A/N: The Next Chapter.

Sorry for the slight (-cough-long-cough-) delay, my computer was eaten by a hungry virus…and then much to my surprise (not) this was the story that lost all the data. Then I got another virus and guess what? I had to get a new computer. I refuse to read Manga online ever again.

-sighs-

And after that I have no excuse.

I was just lazy. Plus Itachi's chapter was giving me ulcers. Seriously...so I crapped out on it. Lol, sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Beta: Not yet. Sorry for Mistakes

Now that I have loved so purely and deeply,
I have realized how lonely I really am.

Itachi felt frozen in place, unable to move an inch. If it wasn't for the natural instinct that forced him to breathe he probably would be as still as stone. The shock was still prominent in his body and from where he watched the woman with black hair that called him by his name, she looked just as shell-shocked.

In fact as his peripheral vision took in the faces of the rest of the crowd, they all seemed to have the same lack of understanding. They all looked at him with wide eyes that seemed unsure of what to do in the situation that had presented itself.

Itachi could only know one thing.

This woman who was standing in front of him, despite the black hair, despite how she looked years older, was the same woman that haunted his dreams. The same woman he had seen by the cherry blossom tree, the same woman that whispered words of kindness to him, and the same woman in that nightmare that his father had stabbed through the chest.

A shiver spread through his body, as the silence finally broke.

"What? Sakura...what are you—wha—" The blonde woman spoke again, her voice at even a higher pitch than before.

All chaos broke at once.

"What do you mean by I-Itachi?"

"Shit! I knew he smelt different! Why didn't I think—"

"He does seem...different than Ren."

"It's him! Oh my god!...Oh my god! Sakura—"

Through the ciaos, Itachi realized that it seemed that all of them knew the name Itachi. It seemed that is name held some kind of meaning for them all and that was the reason they were all going into cardiac arrest. Yet, if they knew his name why had they repeatedly called him Ren?

And how did they all know his name as well?

"How do you know my name?"

He didn't bother addressing the rest of the group, his eyes were only for the woman named Sakura. And it seemed that her eyes were only for him.

It was emerald clashing with emerald.

And for Itachi nothing else seemed to matter. He didn't really know anything about these people or this woman. He knew absolutely nothing and yet for the first time ever in his life, he felt like he had finally come home.

XxXxXxX

He wondered quietly about the reason that Sakura had forced her group to allow her to speak with Itachi alone. When he had been seized rather quickly by the one with the red markings on his face, she hadn't protested. Her eyes had widened some, but she had remained quiet otherwise. It has seemed the group had wanted to discuss something as the man forcefully dragged him into a nearby tent and quickly threw him inside.

Itachi had managed to let out a weak protest, as for the first time he actually felt threatened by these unknown ninja. However the man replied with a brief "We won't hurt ya," before he momently disappeared outside the tent, leaving the flap wide open.

Unfortunately for Itachi, before he could twitch a finger toward escape he heard the man say "Inside" before the giant dog from before walked inside and sat down directly in front of the exit. A quick 'Zip' signified the closing of the entrance.

He still heard the voices though.

"Wha-what are you doing?" He recognized the soft voice immediately as the one from his dreams. She seemed to be in a frantic state and he heard a quiet squabble before the high pitched female from before answered.

"Sakura, what if it's a trap? You need to think about this!"

"Get off me Ino—"

And then before anything else could be heard all noises suddenly cut off. The only thing to reach Itachi's ears was the dog's panting breaths and his own erratic heartbeat. The heavy silence made it aware to Itachi that the tent had been sent with some kind of Silence Jutsu. It was obvious that whatever conversation was going to take place outside, the Ninja wanted Itachi to have nothing to do with it.

Itachi remained in the silence forever to his point of view. Perhaps it was only ten minutes or perhaps he was there for days, it would be impossible for him to tell with the way his mind was jumbled up. He kept trying to think, but nothing would actually stick in his head. His heartbeat never went down, no matter how much time passed.

The large dog that shared Itachi's breathing space did not move from its position. However Itachi did notice that whenever he glanced toward the beast, its tail would rapidly move back and forth. For some reason or another, Itachi believed that it was waiting for him to give it some kind of affection. It seemed almost confused and hurt each time Itachi only stared.

Time continued to pass and eventually Itachi felt like he was going to implode. He wanted to know. He wanted to see that woman again. He wanted to understand everything.

And yet he was stuck here waiting, until suddenly the noise from the outside suddenly turned back on.

"Sakura, think abou—"

"No! I'm done thinking Ino! I know it is dangerous, but—" there was another quick 'Zip' noise and a tender breeze filled the tent, "tell me this Ino, could you be saying all this if it was Akiko or Arata—Kiba will you call Akamaru?—Could you Ino!"

