Thank you, everyone, for waiting this long. I know I promised that this chapter would be uploaded 'pretty quickly' behind the last one. I didn't know at that time that I was going to fall in love this summer. I fell in love, for the first time, two weeks after I posted the last chapter. This has been both wonderful and terrible, as I can't be with the person I love (at least not right now), and in my anxiety, I have been very distracted. I have found it difficult to write much of anything that isn't about him. This was very bad at first. It has gotten better bit by bit. You may read about it on my livejournal if you friend Zapenstap, though some updates are necessary.

As for White Rain, it is progressing as I envisioned regardless of this issue. As always, I am not sure how this chapter will be received. This story takes a lot of risks and this chapter is no exception. I do hope you enjoy it.

White Rain

Chapter 14

By Zapenstap

Naruto paced the room, fiddling with knick knacks on the desk and shelves, aware of Sakura's eyes on him—glaring.

Having come directly from Sasuke's training with Itachi, she was dressed for combat, and more than a little out of temper at having been pulled away.

Naruto didn't want to incense her further.

Sakura was always volatile, liable to swing from sweet to snappish in an instant, but she seemed even more on edge in general of late, so her readiness to throw punches made him a little nervous. Especially given what he wanted to talk about.

Her hands were on her hips, her weight shifted over one leg—a bad sign. "Why did you call me in, Naruto?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About this idea I have. Regarding Lucia."

She sighed expressively. "Couldn't it wait? I don't like leaving Sasuke alone with Itachi."

Naruto blinked. He hadn't considered that. "You think it's dangerous?"

"No. No. I just want to be there. Sasuke can get a bit…rough… on the kid."

"Is the training helping?"

She looked confused. "Is the training helping Itachi? Or Sasuke?"

"Er…both."

"Itachi's getting better. Pushing himself too hard, if you ask me, but he is improving."

"Is it helping Sasuke?"

Sakura bit her lip. "I don't know. He's tense—really tense—and withdrawn. He won't talk to me about what he feels, but if I had to guess, I think it is helping. He seems less…angry."

Naruto thought a minute about that.

"What is your idea about Luica?" Sakura asked him.

Naurto took a deep breath. He couldn't put it off forever. "It's about her masochism. And well…everything else."

"You think you have a lead?"

"Shikamaru suggested letting Ibiki talk to her."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Ibiki? Naruto, I'm no fan of Lucia's, but I don't know if that's a good idea."

He waved his hands defensively. "You misunderstand. I don't want him to question her. Well, I do want him to ask her questions, but not like you might think."

Sakura just looked confused.

"Sakura, do you remember when you told me I was a masochist? When we were Genin on our first real mission?"

Now Sakura looked flabbergasted. "Naruto! Is this your idea? You can't always understand someone else's experience through your own experience! Stabbing your hand wasn't masochism! I know I said it was, but that's because I looked down on you then. I was being facetious anyway. It's totally different from Lucia's situation. You don't let other people beat up on you. You don't like pain."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "I'm not suggesting it's the same. But thinking about it gave me an idea. Just hear me out, okay? I wanted to talk to you because you give good advice."

She looked somewhat mollified. Compliments had that affect on Sakura. "Go on then."

"What I'm thinking is that the reason I stabbed my hand might not be all that different from Lucia's."

She crossed her arms. "You think Lucia was angry she wasn't a great ninja despite all the training she put into it?"

"You're thinking too literally."

"You think she doesn't want to be weak?"

Naruto felt sure she was goading him on purpose, but he wasn't discouraged. "I stabbed my hand because it was poisoned, right?"

Sakura looked at him frankly.

"But I didn't hurt myself because I liked pain. Don't you see?" Naruto said. "I swore an oath of pain that I would achieve my goal. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, even if it hurt, even if it killed me."

"You think Lucia wants to be stronger?"

"Something like that."

"Lucia's not a ninja, Naruto."

"But she does have a mission. She wants something. We all know it. I'm not saying it makes sense. Probably she would agree that it doesn't. But what did stabbing my hand accomplish? Nothing. I almost passed out. In a way, though, it made me feel better."

Sakura chewed her lower lip. "I still think it's different. She's a privileged woman. What pain would she have to endure that she didn't seek it out? She said she let her husband abuse her. And she urged Itachi to do the same. I think she does like pain. She must. What you are suggesting just seems…far-fetched. Even if she did have some thought like you're saying, it's still crazy, and it wouldn't make what Itachi did to her any…nobler. Sadism is just another word for cruelty. It's abuse. It's warped. And encouraging someone to do it? I'm sorry, but it is disgusting."

Naruto grimaced. Maybe she was right, but he kept thinking of what he had been feeling when Sakura had called him a masochist. He had thought that if he could persevere through pain, he would prove he was not afraid, and then he could get stronger. Enduring that pain had given him a high, even as it made him dizzy. He felt powerful. For a second, it made him believe that if he got strong enough, he could get what he wanted. But he was a fighter. What if you feared you couldn't become strong enough? What if all you thought you could do was take the oath?

"Sakura," he said. "What do you do if you're in a fight and the enemy outnumbers you?"

"Is this a rhetorical question? Are we still talking about Lucia?"

"Just imagine that you're in a situation—maybe not a battle—but some kind of situation where the enemy is very powerful and you're weak."

She regarded him askance. He could tell that she saw where he was going. "Take up a defensive position and ambush, raid, and otherwise make small hits that accumulate to massive damage," she said. "If engaged, use evasive action and misdirection. Or if it's an organization, you can infiltrate, I suppose, and sabotage."

"And if you're fighting all alone?"

He could see her struggling. "The same. But it's diversionary. You would need power to turn the tables eventually. If you can't cut the enemy down, you have to get bigger. That's all there is to it. If you are too weak, all you can do is just buy time until you are strong. If you are alone, it might take a long time."

Naruto nodded. "Like…maybe ten years?"

"What are you suggesting?" Sakura asked. Now she sounded alarmed. "Do you think Lucia is going to try and defeat Konoha? Undermine it from the inside? Why would she want to do that?"

He frowned. He wasn't sure he knew how to explain what he was thinking.

There were so many pieces, and Lucia's world was so different from Naruto's world that it was difficult for him to grasp. He knew Lucia saw power in a different way than he did. What she did as a banker sounded so boring Naruto's eyes wanted to glaze over, but he did listen. And he understood. In her world, money was power.

