A/N: Okay, before anyone tries to kill me, let me explain. Yes, I actually have a legitimate excuse this time… Oh, shut up… *glares at disbelieving readers*

Well, first, I was planning to update a week or two ago. Then, as soon as I turned the computer on, it died. So, we had to send it to my computer whiz brother so he can fix it, except he was on a trip… I ended up getting access to a laptop, found my flashdrive (which had all the chapters I wrote up on it, thank kami), and here we are. So please forgive, read, and review! Arigatou!

Oh yeah, Disclaimer time! (blargh) I do not, and probably never will, own Naruto. *cries*

Thanks to:

xXLoveXxXIsXxXDeadlyXx

Yuti-chan

ShortSarcasm

The Deidara Effect

Cookies and brownies for all! *hands out promised food, bowing*

Ayano: I'm still pissed at you for making my sword shorter.

A/N: And I still don't care!

Ayano: *gasp* You know, you can be really mean sometimes! *bursts into tears*

A/N: Oh, geez… No, no, it's okay, you can have your six foot sword back…

Ayano: Really?

A/N: I knew it. Curse your skill at crying on command. The answer is no.

Ayano: Dammit…

Ch. 7: Training

Takeshi's now familiar presence filled my mind. Right now, we were standing beneath an unbelievably large mountain that reached up into the clouds. The muted sun gave a dull light to the surrounding area, and I looked up at Takeshi, who had stretched his body over thirty feet above me and was now preening himself contentedly.

He then grinned at me in his dragonly fashion, dangerous white fangs gleaming. "Are you, now? Well, you've already summoned a dragon, and as I've told you, the process is basically the same. You've been out of practice for a while, so we'll start small. Well, small for a dragon, that is. The one you'll be summoning today is a fire-type dragon. Her name is Akane, and she's a fairly decent fighter, which is what you'll need when you face the Akatsuki. Now, are you ready?" I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Go for it, then."

I looked up at the zig-zagging path that led up the mountain, and I followed it, Takeshi flying beside me. "Why can't I just ride on your back, Takeshi?"

He looked affronted and glared at me. "You? Ride on my back? No way little hatchling." I returned his glare, huffed, and continued walking up the steep mountain path. I continued for what felt like hours, but could have been seconds in the real world, taking frequent breaks to rest my burning legs. After a good long while, I reached a large ledge that jutted out from the side of the mountain and was covered in a thick fog. I sat down in the middle, gasping and panting, and saw that it had to be over sixty feet across. Up above, I could sense various chakra signatures above me constantly.

Takeshi alighted next to me. "If you haven't already guessed, those are dragons you're sensing. However, only the ones that are at your skill level or below are there. They are attracted to your power, but the one you want to summon, the strongest of the bunch, will not come down unless you catch her attention. Once you have done that, call Akane. I wish you luck, hatchling, and please do me a favor and don't get eaten."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" I began running through the possibilities in my head. How in Kami's name was I supposed to impress a dragon? I mean, to them, I was just a little ant!

I could hear a smirk in his voice as he replied. "You've got chakra from the Dragon Juubi, Ryuu-sama! You should be able to think of something. Improvise!" With that, he took off, diving out of sight in a flash of brilliant gold scales.

I shook my head. Dragons…What is this place, anyway? I had to be visiting their home or whatever in my mind. That's the only explanation for why there are so many congregated in one place… I think. If that's the case, though, Ryuu-sama is probably here too, somewhere. Huh… I sighed, trying to concentrate. I couldn't even see the dragons from here, I could only sense them… That's it! I should probably be able to pull off a big enough wind jutsu to blast all this fog away.

Praying that I didn't hit any of the dragons, I performed a quick set of hand signs and yelled, "Kaze no Yaiba!" The blade of wind easily sliced through the thick layers of condensed moisture, carving a huge, circular pathway through the sky. The force of the jutsu also cleared the fog from around me, so I was able to see clearly. I could see dragons of every color cease their twirling and spinning to dodge the lethal wind.

