Here's the next chapter! I told you I was going to have it out sooner :D Also, I might have the next chapter out this weekend, so cross your fingers :P

Enjoy!

Itachi and I were standing near a cliff on the edge of some woods, waiting for Kisame. Well, I was sitting, but that's not the point. Anyway, we had made it to Iwagakure in about a day and a half with no fighting amongst each other. I should say amongst Kisame and I, but that doesn't matter.

Right now, while Itachi and I were waiting, Kisame was trying to catch the four-tails jinjuriki, and a storm was threatening to start. A full hour had already passed and it seemed like the fish wasn't coming back anytime soon. When he gets back I'm really going to rub it in his face since he was the one saying he would be very quick.

So, to spend our time I was planning on talking to Itachi. Nothing serious, just friendly chatter, but of course this is an Uchiha I was talking to. Never had I met an Uchiha who wanted to talk about the weather. Well, there was Obito, but I didn't talk much to him since he was almost five years older then me.

After numerous tries to get the weasel to talk, I gave up and just lied down with my legs dangling over the cliff's edge. If Itachi wanted silence, I'll give him silence for the rest of the frigging day. You see, I can hold grudges for a very long time…

To past the time I was going to sleep, but thought against since I was out in the open. So, instead I reached into my pocket to see if I left anything fun to play with in them. My hand grabbed the first thing it touched and, to my luck, it was that fucking ring…

"Damn…" I muttered under my breath, hoping Itachi wouldn't hear. He must of though because he glanced over at me as soon as I said it. I just raised my eyebrow and Itachi just looked away, ignoring me once again.

It was very tempted to throw the ring off the cliff, and I nearly did, but something stopped me. This ring was the only thing I had left of my mother. Yes, I inherited her blonde hair, but I didn't actually have anything of hers. What if my mother was actually alive? Would she have made me marry Kakashi? Would I have even turned out the way I am now if I had a mother's love? Probably not, since I didn't have a mother to teach me girl stuff, my father raised me like I was his son.

Not that it matters anyway. I never met her; she was dead before I could even open my eyes. She probably never even got to hold me or see whom I took after, her or father. It's obvious I took after my father, having all the Mayumi traits, but mother doesn't know that and never would.

This will sound cold hearted, but I really don't care that she's dead. If she were alive I would have had one more person added on to my list of people I had to protect. Though, maybe she wouldn't have even made the list, my father sure didn't, but the fewer the better. The more people you love, the easier it is to lose everything…

"You're back," stated Itachi, pulling my attention from the ring to Kisame who had just arrived. The blue man had dropped an old man at his feet, which I guess was the four-tails' jinuriki.

"That's right, but bringing him back without killing him was a bother I'll tell you," complained Kisame who had started poking the old man with his Samehada. That's when the rain started to fall, making me rather upset. I was hoping to stay dry today…

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to find cover before I'm soaked to the bone," I said as I stood up a shoved the ring back into my pocket.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Lark. We should find cover before we get a chill," Kisame agreed surprisingly as he picked up the old man with his Samehada and swung it behind his back.

"We're to contact Leader-sama immediately after the capture of the jinjuriki. Then we'll be sealing the three-tails and four-tails," Itachi told us. I just rolled my eyes and hugged myself as I felt the cold rain seeping through my clothes.

"Lets make him wait, it's not like it would make much difference. Besides the sealing takes so long," grumbled Kisame as we started to walk. I just walked right past Kisame and Itachi without a glance, but Itachi took a look at the man that was hanging off of Samehada.

"It looks like he's dying. You should handle the elderly with care," mentioned the Uchiha. Kisame and I let out a small scoff in return at the weasel's words.

"You only say that because you don't know the guy. Fighting a jinuriki that uses the jutsu of the four-tails is harder then you think, but you wouldn't understand since you didn't battle the fellow directly," said Kisame. I was the only one to scoff that time and that made shark-boy look over at me.