"She's alone. She doesn't trust us," Naruto muttered, mostly to himself. "That's why she doesn't tell us anything. Or maybe she can't. I don't know."

"Because what she wants might not be good, Naruto," Sakura said.

"I know. I know." Naruto rubbed his hands furiously through his hair as if by doing so he could shake together all the disconnected thoughts.

A knock sounded at the door.

"It's Ibiki."

Sakura looked even more worried as Ibiki entered the room. Konoha's top interrogator crossed his arms and frowned at Naruto from a crisscross of scars that covered his face.

"Shikamaru told me that you want me to question Lucia?" Ibiki asked him. "I thought that you had decided not to interrogate her."

"I don't want you to question her. I want you to listen to what she has to say."

"About what?"

Naruto took a deep breath and avoided looking at Sakura. "I want her to tell you in detail, as much as she's willing, exactly how Itachi tortured her. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."

Sakura paled. "What does that accomplish?"

Naruto kept his eyes on Ibiki.

Ibiki merely looked thoughtful. "I heard she was a masochist," he said. "That's one of the rumors going around."

"You have experience with that type?" Naruto asked him.

"Some. Masochists derive pleasure from being punished, but it's not as simple as it sounds. Often, it comes from a desire for control."

"How is a masochist in control?" Sakura demanded. "Aren't they the one being beaten?"

"If it's masochism, and not just victimization, then it has to be consensual, which means the masochist has the power to let it continue or to stop it. So yes, they have power. Of course, so does the sadist, as masochism has the potential to turn to victimization."

Sakura only frowned. "How would being beaten make you feel powerful?"

"Some people derive pleasure from the feeling of being used. The pain itself can be extremely addictive, partly due to the endorphins released. And some masochists get a sense of accomplishment from it."

"Accomplishment?" Sakura exclaimed.

"From forcing another human being into cruelty. It's a thrill to dehumanize someone. Sadists certainly feel that, but it goes both ways." He looked at Naruto. "You want me to determine what type Lucia is? What turns her on?"

Naruto nodded. "If she's willing to talk about it."

At this, Sakura looked sick. She turned worried eyes on Naruto. "I think this will upset Sasuke, Naruto. I don't think it's a good idea. Especially with Itachi's match looming-"

"Well, he doesn't have to hear about it, at least not right now," Naruto conceded. "But I still think we need to ask Lucia about this issue, and depending what she says to Ibiki, and what Ibiki thinks of it, I do think Sasuke should hear the results of the evaluation."

Sakura looked dubious, but Naruto felt even more certain about his hunch. Sasuke had been thrown into such despair that Lucia had sought a tryst with Itachi just because she wanted someone to torture her. The question weighed on his mind. Naruto couldn't keep the answer from him, but he couldn't deny that he was hoping for a particular conclusion from Ibiki.

Kakashi almost dropped his teacup. "Lucia wants to harm Konoha?"

Cecile shrugged. "She is in a position where she could. She has the resources, and the leverage, to do a great many things."

Kakashi decided to take a crumpet after all. He set one on his plate and stared at it for a few moments before he spoke. "I don't suppose you will tell me what leverage she has exactly?"

Cecile smiled.

"I've been trying to understand her better by talking to people here," Kakashi said, "but all I've really learned is that people from her homeland don't seem to like her much, and possibly worse, than people in my land."

"Of course they don't. A rich, beautiful woman? She doesn't have to do anything to be hated."

"But she has done things."

"Yes, she has."

"As her sister, you must know what. And why."

"Lucia is bright and ambitious. She is also secretive, even from me."

"Do you dislike her?"

"She is my sister. To me, Lucia is like the snow—cold, yes, and quiet, but also pure."

"Her teachers say she was not always cold."

"They are probably remembering her popularity with the boys. Lucia was one of those girls who always had a boyfriend—from as early as, oh, nine or ten, I think. She was beautiful and interesting to them. So was I. We both developed early. You know how that goes."

Kakashi didn't really, but he didn't interject.

"When Lucia was young, she was like anyone—she wanted kindness. Boys were kind to her, but not for the right reasons. She has a history of being used, and over time, her heart crystallized. By her early teens, she was like she is now, and already directing more and more of her attention on business. Lucia likes money. She likes that it can be counted, and counted upon."

Kakashi wanted to know more about Lucia's ambitions, but he didn't want to draw the conversation away from Lucia as a person just yet. "Did she ever want love?"

"She never got the chance to ask that question, I don't think. She was married off at sixteen. And Gehard only married Lucia because she came with a fat paycheck."

"Did she not have a choice?"

"She had a choice. When father died, mother told Lucia she could choose a husband from a handful of eligible men. If she refused, the family would lose the inheritance. Lucia didn't really choose to be married. But she did choose the inheritance."

"So she sacrificed. Couldn't you secure the line?" Kakashi asked.

"I was married already, and not to the right family. I am also unable to have children—five miscarriages. I didn't want the inheritance anyway. It's a filthy business. Blood money. I'm sure you've heard the stories. But Lucia wouldn't give it up. She wanted it. She wanted it more than anything."

"Even though it's filthy?"

"Yes."

"And having children was part of what was necessary to get it?"

"It was."

Kakashi reflected quietly about this. Lucia had children to secure money, but she did love them. Anyone could see that. Still, money was clearly important to her.

"Why Itachi Uchiha?" he mused aloud. "If it was just about money, wouldn't anyone have done?"

"As far as her ambition is concerned, I think it could have been almost anyone," Cecile answered. "Though Lucia being Lucia she would have sought out the best she could find."

"Wasn't it dangerous to name the child after the father?"

"Of course," Cecile said. Her expression was so bland, Kakashi had the impression she was exasperated with him. "But Lucia is a very good liar, especially to herself."

Kakashi was intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Kakashi didn't reply.

Cecile sighed. "I have watched over Lucia all my life. She is my baby sister. I can tell you. When she was with her first child, the change in her was extraordinary. I never saw such warmth and devotion in a woman who had otherwise become so closed off."

"No one doubts she loves the children-" Kakashi began, and then paused.

Cecile was looking at him so intently.

"Wait a minute," he said, interrupting himself with a flash of insight. "You think Itachi Uchiha was someone she-?" The implications were preposterous. "You think she fell in love? Unintentionally?"

