Too Late
Story # 0112
by Kaline Reine

WARNINGS: This may not be suitable for minors. There is adult content, rape, language, violence, gore, and other things. You've been warned. This is an OC fic, meaning it is mainly about an original character.

Based on a true story.

Disclaimer: I do own Kaline, since I am her. While most of this is based on real events, any resemblance to any real people you might know is purely coincidental. Names have been changed, and some people were replaced with characters from Naruto. I do not own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 8:

Kaline stayed behind in the village, doing exactly as Itachi had asked of her. She did her best to keep an eye on Sasuke. But since his clan died, he seemed to resent her. Hell, that kid was so angsty... He resented everyone.

But she didn't really mind. She didn't blame the poor boy. Sasuke had been through a lot, and he had lost everything. Kaline kept a watchful eye on him, from a distance. She didn't talk to him much. Because that was not her way of doing things, nor was it his. But she kept her promise, and that was what mattered. She was so happy the day that Naruto told her Sasuke was on his team. This would be a good way to keep track of his progress. Even if she didn't have a chance to tell Itachi... She wanted to know how he was doing, for her own reasons. She'd grown fond of him during her time living with the Uchihas.

Kaline would complete her missions that she was given. But really, her only goal now was to help Itachi. She felt like there was some reason that he had given her the task of watching Sasuke. So that was what she did, and she never faltered for a moment.

That day, she was on her way to check on the raven in person. She went to his house, in the Uchiha compound, about once a week. She'd offered for him to stay with her in the apartment, but he'd coldly said no. Sasuke had always been difficult for her. He pushed Kaline away, like everyone did to him.

"Sasuke-san?" She knocked. "I'm here to check on you."

"Come in," He said dully.

Kaline looked at the boy. He had grown, over the years. He was Twelve now. No longer was he the naive child of eight years old, as he was when she met him.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help me," He finally acknowledged her goals that day. Kaline had never been more proud of him. He was like a little brother to her, almost. "But do you really have to keep coming here every week? What's so important about me, anyway?"

"Nothing. I am only doing what Itachi asked me to."

"That bastard!" He punched the wall, leaving a big dent. Sasuke was stronger than he used to be, by a long shot. "I'll kill him! I swore on my parents' graves that I would have my revenge. I'm almost strong enough to take him on."

Kaline giggled. "You're only twelve, Sasuke-san. And Itachi did what he had to do. You shouldn't hate him for that."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, easy for you to say. He didn't kill your parents."

"They were like family to me too, Sasuke."

"Get out of my house!" He shouted at her, pointing to the door. "Never come back here."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kaline played with her necklace. She was sitting in the window of her apartment, which faced the setting sun. It was just dipping below the horizon, and she felt a small sense of loss, now that another day had gone by. She felt that she was wasting her life away here. And all because of some stupid promise.

It would only be a matter of time until Sasuke would make good on his threats. She had seen this coming all along. There was no way for anyone to stop it.

She had become far stronger herself. She'd invented several new Jutsu of her own, while in Konoha. One of them she had never told anyone about. Another was taught to her from her sensei, Anko. She had been a Sound Ninja too, at one point. She would be a valuable asset to almost anyone now. But she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life.

Sighing sadly, she got down from the window. It would be dark soon. And she needed to get some rest for her mission tomorrow.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A male team mate of hers cried out in pain, as a kunai imbedded itself into the tendon in the back of his heel. He could no longer walk, or use that foot again.

They had been on their way to Wave Country, when the ambush occured. Their mission was to take out the boss of a local gang that had started up there, again. That place was notorious for it's gangs, and all the wars that broke out within the country's borders. They were too busy fighting amongst themselves to be concerned with attacking other nations, luckily. They hadn't even gotten very far from Konohagakure yet.

Kaline's long wavey brown hair drifted behind her. She'd never liked tying it back. She liked to have something to hide behind, but she hated masks. The enemy Shinobi had attacked them from out of nowhere. Several shuiken were aimed at her head, but she managed to dodge them. Turning around, she took out her weapon of choice, her kazoo.

But before she could use it, another one of her team mate's was thrown from the trees by an exploding tag.

"Damn it!"

She worked quickly to attach some wire to a kunai, and threw it in the direction that the shuriken had come from. But Kaline couldn't watch in the back and front at the same time. She was knocked off balance, when someone's arm grabbed her, from seemingly out of nowhere. She didn't even have time to catch her breath.

"What do you want from me?" She almost made it seem like she was going to give in.

"Give us the necklace," A strong voice breathed down her neck. Whoever it was, had hold of her from behind.

