AN: Finally, chapter 25! I apologize deeply if it seems like things are moving along fast now. I have just taken so long to develope anything romantic between Yuki and Itachi I realized it took TOO long. DX. So, please bear with me, I'm going to try and finish the rest of this story off in 5 or 6 chapters hopefully. Review, plz~

A few days have passed since the talk between Yuki and Itachi. These few days have proved to be agonizing to be waiting in anticipation for Itachi's answer. Still to this moment, he hasn't given it to her. Yuki was growing impatient for it. Thinking about it was driving her insane and so she did things around the cottage, even if it had been done already, to keep her mind busy. Deidara had walked into the kitchen. He came in barefoot and without his cloak. "What are you doing here? Itachi told me that you were going out on a mission."

Deidara pulled a small cup out and poured some water into it from the sink. He leaned back against the counter. The clay master took a nice long drink. He used his arm to wipe the water on the top of his lip. His blue eyes now on her, "We do have a mission. Tobi and I are moving out today, actually, un."

"Sounds interesting, what are you supposed to do?" Yuki inquired.

Once Deidara put the cup back into the sink Yuki was quick to clean it. The blond arched an incredulous brow her way. She must have been terribly bored to be doing a single dish right when it entered the sink. "You know how the Akatsuki is after the tailed beasts, right, yeah?" Yuki nodded her head to confirm she knew the goals of the Akatsuki. "Tobi and I are heading out today to go capture one of the tailed beasts. I believe Pein has requested to see Itachi and Kisame too, in fact. I believe they are on their way to catch another one of the tailed beasts. We have to get them in order, un."

Yuki gently cocked her head to the side and looked at him, "In order, how come?" she questioned.

There wasn't a lot about the Akatsuki that she knew. Pein worked so hard to get her to join their organization for whatever reason. A good aspect to getting the tailed beasts he probably thought. So test her out. If it didn't work she didn't have much of an idea of what he would do to her. He hasn't seen or heard that because she isn't in control of herself that it's her greatest downfall in that strength and why she has lost against those other guys. They must have hid well because she hasn't seen or heard a peep out of them for a while. "It's actually because the statue we use to obtain these beasts Jinchuriki, has to be balanced. So if we put the nine tailed fox's chakra in first then the statue would crumble."

At first she was paying attention. She caught why it had to be done in order. Then she just kind of started going off into her own little world. Yuki's eyes were looking out the window. Her stare was intent as her thoughts were buzzing. She needed to start training because if Itachi got sent on a mission, wouldn't the leader want her to tag along or something? She needed to train, and she still sort of needed just a little bit of help with that because certain things couldn't be done on your own. "Deidara," she said then, "I have a favor to ask of you."

Deidara was curious now. There was a favor she needed of him and even if they were friends now he wouldn't have expected her to ask him for a favor. She was just so reliant on Itachi all of the time, "What do you need me to do, yeah?"

Yuki pulled her bottom lip in, "Do you think you could make me some explosives? I need to start training to push my limits further before, well… you know. And, I want to put them in a specific part of the dummy to where I know if I hit them in the wrong spot, they'll explode. Think you could do that for me? I want to be able to put the explosives in there myself."

A large grin came across his face, followed by a deep chuckle. "Will I be able to do it? Please, Yuki, you question my abilities and it hurts me. I am the clay master. I am a master of explosives. I'll be able to give you some bombs in a little bit. I have to make them first but I can give them to you before Tobi and I head out on your mission later on today. Okay?"

Yuki chuckled as she leaned back against the refrigerator. "Thank you Deidara, it's a big help."

The blond clay master still continued to grin ear from ear, "It's no problem. I'm glad to be able to help."

Deidara had given her the bag of explosives, there were a lot. The other day she had already made plenty of dummies from sacks she found in the cellar of the cottage and grass and leaves from the trees around. Grass was everywhere too. Sewing them together had been a bitch. It took her four hours to find a needle of the sort. She had to pluck the thread from her black cloak in order to sew it together. It had been done though. Yuki had also played hell trying to get them all there. Now all that was left was to take these explosives to the training site. Deidara have given her a warning that if the bag fell, or she tripped there would be a big boom and she probably wouldn't ever wake up again.

Yuki was outside, quite a distance away from the cottage. It was around mid afternoon where the sun was beginning to cool down. The intense heat wouldn't make her body less fatigued and she could be out for a little longer working hard. No longer was she going to be counting on Itachi to monitor her training. She figured if she was going to grow and mature as a shinobi then she was going to have to teach herself. Yuki took her black cloak and straw hat off. She set them down beside the tree and walked into the middle. She looked up, there were too many trees crowding the area. Knocking a few down seemed the only solution to having more room. Yuki could move to a different spot, but the quietness and distance away from the cottage is what she needed.

