Whoa! A seven-chapter stretch with only one review per chapter, and suddenly I get two and then three? I am happy here, people! Thanks to MoonDemon36, operaluva823, and Silmarion. I love you all!

So this is the last chapter before we dive into Part 2, and let me just say that I am excited! I've never gotten so far in a story before, so things are looking good here. Let's hope I can continue this!

If someone said three years from now

You'd be long gone,

I'd stand up and punch them out

Cause they're all wrong…

Who knew?

"Who Knew" by P!nk

Mornings at the Akamine house were never quiet. Rini was prone to singing loudly when she showered, while Yumi liked to begin her day with a physical warm-up. For a while it hadn't been too bad, so Miyako had been able to handle it. About two years ago, though, Yumi had added jumping jacks to her routine, after which the noise had become so unbearable that Miyako had added a morning run to her schedule. Not only did it help her escape the clamor that her sisters somehow produced without any effort whatsoever, but speed and endurance were vital to improving as a shinobi. So every morning she would wake up, stretch, and go for a five-mile run. By the time she got back, the house would be mostly silent.

Today, though, was different. Instead of the usual quiet, there were loud thuds coming from the kitchen. Miyako ran through her mental checklist of family members. Let's see, her father was on a mission, her mother was running errands, Yumi was at the academy… that left Rini. And the thuds… they weren't like the small ones that Yumi produced while doing her jumping jacks, but larger, like the sound weapons made when they hit walls. Miyako blinked. Weapons. No. Rini could not be throwing weapons in the kitchen. She couldn't be that—

"AAGGGHHH!"

Completely abandoning her train of thought, Miyako rushed into the kitchen. "Rini? What is it?" Her eyes widened as she took in the chaos that was the room. Kunai and shuriken covered the walls and Rini's katana was stuck in the ceiling. Her sister stood glaring at an inexplicable scorch mark on the floor, the ends of her hair sizzling and a kunai clenched in her fist. "Oh my God. What happened?"

Rini snapped her head around to her twin. "IDIOT!" she shrieked, loudly enough that Miyako took an inadvertent step back. "STUPID—FREAKING—MORON—IDIOT!"

Miyako blinked. "Who? Me?"

"NOT YOU!" Veins were bulging in Rini's forehead and the look on her face was enough to make jonin run for their lives. "THAT FREAKING—MORON—SASUKE!"

"Wait. Why is Sasuke an idiot?"

"FREAKING MORON! I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Rini!" Miyako snapped. "I understand! He's a moron! But why?"

Rini paused for a moment, and then slowly started to laugh, something frighteningly violent in her eyes. "Oh, so you haven't heard then?"

"No, and I'm never going to if you don't tell me," Miyako retorted, the harshness of her words masking the worry that was growing inside her. What on earth was going on here? What could Sasuke have possibly done that would make her sister so furious?

"Well," Rini said quietly, yet with a disturbing smile that only added to Miyako's worry, "guess which revenge-obsessed idiot left Konoha last night to join Slitherskin's Merry Band of Freaking Criminals and Psychopaths?"

Miyako frowned. "Slitherskin? Wait—" Her eyes widened as she realized what Rini was saying. "Orochimaru? You mean he left Konoha to join the man who killed the Third Hoka—?"

"Of course he did," Rini spat out, interrupting her. "After all, where else is he supposed to get the power to kill his freaking brother? Never mind that here he could be trained by someone who also has the Sharingan. Never mind that Slitherskin is a freaking traitor. It's not like reason matters when you exist to kill someone."

An uncontrollable fury built up in Miyako's stomach. Fury at Sasuke for deserting. Fury at Orochimaru for tempting him. And most of all, fury at Uchiha Itachi for starting this whole mess. "Damn him," she whispered, breathing in slowly, attempting to suppress the feelings that threatened to overtake her. She had to maintain control. Had to. She could not yield to emotion.

Rini's shoulders slouched, her laughter gone as soon as it started. "Yeah, that's right. Damn him. After all, there's nothing else we can do. People went after him, they're all in the hospital. He even turned against his best friend." She slumped down on the kitchen floor, putting her head on her knees. Miyako knelt down next to her sister. She felt she should say something comforting, but words failed her. What were you supposed to say to someone who had just found out that the boy they had had a crush on for years had defected? Finally, she just asked, "How did you find out?"