A hand touched the crystal that hung from her neck, but it was quickly pulled away. A small red spark had come from the jewel, and shocked the hand that touched it. Kaline's eyes widened. She quickly realized what had happened, and used it to her advantage. She used the opening to raise her kazoo to her lips. Making a small noise to prepare the air around her for it, she began the first handsigns for this jutsu.

"Ongaku no Takai no Jutsu!" (Music of Death Jutsu) She called it, just as Anko had when she had first shown her the technique.

When she hit a certain note, the man behind her was forced to loosen his grip. He fell to his knees, clutching at his throat, and gasping for air.

'What did she... do to me?' He couldn't speak, but she heard him.

The jutsu allowed her to hear the thoughts of her victim, but only for the short time before they would die. She'd heard him, loud and clear. On a whim, she decided to answer him, since he was dying anyway. He would have had enough time to counteract the Jutsu, if he were smart enough to figure out how. But if she took the time to explain it to him, that might distract him long enough.

"The Ongaku no Takai uses sound waves to dispel all of the air around the target's body. That means, having no air, they will die of suffocation shortly after. With no air, it becomes so silent that the user of the Jutsu can hear everything. Even your thoughts, and the exact moment when your lungs fail and your heart stops beating. Have a nice sleep. Bastard."

He fell over, his eyes coldly staring at nothing. He was dead, whoever he was. Strangely, the man wore nothing to identify him. He didn't even look like a Ninja. He didn't have a headband, but he also didn't have an Akatsuki cloak. There was simply nothing. His clothing was plain, and gray. Boring.

Like with almost every Jutsu, there were ways to stop it. But she wasn't going to waste time telling him that. Kaline knew she shouldn't have killed him. She should have tried to find out just what they wanted with the necklace that Itachi had given her. But it was too late for regret now.

She looked at her fallen comrades, which were a few paces behind her. Even Anko, the purple-haired Jounin, had had both of her legs severed, and she could not stand. She had blood coming from her neck, too.

Kaline took a single flare out of her Ninja bag. She loaded it into the flare gun, and sent up a signal flare.

"We're still in Fire Country," She remarked. "I'm sorry to do this, but I've made up my mind a long time ago. Someone from Konoha will come for you shortly."

Anko's lavender eyes widened in fear. She reached out to her student, knowing it was useless. Once Kaline had made up her mind to do something, she always followed through. But she had to try!

"Kaline, wait!"

Too late. She was gone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kaline spent a few days hiding in Sunagakure, until she felt it was safe to continue. She had heard rumors of the Akatsuki base being near here. To her surprise, no one came looking for her. They probably didn't know where to look.

She would seek refuge with them, if they would accept her. She had a feeling they would. She was officially a Missing-Nin now, and she had betrayed her Village.

It only took her a few days time to gather information on the location of their base. Soon, she found it, deep within an unknown forest. It was farther away from Suna than she had expected. She knew that she could probably seek refuge with the Kazekage, if she so chose. But there was a reason that she had left.

The sound of something flying past her at blidning speed caught her off guard. Strange white birds zipped around her.

"What are you doing all the way out here, un?" A low voice demanded.

She was surprised to see the owner was a feminine looking blonde man. "I'm Kaline. I want to join your organization."

"How do you even know I'm in one, yeah?" He raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that he was the one controlling the birds, from his movements. She sensed a tiny bit of chakra within them. But mostly they were harmless. He must have been tired, or either he didn't see her as much of a threat.

"Your cloak. You're an Akatsuki member, correct?"

"I want to know how you that, un. Who told you about us? How did you find this base, hm?"

"I got some information from some shady people in Suna. But that's really none of your business," She was getting annoyed, and as a result, she reached for her only weapon.

A strange man with red hair and very little chakra came out from hiding, and stood beside the other man. "Leave her alone, Deidara-san."

"But Danna, un!!!" The blonde whined. The other one was clearly his superior. "She was trespassing."

"I don't care. Leader-sama may wish to speak with her," The redhead turned his back to her, a sign of trust, and led the way down a small, barely visible path. "Follow me, girl."

Deidara didn't argue, but he deactivated the birds. The small flock fell to the ground with a clink. Kaline picked up one of them and looked at it. "Clay?"

He just chuckled, and followed behind the other guy. She decided to follow them. After all, their Leader was the one that she wanted to see.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: I hope these last few chapters were enjoyable. I love how I keep using this story's title in various places throughout... Hahaha. I also like Kaline's Jutsu. It took me FOREVER to come up with that. But oh, there are ways to beat it. I may find a way to add that in somewhere, maybe not. Well I like the way she interacts with Itachi, and how she thinks of him. Though it's kind of sad... ;)

-Kaline Reine