Author's Note:

Hey everyone!

I began writing this fic just for fun and wasn't even planning on posting it until a wonderful friend gave me a push to publish it. This is my first shot ever at writing a fan fiction, so please leave reviews and favorite this fic if you enjoy it! I'm super nervous about posting it, so anything is super appreciated. :)

I hope you all enjoy!:)

-J.E.

(I don't own Naruto.)

Darkness.

Thick and dense like fog enveloped and swallowed me whole. I wasn't sure as to when I'd passed out, but I knew I certainly was not awake.

Did I hit my head or something?

Standing in the strange void of nothingness, I tried to remember what got me there in the first place. I began pushing the gears of my brain to turn and help me recall what was going on. Pictures in slow motion slowly became clearer, running in sequence like a movie, my captors, laying still on the damp earth with dark pools began to ooze from under their motionless bodies.

A large, blue man with a crossed out Hidden Mist headband and shark-like features stood a few feet from where I'd crawled away. He adorned a black cloak with red clouds, holding a shaggy, half bandaged blade. Bright scarlet blood dripped from its spikey purple points. Beside him stood a beautiful, tall man with long, raven-colored hair and bangs that fell to frame his handsome features. He wore the same cloak as his partner, it swayed as he slowly began approaching. Those penetrating, intense red eyed gaze made my blood run cold; his pupils warped into what looked like a black shuriken as a tear of blood fell from his left eye, glinting in the sunlight. I watched it careen down from his high cheekbone and the deep line running parallel to his sharp nose.

A fucking Sharingan? No—it can't be…

Upon seeing those eyes, I froze. It was time to think of something, anything, to get somewhere safe. Getting caught in a genjutsu was not an option. Unfortunately, my feet refused to obey and move, locked in place by fear. "Why are we doing this again Itachi? There can't be anything significant about this scrawny little pipsqueak." the blue shark-faced man said, looking quizzically at his striking, but terrifying partner beside him.

He looks a lot like Sasuke—is this the brother he talked about?

The raven-haired man sighed, "Pain-sama wants her. He tasked us with retrieving her. That is why we are here, Kisame." He replied with a tired sigh.

I'm sorry, who? I think I'll pass…

Oh hell no. I wasn't planning on going anywhere with these two nutjobs. At least not willingly. Watching the two of them speak gave me an idea. If they continued talking, it might be just enough to give me a window to run. I started scanning the surrounding treescape for anything resembling an exit route. If it weren't for the massive quantities of chakra suppressant my previous captors had administered, I could have made it far away from these two characters without a hitch—alas, I was shit out of luck.

"Yeah, no shit, but I mean look at her… she looks pathetic, what could she possibly have that Pain-sama could want?" The hulking, blue man with the sword retorted in annoyance. Matter manipulation was my specialty. Water? Yes. Wind release? Yup. Lightning release, absolutely. But it was my strange ability to manipulate iron rich, metallic compounds, like blood, my main value to others. A rare Kekkai Genkai that was incredibly valuable. And easy to weaponize. It also gave me an advantage in terms of medical ninjutsu, using my blood manipulation in junction with my matter manipulation to repair cells and organic tissue. My tissue healed far more rapidly than others. I didn't even need to weave signs to gather and mold chakra, making me a desirable asset to political leaders, warlords and terrorists alike.

I was a weapon. And hence, had been hunted for much of my life because to the waring shinobi world. The regal looking man sighed, pulling me from my thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced over at his partner, "That's enough, Kisame—we're not here to ask questions," He turned to stare down at me, his vermillion eyes spun dangerously as they met my hardened scowl. I knew who he was. And I was having none of that. My heart pounded in my chest. But, the glimmer of something burning deep behind those blood red sunsets almost… comforted me. If I didn't know better, I would have said his chakra was beckoning for me to go with him.

Even his chakra is similar… but you need to stop sidetracking and figure something out.