"I wasn't there. I can only tell you that she talked about him a great deal for only having met him once, and in great dilemma, questioning herself all the time, the way women do when they've lost their heads to their feelings. Lucia doesn't have any female friends, so I wouldn't be surprised if she had no idea how she sounded."

"What did she say exactly?"

"She rehashed every little thing observed about him and all it might mean, or not mean, and all she did and all she felt, and what her reactions might mean, and so on. On and on. For a year. She only met that man once. Then she named her child after him. I couldn't believe she took such a risk. And then, out of the blue, she went back to that place. When she did that, I thought to myself 'I'll never see her again. She'll give it all up and just stay wherever she's at. Maybe she'll come back for the baby.' But I was wrong. She came back. And she stayed."

Kakashi leaned back. "Itachi Uchiha died. He was killed in battle, though he would have been dying already, from illness, when Lucia last saw him."

Cecile set down her teacup. "That's what I gathered from what she told me. When she came back, she was… strange for awhile. She told me it was because she was pregnant again, but I always thought there was more to it."

"The second time, didn't she go to the Land of Fire on business?"

"She has business there, but I doubt she really had to go in person to see to it. Most of what Lucia does can be done via correspondence."

Kakashi was surprised. "So the second time, you think she went for Itachi Uchiha?"

"I do. Maybe she doesn't think so. Maybe she even wanted to disprove what she felt—that would be like her. All I can tell you that she didn't need another baby. Yet she did nothing to prevent it, which would have been easy to do."

"Did she fear Gehard's reaction?"

"Not enough." Cecile took another sip of tea. "Don't let what she says about him fool you. Lucia has never been scared of Gehard."

"She doesn't strike me as easily frightened."

Cecile paused, as if she had to think about it. "There was a time when she was. There was a time when we both feared for our lives."

"I heard a rumor," Kakashi said, "that her father was murdered."

"One of the other high houses hired it done."

"Why was he killed?"

"The same reason anyone is killed. Because of money."

"The family fortune? The one Lucia inherited when she secured the line?"

"The High Houses are all connected, and the other families had plans and investments tied up with that money. Father must have upset someone by something he did with it. Someone acted. Maybe in rage, maybe in calculation—I don't know. Lucia and I were sleeping in the house the night it happened."

"What about your mother? Lucia told us she committed suicide."

"Suicide? That was how it was ruled, but if Lucia told you that, she lied to you. At least, it isn't quite the truth. I suppose we'll never know for sure."

"What happened?"

"After father was killed, mother lived just long enough to see Lucia married."

"Then what?"

"She was harassed. I don't know by who, but I suspect they wanted her to confess what father had done with the money, and why, but I don't think mother knew. She was discovered dead. She drank ammonia. It was ruled a suicide, but who would choose to die that way? Her insides were torn up. It must have been agony."

Kakashi felt cold. "You think she was tortured to death."

"I know she was tortured. Lucia and I both heard her screaming that night. In the library. All night. We couldn't get in the door. And we were afraid to. Whether they killed her by forcing her to drink ammonia or she killed herself with what she had on hand to avoid saying something, I don't know. By morning, she was dead."

Cecile's face was reserved, her emotion trapped somewhere deep inside, but the remnants of sorrow and horror were evident around her eyes. Kakashi tried to imagine what that night must have been like, for Cecile and Lucia as well as their mother. "She's was civilian," he said. "A housewife. Why wasn't anyone prosecuted? You were witnesses. Why didn't anyone believe you?"

Cecile took a deep breath. "I keep forgetting that you don't live here. You don't understand how it is. It doesn't matter what people believe. Money shields perpetrators from the law and it shields everyone else from having to think about it."

"Even murder?"

"It happens. It has happened within the Van Alstyne family."

"The bodies under the floors?"

Cecile nodded. There was no regret in her posture. Those deaths were disconnected from her, something that had happened a long time ago, and far beyond her control. "That's right. Those old bones. Evidence that our family is not exempt. Like the other high houses, the Van Alstynes are more powerful than the law."

"So whoever did this is still around? And you just… live with it?"

She shrugged. "What else is there to do? I can guarantee you that the people responsible for the death of our parents, whoever they are, have come to luncheons and dinners in our home, have greeted us with smiles, complimented us, gone on outings, co-hosted charity events. If you think my sister is cold, if you think she has little trust, then you are right. "

"But what is she trying to do?"

"I don't know. She talks to me about everything except business. I think that is the only reason she trusts me at all. I can tell you what she has done, though. The reason they all hate her, I mean."

"Ruining the fortunes of others?"

By Cecile's expression, the woman was unsurprised that he had heard this rumor. She sipped her tea and averted her eyes, staring at the paintings on the walls—paintings of fields, wagons sitting in the grass, and farm houses. "It started when she returned from your country the second time. Something must have gone her way because when she got back, she went after people—after their money, I mean. Not the higher houses—they are too powerful—but she's ruined some of the lesser families; driven them to bankruptcy or forced them into positions of subservience by debt. These were her neighbors, her classmates, people she grew up with. She destroyed them. And profited." She looked back at Kakashi, her dark eyes sharp. "My sister brought the Van Alstyne name to a new level of infamy. She did it legally."

"These lesser families," Kakashi queried, "she has no grudge against them?"

"Not that I know of, unless it is for being sycophants to the high houses. People say she just wanted the money. It might be true. Winning always made Lucia feel better."

"Why at that time?" Kakashi demanded. He leaned forward. "And what does Konoha have to do with it?"

The wheels in Kakashi's head were turning. The connection might be direct. Shinobi may have been hired to kill Lucia's father and torture her mother to death. It was doubtful that these rich folk would do it themselves. Maybe Lucia was acting out of revenge. Maybe her 'business' in the Land of Fire was an investigation. Had she discovered Konoha was to blame, or was another village responsible? And what did she intend to do?

"I don't know," Cecile answered, "but I would be surprised if there was no connection. Like I said, it was when she came back from your country that I noticed a change. Gehard didn't notice, of course. All he ever saw in Lucia was how rich she made him. But I saw it. It was almost like…" She paused.

"What?" he asked. "What was the change?"

Cecile looked thoughtful. "She was resolute. And she had lost her fear."

Kakashi was struck by sudden understanding.

Itachi felt there was something strange about Amaya, something off, but he wasn't sure what.

