Emeralds watched the shadows for movement that would never actually happen, although his brain told him otherwise. It was possible he would be searching the shadows for threats that weren't there for the rest of his life. But who could really blame him.

Three years with the akatsuki would do that to even the strongest person.

His arm tightened on the blonde haired girl pressed into his side. He could hear her whispering over and over, "It's not that easy. It can't be THAT easy." Her arms would squeeze his waist every second or so, trying to comfort him as much as herself. He could see her sapphire like eyes darting around; looking at the shadows trying to fight off the monsters her brain conjured up. She was in denial. Hell, he was too.

The words 'killed' and 'Itachi' were just awkward in the same sentence together the way Sasuke had used them:

"I've already killed my brother [Itachi]."

The oldest Uchiha survivor wasn't someone who could just be killed, even if Moru didn't want to admit it. Everything with Itachi was never easy. Someone didn't just fight with that man. They BATTLED, fighting life and limb just to survive. There wasn't a snow ball's chance in HELL that the little bastard should be able to say he killed Itachi so easily, so monotone.

It just wasn't possible. And yet, he had.

There was no way he was dead though, there was NO WAY.

"What is he planning now? What could he possibly want with us Moru?" Her soft panicked whisper barely reached his ears. His arm around her shoulders pulled Kazu closer, trying to comfort her from the words he knew she didn't want to hear.

"I don't know Kazu. I don't know." But, he would find out and protect her like he couldn't do while they were captured.

He was still unable to sleep throughout the night without waking up to her screams or the look in her eyes that he knew was trying to tell him that it wasn't his fault she was getting tortures. But, she was wrong. It WAS his fault. HIS fault. Not hers.

As soon as she had been thrown into the same cell as him, he should have been planning an escape. HE should have started RIGHT away. Waiting for her to want out was waiting too long. He knew everyone wanted out as soon as they arrived. All of his deceased cellmates had proved that, especially those who had found a way to kill themselves in that hellhole.

Her screams, her multiple broken bones, her nightmares. They were ALL his fault for waiting too long. And for showing the Akatsuki that he had cared for her. It was that reason alone that it was his entire fault. After those bastards had learned that, her torture had been kicked up several notches, with him present to watch her pain.

His emerald eyes watched the top of her head as she opened the door to their home. Tonight was going to be another sleepless night full of terrors and worrying. Of that much, he was positive.

Riku followed the two into the Hotoya compound silently guarding the two shinobi as they broke down in taped together pieces. He could see the cracks spider webbing and growing larger, but it seemed as if their little make shift family was holding it together. Just barely though. Just barely.

Another scream left her lips as the sharp bite branched across her bare back again. Her back burned as if a raging fire licked at her bare skin. Fast heavy breathes rocked her body hanging limply from her chain wrists. Long ago, her legs had gone numb underneath her.

The cracks of the whip as it was pulled back cause her wince. Another fire licked at her back, but she didn't feel the leather of the whip kiss her back. The heat and pain grew and so did, sadly, her curiosity.

Hesitantly, her eyes lifted up to see a thick darkness before her. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head to see a fire burning full blaze behind her. The bright yellows and oranges made the darkness dance around her. In the middle of this inferno was Itachi in all his Akatsuki glory.

The inferno around him began to bite and burn his cloak, though he made no indication that he even noticed. In fact, she barely noticed too. His Sharigan eyes held hers in a grip she knew she would never be able to break easily on her own.

His arm movement though caused her body to tense and her burning sapphires to dart to the offending limb. And he was drawing a Katana . . .

Itachi didn't have use a katana, let alone actually own one. And, he didn't wear gloves. His cloak wasn't white. No Akatsuki cloak was. And they didn't wear purple ropes either. Blue once again clashed with blood red and black. But, that. He had that.

"Kazu . . ."

She shot up in her bed, sweat stuck to her body like honey. The soft breeze coming from her open window chilled her soaked skin, creating goose bumps all over her exposed skin. A hand ran through her slightly damp hair. What was that? What kind of dream was that supposed to be? A Nightmare? Or a . . . what?