The brilliant scarlet dancing in his thickly lashed eyes penetrated the depths of my soul as he took another step closer to my small form seated on the ground. I scooted backwards and narrowed my gaze. "Please, I do not want to harm you," he began, now only a meters or so away. "Things will not go in your favor if you do not come with us, quietly." He halted, towering over me. The glint of a vermillion ring on his right ring finger caught my eye as he extended a navy-nailed hand to me. Now was not the time to be getting distracted. My narrow window to escape was closing—and fast.

Much to my dismay, I was completely frozen in place and oddly found myself taking a moment to observe the stoic, inky-haired man who looked and essentially felt the same as Sasuke. He had a small, angled nose and high cheekbones, soft lines trailed his inner eye—undoubtedly from stress. His eyes quickly diffused from the harsh red and black to a much friendlier slate-gray color, "Please just come with us—I swear no harm will come to you," he said much more softly and extended a slender hand with navy-painted fingers outwards to me.

I refuse to go with anyone like him—get up and run like hell.

The suppressive injection was beginning to wear off as I felt my chakra pathways flow with a burst of heat. I narrowed my eyes dangerously at who I know knew was Sasuke's terrible older brother, Itachi. I went to reach for his hand before shooting a flood of chakra down to my feet and legs and pushed off the ground as hard as I could, launching myself towards a large branch of a nearby tree.

As soon as my feet contacted the hard wood of the first branch, I repeated my actions and shoved off even harder onto another, desperately trying to put some space between myself and my pursuers. I could hear them just behind me, "God-damnit, Itachi—why didn't you just grab her? She was right in front of you!" Kisame shouted at him from a more distant branch.

"I was trying to avoid conflict, Pain-sama said she must arrive unharmed," His deep velvet voice came from just a couple of branches behind me.

Kisame let out a groan, "Ugh…whatever—let's just find the brat as quickly as possible, you know how impatient Pain-sama can be,"

I heaved for breath, underestimating how much the starvation and experimentation had taken out of me, leaping between branches back the way I had just come from. A light sense of relief filled me as I began to recognize some of the surrounding shrubbery and landscape, I had remembered seeing a small cavern hidden behind a large boulder that had a patch of bright green moss over the top of it.

Peering back behind me, while making another large jump from a tree branch, I noticed that the two men were no longer directly on my tail. I scanned the densely forested area, trying to catch my breath by leaning up against the trunk of the oak I'd landed on. I searched the dark green, leaf covered forest floor with all the concentration I could muster for the cavern I'd seen earlier. A ray of sunshine fell over a bright green out of the corner of my eye and there it was, my salvation.

Yes! Just get there and suppress the living hell out of your chakra.

I cautiously peeked over my shoulder once more, descending to land on the crunchy leaves, then sprinted to the small opening in the rock behind the boulder. I slid on the damp grass, then shimmied feet first into the small cavern. I tried desperately to regulate my breathing and calm my erratic heart rate, taking deep breathes, focusing on suppressing my chakra. Beads of sweat coated my hair and skin, stinging my eyes as it dripped down my brow.

After just a couple of minutes, a rugged voice made my heart sink into my stomach—it had come from just outside of the cavern. "Itachi, you were right, she went over this way!" he hollered loudly. A set of footsteps scuffed lightly as they approached, I quieted my breathing and slammed a hand over my mouth and nose to muffle any sounds that might escape. The footsteps came closer.

Shit… time to move.

I used my foot to feel for another hiding place or potential exit, suddenly feeling a little opening just behind me. If I couldn't get through, then I could at least try and squeeze my way a little deeper so the two men wouldn't be able to see me. I silently shifted and pushed myself back with my hands to fit both legs through the narrow opening. My eyes shot open at the thunderous rumbling of craking earth as my foot abruptly dislodged something at the back of the small entry. The horrible, familiar sound of rock splitting hit my ears on the verge of collapse.

Oh. Fuck. You aren't going to make it out of this, Sora…

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pressure snatch my wrist, yanking me out. Black with red clouds was all I registered before the world faded away.

