Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Ew… I'm sorry for the late updating. I'm trying to type as much as I can in a day, but I got four needles injected into me today and my arms are numb. I can't type nearly as fast, because my arms feel weird when I use my fingers, since I'm technically, tensing my arm when I'm typing. I had to take a meningitis shot, a tetanus shot, a blood test, and a skin test. And now my back hurts. And my butt. I'm in pain, people. Feel sympathetic and review? :D R&R!!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Eleven: Breathing

Itachi grumbled as he lifted Setsuna up in his arms. "Why does she have to be so damned heavy?" he wondered out loud, a frown plastered on his face. Since he didn't have enough chakra reserve, his only choice was to run to Ame with her on his back. He just wished he could carry her back in a summoning scroll, too.

Before, after Setsuna had fainted, the light had cleared off, and the scroll and Tinza were nowhere to be seen. He groaned, putting her on his back. Using his Sharingan as a compass, he started running at full speed northwest to Amegakure no sato.

Breathing quite heavily six or seven—he lost count—hours later, he sat down at a tree, carefully placing Setsuna next to him. He was really tired now—his chakra reserve had gone down thirty more percent. So, he calculated, he only had about 20% more to use. Even if it was only around noon, he drifted off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of the birds.

..:.x.:..

"Oh shit!" Itachi woke up at nighttime. Sitting up but thumping his head on a low branch of a tree, he yelped, "Itai!" and fell back down. Setsuna was still out cold, but she was alive—Itachi touched her neck and felt a pulse, even if it was going at an abnormally fast rate. He guessed that it was just a side-effect of her koneko-ness. He held back a smile.

Sighing, he predicted his chakra reserve again. While he was sleeping, he had gained back most of his chakra, so he had about 90% to use. Transporting from place to place would take about 50%, so… he bit his lip back at the risk. If he was attacked, there was no way he could save her with only 40% to use.

Itachi looked down at Setsuna. Her face and hair were very messy—her usually smooth and silky hair was tangled, matted, oily, and probably was infested with bugs from being in the forest the whole week. Her face had minor scratches on it, but it had a lot of dirt on it, and she had a shiny forehead, which meant it was really oily. Trails of blood were still trickling from her mouth to her chin, and there were red smidges under her eyes. She had been crying blood earlier again. He bit his lip. Even while injured and beaten, she was still beautiful. He shook his thoughts out of his head.

Her cloak looked like a dress now—there was a large rip on the side of it, going up to her right hip, and most of the bell collar was torn off. There were burns on the sleeves too, and the white parts of it looked black. The bottom was frayed too. Setsuna's usually manicured nails were chipped and had dirt under them. The purple nail polish was coming off. Not to mention the huge hole in the cloak where Naruto had pierced her with his Rasengan. Itachi gritted his teeth. Her chest was all red, since the Rasengan had made her bleed, and there was a large gash in it. It was gross- a lot of her skin was torn off in the process.

Itachi bit his lip until it bled, as if it would stop the hollow and painful feeling in his heart. He let out a strangled breath and stood up, avoiding the branch. He didn't know why, but he couldn't let her die. He took in a sharp intake of breath, and stroked her palm, staring at her for a while. Then his heart leapt a mile as he realized that he was wasting time. He picked up Setsuna's limp body, and hugged her to his chest. Carrying her bridal style, he started heading to Amegakure again.

..:.x.:..

What a waste of time,' thought Itachi. They let me in without a fight. It was either because 1: they knew who he was, 2: they saw his cloak, or 3: they recognized Setsuna. He bit his tongue. What if Setsuna died because Itachi was too slow? What if, what if, what if…

What if it was his fault she died?

He cursed his hormones. He ran a little faster through the rain, his heart beating wildly. Finally, he reached Kage Tower. Like Setsuna had said, he didn't go in, but knocked on the door. Giving her one last withering look, he left, leaping through the trees and rain to find Kisame. In the rain, it almost looked as if he were crying.

..:.x.:..

Konan's lotus bird opened the door, to see a mangled body on the doorstep. Konan and Nagato immediately ran down the steps as if they knew what it was. Konan gave a small cry at the state Setsuna was in, but Nagato merely grunted painfully. Picking her up, he ran up the tower's steps two by two until he reached the top floor. He laid her on the floor, removing her cloak. Her chest was rising and falling in quick, ragged breaths. Nagato growled.

"I hate healing," he gritted his teeth, his piercings shining in the dim candlelight. "I'm afraid I'll hurt her. Can you do it, Konan?"

"Sure," she replied, and, rolling up her sleeves, she pressed her hand on Setsuna's chest wound. Gathering up her chakra, she healed her, the wound slowly closing. She healed the rest of her body as well, just in case. After her body process, she didn't need any more excess pain. Fifteen minutes later, she was done. She stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow. "There, her condition should be sterilized by now."