She closed her eyes briefly trying to find the meaning or purpose, if there was one, while also trying to push the imagine of Itachi away from her mind's eye. Opening her eyes again, she pulled her red sheets off before getting out of bed.

Today wasn't going to be a good day. She could already tell. One, it was the first day the traitor would be officially considered a part of Team Kazu. Which was just peaches, rainbows, and sunshine. Two, fangirls, enough said.

They had already bothered her team when they trained. Apparently, the spot of the non-talkative, cold, uncaring, number one bachelor in Konoha had to be handed to Riku while the traitor was gone. Even though, Riku was none of that; he was nothing like that traitor. So, she just knew today's training session was going to be hell with both "reigning number one bachelor of Konoha's" on her team.

She glanced over at the sleeping Shaku on her red sheets. The gold a bright was a stark contrast to the dark red. Groggily, she grabbed her white towel before heading towards the bathroom.

Kazu blinked slowly as she shut the door and began to undress, moving on autopilot. What could she work on today without showing the traitor too much? Why did Tsunade even put that damn traitor on her team to begin with? Didn't she realize they would never truly accept him, never truly depend on him like teammates should depend on one another?

She stepped into the steaming water, relishing the hot water beating softly against her body. Kazu tilted her head back, breathed in the thick damp air, and allowed the water to wash away her problems for a moment.

Her moment of blissful ignorance was ruined when an image of the Sharigan flashed before her mind's eye. She heavily leaned against the tiled wall in response. God. Any serene moment she had was ruined by those dreaded eyes. They haunted her subconscious.

Those red eyes destroyed her strength with just a quick flash. It was as if they were able to destroy any wall she put up for her protection as if it was made of paper.

She turned sharply and began to wash her hair a little too roughly, willing herself not to think about those eyes, their owner, or the younger sibling who resembled him so much.

Riku watched Kazu and Moru for any signs that the tape was coming off the cracked glass. But it seemed as if the tape was holding firm, for now at least. He turned forward and watched the training ground in which they felt the last Uchiha's chakra coming from come over the horizon.

A scowl was growing on Kazu's face as she began to tie her hair up into a ponytail. Shaku shuffled, agitated, on her shoulder, extending and retracting her golden leather wings. Kazu could feel her tail beat against her back every once in a while, quite harshly. It was quite obvious to everyone around her that she was pissed about the traitor being so readily being accepted back into the Leaf's society.

Her eyes hardened as she had to push her way through the crowds of fangirls 'secretly' watching the 'amazing!' Uchiha. Her anger rose as the fangirls began to push her back.

"Hey! If you wanted a spot up front, you should have gotten here earlier! This spot is mine, just like Sasuke-kun!" Queue another push.

"Back off! Get your own spot!" Finally, Shaku growled lowly, causing the fangirls around her to back of quickly. They eyed her wearily before turning back toward 'their Sasuke-kun' who was busy burying kuni into targets. Resigned to the new set of torture she would be put through, Kazu ran a barely calloused down her face as once again the fangirls crowded around her, pushing into her to get a better view.

Ready, Shaku?

Yes.

Get rid of the fan girls.

Golden wings spread out making the beast perched on her shoulder larger and her tail flicked, agitated, behind her. Sapphire eyes watched in slight satisfaction as her familiar rose, making the illusion of a larger predator. At least she could get rid of one annoyance. The other . . .

Her eyes trailed over to the traitor briefly glancing at her before returning to his targets. It seemed as if he was sizing her up just like she was doing to him. His face was a block of ice; his eyes a cold black. Just like the darkness in her dream before the fire caused it to dance.

He would take a little longer. She would get rid of him though. The pedestal he was on was slowly chipping away underneath his feet. She would show the people of Konoha, of HER village, that this FALSE idol was not worthy of such a thing.

A loud growl sounded accompanied by a deeper more dangerous one. A frown pulled at her lips as she stared down the Betrayer. He would know exactly what she thought about him soon enough. A unanimous squeal of terror came from the fangirls around them as they all turned to the owner of the familiar while giving her space.

