Alright! This is a great chapter, i believe. I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it and leaves a comment!

Thank you!


Part Two: The Letter

Chapter Eleven:

Rei woke with a start, the faint lingering of a nightmare stirred in her thoughts. She turned over, into the moonlight that seeped in through the window…wait, moonlight? There's no window…in my room, she opened her eyes.

Where was she? Where was Kabuto? The soft orange-yellow glow of candle light washed out the moon's soft color as a door opened.

Strong hands pushed her back down, easing her tensed shoulders. She stared into coal-black eyes, never breaking away from them, as they stayed locked with hers. She was in her room, her room back at Itachi's complex.

Which meant, one, it all really happened, and two, "He's gone…?" Her breath hitched, and she closed her eyes.

"Yes," Itachi whispered to her.

"Why?" She pleaded; eyes still shut tight, holding back a waterfall of fresh tears. His hand brushed her forehead gently pushing back her bangs.

He avoided her question, "Rei, I won't make you stay here; you can leave it you wish to." He told her instead.

"Then you should have just left me," she retorted sharply.

"I wouldn't have been able to do that," He sighed, and the bed shifted as his weight left its side. "If you do decide to leave, your things are on the table." He continued.

My...things? She let her eyes drift to the table; Itachi was holding her necklace, looking at it rather than her as he spoke.

"You should read the letter," He said softly.

Her crimson eyes went to the table where, a tattered, dog-eared book sat with a folded paper in the front cover.

"Did yo—no..." She felt her face blush red with embarrassment. Itachi wouldn't do such a thing and to accuse him of doing such was ridiculous.

He made no comment or mention of her slip up, and for that she was grateful.

Rei turned away from the bedside table, facing the wall, willing the contents of the table out of existence. "No!"

"Rei, he—" Itachi started, but stopped which was unlike him. He loved you, It was right on his lips, he almost said it, only a man of Itachi's self control would have been able to hold the words back.

She couldn't manage to keep the water from her eyes; the tears that fell were to powerful. Rei sobbed into her pillow wishing Itachi couldn't see her like this.

The Uchiha sat at the head of her bed, and gently lifted her shoulders to place her head in his lap; she moved to huddle near him, crying into his knee as he stroked her hair. "It hurts so much…" She whimpered, grasping her chest wishing she could clasp her hands around her own heart and make the pain stop.

When Rei finally cried herself to sleep, Itachi placed her back gently, pulling the blanket over her and stealing a kiss from her lips. He wasn't sure he'd ever be allowed to kiss her again, and he had to have one last goodbye kiss, if that were to be the case.

He was thankful that she looked comfortable in her sleep, and it put him at enough ease to let himself leave her. Knowing her the way he did, this small comfortable sleep wouldn't last long, she'd cry out sooner or later. She was the type of girl who had nightmares.

He walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him, and went to the kitchen. Itachi wouldn't be able to sleep, he was worried about her, and besides that a pulsing headache would be hard to ignore. He used his Sharingan to much during that mission. Cleaning out his other wounds was easy; it was the strain on his eyes that was hard to heal.

Kisame was leaning back at the table in the kitchen, just finishing tying a bandage around the palm of his hand. He poured sake into a cup for Itachi and slid it across the length of the table, not spilling a drop, "It takes the sting out, makes you numb if you have enough,"

Itachi swished the wine around a bit before throwing it back, enjoying the burn as it flowed down his throat. He sat down, and put his head in his hand, closing his eyes, resting them for a moment.

"Not gonna get any sleep, Itachi?" Kisame chuckled at some inner thought.

"She'll be awake again in no time." Itachi replied.

"The kid has been a pain since the very first minute." Kisame grumbled, but he was fond of the memory of when Rei first found them.

"Well, now she's in pain and I can't do anything to help this time." Itachi murmured back, not sounding himself, and Kisame caught the difference in his persona.

"You're going soft, Uchiha," Kisame pointed out. "You shouldn't care what happens to her."

"Neither should you," Itachi raised his eyes to meet Kisame's, though he didn't activate the sharingan, it was still threatening. "Don't think that I missed what you did. Kisame, you should have let her come, instead you held her back."

"Is that so?" Kisame laughed outright.

Sleep wasn't an escape for her, nor was it a rest for her strained heart and mind, let alone her body. She tossed and turned under the blanket that was one minute to hot and the next she was cold without it. Rei felt as though she were aware that she wasn't sleeping well, through out the night, like being in a permanent dosed state, never fully reaching unconsciousness.

Itachi's face popped up in one of her dreams, but that was all she remembered, just knowing he was there but not knowing why.

When her eyes suddenly flew open meeting the beginnings of dark blue morning light she felt lost and awake, though she knew she was tired, that she just wanted to sleep for years.

