Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Kudozaki Lucine

After some minutes of arguing, Itachi managed to convince me to stay at this abandoned old house, and instead leave for Suna tomorrow at dawn. Currently we were in a room, about to go to sleep. Of course, Itachi would not let me sleep by myself. I suspected he wanted to continue where we left of hours ago before Kisame interrupted us. But I believe I got a little carried away. I really don't fancy the idea of someone taking my virginity by force.

Still... there was the risk that Sasuke would kidnap me again. On top of that, now he knows that I am somehow connected to Itachi, since he came to rescue me. If, or rather when, Sasuke gets to me again, he won't be as careless.

"You know he'll come for me again." I said, looking up at the ceiling. Itachi laid next to me, one arm snugly wrapped around my waist. "And it won't be as easy to rescue me." Itachi didn't speak, he only tightened his hold on me. He can't promise that he will protect me, because he can't always be with me. He is part of Akatsuki now. I need to take care of myself. "Train me, Itachi." I said, looking back at me to see him stare at me with the same intensity as always. "He is far stronger than I expected, I need to train to be be able to fend him off on my own."

"Even if you start training now, it won't be enough." he said solemnly, a frown marred on his flawless features. Even when he is expressionless like this, he is so handsome. I let my hand run through his silky hair. He and Sasuke both, they've always been so handsome and perfect. Way to make a dent on a girl's self-confidence. Although, Itachi was at his most radiant form when he smiled. He smiles at me, sometimes, but I remembered how much he used to smile when we were children, before the massacre. My mind drifted off to the night Itachi committed the Uchiha Massacre.

I frowned, dread filling me. He hasn't told me the complete truth. I know that he didn't want to do it, but I don't know why he did it. There was a reason to why he would slay every single Uchiha, but somehow he was hesitant to tell me. It was annoying, since it's the only thing he refuses to tell me. All he says is, "I don't want that burden on your shoulders." I didn't have the slightest idea of what it meant, but I knew that it was a secret that was eating him from the inside. A secret that would likely eat at me as well if I knew of it.

"When you killed Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san," I started, taking in his reaction before continuing. He remained aloof, he knew how to manipulate and conceal his emotions. "It hurt, didn't it? That's why you were crying."

He was quiet, and if he wasn't looking so intently at me, I would suspect that he didn't hear me. But he spoke at last, "It was one of the most painful things I've ever done." he answered, awfully honest.

Again, I remembered the night. He was crying. He looked exhausted, both physically and mentally.

My stomach churned at the sight. There were corpses everywhere, blood splattered the ground and the walls, no sign of life. The lifeless eyes of a random Uchiha that I had a brief conversation with mere weeks ago stared up at me, his throat slit open. The blood was still oozing out, and his body temperature was probably still warm.

By now, Sasuke was breathing heavily next to me, utter terror in his eyes. "W-what..." he gasped out, taking a step back.

I frowned, looking around for any sign of Mikoto, Fugaku or Itachi. "What happened here?" I muttered in disbelief, feeling disturbed by all these corpses. This is the first time I've witnessed a carnage like this.

Sasuke widened his eyes, as if he realized, "Okaa-san and Otou-san, t-they must be with Aniki!" he said shakily. My blood ran cold at the thought of any of them butchered like this. There is no way.

Quickly, Sasuke sprinted off to the house, further in the compounds and into the main branch. I jogged behind him, dreading the sight that was awaiting us. I didn't have the slightest clue of what was going on around here. Who would do something like this?

When we made it home, Sasuke slammed the door open, rushing inside. Abruptly, he stopped, almost making me run into his back. Sasuke went tense, and it immediately made shivers run down my back. Slowly, I stepped around him, and my eyes were immediately met with the sight.

There on the floor, a few meters away from us laid the bodies of Mikoto and Fugaku, in a pool of their own blood. "God..." I gasped, covering my mouth. My eyes went to Sasuke, who couldn't look away. "Sasuke, don't look." I tried, holding onto his arm to turn him to me. He didn't budge. He stood there paralyzed, with his eyes glued on the dead bodies of his parents. I knew what he was feeling right now, I felt the same thing when I saw my father's corpse. "Don't look." I persisted, my voice came out more shakily than I intended as I pulled on his arm.

"Sasuke." a silvery voice of steel called out for him, on the other side of the room. My breath hitched in my throat, and it felt like something was constricting me from getting any air to my lungs. No. He wouldn't.

"A-aniki..." Sasuke said while choking as he finally looked up to meet the gaze of his brother. Itachi stood above the pair of dead bodies, clothed in his ANBU uniform and a katana in hand, splattered in blood. "W-who did... what..." he didn't even find the words to speak, obviously not believing that Itachi was responsible for this.

For the first time in years, I felt tears well up in my eyes. No, that can't be. Itachi would not do this. There must be some kind of mistake. "Itachi, what-... what happened..." my voice came out as a choke, as I looked up at him through blurry eyes. I haven't cried since that time I told Itachi of my father. Tears never came easy for me, yet my eyes were already filled to the brim.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi said, a cruel smirk on his face. It stood out from his usually warm, loving onyx eyes. That smirk didn't fit. It didn't belong. The person that is standing before me, that is not Itachi. "I was just testing my abilities."

Before I could even properly register what was happening, Sasuke broke out into a scream and was cowering on the floor. He fell on his knees, clutching his head as he cried out an ear piercing scream. I dropped to my knees next to him, "Sasuke!" I called out, panic coursing through my body. When I looked up, I saw Itachi looking straight at him with his blazing Sharingan, and that was when I knew. "What are you doing to him, you monster?" I growled, while blinking away any tears before they were shed.