It was quiet for a short moment. Then a quiet murmur of defeat was heard and someone whistled the next second. The large dog quickly sprung up—causing the tent to tremble—before he turned and leapt out of the tent.

"Thank you." Sakura's earnest reply was whispered in the wind.

Then her head appeared inside the tent. Her hair was in disheveled ponytail and there was sweat sliding down her face. Yet there was a warm, yet careful smile on her face as she slowly lifted her hand up. It took him a few moments to realize that she was offering her hand to him and that he should place his hand in hers.

When he touched her hand with his fingers he quickly noticed that is was not soft like his. It was rough and calloused and when he looked closer he realized there were what appeared to be burn marks littering the skin from the tip of her fingers all the way to her palm. With a quick glance to her side, he noticed her other hand was in no better condition.

Her hand quickly squeezed his and without warning she quickly helped him out of the tent. She did not release his hand once he was standing in the fresh air.

"I know you." It slipped out before Itachi could even think about what he was saying. It seemed that the small sentence however was enough to once again quiet the gathered Ninja, who all were looking quite surprised about what he had said.

Sakura though only stared at him for a few moments.

And then she whispered quietly back to him.

"I know."

XxXxXxX

They walked for a while.

The silence never broke and Itachi wondered if she would ever speak or if this pregnant silence would remain between them forever.

But Itachi didn't want that.

He wanted answers and so without formal thought about what he was stuttering out he asked the question that was swimming in his brain.

"Are you…A-Are you my mother?"

Itachi looked at her, embarrassed and so hopeful that he knew if he did not receive the answer he wanted it would crush him. He would not recover and he cursed himself for allowing his heart to be so involved when he did know whether this was his mother.

But it felt like he knew her.

So he waited for the words; his eyes meeting hers in a desperate plea.

"Yes, I am." Her words broke at the end, but her face was alit with such happiness that it nearly stopped Itachi's breath. She smiled at him and motioned her arms forward and he realized that she wanted to hug him.

It was a moment he had waited his entire life for and he wanted it so badly that it nearly killed him on the spot. He wanted to reach her though; reach for his mother. And so he took the first step toward her.

And her eyes flickered to the woods in the same second that something came into contact with his left cheek bone, propelling him to the side with the force of the blow. He grabbed his new injury and let his ninja survival skills take over. He suddenly felt another presence in the direct area of where he and Sakura were located and the chakra being emitted from that person was extremely hostile. Another pain irrupted in his lower back.

Itachi quickly prepared for a fight as he heard the thumping of a person's approaching footsteps. However before he could battle, a voice called forth.

"Ren, stop it!"

That name again.

His body was in pain but his instincts told him to turn around and face what was attacking him. And when he whirled on the balm of his heel, he stood face to face with himself.

Except the eyes that were staring back at him were glowing red.

You always say you hate to see me hurt,
and you hate to see me cry.
So all those times that you hurt me,
did you close your eyes?

It was taking too long.

His mother still had not returned even though she should have been home early this morning. Ren had asked the Hokage about it and the simple reply he was rewarded with was something about 'having a good time.'

Whatever that was referring to was making Ren even edgier.

Since the time he had glanced at his mother's scroll, the questions in his mind would not stop revolving. They wouldn't calm down.

He hadn't slept through the night in peace since he she left and since he discovered the scroll, he had barely managed to close his eyes for more than thirty minutes. There were too many lies and questions unanswered for him to sleep.

And now the moment he had been waiting for was supposed to be delayed? How was he supposed to wait even a few moments? He had waited more time in his life than any person alone should have to. He had grown without answers, without a father, without a complete life.

He was done with it.

"Ren."

Ren didn't bother to stop pacing around the room; Kushina's presence didn't change anything in his emotional status.

"Hey Ren!" He felt a small hand grab his wrist and tug harshly to make Ren stop moving. He slowly turned to look at his friend's face who was staring at him with her big lavender-blue eyes looking at him with slight worry.

"Hn." His throat got a little drier when Kushina brought her face closer to his own.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon."

Was it strange that the thing Ren noticed the most was that despite her constant eating of ramen, her breath smelled like lavender?

The only noise Ren was able to force out was a strangled grunt.

His breath hitched when Kushina awkwardly wrapped her arms around his waist and gave a quick, comforting squeeze before she pulled abruptly away with her usual grin spread across her face. Placing her hands together and fumbling with her two pointer fingers she jumped slightly in front of him.

"Are you excited about Ayako moving here permanently? It's been so long since she visited; and now that her, Asuma, and the new baby are staying—isn't it great!—I've missed her, haven't you? I know that you enjoy the fact that she doesn't fangirl over you all the—Oh! That's right! I still owe her the five dollars for predicting—"

"Kushina, Shut it."