"Hm," agreed Nagato. "I'm gonna do a quick scan of her memories. I need to summon her body scroll, and it has a specific sealing on it." He focused his Rin'negan on her head, and nearly staggered with all the information that was sent at him. He had to chuckle, however, when he saw that most of it was of Itachi—blushing, smirking, and sleeping. "Someone's got a crush," he muttered, getting back to the morbid details. The found what he needed almost instantly—a mouse-like girl with a mouse tail and ears.

She looked about 16 or 17, older than Setsuna, but really younger. Damn, that was confusing. The next picture showed her on a summoning scroll. Nagato quickly looked at the seal, and nodded, turning away from Setsuna to release his jutsu. "The kid is about 16 or 17, and has mouse-like characteristics. The seal on the scroll is 'nezumi.'

"Couldn't have made it more obvious," muttered Konan, who shook her head. "Whatever."

"Yeah," said Nagato. He cut Setsuna's thumb with a random shuriken. "I'm not sure how to do this with two people, so I guess I'll cut my hand too and form hand signs with her right hand."

"Right," nodded Konan, and he began to work. While Konan focused on keeping Setsuna stabilized, he formed hand signs with a limp hand. Growling, he finally finished with Hitsuji and slammed his left hand into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" a smoke came, and was cleared by Nagato's impatient hand. He The scroll was sitting there, looking innocent, but clearly showing signs of a fight. Ignoring the bloodstains, he grunted, unclasping it, and rolling it out with a flourish. Grabbing Setsuna's hand again, he made more slow hand signs. Starting the 'tora' and ending with 'ox,' he swiped Setsuna's bleeding hand across the surface of the scroll, and said, "Nezumi Body Summon!"

Again, Nagato waved away the smoke that appeared impatiently. There lay the girl that looked like a mouse. She was in good condition—Setsuna probably healed her, and that was the reason she passed out.

"be ready to stabilize her," Nagato ordered Konan. "It's going to be painful for her."

"H-hai," stuttered Konan. She had never done this before—Nagato never let her help. She bit her lip as Nagato began to do rapid hand signs. Eyes widening, Konan caught a glimpse of some of it.

"That's the demon extraction—" she was cut off by Setsuna's loud screams.

"IIE!" Setsuna's closed eyes squeezed harder. "IIE! OKAA-SAN! OTOU-SAN! TOMARE!"

"What's happening?" Konan gasped. "You—"

"She's receiving the memories of the Mickey Girl while part of her soul is transferring to it. Part of the Mickey Girl's soul is still there, as it has to be for the transfer to work. Unfortunately, when a person dies, their good memories leave first. So, Setsuna has to bear with the bad memories of this girl."

"Setsuna…" Konan watched with sorrow in her eyes. "Nagato… what's the worse-case scenario in this?"

"She dies," he said simply, not taking his eyes off of Setsuna's writhing body. Konan bit her lip.

"Is she going to be in pain for long?"

"Two or so hours. Just until the Mickey girl's soul completely dies. Then it is smooth sailing for another three hours or so until Setsuna's portion of her soul settles in."

"How will we know when she's done?"

"When Setsuna stops breathing and is in a death-like coma for six days, fourteen hours, fifty-two minutes, and ten seconds."

"Honto?!"

"Naw," Nagato wrinkled his nose. "I'm playing with you. Around six days. No more gasping," he added, when Konan's eyes widened and she opened her mouth.

"How is she going to breathe?"

"Through her chakra, but don't worry, she's done this before."

"O-okay…"

Nagato held his hands in the same position for another hour or so, trying to ignore Setsuna's loud screams. Occasionally, she would shout something like, "Kaa-san!" or "IIE! ONEGAI, TOMARE!" He wondered what this mouse girl had gone through.

Finally, she stopped shouting abruptly, her mouth closing shut. He looked like she was sleeping now, her hair splayed on the floor in all directions. Nagato sighed and said, "She's good. Occasionally, she might have a spasm or two, but you can go now if you'd like."

"I'm g-gonna stay here…" Konan said.

"Sure…"

And the two sat in silent vigil as they watched Setsuna's chest slowly rise and fall.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna was running… running… but the ground looked close than it usually did. "IIE! IIE! OKAA-SAN, OTOU-SAN!" She ran farther, until she eventually reached a stream. Looking down, she almost did a double take. It wasn't her own reflection that stared back at her—it was of a young girl's, one that looked like a younger version of her. She had mouse ears and a tail.

Then, she felt a shadow towering over her. "Shin-jiro, mesuinu…" a voice growled. Shivering, and not under Setsuna's control, she involuntarily turned around, her small, childish eyes widening.