When he said she could come in, she didn't come around the front. Instead, she scaled the wall to his bedroom, grasping at handholds and footholds he hadn't even known were there, using chakra to keep her feet from slipping. He stood back from the windowsill and let her clamber through.

She swung her legs over. She wasn't even breathing hard.

He couldn't stop staring at her. She didn't look like the Amaya he knew. This was like a prettier, softer, more adult version of Amaya, one dressed in civilian clothes; her limbs were bare from wrist to shoulder and ankle to thigh. But then she hopped off the windowsill. She stood like the Amaya he knew—confident, a little aloof, and sure of her abilities.

She looked right at him, turning so that her eyes pierced his from over her right shoulder. "I thought you were training with Sasuke."

"We broke early," Itachi replied. He found it difficult to talk. "How did you know I was home?"

"I saw your light on."

There was a pause while they looked at each other.

"I don't want to train," she added.

He swallowed. He was tired, so that was welcome news, if a little unusual. Amaya always wanted to train. "So… you want to hang out then?" The question wasn't really necessary. The answer was obvious.

She smiled. "Yeah."

She began walking around his room. He followed her with his eyes. Without her ninja gear, she looked like one of the girls who had attended his old school, one of the confident, popular girls, the ones that always seemed more in control, a little more savvy than the rest. But seeing her in a tank top and shirt skirt made him think strange things, like whether her skin was as soft as it looked and if she had ever kissed anyone before.

Those thoughts made him uncomfortable. He knew he liked Amaya, but she was a teammate. When he thought of her, he usually thought about how to avoid getting his ass kicked, and how he might impress her so that some day, when he was older, he could tell her he liked her.

But she was here, now, in his room, and his mind scrambled to catch up. Maybe he should ask if she would like to walk somewhere? There was nothing of interest in his room. Itachi didn't own much anymore, so there wasn't anything to show her. He thought longingly of his guitar.

"Are you home alone?" she asked him. When he just stared at her, she added: "I mean that it's so quiet."

"Y…yeah," he said. "My mom's at the school with Rina."

Amaya sat on the foot of his bed and kicked off her shoes.

Itachi's heart hammered. This was stupid. Really stupid. But he told himself there was no reason to panic. She just wanted to sit down. Probably. There wasn't anywhere else to sit. Still, his palms felt sweaty.

Amaya looked up at him, brown eyes soft under long lashes. She scooted to one side of the bed and smiled companionably.

The shimmering on the inside of Itachi's head, the sensation he had felt since training with Sasuke, ballooned. All at once, everything he looked at seemed bright. He couldn't think.

Was she wearing lip gloss?

He sat down on the bed beside her. She smiled and turned toward him. Their knees touched. She didn't seem to notice, but Itachi felt like that part of his leg had caught fire and was burning a hole through skin and muscle all the way to the bone.

There was a lump in his throat the size of a rabbit.

Beside him, Amaya sighed, shoulders slumping. "Is Sasuke any nicer to you?" she asked, as if this was normal, like they sat so close together and talked all the time.

"I don't know," he said, surprised that he was capable of forming words with all that was churning in his head. "Some days he seems to like training me. Other times, he seems to hate to look at me. I don't know what he thinks."

She was silent for a moment. Her hands were clenched around the edge of his mattress. Her knuckles were almost white.

"Amaya?" he asked.

"My father is going on a mission."

Itachi was quiet. He knew Amaya's father was an elite Jounin but had never met the man. He seemed to be out on missions a lot. At least, Amaya was home alone a lot. What was different about this time?

"He might miss the match," she said. "And I know that's not his fault. It's just— I was hoping to show him..." She stammered and fell silent.

"You're great," Itachi said awkwardly. "I mean, you're one of the best in the year, right? I'm sure he's proud of you. Your jutsu is spectacular. Even if he's not there to see it, everyone will say so."

She didn't say anything. She just stared straight ahead.

Itachi didn't say anything either. He wondered if he should make some kind of an analogy—maybe to his inability to please Sasuke, or to his mother's expectations, which were extreme in their own way, but the right words wouldn't come to his tongue.

"Itachi," she whispered after a moment. "Why do you want to be a Shinobi?"

"To protect my mother and sister," he said automatically. "And because of my father, I guess. And Sasuke. I think I belong here. It just feels right." Amaya didn't respond. After a moment, Itachi returned the question. "Why do you want to be a Shinobi?"

To his surprise, tears welled up in Amaya's eyes. Itachi was startled. He had rarely seen Amaya out of temper. He had never seen her cry.

"I don't know," she said, and her voice wobbled as if the words were being shaken out of her. "I knew yesterday. I can't remember now. I'm just… I'm just so…"

The final words didn't come.

Itachi didn't know what to do, but he didn't need her to finish her sentence to understand. He could feel loneliness emanating from her, a bleak hopelessness that felt somehow familiar. His attraction to it was magnetic. He instantly wanted to fix it. He didn't want her to suffer. He wanted to help her. But he didn't know what to do or say. He thought about putting his arm around her, but his hand merely twitched.

"It's okay," he said at last, not sure if it was the right thing to say, but feeling like he had to say something. "You can cry. I don't mind."

Amaya's whole body tensed, almost like she was fighting with herself. Almost immediately, the tears stopped. She stared at nothing for over a minute, looking furious with herself. After awhile, she finally looked at him, brown eyes melting with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's okay," he replied. He felt mesmerized by her sadness. "Don't worry about it."

Her gaze drifted down to the floor beneath her feet. "I'm supposed to be strong," she said. "I'm trained to fight, and to kill, and—" She closed her eyes. "Why am I upset? I should be more grown up. My father not coming to my match because he has a mission is a childish thing to cry about."

"It's okay to get upset," he said. "Even Shinobi can be upset. I get upset at my mom."

She looked at him then, a spark of interest bringing light into her eyes. "You do?"

"All the time. She has a lot of problems. She thinks I don't know. Or she pretends I don't notice or something."

"What kind of problems?" Amaya asked.

"You've probably heard the rumors."

Amaya was quiet. "I heard some things," she admitted. "My father says we shouldn't trust her."

Itachi shrugged. "There's always been rumors about her," he said, "since before I can remember. I used to get in fights at school about it, trying to protect her honor. But then I discovered the rumors were true, or part way true, and I would get in fights—I don't know—just because, I guess. I was mad at her."