My consciousness coming back was accompanied by a deep throbbing ache. The more I came to, the more it expanded before morphing into a full blown, pounding headache radiating from the back of my head. I realized I was laying on something soft, while a familiar deep, velvet voice came from nearby, "Katon—Gokakyu no jutsu!" I felt a light warmth on the soles of my feet and calves as a pleasant smokey smell filled my nostrils.

Fluttering my eyes slowly, the bright light of the newly lit fire in front of me forced me to slam my lids closed as if I'd been blinded and increased the intensity of the pain in my head ten-fold. I unwittingly let out a small groan in discomfort and rolled on my side. "Oh, it seems that you are awake—how are you feeling?" His voice was cool and calm. However, I was in no mood to respond with my raging headache.

Just pretend to be asleep.

I quieted and softened my clenched eyelids, while slowing my breathing to fake my captor into thinking that I was still sleeping. A light chuckle graced my ears before he spoke mirthfully, "If you think pretending to sleep will work, you are sadly mistaken. Such childish tricks do not work on me." I remained utterly motionless.

Even if he knew I was faking it, that didn't mean I needed to interact. I was in no mood and needed to be objective and evaluate my situation, not make small talk. I lifted one lid to get a glimpse of my surroundings, hoping that opening only one would prevent my throbbing headache from worsening again.

My vision began to focus on a decently sized fire at my feet, the pleasant sound of light crackling noises comforted me as I stared into the bright red embers. I took note of two other bed rolls near the fire, as I took notice that I was laying on what seemed like a bedroll. Strangely, the raven-haired man that had just been speaking to me was no one in sight.

Where did he go…?

I peeked through my one open eye to scan the area, when my heart just about ceased beating as a handsome, emotionless face gazed down at my small form laying on the earth—his rich, mixed charcoal irises bore into mine. Caught off-guard, my breath hitched, while my other eye shot open. I glowered back wrathfully.

"Did I not say that would be of no use?" The light smell of smoke fell against my cheek as he brought his face closer to mine and spoke wryly. He was unphased by my antics. Damn. "Are you going to answer my question now?" I was still silent, folding my arms over my chest. I unwaveringly glared at him enraged, but something about the hint of softness behind those onyx orbs made my heart race.

"What question?" I muttered stonily.

He remained unphased by my tone, leaning back against the base of the tree to the left of me and rested a slim, but muscular arm over his knee. "I asked you how you're feeling—a large, falling rock made quite the wound on the back of your head while pulled you from the cavern you so intelligently chose to hide in," he haughtily. I brought my finger up to, my gut clenched in horror as my fingers traced the familiar, rough texture of bandages; they snaked their way around the entirety of my skull.

Damn girl, that's a lot of bandages…

I broke our odd staring contest as my lids closed defeatedly, releasing an exhausted sigh, then rolled over so he couldn't see my face. He was silent for a moment, "Are you thirsty?" There seemed to be an almost caring undertone in his questions, but I didn't care. I knew it was all an act—experience had taught me so.

"No—leave me alone," I spat back frigidly.

I heard him let out a soft sigh as he stood up and walked so I would be facing him again from the turning away from him. He squatted down in front of me with a composed expression, then set a dark silver canteen down next to me, "You will need to eat and drink sooner or later, whether you like it or not. We have orders to escort you back with us to our hideout alive," I remained silently and narrowed my eyes threateningly before rolling away again to face opposite of him.

No shit, those are their order—I'm of no use dead or injured. How simple minded did he think I was?

He spoke again, this time with what sounded like a hint of concern accompanying his velvet voice, "The thirst and hunger will only get more intense, you won't heal well if you don't eat and drink…"

I knew he was trying to be helpful, and, honestly, all I wanted to do was greedily suck the canteen of its contents, but anger at my current situation had my blood boiling, "Why do you even care? You can't make me do anything—you've been sitting here wasting your time talking with your hostage for the last five minutes," I hissed, letting it spill from my mouth like word-vomit. My stomach twisted with anxiety at the flash of hurt in Itachi's dark obsidian eyes.