"Are you alright?" Itachi's half-asleep voice—which didn't sound too different from his normal voice—came from the chair in the corner.

"I don't think so," Rei kept her voice quiet and calm, which probably scared him more than if she'd lashed out again, or if she'd strung together a lovely line of curses for him. "Have you been here all night?" Of course he has…

"Only since you started screaming." He answered.

"Screaming? I was screaming?" She whispered turning her face to look at his dark silhouette.

"Yes, you were. Nothing comprehensible, however." He added so she wouldn't worry if she'd yelled something she didn't want him to hear.

"I stopped? When you came in?" She asked, knowing that it was true because that's how it used to be—when she was very young—before she slept in his bed.

"Yes."

"So...you didn't leave..." She sounded guilty even though it wasn't something she couldn't control.

"Hm," his eyes closed tiredly. "You don't have to mind that, I would have stayed either way."

A soft comfortable silence followed, Itachi's light breathing was the only thing Rei could hear as she stared up at the stones of the ceiling, her eyes following lines and patterns in them. A breeze rustled the tree out side the window and Rei remember many days sitting in the warm sun under its braches.

"...Itachi?" She was pensive, maybe she shouldn't ask for anything thing else from him...but...

"You haven't eaten in a while, you're hungry?" Itachi knew her too well, so well that it almost scared her. It made her wonder, if he had really wanted her back, if he would have been able to persuade her to return. She knew that answer was 'yes'.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't ask for things from yo—"

"Rei, stop." He was already at the door. His voice wasn't harsh nor was it an order, just a soft request.

"I'm sorry," She whispered once more.

"Eggs and green tea, correct? Or perhaps your preferences have changed..."

"No, that sounds perfect." She mumbled as she turned onto her sore side, she was starting to feel the fight from yesterday. "Thank you..." She managed to hum as he left.

Damn it! Why does it hurt so much? I wish I could have told him...maybe I should re--No! I'm not going to touch it even!

The only reason that the Sound medic would leave a letter for her was if he knew he wasn't going to make it, or if he expected not to see her again at the very least.

The more she thought about the folded scrap of paper the more it enraged her. She tossed the sheets from her as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and glared at the letter. "Damn it Kabuto!" She grabbed up the letter and crumpled it in her fist, with a feral growl she whipped it across the room and watched it fall to the floor.

When Itachi walked back in, the first signs of sunlight were bathing the room, Rei wasn't in her bed. He found her curled in the far corner, her hands wrapped around her knees, face buried underneath a curtain of raven tresses. Setting the tray of food on her bedside table he quickly made his way over to her, kneeling in front of her.

"Itachi...do you want me to stay here?" She questioned as he reached out to caress the top of her head. Her inquiry halted his actions, before he pulled his hand back.

"It's up to you whether you stay or go." He said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not interested in your B S answer!" She spat lifting her teary-eyed face to his, meeting his eyes with hers. "What do you want? Do you want me with you anymore or…Itachi please...?"

His hand caressed her cheek lightly, before he took her lips in a feverish kiss, filled with passion enough to encompass a life time, two years...could easily become a life time. The kiss said Yes! Stay with me! Something he could never say out loud, but he made it painfully obvious. Itachi wanted Rei with him for as long as she would stay.

"Itachi..." She had to struggle to get herself to make him stop. He moved to whisper in her ear after a quick glance at her face.

"Stay here, at least for a few more days, don't make me lose you again so soon now that I've found you." His words sounded lustful, but also tender.

"A few days..."She promised, unable to promise any more than that however, she looked away from him.

Rei ate almost everything Itachi brought her. He'd left after she'd calmed down and started to eat, and she'd crawled in to bed. Sitting back against the headboard now she nibbled the last bits of egg on her plate.

She pushed the tray down and slipped out from under the blanket, gently putting weight on her feet, making sure she could support her sore body. She walked over to her full length mirror and carefully examined herself.

There was a darkening bruise on her left cheek, a few scratches on her right arm and leg from her fall. A cut on her shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged while she was asleep; other bruises dotted her arms and legs. Most notably her eyes stared dully back at her, rimmed in red.

Taking the hem of the clean tank top she was wearing—Itachi must have changed her—and pulling it up just enough to see the area of the ribs she'd broken not to long ago, she flinched as her fingers traced an ugly pronounced bruise.

"Rei?" Itachi's questioning tone came from the doorway.

"I…uh…well, I had a few broken ribs…recently," She cringed at the memory of falling into the ravine, watching him watch her crashing down as she fell to what should have been her death.