"The Grass says she is dangerous to Konoha. Do you think it's true?"

Itachi hesitated.

It struck him as a strange question. Why was Amaya asking him about his mother? He didn't see how the answer would help her, unless she wanted the information just because her father was suspicious.

It didn't matter. Itachi remembered the first rule of the family. "I don't know," he replied. "I can't think of her as anything except my mom. She does scare me, though."

"You don't think she would hurt you, do you?"

"No. She loves me."

"Then why does she scare you?"

Itachi gave Amaya a sidelong look. "Trust me. If she was your mother, she would scare you too."

"I'm not scared of anyone," Amaya replied haughtily. "Not even my father."

Itachi thought that was a strange response.

Amaya's father was probably pretty terrifying, given that he was an elite Shinobi, but that wasn't the kind of fear that Itachi meant. Itachi wasn't afraid of his mother because she had the ability to fight or kill. It was her love that frightened him. She loved him so much, and her expectations for him were so severe, that her mere displeasure loomed large in his mind. He never wanted to put a foot wrong with her. He knew she would come down on him if he did.

As he was thinking about these things, he realized suddenly that he couldn't see parts of Amaya's face. He blinked, but it didn't help. There were floaters in his eyes, like he had looked quickly at the sun and then looked away. Black dots seemed to swallow chunks of his vision. He blinked again. He shook his head. They didn't go away.

"Do my eyes look okay to you?" he asked Amaya.

"Huh?" She blinked out of her reverie and turned toward him, peering into his face. "Yeah, they look fine. You didn't injure them, did you?"

"No. I-"

He cut off abruptly, floaters forgotten. She was hovering close, staring at him. Around the floaters, he could still tears in the corner of her eyes, sparkling on the tops of her lower eyelashes like dew, but the sadness was gone from her expression. Something else was there—a sort of breathy brazenness that tied his stomach into a knot.

"Itachi," Amaya whispered, barely audible in the inches between them. "Will you kiss me?"

His brain stopped functioning. "What?"

Her cheeks flushed. She pulled back . "I'm sorry. Don't you like me?"

How did she know he liked her? The question did a lap around his consciousness and then dissipated into nothingness. He couldn't think. He blush had deepened. She was thinking she had got it wrong and had said something terrible, and any second she was going to apologize, and then—

He leaned in before that train of thought could reach a destination.

He heard Amaya's breath catch, but she didn't stiffen or pull away. She stayed perfectly still, allowing him to close the space. He had never kissed anyone before. He tried not to over think it. Just touch her lips with his lips, and pull back without hurting himself, or her, and that would be enough.

He made contact. Her lips were soft, but kissing them didn't feel quite like he expected. He wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't to feel so much at once. Up close, she smelled like strawberries. That was probably her lip gloss, he realized, which was a little sticky, but he stopped thinking about that when her lips parted. He stopped thinking at all. He barely had the presence of mind to realize his eyes were open, and shut them, because he thought that was what he was supposed to do.

He pulled back sharply.

Her eyes were open. "Are you okay?"

He just stared at her. "Huh—"

She was sitting very close to him, so close that they were touching. Her breasts were heaving in her shirt. He tried not to think about that. His eyes skittered away from her, looking at anything except her, and then bounced back. He didn't remember her being so close.

"Itachi?" she whispered. She leaned forward.

"Yeah," he stammered. "Great."

A smile broke across her face. She leaned forward. He realized with a start that she wanted to kiss again, and that if he didn't, she would. It happened so fast. All he saw were her eyes, framed by lashes, inches from his face, consuming the whole of his vision. And then Amaya's lips pressed against his. He could barely feel them.

But he was soaring.

I can die, he thought. I can die right now and it would be fine.

Except that he wanted to stick around long enough to see what happened next.

Next. He re-imagined all his fantasies at once, weeks or months or years compiled in a second, when he and Amaya spent more and more of their afternoons together. He would take her out and they would go on walks or picnics or whatever. Next.

Then he realized, with a confusing mix of thrill and horror, that 'next' seemed to be happening right now.

She had risen up on her knees. Her hands were on his shoulders.

He had a vague, desperate thought, cluttered by sensation.

If he touched her, he felt sure there would be some sort of a collapse. So he kept his arms stiff at his sides, both hands flat on the mattress. He tried to think, but he could feel her breath on his cheek and thought eluded him. This tough girl…

His head was starting to hurt.

She kissed him again. And he tasted salt.

He opened his eyes slowly.

Everything in the room looked so bright he could barely see the girl in front of him.

But he saw that there were tears in her eyes. "Why won't you hold me?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully.

Answers flew past him: Because he was scared. Because his head hurt. Because she was his teammate. Because she was crying. Because his mother might be home any second. Because his focus should be on the match. Because it was wrong. He struggled to voice an objection that made sense, but he just couldn't think.

"I think it's crazy!" she said, and somehow he knew she wasn't talking about him. "Don't you think it's crazy? It's crazy. I can fight. I take hits without a cry. I even know how to kill someone. But I don't know what… I mean…"

He didn't know what she was talking about, but she was clearly upset; his response was instinct. He wrapped his arms around Amaya and pulled her body against him. She fell into his lap. He pulled her into a hug.

She was small and soft—all curves and lightness. He had never held a girl before. He found that he quite liked it, but he also didn't. Confusion bubbled up from everywhere. There was pain in his head, not a pounding throb, but a steadily growing tension like a high pitch whine. He still couldn't see clearly.

Amaya leaned back. He tried to make out her expression. He found her lips parted, her face flushed, her eyes luminous, and her expression set. She didn't look confused at all. In fact, the determination in her eye quite unnerved him. It was the look she got before a fight, like she wanted to prove something, not to him, but to someone or something, and he found himself without words, action, or thought to resist. She kissed him again.

He closed his eyes, head spinning.

"Itachi," Amaya whispered.

He slowly pried his eyes open. Amaya was staring at him. Again, he had the impression that something was not quite right.

To his terror, she grasped the bottom of her shirt. "I'm hot."

Oh shit…

Lucia walked briskly, moving at a fair clip so that Rina almost had to run to keep up. Her daughter trailed a pace or two behind anyway, eyebrows pinched and lower lip stuck out in a pout.