Her face blanched momentarily, before it lit with a fire that was becoming increasingly familiar to the young Haruno. Her face puckered in distaste while her eyes smoldered underneath her strange colored eyes. However soon, she huffed out a breath that was a mixture of anger and defeat.

"I was rambling again, wasn't I?" She said from underneath her bright blonde bangs.

"Aa."

Apparently Ren's grunted reply pissed the Uzumaki more because she loudly stomped her foot against the wood before turning around with another huff of air and disappeared out of the door. However no more than a few seconds later, her bright hair reappeared as she poked her head back into Ren's temporary bedroom.

A smile flashed passed her cheeks that were tinted an almost unnoticeable red (from which Ren assumed was a side effect of her temper tantrum).

"I swear on my future as the Hokage that your Mother will be here soon. So stop pacing, I can hear it from my room down the hall, Mama's Boy."

And with that she disappeared, her footsteps padding down the hall in the direction of her own room. When Ren went to shut his door, he barely missed the outraged shout of "Jiraiya? What the hell are you doing?"

Ren closed the door quickly before he heard more of the siblings sure to be fight. Walking over to the bed, he sat down on it as Ren thought for a few moments on something other than his mother.

Ayako was returning to Konoha from Suna permanently. And although Ren was a little excited over the fact she would be coming to Konoha, if it hadn't been for Ayako's father visiting to announce the news, Ren would have been able to finish reading his mother's scroll. Instead the lazy man had to take it from him.

And now he was stuck waiting for the answers.

Because Ayako was coming home.

And his mother STILL wasn't home yet.

A growl passed Ren's lips as he placed his head in his hands, clutching the fine hairs of his bangs. This was more frustrating than anything. It was like he could taste the answers to his past and yet he was stuck in this suffocating room waiting for her.

Ren was never one for patience.

And he decided as he casually stood up and opened the door to the bedroom, that he was done waiting. Done waiting for the answers. He was going to seek them out himself.

XxXxX

It didn't take him long to pick up her team's location. They were closer to the village than he would have expected. The tents were being packed up by the other Anbu as a tense silence filled the air around the small clearing. Ren stayed extremely quiet as his red eyes searched for his mother's chakra signature. It only took a few short minutes to conclude that she was not with the others.

"Kiba...do you think?..Ah—I mean—Hm...Should we have gone with her?"

Ren's eyes moved toward the blonde woman who was stuttering toward Kiba Inuzuka. Ren immediately recognized her high voice and bright hair as his mother's best friend. She looked concerned and lightly switched her body weight between feet.

Kiba glanced up from where he was folding a tent, Akamaru by his side, and glanced in the direction of the woods. His eyes narrowed darkly for a moment, before he turned back toward Ino.

"No, she'll be fine. She can take care of herself...and even if that...if its bad news, she'll...be fine. Even if the kid has...I mean...She needs this Ino. We all know how much his loss has affected her."

"Yeah...I-I know. I'm still worried though."

Both of them turned back toward the woods, before Ino spoke with a stronger voice. Confidence dripped from her tone.

"Sakura's stronger now."

Ren listened more intently upon hearing his mother's name and waited for the conversation to continue, but only silence returned as the camp was disassembled and all traces of the ninja erased. Ren's eyes flickered toward the woods that Kiba and Ino had looked toward when they spoke of Sakura.

From their body actions and shifting eyes, Ren knew this was the way that his mother must have traveled down. He couldn't understand the reasoning for her to go off deeper in the forest when it was obvious the rest of the team was preparing to leave.

His red eyes glance once again to the departing ninjas, before only the darkness of trees and the animals hidden in it were aware of the ninja's presence. Only the trees would hear the next words spoken.

"How do we explain this to the Hokage? How do we explain this to Ren?"

XxXxX

When he first sensed her chakra with his Sharigan, the relief flowed through him.

It was only seconds after that relief passed his system that confusion followed. Another chakra pattern was located right next to his mother.

She was not alone.

Suddenly the talk of his mother's ability to take care of herself became so much more important.

'What if their trying to hurt her?'

It didn't occur to him that Sakura's team would never allow her to freely walk off with an unknown party that might endanger her life. The only clear thought that was able to process in his mind was that his mother needed him.

His chakra was pushed through the soles of his feet much faster than he was used to. It almost caused a burning sensation from the force he was exerting on the tree branches. He only stopped when he was nearly on top of the two chakra signatures. Ren deactivated his sharigan and glanced down past the branches and leaves with two green orbs.

The scene before him left him silenced.

His mother was standing in the woods with her arms outstretched before her in a way of offering. The way she always opened her arms to full lengths so that Ren knew he was welcomed to her. That was the offering of her embrace.