The fact that Riku was there with her wasn't over looked, but most of them were too terrified by the golden miniature dragon on her shoulder to comment. Kazu didn't like the obsessive girls around her. It seemed as if they made it their personal goal to interfere with her team's training as much as possible.

"Hey! Don't be such a Bitch! Sasuke-kun isn't yours you know!" A brave fan girl, who looked to be around thirteen spoke up, facing the elite chunnin squad with hands on her hips. A chorus of 'yeahs' sounded as more of them got the courage or got over the fact of Shaku.

"Back off." The threat was accompanied by another roar and fire dancing through the air. The girls squeaked and slinked back away from the very harmful fire breathing beast on the chunnin's shoulder. The traitor appeared to pay no mind to the exchange.

The first three members of Team Kazu watched as the raven haired seventeen year old traitor made every bull's eye. It would have been impressive if he was still nine; now it just seemed like he was showing off, which was a bit unnecessary. Actually it was completely unnecessary.

She didn't give a rat's ass about if he could even see a target. Her hands clenched as Shaku lowered her wings and once again sat peacefully on her shoulder, her golden tail curling around Kazu's tattooed arm to steady herself.

Her team couldn't train with the fangirls slowly closing in on the training field, slowly shrinking the distance to their prey until it was trapped. No person could train effectively with someone who basically wanted to rape you breathing down your neck.

It was time to test just how effective keeping your enemies closer than your friends was.

"Traitor!" She called to the raven haired man still going at it with the targets. His footing faltered for only a split second before all the kuni thrown were imbedded in the red bull's eye with a thud. The fangirls around her gasped and stared at her with wide eyes filled with horror. Although, they didn't say anything. Did they not want to acknowledge that he was one?

The Betrayer turned to her sharply; his eyes were hard. He never seemed to like it when she called him that. And, she had to admit it was a definite way to gain his attention and remind those around her exactly what he had done. Betraying the village wasn't something she was going to allow to be pushed under the rug and ignored.

"We aren't training here. Follow us." With that, she turned, without glancing back, and headed back from which she came.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. She was taking him to her clan's compound? But, she always called him a traitor. Plus, with the way Kazu acted about her clan he had figured her clan's small compound was something she wouldn't just share with anyone. Yet, her she was leading him through a house that seemed to be the entrance to her compound.

The rooms were nothing like the empty halls of the Uchiha compound. In his home, everything felt abandoned. It is not his home; it WAS his home. The last Uchiha felt like an outsider there. And, technically he was now.

But, even though her clan had been murdered as well, her compound felt like a home should. The deep reds and browns that filled the halls created a sense of warmth and hominess that every normal home held. This confused him. Shouldn't her compound feel as cold and desolate as his?

Kazu could feel the onyx eyes of the traitor drilling into her back. Once again those Sharigan eyes flashed in her mind's eye causing her to step closer to Moru. Their eyes sought out each other in a sideways glance before looking forward again.

Sasuke watched the exchange with narrowed eyes. The first rule of being a shinobi was to not show emotion. And yet, here she was: a thorn in his side that would NOT dislodge no matter what he did and playing some sort of game of house with this green eyed bastard. Moru, was it?

The muscles in his jaw tightened as their hands brushed against one another as they walked through the winding halls of her compound. What did those two mean to each other? And why did it feel as if he was having another thorn shoved into his side?

Riku walked through the halls of the Hotoya compound next to the last Uchiha. His adoptive younger siblings walked before him, barely keeping the spider web from growing in the glass. The raven haired man tensed next to the silverette. Ice blue watched the former traitor. Why was he tensing so visibly? What was causing such a reaction from a man of such a cold exterior as him?

Kazu was right. This man was up to something. And, he needed to find out what it was before it shattered the glass that was barely staying together.

The blonde shinobi turned to face the traitor behind her when she reached a pair of shoji doors. Her eyes glared into his obsidian eyes, daring him to make the wrong move.

"Welcome to the Hotoya training dojo."