Back in the classroom, Rina had admitted to failing on purpose, but she refused to say why. Lucia had noted with a modicum of displeasure that Rina had learned something about the power of silence, probably from observing her mother. No matter what question she or Tenten asked, or how kindly, Rina just kept repeating that she would do better.

Lucia was not to be bested by her own tricks. She acknowledged Rina's promise to improve, but terminated her privilege to watch Itachi train. She explained to her daughter that accompanying Itachi was a privilege. She could earn it back when she not only proved her capability in her studies, but explained why she had chosen to fail.

Rina had not taken it well. She had stiffened in her seat with every word, eyes wide and watery, and then exploded in a fit. Most of the time, Rina was a quiet, exemplary girl, so the storm had shocked Tenten. Rina wailed. She screamed. She kicked and hammered on the desk. Lucia was not so surprised. Tantrums were a rare occurrence, but she had weathered several of them. She remained impassive, arms crossed, and waited until Rina stopped screaming before calmly repeating her resolution. Tears drying on her cheeks, Rina subsided into a sulk.

The walk home was a quiet one. Lucia was not concerned. Rina's sulks followed a pattern. They began stony, became reflective, would slowly segue to embarrassment, and finally to apology. Until Rina came around, Lucia had nothing further to say.

The shadows had started to lengthen by the time they reached the house. Lucia noted that Itachi was home by the light from his room. That was strange. He had been training until past dusk every day of late.

She opened the front door and allowed Rina in first. Her daughter said nothing. Rather than running up to her room she hovered in the kitchen, shifting her weight from foot to foot and looking at everything except her mother.

"Are you hungry?" Lucia asked her.

Rina nodded silently, but otherwise did not respond.

Lucia prepared something for Rina to eat and leaned against the counter while Rina picked at her food.

Something bothered her. It wasn't Rina. The quiet in the house was oppressive.

Was Itachi asleep?

She wasn't sure how to attribute the stab of alarm that followed this thought. He wasn't asleep. Something told her he was awake. There was a feeling in the air. Tension. It was almost like… panic.

Obeying intuition, she left Rina at the table and hurried up the stairs.

She did not knock. She did not call out. She flung open the door.

The world seemed to stop. And then it rushed forward so fast, it spun. Lucia's mind had to leap into triple speed to process what she saw.

She recognized the girl immediately. Amaya. One of Itachi's teammates.

She was sitting on the bed with her son. Not just sitting. She was half in his lap, and half undressed, a shirt wadded up the mattress beside her and shoes on the floor. She couldn't be much older than her son, barely more than a child, but Amaya's body was that of a woman, full breasts barely contained by a thin white sport bra, her skin clean and unmarred, aglow with freshness of youth.

Itachi's face was a sight. In another situation, or at another time, Lucia might have found his deep flush humorous, his shock and fear comical. But it brought her no mirth now.

The door hit the wall with a bang. Both children started, heads swiveling in her direction.

"Nothing happened!" Itachi gasped.

Lucia skewered him with her eyes. He shrank against the headboard of the bed.

Amaya reacted quite differently. She leapt off the mattress and turned on Lucia with eyes fierce and abrasive, like those of an animal. Unlike Itachi, shame was absent from her face. She seemed geared to fight, as if challenging Lucia for the higher ground.

A lost battle if Lucia had ever seen one.

The girl might have wanted to look like a tiger, but Lucia was reminded of nothing so much as a hedgehog, shaking not with rage but with mind-melting fear that it should be discovered delicate once overturned. It wasn't difficult to understand. Lucia had once been a twelve year old girl. She had never imagined being on the other side. She knew exactly what to say.

She didn't raise her voice at all. "Go downstairs, right now, and sit at the table."

"You can't do anything to me!" Amaya shouted. The words tore from her throat with such ferocity they came out grainy and rough. "You can't make me do anything! I am a Shinobi! I can kill you!"

Itachi gaped at Amaya as if she were a lunatic.

"This is my home," Lucia replied, still in the same even tone. "You will not speak so to me again. Do as I have said. Do anything else, and I shall go directly to your home. I will have my word. Do you understand? Either with you in my kitchen or with whoever resides where you live."

Amaya turned white as a sheet.

"It is your choice," Lucia said. "Make it now."

Trembling, Amaya picked up her tank top from the bed, slipped on her shoes, and brushed passed by Lucia and out of the room. She didn't look back at Itachi. She didn't meet Lucia's eyes. She could be heard running down the stairs. Lucia did not turn around to see where she had gone or whether she had stayed. She would find out soon enough.

Her eyes locked onto her son. "That girl," she said, "was your teammate." She did not hide an emphasis on 'was.'

Itachi visibly trembled. She studied his face carefully. He looked thoroughly miserable, and terrified, but there was more than that.

"Why are you squinting?" she demanded. "Answer me."

"It's bright."

"Bright?"

"Isn't it? I can't see. I've got floaters. My head really hurts."

A migraine? Lucia used to get them in her adolescence. So did her mother. Migraine headaches could be triggered by stress, and Itachi was certainly dealing with plenty of it. It wasn't unlikely for Itachi to have inherited that from her, but she didn't overlook the significance of his father's genes. She sighed. Whatever the problem, it was just as well. She wasn't prepared to have a conversation with him now, and couldn't if his head was splitting. They would talk later. Like Rina, her son, so careful and deliberate, would be best approached after he had time to think.

"Lay down in the dark," she said. "The pain will get worse before it gets better. There's nothing you can do about it."

"Mom," he said, and she knew he wasn't thinking about his head or his eyes. The remorse in his voice was so thick it was palpable. "I just—"

"Not now," she said, and turned. With one hand on the door frame, she paused.

Rina stood in the hallway, shrunk against the far wall in the shadows, head craned to peek into Itachi's room, her eyes wide and worried. Lucia wondered how much she understood. She must have seen Amaya run down the stairs. She would have heard the shouting. She was close enough to have heard Itachi complaining about his eyes.

"It will be all right," Lucia said within both her children's hearing. She nodded to Rina's bedroom.

Without speaking, Rina scurried into her room and pulled the door closed.

"What happened at Rina's school?" Itachi asked from behind her.

She turned to look at him from over her shoulder. "Rina can no longer go to your training," Lucia replied. "She is failing her classes."

"What?" Itachi gasped. "How?"

"By choice. She is failing on purpose."

Incredulity flickered across Itachi's face.