"You're the one who wanted to go alone. If you had let us help then it would've been over a lot faster," I informed Kisame. The fish glared slightly at me and I just smirked back.

"That's correct, but I'd like to see you take him on by yourself with your pathetic shock waves," jeered Kisame. I could already guess that Itachi was rolling his eyes at us. It was obvious that a new fight was about to start.

"Pathetic? Well, let me remind you that my pathetic shock waves can grill you like the fish you are," I hissed. Smirking, Kisame looked over at me and he knew that he had pushed my buttons.

"I highly doubt that. I am far more powerful then you," claimed Kisame. Clenching my fists, I got closer to the blue man.

"Yes you have more experience then me, but that doesn't make you more powerful. I could beat you anytime and anyplace," I growled. Kisame let out an angry sigh and Itachi just let out an annoyed one.

"Do you want to fight zombie?" Questioned the bluenette, calling me a very unliked nickname. I nodded and was about to throw a punch, but someone stopped my hand.

"That's enough. There is no time in fighting and you both should learn how to control your anger," scolded Itachi, not letting go of my wrist as he lowered it. Both Kisame and I looked away from the Uchiha in annoyance. When it was clear we weren't going to argue any more, Itachi started to move again with me in tow. I tried pulling my wrist free a few times, but Itachi would let go.

"This is so you wont start another fight," Itachi said through the bond. It seemed like he just wanted quiet.

"I don't start them!" I defended, still trying to free my wrist.

"Maybe so, but you sure add fuel to the fire," accused Itachi. That's when I stopped pulling and gave up. He was, sort of, right that I did make arguments more heated. I was a bit angry at this point, so I ignored whatever my "partners" were saying from that point on. Not like their conversation included me anyways. It was probably just about the jinuriki and blah blah blah. It wasn't really until we came across a rather large tree, Itachi sitting down and letting go of me, that I started to pay attention to my surroundings. As I thought, Kisame and Itachi were talking about jinuriki.

"Shouldn't we be getting together with the others now?" I asked, cutting off whatever Kisame was saying. Itachi looked up at me and gave a small nod. Kisame sighed and muttered something, that I didn't bother to hear, and started to tie up the four-tails' host.

We were the last ones to arrive at our little circle of hologram Akatsuki members. Looking around the circle, I only counted seven people excluding myself. My eyes widen slightly when I noticed it was Mika and Jiro who were missing. Konan wasn't there either, but I could care less about her.

"You're late," stated Leader. I just shrugged and started to share looks with Deidara, silently asking where my two friends were. The blond mouthed something, but I couldn't understand it. So, instead I went the easy route and read the bomber's mind.

I let out a small sigh when I read that Jiro and Mika were safe. They were just sitting around talking; well Mika was talking while Jiro pretended to listen. You see, Mika and Jiro are even lesser members of the Akutsuki then I was, so they didn't see the point in coming to meetings.

"I have some urgent information that I need to tell you… Orochimaru has been killed," informed Leader. By the sound of his voice, this was supposed to be "sad" news, but I wasn't upset in the slightest. I was very happy that the snake was finally killed and I hoped it was very painful for him.

"It's been ten years since he left the Akatsuki. At least we've been spared the task of killing him ourselves. Who cares if he's dead? I wanted him gone as much as I wanted the zombie pair eliminated," laughed Kisame. I silently laughed with him, not wanting to get in trouble for disrespecting the dead.

"Hidan and Kakuzu were our comrades. Don't say such thinks," snapped Leader. Knew he was going to get mad…

"Sorry… Who were the ones who did them in anyway?" Asked Kisame, talking about the zombie brothers. At that question I kept quiet, not showing any interest because I already knew who killed them.

"It was the hidden Leaf. Kakashi and the Nine-tails jinjuriki's team," answered both White and Black Zetsu.

"Yes, they're extremely strong that team. No wonder Deidara and Lark got pumbled by them," chuckled Tobi. Both Deidara and I snapped our heads towards the masked kid in anger.