After taking a few deep breaths, I raised my head to the sky where I could see dragons of every color staring down at me with curiosity and, with some of the smaller ones, fear. I felt a little sorry for them; they looked young and it must be frightening to have this human come to their home and start tearing the skies apart. Taking one more breath, I roared at the gathering of dragons, "WHERE IS THE DRAGON KNOWN AS AKANE!" Oh kami, I am so screwed…

I drew another large breath and was about to yell again when a loud roar resonated through my brain and I staggered back a few steps as a large, ruby-red dragon crash-landed into the ground before me, growling ferociously, all while managing to maintain a majestic and graceful appearance (man may never truly understand the dragons' mysterious ways…). I assumed this must be Akane. She was probably sixty feet in length, significantly smaller than Takeshi, but still huge. Akane's scales were gleamed radiantly, and she had a powerful, fierce body, muscles rippling with every movement. As my eyes travelled to her head, they were immediately captured by her eyes. They were the same intense ruby color, but it wasn't the color that made them burn. No, it was the ferocity, passion, strength, indignation, pride… She was truly intimidating.

She let out another snarl and bent her neck so her head was right in front of me. It was then that my attention was attracted to her mouth and… teeth. Big, huge, sharp, serrated-looking teeth. Akane's canines were as long as my entire arm and looked like they could rip me in two in a matter of seconds. It was not a pleasurable experience staring them straight in the face.

Glowering at me for a moment, she growled, "Who are you, puny little human? A little snack for me? You don't even look very tasty… but I doubt you could put up much of a fight." She flicked her long tongue across her lips, then recoiled the slightest bit from me. "What? You bear Ryuu-sama's eyes… Impossible! It's insulting for such an inferior being to bear the eyes of the great Dragon Juubi! But for the same reason, I cannot kill you… Gah! This is ridiculous! What are you doing here, human?"

I gulped, but then drew up to my full height, feeling my stare turn cold and hard as fury and indignation flooded my mind. I needed to be strong, but I could feel my knees shaking under her penetrating gaze. "I am Kiyomizu Ayano, the Dragon Juubi Jinchuriki. Through the guidance of Takeshi, I have come here to begin mastering my power by summoning a dragon, namely yourself."

She recoiled again in shock. "You—You've talked with Takeshi-sama?"

Then, I felt a rush of air hit my head as I looked up to see Takeshi flying lazily above me before alighting next to me, eyeing Akane with interest. "Yes, indeed we have, Akane-chan. She's got quite a bit of potential. I helped her out when she was in a bind, but I told her she wouldn't get anymore help till she had enough skill to actually summon me. So now she's working her way up!"

Akane was still staring at Takeshi in shock, then at me, then at Takeshi again. Sighing, Takeshi turned his head to look at me. "You know, you really should address me with more respect. I am your teacher, after all. If you were this disrespectful to Tsukiko, she would—"

Yet again, I felt a blast of air above me and looked up to see a dragon of the same size as Takeshi; the only difference being their scales, which were colored silver instead of gold. Its eyes were the same steely silver color; cold, hard, sharp…The silver dragon landed next to Akane and glared holes into Takeshi who groaned, mumbling, "Speak of the goddamn devil…"

The silver dragon snarled and snapped, "What was that, Takeshi?"

He shook his head and replied in a sickly sweet voice, "Nothing, Tsukiko."

Tsukiko, who I remembered was Takeshi's sister, growled. "Thought not, little twit."

Takeshi roared then, causing me to curl up and cover my ears and Akane to cower in fear. "How dare you call me a twit! Must I remind you that I am older than you by three and a half minutes!"

Tsukiko quickly uncoiled her body and shot herself forward so that she was right in Takeshi's face. "Oh, really? Well I don't think, and our mother agrees, that your immaturity discounts that regrettable fact!"

Takeshi growled and lunged for her throat, but Tsukiko easily dodged the attack. "Ryuu-sama does not think that! You have no right to speak for her! I thought someone as uptight and rule-abiding as you would know that!" Wow… the Dragon Juubi was their mother? And they were twins, just like Chihiro and I… At least we got along with each other, though… I shook my head as their fighting escalated and the beginnings of a migraine stabbed at my brain.

