First thing, before we actually get into this chapter. I am neither condoning nor condemning cutting and cutters. It merely fit into my story in a way that was honest and true to my character. That's all. So, just to be clear, I am not saying that cutting is cool or something to be used in lieu of actually dealing with issues. It is NOT a good idea. It is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. DO NOT CUT. That is the bottom line.

Now, that we have that out of the way; I would like to inform you all that my updates will most definitely return to their old spastic format. Yay *sarcasm*. Hope you didn't get to use to my near daily updates when I didn't have school for over a week because of the snow. It won't happen very often. I also want to thank you all for your support during my last chapter. I was a bit nervous about the response I would get from it. You all seemed to handle it well. Thank you mucho.

The songs for his chapter are: "We Sleep Forever" by Aiden (possibly suggested by Ashley. I'm not actually sure. Either her or Emily), "Red Sam" by Flyleaf (suggest definitely by Ashley) and "Rescue Me" by Tokio Hotel, suggest by yours truly.

****Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That said, I realize that I do not want to own him. He would be a bit much for me to handle. He's too ADD.****

To recap, we left Kumiko out in a rainstorm, cutting her wrists to escape the pain of Itachi abandoning her emotionally again. Itachi is in the Akatsuki base with a massive chest wound from a fight with Anbu. That is where we pick back up.

Chapter Nine (or Ten according to the Fanfiction label)

Thunder rumbled, echoing through the cavernous rooms of the Akatsuki base. Itachi, who had slipped into sleep after Kumiko left, was waking from a feverish dream. He had seen Kumiko holding a sharp-edged kunai, drenched in rain. Blood, thinned by the downpour, ran down her upraised arm. Slowly, a smile crossed her face as her eyes closed and she crumbled to the ground. Her grip on the slender knife loosened and it fell from her hand onto the muddy grass. Itachi sat bolt upright, the bandages putting pressure on his chest. "Kumiko!"

His cry drew the attention of Kakuzu, who rushed into his room. "What is it?"

"Kumiko," he panted, his chest heaving painfully. "Find her. Please. She's hurt herself. Stop her."

Kakuzu touched Itachi's forehead with the back of his hand. "Itachi, your fever is pretty high. You just had a fever-induced nightmare. She's fine."

Itachi pushed him away. "If you don't go find her, I will." He tried to stand, but Kakuzu pushed him back.

"Okay. I'll go find her for you. Just don't try to get up." Kakuzu left the room and began to search for Kumiko. He met Pain in the tall passageway and stopped him. "Excuse me, Pain-sama?" He waited until Pain acknowledged him with a look to continue. "Have you seen Kumiko? Itachi is convinced hat she's hurt. I though maybe if I could get her and take her to him, then he'd calm down."

Pain stared out into space, thoughtfully toying with one of his many piercings. "I saw her right after she spoke with Itachi. She seemed very upset and ran outside." He paused, then looked Kakuzu in the eye. "You don't suppose...?"

"Hurry. We need to find her."

They rushed outside, into the thunderstorm. The downpour made a curtain of water so thick that hey almost didn't Kumiko's crumbled form lying in a muddy puddle of blood and rainwater. "Kakuzu, over here! It's her!" They ran to her side. Kumiko's pulse, when it was checked, was steady but faint. Her arm was still oozing red blood and a ghost of a smile was fixed on her unconscious face.

Kakuzu scooped Kumiko's limp, light body into his arms. "We need to get her inside. Get Sasori. He can help." All sense of decorum and hierarchy had been abandoned when they had found her; all that mattered was getting Kumiko safe.

When Kumiko awoke, her head swimmy and pounding, her mouth dry was disoriented. Itachi was watching, from the bed beside her, and saw her open her eyes. "Kumiko?" He whispered, "I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

Kumiko looked over at him slowly, trying to determine where she was and how she had arrived there. "Where... am...I," she asked haltingly.

"In the infirmary. I...had a dream that you'd hurt yourself. Pain and Kakuzu found you out in the storm and brought you back here." Itachi paused momentarily, then continued, "Kumiko, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was doing to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Kumiko's memory of what had led up to this moment was returning piece by piece. She remembered being outside... she hurt, hurt so much.... her knife... the thunder... rain, pouring, pounding rain.... blood...then blessed darkness... she had felt peaceful at last. She raised her right arm, which was bandaged at the wrist.

"Why," Itachi asked. "Why did you do it?"

Kumiko closed her left hand around her other wrist. She couldn't explain; he didn't understand. No one understood. "It's something I had to do."

"But why? I don't understand."

She turned away, rolling onto her side with her back to him. She cradled her injured arm to her chest. It ached with a steady, throbbing pain that was both horrible and delicious to her. "You don't need to."

"Kumiko...Kumiko, look at me. Please." Itachi's pleas had no effect on Kumiko, who closed her eyes and tried to block him out. Itachi half sat up and tried to touch her shoulder but their beds were too far apart and he could only grasp desperately at air. Finally he gave up and relaxed back onto the pillows. His eyes closed and he fell into another feverish sleep. Kumiko rolled over when she heard his first whimper. His face was flushed and troubled, his brows furrowed. He shook his head slightly and another sad whisper escaped his throat.

Kumiko sat up slowly, her exhaustion and blood loss making her mind fuzzy and her head spin. She leaned over and tried to calm Itachi. When she realized that wouldn't be able to reach him, she swung her legs off the bed and rose to her feet. She swayed drunkenly once before making her way to his side. Her shaking hand gently stroked Itachi's silky hair out of his face and of this sweat covered brow as he trembled. He calmed slightly at her touch but continued to shift restlessly in his sleep. "Itachi, there's nothing to forgive. Nothing." Her lips formed the words three times before it became an audible statement. It didn't matter that it wasn't true. She would have said anything to calm her sleeping lover.

Itachi wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his sleeping body. "Don't leave..." he mumbled, his voice barely understandable.

Kumiko stood there, torn between her urge to leave, to just run away from everything, and the desire to comfort the only man she had ever loved. The only man she had ever trusted. Finally, she crawled onto the bed with him, snuggling into his shoulder as he held her. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed to e deep, even pace. In moments they both were peaceful and quiet in their sleep.

Yeah, I know. No resolutions in this chapter. Next chapter shall address some of their issue, which they may not even have known that they had. Something else I realized, lots of sleep. But, the way I see it, they both are suffering from blood loss, and exhaustion (physical, mental, and emotional), and Itachi has a massive fever. These will knock anyone out at random points. In addition, this last scene of the two of them cuddling was just too cute to pass up. I needed a hint of fluff after all that angst.

Please review. `Cuz reviews are better than... well, I was going to say 'than sharing a bed with Itachi' but that might cause a rebellion and I don't want my readers to mutiny. I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Itachi. That actually sounds like fun... *fangirl squeal* Whew... I think I got lost in a daydream again guys... sorry.