He read her expression in the mirror, "I see," He came up behind her leaving a comfortable space between them. "I hadn't meant for you to fall." Itachi sighed.

"Itachi..." Rei whispered as she pulled her shirt back into place.

It's painful...these memories... She told him in her mind. He still looked at her reflection in the mirror, studying her it would seem, looking for cracks in her composure.

"You loved him?" Itachi's suddenness was almost unfair. But he must have been secretly dying to know. Dying to know why, and how and when and most importantly if she still loved him, now that Kabuto had taken a place in her heart, was there room for him?

She wouldn't lie to him, "I love him."

Rei felt Itachi slowly distance himself from her as each day passed. She felt herself not trying to hold him to her, not caring if he was there or not…just feeling empty. On the long nights where she would lay awake and cry she felt sanity slowly slipping away, felt her heart tearing more and more in a million different directions, all leading nowhere.

She could sense Itachi outside her door, even if he distanced himself, he couldn't deny that she was near, and in pain. All she would have to do was whisper his name and he'd be at her side, she was certain. But she didn't want that, wallowing in her own pain and sorrow was something she wanted to do alone.

He would stop, and listen—maybe even press his ear to the door—when he walked by. Sometimes he would press his back to the wall just beside the door frame and stand there for hours, waiting. Maybe having him even that close was a comfort, maybe she just didn't realize it. Even still, she wouldn't call out to him, wouldn't let him hold her, or comfort her, not willingly, in the least.

The letter remained crumbled in the corner, she cursed it daily. One day she was just sitting on the edge of her bed, not thinking, not crying, just sitting, when she just got up and went over to the little ball of paper, unwrinkled it and set it back on her bedside table and stared at it.

Her name was written there on the front in his hand writing. She played around with her memories of him, wondering what the inside might say. However much she wondered and thought about it though, she couldn't bring herself to read it. Rei felt like crying but she also felt like she didn't have even a single tear left. "…Kabuto…" She whispered longingly into the cool air. She hadn't even noticed that day had shifted to twilight.

A light tap at the door was followed by Itachi's soft muffled baritone voice, "Rei, would you like to eat with us?"

"No, thank you, Itachi-san." She answered back, lightheartedly, a smile on her lips for no reason.

She heard his foot steps drift down the hall as they headed for the kitchen. She didn't know why her mood was so high suddenly but as she found herself reaching out for the letter she felt the happiness raise another level.

Unfolding the paper carefully, slowly, almost unsurely—even though she was completely sure—Rei felt eager and hesitant about reading Kabuto's letter.

Her eyes set on his slightly messy script on the page…

Rei, Though I know you won't regret anything that has happened in the two years since I brought you to Sound, I can't help but wonder if I made the right choice in doing so. It caused you a great deal of pain being here, and for that I'm sorry. But, Rei I need you to know how much I love you, I should have told you so many times, but I was such a coward.

She started to cry, tears dripping down and dotting the page, she pulled the paper away to keep it from getting ruined as she reached for her heart, grasping at her shirt front.

I could see it in your eyes, you're too easy to read like that Rei. Either way, I'm glad, because I know how much you loved me, I never thought it could happen. Itachi was the only one you would ever look at, or so I'd thought. I know you still love him too, and it makes me a bit bitter, but, I want you to be happy to, to have a good life.

I never did understand why you loved those silly books so much, but I think I understand now. No matter what happens from now on it will get better, Rei, trust me, it might hurt now, it might hurt very badly, but…Rei, you can have a story book ending.

I love you, Rei.

Kabuto~

"Oh…Kabuto…" She whimpered, wiping her eyes as she stared at the print on the dirty white paper, Rei could just see his smile. "I love you…"

She walked calmly down the hall toward their soft voices, and stepped in the doorway. The light in the room was bright, a drastic change from the candle-lit hall. Both Akatsuki looked up at her from their meals.

"Itachi…I'd like to stay here." She smiled a happy, teary-eyed smile, closing her crimson eyes to keep the tears from falling, "As long as you'll let me, I want to stay with you,"

Maybe she'd lost something great, someone she loved, and perhaps without that someone the world seemed dark and lonely. But she wasn't left with nothing, in fact she had the most wonderful things to have, friends, family, people who loved her and the will to go on. So what if the times ahead were going to be hard, she could make it through. She'd go on to make a life worth living, with Itachi. It was painful now, and probably always would be, but someday, it wouldn't hurt anymore, and she would be able to smile again, just like this.

"Rei…" Itachi started to get up, but she shook her head, she was fine. It didn't matter, she was already in his arms. Yes, this is where I'm supposed to be now, Kabuto…thank you.

Kisame chuckled, "Welcome home, Kid."

Ever Tense End:

Thanks for Reading, Review please~