Finally, I'd had enough. I stepped between them, which, in retrospect, was a very stupid idea. "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?" I did some handsigns and held my arms out to each of the dragons, yelling, "SUITON: SUIROU NO JUTSU!" A gigantic sphere of water encased both of them, draining an immense amount of chakra because they were so large. I was only able to keep it up for a few seconds, though, before I fell to my knees, gasping. "You two *gasp* are so *gasp* freaking irritating! Just shut up already!"

I heard, or rather felt, an extremely loud snarl near my ear, and Tsukiko sounded beyond pissed. "You little bitch! How dare you! I ought to kill you!"

Before she could actually do that, however, Takeshi pretty much tackled her, as much as an overgrown snake/dragon could. After they got up, though, they did not start fighting immediately. Instead, Tsukiko turned to me, and sounding grudgingly apologetic, said, "I—never mind. As much as I would like to pound your head in, I cannot. First of all because of your connection to Ryuu-sama. Second, I'm curious to see how powerful you will become. I must admit, it's been a long time since anyone, dragon or human, had the nerve to trap up, albeit for only a moment."

Takeshi grinned and I glared suspiciously at him. He'd planned this all out, hadn't he? If he noticed my glare, he didn't answer, and Akane approached the two dragons and me cautiously, apparently recovered now. She still seemed rather meek, and to my immense surprise, she inclined her head to me. "Dragon Sage Ayano, I apologize."

I started in shock at the sudden change in her behavior. "I… No, it's okay. But please, quit calling me the Dragon Sage. I don't know… Just call me Ayano, please."

Akane dragon-smiled slightly. "Ayano. You have earned my respect. You are as fearless and fierce as a dragon, yet you are in a human's body. I too wish to see how powerful you will become. For reasons unknown to all but Ryuu-sama herself, the Dragon Juubi Jinchuriki's way of summoning is different from the other Bijuu. Instead of becoming the Dragon Juubi, or even shrouding yourself in her chakra, tail by tail, you can only summon lesser dragons. I believe, once you are powerful enough, and fully connected to her through the other dragon, then you will be able to truly become the Dragon Juubi. Now, though, you don't need to know about that. Takeshi mentioned you did this before? Just do what you did then, and I'll do the rest."

The dragons and the mountain had disappeared, giving way to reality. I opened my eyes and felt a peculiar sensation… remembering Takeshi's explanation, I guessed that the pupils were turning into ten-pointed stars and the whites were becoming dark blue, just like when I had summoned Takeshi. The sky was now significantly darker—I'd probably been in the dragon mountain place for a few hours, as it appeared to be mid-afternoon. Shaking my head, I stood slowly, stiff from sitting in the same position for hours. I remembered when Chihiro and I summoned our dragons, and did the same thing, with a few adjustments. I spread my legs slightly and stretched my arms out in front of me this time, palms forward and eyes closed. I dug up a good deal of chakra and focused it in my arms mainly, assuming that they would act like a "gateway" for Akane to come out.

Turns out that my guess was right. My arms, which were glowing gold, the color of my chakra, suddenly started glowing ruby-red, and I prepared for Akane. The chakra, like last time, started growing and shifting, but this time, to my relief, the charka started growing away from my body, not around it—that stuff was stifling when it completely surrounded me. It grew until it was roughly the same size as Akane, and then she solidified into her real form. Shaking out her body a little, Akane glared down at me, back to normal again. Great…

Akane rumbled happily. "Ah… this is nice! I've never been down here… It's so warm!" This chick has some serious moodswings… "But…I didn't come here to smell the flowers! I came here so we could train! Ayano, prepare yourself!"

"What the hell? No—Argh—Stop! Now! Why in Kami's name are you attacking me? OW! That could have been my head! Seriously, what—Oh, shit! That is a goddamn FIREBALL! Are you insane? NO! NO MORE GODDAMN FIRE, AKANE!" I was breathing very heavily, practically gasping for breath. That crazy she-devil of a dragon had just started chasing me, snapping and biting at me, nearly missing every time. Then,she had brought out the fire power—literally. I remembered Takeshi said she was a fire-type dragon or something; apparently, that meant she could shoot out ginormous fire jutsus from her mouse without warning.