"Saki-sensei came by while you were on your run," Rini answered quietly. "She's friends with his team leader, remember? She thought I'd want to know."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Rini sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "Well, it's official. The whole family's psycho. Think that gets inherited along with the Sharingan?"

"It certainly would explain a lot."

Rini smiled a little at that. "Heck yeah it would." Suddenly, her eyes widened and she turned to Miyako. "Brilliant idea here! Teach me water jutsu!"

Miyako blinked. "I fail to see how that relates to anything we were just talking about."

"Well, yeah, it is kind of random," Rini agreed. "But come on, Miyako-chan! Saki-sensei says that most jonin can use two types of chakra natures. Sure, we've only been chuunin for a few months, but why not get started now? Plus, we're twins. If anyone can teach me to use water, it'll be you. And I'll teach you wind, and then we can learn ice together, and then we can go for jonin! Won't that be great?"

"Rini, what does this have to do with anything?" Miyako demanded, exasperated. "You go from throwing things at the wall because you're so furious, to begging me to teach you water jutsu… what is going on here?"

Rini shifted uncomfortably. "Well…"

"Well, what?"

"See, it's kind of a funny story. I was talking to Saki-sensei, and she was saying—"

"Rini. Get to the point."

Rini looked down at the floor. "Well… jonin are the ones who go after the big criminals. And even if Sasuke isn't big yet, Orochimaru is. So if we find him…"

Miyako was taken aback. "You… you want to become a jonin so you can go after Sasuke?"

"Well, yeah," Rini said quietly. "I mean, I don't know if you understand, but… I want him to come back. I think he can. It's not like when Itachi left. He hasn't killed anyone. He could have, but he didn't. He's just looking for power. And that means it may actually be possible to change his mind. And I want to try to do that."

Miyako looked at her sister for a long time, searching for the right words. Finally, she shook her head. "You're right. I don't understand."

Rini's eyes widened. "But—"

"Sasuke made a conscious decision to leave Konoha," Miyako interrupted. "If he had wanted to stay here, he would have done so. No, he didn't kill anyone, but the fact that he put his best friend in the hospital when he tried to stop him from leaving suggests that he really isn't interested in who he hurts, so long as he gets what he wants. And quite frankly, it could be that he's working his way up to killing. The change doesn't happen in one night. It takes time. And I won't be surprised if he ends up losing any morality he may have once had. If you think about it, he's been acting strangely ever since this year's chuunin exams. He's already more brutal now than he ever was before. The Uchiha Sasuke we grew up with is gone."

"You—" Rini stomped her foot. "You're so negative!"

"I'm realistic," Miyako corrected flatly. "You can't think that he'll come back and things will be exactly the same as they were before. It simply isn't plausible." Rini opened her mouth to say something more, but Miyako held up her hand to quiet her. "I'll still teach you water style and you can teach me wind. And we can become jonin and maybe we can track Sasuke down. But you need to bear in mind the things that I've told you. And there's one more thing."

Rini looked at her sister warily. "Yeah?"

"I want to find Itachi."

Rini blinked. "Um. Why?"

Miyako sighed. "I've been thinking a lot about that last encounter I had with him. And the more I think about it… the more I want him gone. Dead, arrested, I don't care. I just want him out of the way."

Rini snorted. "You're hardly going to be able to beat Uchiha Itachiif you train for a couple years."

"No, but if there's a team of shinobi that are all going after him, we may have a chance. Remember Father mentioned the other day that Tsunade-sama was starting a mission to track down the Akatsuki?"

Rini nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Well…" Miyako took a deep breath. "There's always a need for interrogators. Maybe I could help with that."

Rini looked at her sister for a long time. "You're seriously willing to do that?"

Miyako nodded firmly. "I am."

"Okay then…" Rini took a deep breath and it was like a light flipped on inside of her. She bounced up and grinned brightly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get cracking!"

"Not so fast. You still need to clean up that mess you made."

"You aren't going to help me?"

"No."

"Darn you, Straightface."

And with that, we officially conclude Part 1.