I expected chide me—to yell or hit me like my previous captors would have for such insolence. I gulped hard in fear, watching his expression darken ominously, while lowering his face to mine. I shrunk lower into my bed roll as my eyes widened in horror at his dark charcoal irises morphing into bright crimson—the center and three black tomoe whirled angrily around his pupil.

"Be careful—I could make you do whatever I want if I so choose," he growled menacingly.

This was clearly not the time to be pushing the limits. He let out a tired sigh, clenching his jaw before letting his lids fall closed momentarily, "I'm sorry—I don't want to force you, but if it becomes necessary, I will not hesitate. Obstinance will get you nowhere," he said coldly, then stood upright. Before I could think to respond, a loud shuffling noise came from the foliage on the far side of our camp. My blue skinned captor was making his way towards the fire in the center, his arms full of firewood and kindling.

"Oh, damn—she's awake, huh? Hey there kiddo, my name's Kisame. And this handsome devil is my partner, Itachi. What's your name?" He shot me a toothy grin and to my horror, I realized that each tooth came to a dagger like point. I couldn't help but sit unmoving on my bedroll, a look of confusion with a dash of horror certainly plastered over my face.

Is he… trying to be nice?

I was so immensely caught off guard by the grumpy shark-man attempting to be cordial that my brain short-circuited. "Nice" was not something I had experienced with any of my pervious captors, and this was far from the norm. "Um, Itachi, does she talk…?" Kisame said as he looked over at his raven-haired partner.

"Yes, she does," Itachi replied curtly. The giant man then shifted his gaze back over to me

"So… what's your name? I promise we don't bite!" Kisame shot me a cheeky grin.

I knew he was trying to joke around with me as he was part shark and all, but boy, did he need to learn to read the room. To his remark, I sighed and scowled at him, flopping back down on my bedroll—maybe if I ignored them, they would eventually leave me in peace. That idea bit the dust a half second later when Itachi's onyx eyes came into my line of site as he sauntered over to sit beside me again.

Stop looking like a dying puppy and drop the forlorn as fuck look. Then, maybe, he'll go away.

He strangely held my gaze steadily, "You don't need to talk right now if you don't want to—it's understandable, considering the severe head trauma that you have," he muttered somewhat gently. "However, I do insist that you drink this," he handed me the same silver canteen from earlier, "You lost a fair amount of blood from your wound,"

I hesitantly took the canteen from his outstretched hand, our fingers briefly touching with a pulse of electricity that caused me to pull the canteen away more quickly than I had intended as my cheeks grew warm. As I began to satisfy my thirst, I could see the corners of his mouth lift ever so slightly as I guzzled the entirety of the canteen. My eyes studied my dirty hands wrapped around the canteen, and after a short silence, was able to croak out my name. "…S—Sora… My name is Sora."

I was surprised when Kisame smiled, pressed his palms together and bowed towards me, "It's nice to meet you, Sora!" Itachi did the same. I physically recoiled in shock, my eyebrows nearly flew off my forehead at their respectable actions. It was not the introduction I was used to.

What the fuck kind of game are they playing?

"You got a last name or somethin'?" Kisame still had a smile despite my confused expression. I felt my heart sink like a lead weight as the sadness set in, like it always had when I was forced to think about the reasons why I didn't have a last name.

I exhaled, as if to potentially breathe out some of my heartache with it and continued while glancing down at my hands, "…no—I don't."

A pregnant pause ensued, knowing their minds were probably contemplating why I lacked a family—a clan name. I peered up and observed Kisame open his mouth to speak. Itachi shot him a harsh glare before Kisame could utter a sound, forcing his mouth to close with an audible click.

I glanced over at Itachi and gave him the smallest of smiles, appreciative that he had saved me the pain of Kisame's curiosity. He merely tipped his chin and nodded once in acknowledgment. I knew from Sasuke that he was the one responsible for the annihilation of the Uchiha clan, so I found it strange that he had prevented Kisame from prying.