Without further conversation, Lucia let herself out and quietly shut the door.

Darkness enveloped her. The sun had set outside and shadows engulfed the hallway. Lucia stood alone in the blackness for a few moments, processing her thoughts. When she felt confident about what she wanted to say, she made her way back down the stairs.

Amaya sat at the table. Her shoulders slumped forward, her face screwed into an expression that looked painful. She jerked in her seat when Lucia walked into the tiny kitchen, head whipping around to watch Lucia's entry, bracing herself, it seemed, for a blow.

Lucia ignored her. She was conscious of the girl's round brown eyes following her as she set a kettle on the stove, lit the flame, and placed two teacups on the countertop.

The silence stretched. Amaya looked away.

As the minutes passed, Amaya sank into herself more and more and began to fidget with her clothes. She avoided looking at Lucia now. It was as if by mere refusal to acknowledge her presence, she could actually make Lucia disappear. When the water neared boiling, Lucia steeped the tea leaves and then poured equal amounts into the two ceramic cups. She carried both cups to the table, set one in front of Amaya, and sat down across from her with the other.

Lucia cross her legs and took an unhurried sip. The water was scalding, just the way she liked it.

Amaya didn't touch her cup.

It was interesting how familiar this felt, and yet strange too… She had not expected to ever be on this side of the table.

"Sitting there is not enough," Lucia said. "Have you nothing to say to me? If you will not talk, I will have to speak to your mother. What is her name?"

Amaya remained silent. She stared at the table, hands clenched.

"Can you hear me?"

Silence.

Lucia took another sip of tea.

"My mother is dead."

Lucia did not react outwardly. Inwardly, she felt pity. That might explain a few things. "And your father?"

The girl looked away. Her hands trembled on the table. "Please don't bother him."

"Why not?"

"He's busy."

"Doing what?"

"Being a Shinobi!" Amaya shouted, head whipping around to Lucia, pride bursting out of her in all directions.

Lucia said nothing. Privately, she thought he was not, apparently, busy being a father.

Maybe Amaya had the same thought, because all at once, she started to cry. Tears just gushed from her eyes. She looked horrified with herself, and then angry at Lucia, as if Lucia had caused it. But neither horror nor anger was enough for her to stop. She doubled over across the table, as if by making herself smaller she could contain it, but her chest only heaved with greater effort. She gasped for air, but with that breath only sobbed harder.

Lucia let her cry, politely averting her eyes and not speaking until the worst of it was out. Amaya lay limp, her face pressed to the wood. Slowly, she sat up, scrubbing tears from her cheeks. She looked ashamed. She did not look at Lucia.

"I apologize," she said. "You are right. I should not be in your home without your knowledge. And I…" She took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have … been with Itachi. If you don't approve-"

"I don't have an objection to Itachi having a girlfriend," Lucia interrupted. Amaya looked startled. "Not within reason, but not in secret, and not with the pressure he is under now. If I may be frank," she added, "my son deserves better."

Amaya's mouth parted slightly. In anger.

"Don't you think?" Lucia asked.

Amaya closed her mouth. Lucia could see the message sinking in.

Lucia felt she understood what had happened. Her own experience was informative, but more than that, she knew her son. If the events of this evening was an accident, or a naturally budding development, she would have seen it coming. This was planned, however rashly, by Amaya. It was not something Itachi had initiated, though he might not have dealt with it in the best manner. She would deal with that later. How Amaya responded would tell her whether she was right.

"What you did was stupid," Lucia said. "Not only because you are too young, but you are too old to behave so foolishly. Do you not realize the stress you have put on my child? On your whole team?"

Amaya blanched. "The match," she whispered, as if she really hadn't thought of it. That was interesting. In a way, it made Lucia feel better.

But she wasn't done. "Did you think of anyone but yourself? Do you know what kind of pressure Itachi is under? How much do you think he can handle? What about that other boy? I have seen the way he looks at you, the way he treats you. Haro, right? You are friends. But he loves you. Anyone can see it. Why did you not run to him?"

"Don't—" Amaya begged. "Please."

"I'll tell you why," Lucia said. "You knew the impulse was reckless. You didn't want to screw things up with the one you really love. So you preyed on my son. It was a deliberate choice. You knew it would be easy. You knew he likes you."

Amaya didn't answer, and it was because of this lack of a defense in one so proud that Lucia knew she had it right…at least partially right.

"Did you hope for anything else?" Lucia asked. "Did you think to pry information out of Itachi about me? Did you think that would please your father? I know I am a curiosity to the Jounin. If that was your intent, you would have done better just to have asked me."

"I didn't!" she said, her eyes wide. "It crossed my mind, but I didn't really. I wasn't thinking. I just— I'm sorry. Please. What you are going to do?"

Lucia sighed. "Drink your tea. It will help."

Amaya appeared baffled by this response.

"It is not my intention to injure you," Lucia explained. She paused, allowing that to sink in. "I do not think you are totally to blame. But I want you to understand exactly how I feel about it."

Amaya didn't answer, but she dropped her eyes.

"When I was not much older than you," Lucia said. "I made some poor decisions. I do not want you to suffer from the same mistakes I made. I especially do not want you to make these mistakes with my son. He cannot afford any mistakes. Do you understand me?"

Amaya stared at Lucia. Slowly, she lifted her tea cup. She took a sip.

"I do not wish to punish you," Lucia added, "but I am concerned. I think I must have a word with your father."

Amaya slammed the teacup down. "Don't! Please! Don't tell him about this. I will do anything you ask of me!" Tears filled her eyes. "Please," she begged. "Anything!"

Lucia felt pity for the girl, but not enough to change her mind. Something had driven this girl to her son's bedroom, had driven her to recklessly act on impulses beyond her years, and to do so when there was much she cared about at stake. That had to be addressed.

But before she could say anything more on the matter, a knock sounded at the door.

"Lucia Van Alstyne?"

It was Ino's voice.

She blinked in surprise. How many surprises could one day hold?

"Come in," she called.

Ino pushed open the door and stuck her head into the room. Her eyes darted to Amaya with some confusion, but they came back to Lucia quickly. "Uh, sorry to bother you. The Hokage wants to see you."

"Right now?" Lucia asked.

Ino made a face. "That's what I was told."