Trees came trampling down, showing some of the dummies she place in a clearer view. It would make hitting the targets a little bit easier for her. Yuki struggled to pull some of the massive tree trunks away. Compared to her itty bitty body, her hauling a tree trunk might have looked impossible if she were a regular person. As a Shinobi her strength was more than just a civilian. Still, it was a lot of effort to pile them in one spot so they continued to stay out of her way. Sweat was dripping down the side of her face once she was completed with it. Yuki crawled over to a spoke under an undestroyed tree and decided to take a little break for a moment.

Yuki only took a break for about ten minutes. Once she caught her breath she was back on her feet and ready to start her training. She dug around behind a bush and pulled out a sack of kunai. She had her own in her pouch bit she was going to need more than one. Yuki's eyes narrowed at the first dummy she caught a glimpse of. Her hand gripped tightly to the kunai in hand. With a flick of her arm the kunai went soaring out of her hands and to the dummy. If she didn't hit the right spot the entire dummy would explode, and it did. The explosion that came from it was much stronger than expected. Debris came flying towards her. Yuki quickly brought her arms to guard her face. Rocks, dirt, and grass were blown her way. It stung as the rocks hit her skin but some really just hurt. They weren't itty bitty pebbles; they were small stones coming her way!

The dust had settled and she stared at the exploded dummy, "Dammit, Deidara, you made them a little too strong."

Yuki brushed off her shirt and looked towards the other dummies lying around the field. She almost felt not like doing this anymore. The explosives wouldn't kill her but by the end of today she probably would be scraped and bruised. Yuki shook her head a little bit and told herself, "That'll just be more reason for me to not hit anywhere else but the target."

Before picking up more kunai, she wiped the top of her forehead. Then continued on with her training, Yuki was determined to get stronger her way and not rely on the other her to keep her from being killed. Even better, Itachi won't have to babysit her all the time either.

Mid afternoon was usually a nice thing. The sun wasn't too hot. Nights didn't get cold either but there were a few times where the temperature proved to be frigid. Kisame and Itachi were closing in on the Akatsuki base. Itachi hadn't seen the reason why they would have to head to the base and face the leader personally. They could have just went to see him from where they were without having to move from their spot. Kisame was also just a little bit upset about this and spoke gently underneath his breath, "Itachi-san, why do you think leader has called to personally see us?" Kisame inquired.

"Why in the world would I know, Kisame-san?" Itachi arched an eyebrow his way.

Kisame just gave a toothy grin and chuckled after that. His hands swung by his side. Itachi's hands were pulled in, leaving his sleeves to dangle and go to and fro by his side. They entered inside of the hideout. Pein was standing there with his back turned to Kisame and Itachi as they entered. They didn't have to speak because the leader had already turned around to face the tall shark hybrid and the shorter Uchiha brother. Those grey eyes burned on to his men that stood before him, "Just as I expected of you Itachi-san, Kisame-san, always on time."

Itachi's red eyes shut tightly, "Of course."

Pein cleared his throat as he was starting to pace around gently, "I am safe to assume that both of you know why I have summoned you here."

Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously his way. "Of course, but why did you have us come all the way out here in person? It seems unpractical."

Pein just seemed to stare at the Uchiha, unaffected by show of disrespect to leader. Pain just yawned gently and he set down the scroll in front of him which had nothing to do with the tailed beasts. "There are other matters that I wish to discuss with you, Itachi-san. I'm sure you can guess you know what I am talking about."

The calm look on his face had seemed to deepen into a frown. Others would argue that there wasn't much of a change in his facial expression. Itachi however, knew exactly what the leader was talking about, Yuki. It has been a while since Pein has asked about her progress and such. Right about now was probably due for an update on her progress. "By the look in your eyes you probably already what I'm going to ask," Pein spoke.

"Slowly she is making progress. Her disability has proved more than enough times that it's a hindrance than helpful. The people, who have been bugging us for a while, get the upper advantage on her. Yuki has taken it upon herself to begin her training by herself." Itachi's voice was calm.

Pein's eyes flittered from Itachi down to the scroll on to the table and then back towards Itachi. His grey eyes stared and he brushed his fingers through his strands of hair. "You and Kisame will be going after the tailed beasts. Bring Yuki with you. This will finally prove if she will be a helpful asset to getting the tailed beasts. It appears we have been losing more members lately, and it's causing the progress to slow down a little bit. All in all, if she proves worthy she will be helping you gain the nine tailed fox."