"What? Can't take the heat? You've gotta do better than that if you want to become one with the Dragon Juubi someday," she laughed gleefully with a hint of insanity. It was like she got a high from fighting… Wait a second, did she? …I really didn't want to know.

Akane spun around suddenly and slithered over to where I could see Kisame and Hiroki drenched in sweat and speechless at the sight before them, Miyako standing off to the side, not wanting to abandon her master. Leaning down, Akane growled, and then hissed at them, "Who are you, little humans?" Looking at Kisame and Miyako, she amended, "Or should I say, human, half-bred human, and mutt. I'm conducting a training session with my student right now, and if you don't leave now, I'll rip your throats out and eat you for a little snack."

Hiroki was…scared out of his mind, to say the least. Miyako was extremely anxious about him, but didn't want to get any closer to the monster in front of her. Kisame, getting over his initial shock of seeing a sixty foot long red dragon in front of him, smirked up at Akane, which infuriated her to an unheard of extent.

"What the hell are you smiling about, fish boy? I'll burn you to a crisp!" Hiroki and Miyako wisely got out of the vicinity as Akane yelled, "Katon: Karyu Endan," and let loose a huge pillar of flame from her mouth.

Kisame didn't move, but instead he did some hand signs and said, "Suiton: Suijinheki," as a huge wall of water formed from the water he spit out of his mouth, effectively stopping the fire jutsu. "You know, fire doesn't work so well against water, and especially not against this jutsu."

Before Akane could go completely berserk, and ran up to her and said calmly to all of them, "Okay, everyone just calm down. Seriously, why do I have to keep playing peacemaker, huh? Akane here is a dragon I summoned to help train me and to fight the Akatsuki. She is a friend, and Kisame, please do not provoke her."

Kisame glared at me. "And what gives you the right to order me around, shrimpie?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Nothing, fish-face, absolutely nothing. I just would rather not die because I'm unprepared to fight the Akatsuki. So, now that that's covered, come on, Akane."

"You have no right to be ordering me around either, hatchling," she said indignantly, but followed all the same.

Before we got far, though, Kisame yelled, "Hey, why don't we make teams? You, Akane, Hiroki, and Miyako can battle me, Konan, Deidara, and…well, I guess Itachi won't be joining us, huh?"

Konan and Deidara walked over from where they had been watching the whole exchange from a safe distance. I didn't even know they were there! Why didn't they intercede or something to prevent possible serious injury? I looked up at the grinning pair and shook my head in disbelief.

Hiroki and Miyako walked over to me and I asked, "So what's our plan, genius?"

He held up his hands in a helpless gesture. "Hey, this wasn't my idea! But, I think we should just go at 'em, however stupid that may be, but I'll probably need support from you and Akane, like for defense or something in case they throw a jutsu at me that I can't dodge." I nodded and the four of us started approaching Deidara, Konan, and Kisame. Kisame grinned and came right at us, while Konan and Deidara stayed back. I saw Deidara reach his hand into a pouch at his side, and to my surprise I saw that he had…mouths on his hands, which were chewing something. (Ew! He has mouths on his hands?) A moment later, he had a small centipede creature which looked to be made out of clay. (Ack, his mouth-hands were chewing clay! Can he taste it? Ew…) Then he threw it into the air, and it became a very large centipede creature. (Oh my Kami, that is a huge centipede… centipede… oh, man, it's a freaking centipede!)

I drew out my sword quickly to block Kisame's incoming swing and was driven back by the force from it. Akane took the opportunity to swoop in and try to grab Kisame, but he jumped back just in time, cursing. Meanwhile, Hiroki and Miyako were racing forward towards Deidara and Konan. The centipede thing then came at them, and they jumped away from it instead of blocking, which was very fortunate because as soon as the centipede reached the spot where they had just been, Deidara yelled, "Katsu," and it exploded. Deidara cursed and started shaping another one of his exploding clay creature thingies.