"Tobi!" Deidara and I yelled. We were both looking at Tobi with irritation and anger. Neither one of use wanted to be reminded of that fight. Technically I didn't even get beaten, it just so happened I passed out while Deidara was fighting.

"Keep running your mouth and you'll push me to my limit! Un!" Exclaimed the blond bomber. Tobi raised his hands in defence and tried to calm the blond down, but he wasn't doing a very good job. The masked Akatsuki member seemed to like commenting on Dei's short fuse.

"That's enough Deidara. You're only proving him right," scolded Leader. Deidara responded with a scoff and turned back to face Leader. I turned as well, but unlike Deidara, my fuse can be controlled… To some extent…

"Tobi, you do talk too much. Show some respect," Leader told Tobi who happily apologized.

"And we're supposed to catch the remaining jinjuriki with those two?" Commented Kisame, making Leader sigh in reply.

"Killing Orochimaru would take someone with very special skills. So, who did it?" Asked fish-boy, going back to the Orochimaru topic.

"Sasuke Uchiha," stated Leader. There was a small silence for a second as everyone glanced over at Itachi who stood there expressionless. I didn't expect there to be any emotion anyway. Itachi was the type to keep feelings to himself, especially if it involved his little brother. So, I sighed and rolled my eyes at the Uchiha's expression, earning a look from everyone.

"You don't seemed convinced Lark," observed Leader. Turning my attention back to Leader, I gave a small shrug.

"I'm convinced, but anyone of us could have taken that snake. Even a few Leaf ninja's could've have killed him. So, it's no surprise that an Uchiha, who was trained by a sannin and the Copy Ninja, would be able to take on a sick old man," I explained. It was the honest truth and I don't care about the youngest Uchiha. The kid is just a kid, who's blinded by revenge. He poses no threat to me what so ever, but then I could be being a little cocky…

"Still, he is a force to be reckoned with," mentioned Leader.

"Yes, it seems that he is putting together his own team," informed Zetsu. I rolled my eyes again and just waved the topic off.

"Well, I'm not going to sweat over him. I'm here to help capture the tailed beasts, not to sort out some kid's family issues," I sneered. There was a small tingling feeling in the back of my head and I knew it was Itachi letting me know that he wasn't appreciating my input.

"Anyway, if we're just going to talk about Sasuke and his merry men for the rest of this, then I'm out. See ya!" I waved goodbye and opened my eyes to see Kisame and Itachi sitting with their eyes close. Guess they didn't follow me… Oh well!

That was a useless meeting and I already knew how it was going to end. They would've talked about Sasuke some more and then tell Itachi, Kisame and I to get our butts to where ever the sealing statue was with the four-tails. Not a very necessary meeting if I may say.

Not even 5 minutes later, Itachi and Kisame were standing up. Neither of one them seemed to acknowledge me when the got up and shared a few words. Though, Kisame did flash me a smirk, but Itachi was just his normal, silent self. Looks like I'm going to be the talkative one on this trip.

We arrived at a large cave where I wasn't even sure where it was located. I was just playing follow the leader and ended up in a cave. In the cave we saw a very large three-tails lying motionless on the ground. Seems Deidara's team really gave it a beating.

"You're here," stated Leader from behind us, making me jump slightly. Though, my little scare was ignored as my partners turned to the hologram behind us. After a second, Leader did some summoning jutsu that made the sealing statue emerge from the ground. Once the statue was fully emerged, every member was called to assemble. I wasn't surprised when Mika or Jiro appeared on the statue's fingers. Though, I wasn't certain of my job.

"Umm… I'm I sitting this one out or am I sealing?" I asked before the sealing began. There was a moment of thinking, but Leader was nodding soon enough.

"I'm sure you're very capable of sealing, so you may help," answered Leader. I gave a quick nod and jumped up onto the finger beside Itachi. This will be fun since I've never done a sealing before. Though, I knew it was going to be long… Luckily I don't sleep!

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