Second chapter! And for everyone who doesn't know about Aiko's past, read u Not Just Another Rainy Day /u by xXNarutoGurlXx. It'll make things a whole lot clearer. Thank you!

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I do own Minori and Kai. Aiko belongs to xXNarutoGurlXx.

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I yawned and stretched my arms. Looking to the futon next to me, I saw Aiko was sill sleeping. I pulled the blankets off and stood up.

In the kitchen I stood in front of my bowl of cereal, yawning. I was wearing nothing more than my nightdress, which was blue. I sat at the table, and started eating my cereal as Itachi walked in.

"Ready for today?" He asked, and I grunted. Mornings... were not my thing.

"We don't have to go, do we?" I asked, with a pitiful look on my face. I didn't want to go at all, but if Itachi said so then we had to. Itachi smirked.

"Of course. We have a mission." He got a glass of water and left the room.

"You're trying to steal my man, aren't you?" I let my head fall back to see Aiko with her hands on her hips, obviously irritated at me. Oh, she was so very protective of Itachi. So possessive.

"What if I am?" I asked, and she gaped at me in shock, losing her voice. Then it returned, only so she could use it to yell at me.

"So that's why you wouldn't tell me who you love! It's-" Yet she was cut off abruptly with a rather wet washcloth thrown in her face. I laughed, and she whipped it off to glare at me.

"No, baka. I was simply talking to him. Kuso, you're so uptight about that! Why don't you go and write 'Aiko's property' on his forehead?" I smirked. "You act as if he is." I chuckled, and she continued to glare, yet I didn't let that get to me.

"Well... Um... We should get ready to leave!" She stated, and stomped back to our room. I chuckled, and ate the rest of my cereal.

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"Come on, Minori! Weren't you bragging about your speed earlier?" Aiko laughed back at me, as I struggled to keep up. Kisame and Itachi had the lead, Aiko was in the middle and I had the rear. We had set out for Kirigakure, all of us in our Akatsuki dress. We had our hitai-ates with scratch marks showing that we were exiled, and clouded capes. I was afraid of going, because of who we would see. But it wasn't like I had to be worried about people seeing us, because we were all wearing straw hats.

Suddenly I saw Aiko trip, and then she fell down. I was going to speed up to catch her, but Itachi beat me to it. I saw her turn a bright red.

Aiko's POV

I was laughing at the fact that Minori was lagging behind so much, because she had bragged earlier that she was as fast as Rock Lee. But then I hit a branch, and fell down.

My leg hit hard, and Itachi slowed down to help me up. "Are you okay?" He asked, and I blushed a deep red. "Yeah... I think." I tried to stand up, but I collapsed.

"I'll carry you." He picked me up, and instead of carrying me on his back he carried me bridal style. I blushed even deeper, but looked up to see that Itachi wasn't blushing at all. It seemed that it would be a while before I could admit to him how I truly feel.

Soon a small village came into view, and I bit my tongue. Here we were, returning to the place where Itachi and I had first met... And where I was shunned. That village was none other than Kirigakure, where both Minori and I were exiled.

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Minori's POV

"We'll meet back here at dark. For now, you can do whatever you want. Aiko, Minori, careful who you interact with. They might recognize you." Itachi stated, and warned us about getting caught.

"Itachi-san, you know I was little when I left." I said, and remembered how he had saved me. "Oh, and Arigato for taking care of me." Aiko then grabbed my arm and half dragged me away.

"Hai, Itachi-san! We'll stay out of trouble!" She said, happily, and almost pulled my arm out of its socket as she dragged me out of the clearing into a place filled with fallen trees and moss. A bird called in the distance, and I smiled at the serenity. But I was pulled out of it was Aiko shook me.

"Itachi saved you! Why didn't you tell me!" She demanded, shaking me by my shoulders.

"Hai, Itachi-SAN saved me. And I didn't tell you because I knew you would get jealous!" And, as I had guessed, she was very jealous.

Aiko fumed, mad at me. "So. What happened?"

I reminisced, and blushed a bit. "Well..." Aiko sighed.

"Whatever. Tell me later. Come on, we should get going." Aiko lept through the trees as I thought about what had happened all those years ago.

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"See you later!" I said cheerfully, and Aiko waved back.

I headed down a street, attracting many stares. The only people who didn't pay attention to me were the children, who were playing tag and tossing balls around.

I followed a familiar route until I came at a house. It was overgrown with weeds, giving it a haunted look.

"You know, that house is haunted. A couple of years ago a little girl killed a whole bunch of people, including the mizukage. No one knows why, but some people think it's because the girl has a demon inside her. I knew her. She was kind of weird, but nice anyway.

I whirled around to see a boy looking about my age. He had brown hair with a little ponytail, and misty gray eyes. His skin was fair, and her was wearing a chunnin jacket with a black t-shirt with fishnet sleeves, and black pants. His hitai-ate had navy cloth that matched his sandals.

"Who are you?" I snapped, gripping a kunai. He held up his hands defensively.

"I'm Kai." He said, and I gaped at him, dumbstruck. Kai... I knew Kai. He was the same person I had a crush on when I was little.

Suddenly, it looked like the trip would get more complicated.

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Sorry for not having much involving Aiko in this! Next chapter I'll involve lots! Half the chapter!