Akane motioned for me to get on her back, and I did so quickly. She took to the air and roared, soon hovering over the others. When Akane let aimed a huge fireball at Konan, she put her hands up and they became thousands of sheets of paper, forming a wall between her and the incoming flames. It's paper, idiot! Fire burns paper! But I was proved wrong when the paper wall effectively stopped the fire.

Akane roared in outrage. "What is the meaning of this? My fire cannot be stopped by paper!" I took a closer look with my Rykugan and saw that each of the sheets was imbued with a decent amount of Konan's chakra.

"Akane," I yelled. "She put enough chakra in those papers that they could overpower your fire! That won't work; we'll have to try something else!" She growled, but before she could say anything else, I saw a flash of blue come up beside me, and raised my sword just in time to block Kisame's Samehada. I flipped backwards over Akane's body as she twisted around in midair to go after Kisame, and land on the grass below with one knee bent, scanning the area to see where Kisame ended up. Not there, not there, above? No. So he must be.. Behind me! I spun around, still bent low, raised Fang above my head to block Kisame's strike, and then kicked out with my free leg. He stumbled only the slightest bit and I gritted my teeth as the pressure on my arms didn't let up.

When I couldn't hold up, I braced my foot against his leg and shot away from him, panting. Not wasting a second, I brought my sword up and slashed diagonally downward, even though we was ten feet away. A long bold of lightning surged forth from Fang, and Kisame just barely dodged it, a bit of lightning catching his leg, causing him to grunt in pain.

I quickly looked over to Hiroki and Miyako and saw that they were under pressure from Deidara's numerous clay bombs. Seeing one coming up behind him that he didn't see, I took off and appeared behind him a moment later. I did a quick couple hand signs and said, "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi," my palm slamming into the ground as an earth wall rose up to protect us from the explosion, then spun around to face Deidara, did a couple more hand signs while sucking in a deep breath, and said, "Fuuton: Kamaitachi," as a huge gale of wind from my mouth blasted toward Deidara. He was blown back a good thirty feet, accruing a few shallow cuts on his chest.

Hiroki turned around to face me, looking relieved. "Thanks," he gasped.

I paused to catch my breath, panting from the sudden drainage of chakra, and responded, "No problem."

The battle continued, Akane viciously attacking Konan, Kisame and I swordfighting and throwing jutsus at one another, and Hiroki and Miyako battling Deidara with occasional assistance from me.

A good two or three hours later, the sky was beginning to darken, and we stopped…well actually, Hiroki, Miyako, and I were too exhausted to continue, so we just called it quits then… Akane went back to dragon-land and Hiroki and I collapsed next to where we had set our stuff down earlier, Miyako laying down heavily, whining. Deidara, Konan, and Kisame walked over, moderately tired and suffering from minor cuts and scratches, and sat down. Once I had recuperated a bit, I pulled out a small towel and wet it with the water from my canteen, wiping away the small amounts of blood on my body. Despite the ferocity of our attacks, everyone went fairly easy on each other, and no one had any injuries that wouldn't clear up after a day or two.

Once I had finished cleaning myself off a bit, I dug a snack out of my bag and began munching—I was starving! In between bites from my rice ball, I asked everyone in general, "So where'd Itachi stomp off to? I mean, you'd think he'd be back by now…Why was he so pissed off, anyway?"

Konan shared a nervous glance with the other two. "Umm… I… We don't know…" Kisame and Deidara nodded, and Hiroki just looked on confusedly.

I narrowed my eyes at her. What was wrong with those three? They were acting weird… "Whatever. I'm going to go see if I can find him." I stood up, tied on my swordbelt which I had dropped on the ground near my pack, finished my onigiri, and jogged off towards Iwakura.

(Itachi's POV)

Stupid… Stupid Takeda. Stupid Ayano. Doesn't she see how he looks at her? Doesn't she see how… No. Don't think that. But is she really that oblivious? Of course she is. Ayano just thinks that it's two friends seeing each other after a long time, but… Besides, that guy's not trustworthy. Who knows if he's the one who sold her out to Pein, and he's just spying on us now?