Lucia looked at Amaya. The girl looked away, biting her lip, anxiety plain on her face. "Go home," she said to the girl. "Think on what I have said."

"Can I see Itachi?" Amaya mumbled. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Will you let…? Can we still train together?"

"Not tonight."

Amaya got up from the table. Without another word, she brushed past Ino and disappeared out the door.

"What was that about?" Ino asked.

"Nothing," Lucia said. "Adolescence." She frowned. "I don't suppose the Hokage explained the intention behind this summons?"

Ino just shrugged.

Lucia nodded. "I see. Let me just tell my children that I am going out."

Naruto was actually feeling a little nervous when Lucia was admitted into the Hokage's office, though he didn't show it, not anymore than Ibiki, who stood like a rock by the Hokage's desk, arms crossed. Sakura had refused to leave, so when Lucia entered, shutting the door behind her, she faced three Shinobi, one of them a well known interrogator with a face covered in scars.

She looked surprised. "What's going on?" she asked. "I've had a trying day."

"I apologize for the inconvenience," Naruto said. "Something has been weighing on my mind. I want to move things forward. There's something I would like to ask you."

Lucia didn't react, but her eyes flickered to Ibiki, whom she had never met.

"This is Ibiki, Konoha's head of interrogation," Naruto told her.

There were several seconds of silence. "You want to interrogate me?" she asked.

She did not sound frightened. She seemed almost…resigned. Naruto wasn't sure how to interpret that, but he didn't like it.

"No," he said. "Not exactly. I mean, I want him to ask you some questions, yes, but it's not an interrogation. You don't have to answer."

Now she looked curious. "Then why an interrogator? We talk already. Ask."

"Well, there's a matter of expertise associated with the subject," Naruto said. "I'm not the most qualified. This might be a bit awkward, but I think it is important. I want you to tell Ibiki about Itachi Uchiha. Specifically, I want you to explain what he did to you. As a sadist. In detail."

"Pardon?"

To his left, Naruto saw Sakura close her eyes and mutter under her breath. He caught the words 'mistake' and 'atrocious' and 'Sasuke will really hate this.'

"The details might be...difficult," Naruto said. "I'm sure they are personal. Ibiki has experience with this, so you can talk to Ibiki alone if you like. You have my word you won't be forced to divulge information. I just want Ibiki's opinion, as a professional torturer, on what Itachi Uchiha did to you… as a torturer. And lover. Or both."

Lucia had become a statue. "I see."

"I wouldn't ask," Naruto said, "but I really think it might be important."

He could see skepticism on her face. She thought he had an angle. And she wasn't pleased about it. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake. He thought he had been making some headway with her in the past couple of weeks. He didn't want to break the little amount of trust she had in his judgment.

But her answer came easily. "All right," she said. "I don't know what you expect to learn, but I will tell you everything I can remember, if you really want to know."

"Thank you," Naruto said.

"Does it have to be tonight?" she asked. "It has been a really long day."

"No," Naruto said. "It can wait, but not too long. I would like to have Ibiki's report before Itachi's match if possible. So you'll have at least a few days to think about it. I know it was a long time ago. Try to remember whatever you can."

Naruto thought he saw a new expression on Lucia's face. It was sad, but not quite sad.

Whatever it was didn't stop her from responding. "Very well," she said.

When she spoke, Naruto thought he identified the emotion. Regret.

He dismissed her without further conversation, but it made him wonder. What did Lucia regret?

TBC

The Itachi vs. Yukio match should be coming up relatively soon, either next chapter or the one after it. Also, more SasuSaku. Please review this chapter. I always ask because asking is better than not asking, but I am in particular need of distraction right now. The more response I get about the story, the more I will feel like writing it, and I really would like to be writing, as opposed to staring at walls thinking about a certain someone whose happiness is important to me, and who can be happiest right now by being left alone.

Things you can review that I would heartily appreciate:

-Naruto's interrogation plan

-What was revealed of Lucia's back story

-Amaya

-Lucia's intention to talk to Sachio (Amaya's father)

-Any speculative thoughts you have about plot or other characters

Thank yous go out to:

geckohawaii (soooo please to see you reviewing every chapter and enjoying the story), Platerair Queen (wonderful review! And esp appreciated this summer. Itachi's bonds with his team will recover from the hole I wrote them into this chapter…), dynamicROAR (impressed is a big compliment!), Kondou (thank you so much! Sorry for the delay), bluetopaz93 (wonderful to hear from you and amazing review!), Sal (you got your wish!), ambergur-pyon96 (glad you like my OCs!), dark,angel.261 (amazing you stayed up so late! Thank you), Adel-chan (wonderful to have you back! Great review), Rin-Elwin (great to hear from you again!, Friska (I love SasuSaku too), jazz (more development to come!), elle (sorry…sasuke was out this chapter but he'll be back next chapter for sure), Helena (there will be some more plot twists. That's all I can say), QueenTania (love your review! Thank you very much!), bibsa1 (they should probably call her Sakura-sensei…oh well), Joy-girl (your comments about Rina will be very applicable in the future), Jeshii-san (thank you for being patient!), AnimePrincessAkina (thank you!), suddon (I hope you continue to think so!), Valentir (I remember your reviews as Ruby Rita! I'm glad you came around to the preggers plotline as well as loving Naruto. Thank you!), PerfidiousPink (still love that name), La Nuit Noir (thanks!), Theodosia (thank you! I hope you enjoyed it), annieepz (I love your review! And no SasuLucia…I promise), Mizuiro Neko (thank you! Sorry for the wait), Mash Tactics, Dionysos, LittleGreenWolf (thanks for staying up all night! Hope you read this chapter), Blade Redwind (love your review! Speculation always tickles me), nodaaaaaa (sorry for the cliffy!), shvesta (glad you liked the suspense!), Crimson Marionette (always a pleasure to see you review!), Demon Cello Lilin, Kaku-Chan (sorry to kill you with suspense!), -00-night-eyes-00, insaneteacup (LOVE YOU), minniemousemom, (glad you liked Amaya last chapter! Wonder what you think of her this chapter…), hymnia (your review is amazing. I am speechless), IVIdaedhos (lovely to hear fromyou as always!), Delbi18 (thank you! I'm glad. Hope it keeps getting better), sunshinestar16, Derrand59 (it's not on hiatus! Thank you so much), shkh4ever (thank you! I believe already replied to your questions).