Itachi met my eyes, and for a moment, I expected him to cast me under the same genjutsu. But he didn't. He simply looked at me with an unreadable and blank expression for what seemed like forever. Only when Sasuke let out another scream was when I looked back at him, wrapping my arms around him to calm him. "Sasuke, calm down!" I screamed out, not knowing what to do. Itachi has put him under a genjutsu. Whatever he is seeing, it is torturing his mind. Suddenly, his screams had died out, and he went limp in my arms. Tears running freely down his cheeks, while foam left his mouth. "Sasuke!" I choked, hugging him to my chest. He had passed out. "Sasuke, wake up!" I shook him, but he remained deathly still.

I glared up at Itachi, who was still giving us a blank look, he almost looked bored. I felt the rage course through me. "Why." I bit out, my voice hard and cold. "Why." I repeated, letting Sasuke gently down on the floor and standing up. "Why?!" I screamed this time, the hate I felt right now was clouding my vision. He... he betrayed... he... traitor...

Before I could charge up at him, with the full intention of hurting him despite not being armed, I froze in my tracks. A tear had rolled down Itachi's eyes. He was crying. His face remained terribly aloof, and his demeanor was relaxed, but the tears were unmistakably there. The room became horribly quiet then. Neither of us said a word.

None of this was making any sense. I don't know what to think. The silence was so thick, so tense. It was unbearable. "Why did you do this, Itachi?" I was awfully calm as I spoke, despite the turmoil of emotions I was currently going through.

He didn't answer, he kept looking back at me while his Sharingan kept spinning. Suddenly, he moved. His steps were short but fast and fluid, as he stepped around the corpses', around me and Sasuke, and then out of the door. Without thinking much, I glanced once at Sasuke's unconscious figure, before I followed Itachi quietly. He walked out of the house, towards the gates. I followed him as if I was I didn't have a mind of my own. Maybe I didn't, not anymore at least.

He stopped close to the gates of the compound, turning back to me. The tears were dried now, and the only visible emotion on his face was a frown. I looked back up at him impassively, willing him to speak. "I am leaving the village." he announced, speaking for the first time.

For a second I nearly flinched, pained by this new information, but I quickly covered it up with a cold, indifferent look. "You slaughter the clan, your parents, you torture Sasuke, and now you're leav-"

"Come with me." he interrupted, my breath caught in my throat again. I checked his face for any sign of all of this just being one big, bad joke of his. But there was no humor in his expression. "Sasuke can take care of himself, this will only make him stronger. Just, please let me take you with me. Grant me this one selfish wish. "

I kept quiet, choosing to watch his expression falter as he begged me. There was obvious pain and desperation in his eyes, too much for even him to conceal. He looked defeated, dead. I don't understand anything anymore. Nothing was making sense. This was all a blur. Itachi betrayed the clan, his parents, Sasuke, me. He murdered his own kin, seemingly to test his abilities, as he said himself. He is a traitor, yet he is asking me to leave with him.

"I want you to get as far away as possible." I started calmly, his eyes were pleadingly looking into mine now, silently begging me to not finish my words, "I want you to stay out Sasuke's life and out of my life." I glared at him with the same emotionless look that I hadn't used for ages. "And never, ever show your traitorous face here again."

Itachi let out a choked sob, and he looked like he was about to cry again, which only angered me further. I was about to scream more insults at him, but when I made eye contact with his Sharingan, everything went black and I felt all my limbs go limp. The last sensation I felt before I lost consciousness completely, was the feel of the softest lips against my own.

"Don't think about that." Itachi interrupted my reminiscing. I had spaced out for a while, and he understood that I was recalling the events of the Uchiha Massacre. That time, Itachi had knocked me out with his Sharingan, but spared me from any painful genjutsu, like the one he had cast on Sasuke, forcing him to see how he killed his parents. Later that night, I had woken up in a hospital bed with a familiar crystal ball in hand, while Sasuke still laid unconscious in a bed next to mine.

Only now do I regret what I said. Who knows what Itachi went through when he killed them all. There was a motive behind his actions, and it had obviously hurt him, otherwise he wouldn't have been crying, and I didn't make it any easier on him when I reacted like that. On top of that, he has to live with Sasuke's hate for him.

Shifting position, I turned around so that I was wrapped up in his arms, my head resting on his chest. "Sorry." I muttered while closing my eyes.

He knew what I was apologizing for. "Don't." he whispered. His hand had moved on top of my head, his fingers threading through my hair. "Never forgive me."

There is nothing to forgive. I chose not to say my thoughts out loud, already knowing he wouldn't accept my apology. "Be selfish once in a while. Let me help you carry your burden."

I felt his other hand move under my shirt to rub circles on my lower back. "I am already very selfish, permitting myself to hold you like this. I know of my brother's love for you, yet I can't hand you over to him." He successfully evaded my probing, once again refusing to tell me the truth. Truthfully, it was irritating how selfless he was.

"You're an annoying piece of sh-"

"Just sleep."

A/N: A flashback chapter, of The Uchiha Massacre. Were you surprised by Lucine's unusual display of emotion? It can be explained. After Lucine's father's death, all her emotions died with him. But over the years, the Uchiha family had made her happy enough to feel again, mainly Itachi and Sasuke, each in their own way. With Itachi's "betrayal" however, she returned to how she once was, and Sasuke's little obsession just worsened things.

In the next chapters we'll meet Gaara again, I know some of you really like him.