The idea of this didn't see too well in Itachi's mind. He knew her strengths and he knew her weakness's. At this point it appeared Yuki had plenty more weakness's then strengths. Right now, she wasn't ready to help them catch the tailed beasts. Already he could see the scenario playing out in his mind and it wasn't a pleasant one. Itachi tried to reason with the leader, "I think it's too soon."

Kisame stood there watching his partner talk with the leader. Part of him was slightly curious on what was going through the Uchiha's head. There was something changing with Itachi and made him wonder what. But, he stood there obediently and let his little fish eyes stare on. "What do you mean, 'you don't think she is ready?'" Pein arched an incredulous brow.

Itachi sighed rather impatiently, "For the past months I've been watching Yuki, when you first requested Kisame, Deidara, and I to capture her, she was what you would call…immature. At the time she resembled much of a child. Underneath my influence of course, her attitude has changed, slightly. Yuki's behavior is still of a young teenager. I don't think she is mentally capable of dealing with such a task."

Slowly Pein could feel his own patience wearing thin, "I don't care, Itachi-san. You're going to bring Yuki along with you capturing the tailed beasts. After all three of you capture the tailed beast successfully, you will report back to me. Got it, Itachi-san?"

His grey eyes narrowed at the man with as equally terrifying eyes as him. Itachi had not feared the leader, and glared right back. Despite this though, Itachi knew it was completely useless to press the matter even further now. Itachi took a step back and his back turned towards Pein. "Fine," Itachi's voice was firm, "Yuki will be accompanying Kisame and I on our mission." The sound of his feet meeting the floor of the headquarters echoed off along the walls. "Kisame, let's go."

Interesting, Kisame thought rather amused. Naturally he gave a toothy green as his eyes gave one last glance to their leader than back towards Itachi as he turned around. Both of them walked away from the Akatsuki base and back out towards the opening. His hands were swinging by his side and looked down towards his much shorter partner. His raven hair blew delicately in the wind as it lightly brushed against their skin. "So, what was that back there, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked.

For a moment the elder Uchiha was deep in thought. His mind was just swirling with scenarios about the capturing mission of the tailed beast and how it was possibly going to turn about. It actually took a few moments for Kisame's voice to register in Itachi's ears. Yet, he played it off so coolly. "What do you mean, Kisame?"

Kisame chuckled deeply, "What do you mean, what do I mean? You should know what I'm talking about."

Kisame had kind of left it off for Itachi to answer. There was silence though. Just slightly aggravated Kisame continued on, "The tension between you and Pein, it was obvious. You would have to be stupid to not sense something like that." Itachi continued to remain silenced, not at all bothered by the fact the elder Uchiha was silently annoyed with the shark. It was constantly like these between the two. Kisame just shrugged slightly then, leaving it as that, since truly Kisame's wish was to merely get along with his partner, because after all the elder Uchiha certainly proved to be quite interesting. Itachi's hands were pulled inside of his sleeves, "Let's just head back to the manner and retrieve Yuki-san."

"Sure, Itachi-san," Kisame then gave a rather toothy grin.

Huffing incredibly, Yuki lied in the middle of the forest floor her eyes stared blankly towards the skies. She was utterly tired, but it had been a good training session for her none the less. Leaves were scattered everywhere. Some had mixed with her forest green locks and her eyes glanced towards the side. Sweat dripped down the side of her face and wondered where Itachi had been. Yuki curled up on to her backside and crossed her legs a bit. A gentle whiff, she got a good smell of herself. "Yuck, I stink…" she uttered underneath her breath.

The moment she stood on her feet Itachi came out of nowhere. The girl jumped at his sudden appearance. A small blush came across her face, rather embarrassed by the fact he caught her off guard, "Itachi-san, you're back."

"You have a mission." He said.

Yuki looked rather shocked, "What, a mission? Why? With who and what are we doing?"

Slightly annoyed but kept calm none the less as his peaceful stare kept on her form, "Yes a mission, because Pein has ordered me to bring you along and Kisame will be with us. What we're doing is catching one of the tailed beasts."

"B-but!" she stuttered, "I don't think I'm ready how? Can't I just stay?"

Itachi shook his head, "No there is no other way. Pein has made it extremely clear. This is his test to you, Yuki-san."

The girl's shoulders slumped as she sighed in defeat, "Fine then. I will shower first and I'll be ready to go."

Itachi watched Yuki walk back off towards the cottage. That's when his eyes scanned over towards the field. Kisame stepped beside him and looked at the destruction. "So she has taken it upon herself to start training. I wonder what happened, that made her take this initiative, eh, Itachi-san?"

The elder Uchiha turned around then and started walking down the dirt path, "Who knows." And those lips curled to a small smile then. Yuki was making a rather noticeable change now.