded as I stood up. He listened without protest and I was just grateful that I made it to my bedroom before I passed out.