My train of thought derailed the second I noticed him quickly look me up and down. "Would you like to clean up a bit?" He said coolly. I practically gasped as I peeked down to examine myself. I was a mess. My whole body was covered in a fine layer of dust that I could taste in my mouth and feel up my nose. My tow-head blonde hair had dark burgundy striations running down to the ends of my waist length hair—no doubt from the head wound I had suffered. My clothes had transformed into a nasty collage of tears, blood stains and dust.

Woah… Yeah, go get cleaned up. You know open wounds and dirt don't mix.

With an exhausted sigh mixed with an odd sense of relief, I shot him a small smile and nodded. A large, calloused hand appeared in front of me, offering me assistance getting up to my feet. I pushed his hand away, shooting him a vexed glance. His smug amused expression compounded my irritation.

I huffed and started pushing myself up onto my knees, using them in junction with my hands to try to stand upright. I was a bit woozy, my vision blurred over as my head pounded so ferociously that I could hardly hear. I shot my left hand onto the cold earth as I steadied myself. As I was finally able to push myself to a standing position, I noticed that Itachi was observing me with a that same almost tickled look as his lips pulled into a mischievous smirk. "Can I help you?" I asked him curtly.

As if on que, my head began to throb while my vision clouded over as my knees grew weaker, as if they couldn't hold the weight of my petite form. My knees buckled together abruptly, bracing for my rough impact with the solid ground beneath me. Instead, I fell into something sturdy and warm and two strong arms rapidly encircled me like a protective barrier.

Well, this certainly isn't the ground.

I was trying to blink away the stupid spots that had clouded my vision when the light scent of sandalwood and smoke grazed my nostrils as I attempted to catch my breath. It smelled like home; I couldn't help but relish in the comfort it brought me—if just for a moment. I glanced upwards at whoever's arms were supporting my nearly limp body.

Dark, slate gray irises stared back at me. Gasping, I turned to face Itachi and pushed hard against his chest in a particularly sad attempt to free myself from his hold. Without being able to use my chakra from effects of the suppressant, I didn't stand a chance.

Well, this is fucking embarrassing.

I was unsure of whether the redness on my face had been caused from rage or my deep blush, but I'm sure at that moment I had the complexion of a vibrant tomato. Kisame immediately erupted with laughter, "Wow, you're really giving him a run for his money there, I thought you totally had him!" He managed to get out the entire sentence between laughs, I was shocked that he could laugh so hard and continue to talk.

My eyes narrowed dangerously at Kisame, who looked almost as amused as Itachi—the same smirk riddling his unnaturally blue face. Then, I peered upwards again at Itachi, seething with rage. He was shockingly tall, forcing me to crane my neck to look him dead in the eye. I was happy he hadn't let me faceplant, but I could not stand feeling useless or anything remotely close to powerless. I didn't roll like that. It made me all the more enraged when I noticed how the mirthful expression over his handsome countenance.

Calm down and breathe. You can't afford to do something stupid, you're too weak.

I clenched my fists and jaw, hissing through my teeth as I spoke, "Can I please go clean up now?"

The two men exchanged an ambiguous glance that I couldn't make out before Itachi's voice broke the awkward silence with a sigh, "There is a waterfall about 150 yards away, you can wash up there." He appeared stoic as ever.

"Yeah, that's fine—thanks..." My voice was placid as I responded. I'd learned enough in my years of being a target of capture to use my manners, when necessary. Emphasis on that last part. I was never optimistic about receiving any semblance of decent treatment and frankly, didn't care for it.

Kindness and pleasantries had been used against me. My immaturity was easily taken advantage of. I was young and unable to fully comprehend how cruel the world could be. I did my best to not let the worlds cold shoulder consume my soul with hatred.

Itachi made his way towards the dense greenery, glancing over his shoulder, trudging along to follow a few paces behind. With a reassuring self hug and a deep breath, I focused on the relief that I'd get to rid myself of the dirt and blood caking my hair into thick tendrils. Maybe getting clean would make the situation a tad bit better.