But there was nobody there. Or maybe he did an invisibility jutsu, because there was nobody there. Or maybe… "You have to die now, Tinza," a woman's voice said sweetly.

'Tinza's' lip trembled. "Kaa-san… ____-okaa-san." Setsuna was troubled. Her lips moved, and she opened her mouth—but the name didn't come out. She couldn't even read her own lips… it was like… she couldn't remember.

Reminded vaguely of a manga in Tokyo… what was it called? Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, that was it. It had something about not remembering… past friends.

Something from behind her hit her on a chakra point. She gasped out in pain, falling onto her knees. She turned her head, and again, there was nobody there.

"SHIN-NE, AKUMA!" a sword brought down, and Setsuna/Tinza closed her eyes.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna slept on as Nagato and Konan watched her. Sure enough, about three hours later, her heart stopped beating, and Setsuna stopped breathing.

Nagato sighed. Finally, he could get out of his painful seiza sitting position. Standing up, he picked Setsuna up, and Konan apprehensively picked up Tinza, on the body scroll. "Anou… where do I—"

"Level B2, Section A, Subsection A, Space 1," he answered quickly. "Strap her in, then come up. You got that?" Nodding, Konan fled down the flights of stairs, leaving Nagato alone with Setsuna.

"Kuso, girl," he cursed. "You really cause me trouble." And with that, he left the room, carrying Setsuna with him.

Dropping her on her bed, he tucked her in, then left the room. Then, he went to Level B2, Section A. He walked to the other side of the huge morgue-like room, turned right at the sign saying 'Subsection A.' He walked more, until he finally reach the last spot there, Space 1. Konan was nowhere to be seen—unless she was in the room. He shook his head, she wouldn't break his orders, and she wouldn't be so stupid to do so.

But then he heard heavy sobs within the room, and he looked in. There was Konan, standing in front of the open drawer containing Tinza's still body. Furrowing his eyebrows, he tried to make out what Konan was crying. "H-he… won't…. and all the y-years I've loved… how could he be so ignorant?!" he raised his eyebrows. He was no good with women, that's for sure, but she could only mean him—he was the only man she'd ever spent time with since Yahiko had died.

How did he not pay attention to her? It didn't feel like he was ignorant at all—how could he not pay attention to her, the only other person in the tower except for Setsuna? He continued eavesdropping as Konan shouted,

"What he doesn't kn-know is… it's so obvious! Why d-doesn't h-he know I LOVE HIM?" Nagato stood there, shocked, with his Rin'negan eyes wide open, his back pressed into the wall. Her sobs continued, and he stood there for another good few minutes until he calmed down enough. Then, he knocked on the wall next to the makeshift door. "Are you in there, Konan?"
"H-huh?" he heard her scrambling around the room, and, as he looked through the doorway opening, he saw her wiping her tears and nose on her cloak's sleeve. Straightening her paper lotus, she patted down her cloak and stepped out. "Hi… N-Nagato…"

"Ohayou," he greeted her, knowing that she was panicking. "I thought I told you to go up."

"O-oh, but…" she sounded on the verge of tears again, and he felt bad. She was the only woman's he'd known for practically his whole life, and he had made her cry. He paused.

"It's okay," he tried to smile. He hadn't done one of those since the days of being Jiraiya's apprentice. "Come on, you've put the Mickey girl in the drawer and plugged in her heart meter, so we're good to go."

"R-really?" she stuttered.

"Yeah," he answered. "Now today, I'm going to take you somewhere, 'kay?" Konan nodded, her blue hair standing out in the dimly-lit room.

"Where are w-we going?" she asked, sounding much better than she was a moment ago. Perhaps she was excited—Nagato didn't know.

"I don't know," Nagato admitted. "How about you pick?"

"Is there anywhere we can go without getting killed?" she giggled, feeling girly and exhilarated for the first time in a while.

"To the arcade!" he tried to act hyper, modeling his act on Tobi. Grabbing her hand, he ran out of the section's door, closing the light and the door behind him. Konan hurried along, trying to catch up.

Maybe he couldn't completely return her feelings, but he was enjoying his time with her as much as she loved him.

..:.x.:..

LOVELY REVIEWERS:

Sevvyn: Thanks. Setsuna really is awesome. I'm jealous of her (laughs). I'm updating, aren't I? Really slowly, mind you, but here's Chapter 11 out! So yaaaay!

Hidan's Little Riku: Yeah, I know. Why doesn't this thing get more reviews? D: Come on people, I need more reviews! And I'm going to be updating faster now, so whoo!

TaiShii: Lolz. Almost half a year from your review, and I'm finally replying. And don't worry, I have 350 pages down on paper, and we're only up to page...90! So I'm go typin' now... xD