A smile was dancing upon her face.

A smile that she had never directed at Ren. A smile that was not fake and did not hold a tint of sorrow; it was a smile of pure, unadulterated love.

And it was not directed at him.

No, it was directed toward an imposter.

A person that had taken the shape of Ren. A person who no doubt had ill-intentions toward his mother. And yet despite the fact his mother was Anbu, she couldn't even realize that the creature she was standing before was not her son.

Something inside Ren snapped.

Because someone who was merely posing as him had somehow managed to make his mother smile in a way that was so exuberant, Ren realized that she had never smiled that smile before. There was no traces of pain and sorrow. There was nothing that remotely resembled the mother who had raised him.

The faraway look that was always present in her emerald eyes was gone.

Instead she was focused totally on one thing.

The disgusting clone.

And there was no way Ren would ever allow for such a mangy, pathetic being to steal his mother from him.

His sharigan activated.

The thing was only able to take one step toward Ren's mother before Ren was beside him. He heard a slight gasp come from his mother before he threw his fist into the cheek bone of the enemy. The clone fell to the side slightly and grasped his injury with the side of his hand.

Ren was slightly surprised not to hear the 'poof' that was associated with the dispelling of henji. Obviously he had underestimated the strength that the clone possessed.

He would change that soon enough.

Throwing his leg forward, Ren managed to land a perfectly placed kick to the bastard's lower back. Still the henji remained in place.

Ren's anger grew.

And without regards to the world around him, he charged forward; fully intent on killing the imposter if he needed to protect his mother.

"Ren, stop it!"

He spun around to face his mother, who was running toward him. It didn't take long for Ren to realize that she was trying to protect the imposter.

He turned around to face the person that was keeping his mother from him. The clone's eyes were wide in shock as they stared back at Ren.

And Ren let his hatred destroy.

You always have an out. An exit strategy to make sure you don't get hurt. You always walk, always. You walk away before they can walk away from you.

The bar was crowded and overflowing with drunken men that brought forth a prudent smell into the cramped room. It was dimly lit and it was hard to distinguish one man from the other, but his eyes still found his target the moment he walked into the room.

He stayed quiet; only ordered a beer and sat in the far corner. His hood covered his eyes that glowed red in the pitch black. Even though he could hear the men from where he sat, reading the words on their lips was more functional.

They were discussing something; a future plan to try and gain an upper hand against a rival village, but it didn't concern him. He was listening for different information.

"So you understand what I need you to do?"

"Yeah. Infiltrate the home; capture the girl…when would be the best time for this?"

"Early morning. Remember that she is more important than just the daughter of the village leader. She has special blood in her veins as well. Her mother's clan is very prestigious and is known for their power; make no mistakes."

"What if I can't get the girl? She has siblings right? Do I get one of them?"

"No, she is the only one that has activated her Kekkei Genkai. You can't take one of her twin brothers; it has to be her."

"Alright. The pay?"

"15,000 for her alive."

"Got it."

The man stood quickly and walked toward the exit of the bar; smiling at the thought of his soon to be earned money. Pushing his empty glass aside and then throwing the appropriate amount of cash on the table, the red eyed man followed him.

XxXxXxX

Blood sprayed the walls of the alley as a gargled choke escaped the man's throat. Then all noise and movement ceased. The man had barley put up a fight. Pathetic to be called a ninja.

The chakra of another appeared behind him, but he didn't have to turn around to know that his companion had arrived.

"Wow, you did a number on that guy. Guess he didn't have the information we are looking for?"

"Aa."

He looked back down at the blooded mess of the man he had just killed. His face was twisted toward him and the moonlight caused the skin to glow an eerie silver. The light flickered across the man's upper face.

It was then he noticed the dull green eyes that stared back at him.

He turned away quickly. Suigestsu called after him for a moment, before the dead silence of the night filled the air. He was alone again; just like he always was.

You and I are inevitable, you're all that makes me happy but if you break my heart again, it will destroy me.

For those of you that didn't realize, Sasuke inadvertently saved Kushina from being kidnapped. Yay Sasuke!

I hope I'm forgiven. I even added some RenXKushina fluff to lessen the anger directed toward me...did it work?

Review and/or check out all the other stories that have been updated?

(updates)

~Never Alone (Chapter 12) -done-

~Always Alone (Chapter 4) -done-

~The Darkest Knight (Chapter 3) -in progress-

~My True Love's Kiss (Chapter 2)

~The Captured Uchiha Matriarch (Chapter 1) -in progress-

~Motherhood (Chapter 1)

~Sakura's Accumulation of Epic Fails (Chapter 3)

~Surviving Death (Chapter 3) -done-

~My Father's Mistress (Chapter 1)

~The Only (Chapter 2)