I stopped in the middle of the street, bathed in artificial light that blotted out the dark night sky above. Crowds still moved past me at this hour and I rubbed my temples. Why was I so angry and distrusting of that Hiroki? It didn't make sense… A small corner of my mind whispered, You're jeal—no. I couldn't…just no. I wouldn't even allow myself to think that. I can't become attached…

My thoughts were cut short as someone bumped into me. I instinctively stepped back from the person, as they regained their balance. I was about to turn around and keep walking when the person grabbed my forearm, saying, "Itachi! There you are."

…Crap. She was here. Ayano was here, and I didn't have a reasonable explanation for the way I acted. I had assumed she was mad at me for that, but instead, she had come looking for me. I turned around and saw her long black hair, delicate yet somehow strong facial features, pale skin, and those odd eyes that had both concern and surprise in them.

She looked up at me. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you come back? We had a little mock fight to train; you should have been there! It was really fun, and I was able to summon this big red dragon, Akane!"

I stayed silent while she babbled, unable to think. What was I supposed to say? At a loss for words, I resorted to my usual, "Hn." Before Ayano, that was usually all I said. But when I found her in that prison, I just felt the need to talk to her…She was so sad, and once I told her my name, she looked just the slightest bit happier. I couldn't help comforting her, no matter how much I wanted to walk away.

She frowned at me, but her eyes were bright. "Oh, come on. That's all you've got to say?" When I stayed silent, she huffed. "Fine, then. Let's go back." Still, holding my arm, she yanked it forward as she started running in the opposite direction, back the way she had come. I quickly adjusted to her pace, staring at the side of her bobbing head and not complaining about her tight grip on my arm.

(Konan's POV)

There was a sort of awkward silence when Ayano left to go fetch Itachi. We all ate in silence, making a little small talk. I sighed. Does Ayano really not know why Itachi was so upset? Doesn't she see that he was jealous of Hiroki? For that matter, does Itachi even know the reason he was upset? Kami…

I heard footsteps and looked up to see Ayano running toward where Kisame, Deidara, Hiroki, the dog Miyako, and I were gathered. Beside her was Itachi, and when I looked closer I saw that Ayano was dragging him along by his arm. I laughed quietly to myself; Itachi didn't look disappointed with this arrangement in the least. Then again, Ayano didn't even look like she was aware that her hand was still attached to his arm. I repeat: Kami…

They reached us, and Ayano let go of Itachi, sitting down with a sigh. Itachi slowly sat down next to her, avoiding everyone else's eyes and just staring off into space. "Sorry," was all he said. I sighed again, and Ayano rolled her eyes, leaning back with her hands supporting her.

Deidara spoke up then, "So, tomorrow we're going to head into Suna, hmm. However, we want to avoid as many people as possible while we're on the lookout for the Akatsuki; who knows how much information they've gathered. They might have visual information on us, and we're still viewed by the public as members of the Akatsuki. So try to avoid being recognized, hmm."

Ayano said, "'Kay," Kisame grinned and nodded, Hiroki clapped his hands together and said, "Alright," Itachi did his little "Hn" thing, and I inclined his head. On the inside, though, I was extremely anxious. We didn't know how many of the Akatsuki would be coming, or which ones. I was terrified that Pein would come or something, because I didn't know if we would be able to win against him, not to mention the other members that would most likely show up. I shook my head, trying to rid it of all the worrying thoughts. Whatever the case, we needed to be prepared for anything tomorrow.

Just thought I'd throw these in here, in case you were wondering.

Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba: Wind Style: Wind Blade

Katon: Karyu Endan: Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb

Suiton: Suijinheki: Water Style: Water Encampment Wall

Doton: Doroku Gaeshi: Earth Style: Terra Shield

Fuuton: Kamaitachi: Wind Style: Cutting Whirlwind

Hope that was a halfway acceptable chapter… Blargh… I'm trying to make Itachi slightly less OOC, but I'm pretty sure I'm failing. Oh well… Again, I don't have a computer, so it will take time, my friends! Time which you can spend reviewing! Because reviews give me that nice warm, fuzzy feeling, and I'll give you cookies, brownies, and… hmm… how 'bout… ice cream! I mean, who doesn't like ice cream?

Okay, I'll stop babbling… Addio for now, amici!