Before Ya Read Note: DUN DUN DUN. The climax when she meets Sasuke FINALLY. No, I decided that he is NOT carrying his sword mainly because I have no clue about swordmanship therefore don't want attempt to describe fighting with it. XD Hope you like it, and please, once again, REVIEW. :D

In The Woods Outside of the Hidden Village of the Sound:

Dark clouds churned unnaturally in the sky above. However, the student of the great Orochimaru barely noticed it as he kicked the snout of a large, armored creature that slightly resembled a large feline. With eyes that seemed to be pools of blood, he could see every movement the thing made with perfect precision. It had just taken him a while to wear out the creature to the point where his line's Kekkei genkai was no longer needed for this type of animal had the ability to reach speeds where the human eye could not follow. However, Sharingan eyes were a whole different matter and his eyes had followed the creature with ease. The beast stood again…it's left front limb crumpled beneath its weight and it withered to the ground. He smirked, as not a bead of sweat was on him.

"Fire style!"

Immediately, it was engulfed in a bonfire. It let out a revolting moan/shriek as the extreme heat melted its armor and the natural oils of its surface continued to ignite the flame with more fury. But, as the fire lost the fuel and die, so did the creature. Growing bored, the dark-haired boy picked up his bag that he had set down during battle and walked casually out of the clearing, not even looking back with a bit of regret. As he weaved in between the various shades of brown from the bark of ancient trees, he could hear his sensei's voice in his head…. Remember Sasuke; you must reach this checkpoint in a matter of eleven days. Each day, more creatures will come and each will be more ruthless than the last. This is to test your endurance that we've been training of for the past few weeks.

It was a pointless test to Sasuke, really. This was already the ninth day and the creatures seemed to just be getting easier. The more challenging they became, the effective was his Sharingan against them. As he walked, deciding that he didn't really feel like battling again, he leapt up into the canopy of the forest, now using tree branches to excel his pace. He could've easily made it to the checkpoint in a few hours, but since he was supposed to stretch it out another two days, he was just doing this to find something to occupy his mind. Out of the corner of his keen eyes, he caught a movement. It was faint…barely even noticeable and a normal ninja wouldn't have even seen it. He stopped and glanced back, finding himself looking at a shaking branch only ten meters from where he stood. However, he knew perfectly well he hadn't stepped on that particular limb and that he wouldn't have gone on such a frail, unsafe one. He wasn't the only thing here. Sasuke almost swore to himself. He was just having a constant amount of battles today, wasn't he? He readied himself for whatever it was.

Kaida, too, had almost sworn to herself. She hadn't encountered anyone for a while and was currently searching for a nice village to thrash. However, she most certainly hadn't expected to meet someone else in the middle of nowhere…especially someone with those crimson eyes that had so often haunted her in her nightmares. The Sharingan…but it didn't make sense. As she stopped for a better view from above him, she could easily say it wasn't Itachi. He was far too young and didn't have the same attire as the bloodless demon.

"How do you have those eyes?" She called out from above him. He jerked his head up and Kaida immediately knew it was no mistake. Sharingan eyes…fully developed too. They met her golden gaze that normally would've been emerald from using her own kekkei genkai; however she was far too intrigued to even think of it. Another…another Uchiha? It seemed impossible…wasn't she the only one who had survived? Although, it was completely plausible since she had fled to another country just to make sure her training would be in peace from Itachi and wouldn't have known if there had been another survivor.

In her absent-minded thinking he had came up to the height she was at, eager for combat. "If you'd study, you'd have known they're a bloodline trait." He replied, as he threw at least five kunai at her. Natural instincts taking over, she leapt off the limb and onto another only to find that he had beaten her there.

"I know what they are, stupid." She hissed back, flicking away his punch and kicking the air as he retreated from her attack. "But I didn't know anyone else survived."

"Anyone else? It's just Itachi, and me, you idiot. I'm the last thanks to him" He snapped, clearly touchy on that subject as he lunged at her again for another attack. However, Kaida was already somewhere else in another tree and just as before, he was there a split second after her. He paused as he drew back his hand for a punch…her widened gaze puzzling him.

"They were true…those whispers…" Her golden gaze was now being contaminated by a dark green as she unconsciously roused her power. The battleground of the high canopy was gone and the two were now standing in front three corpses and an 8-yr-old crying girl. Outside there were screams…she seemed to have forgotten him. She was in a flashback all her own as Sasuke was forced to witness her past.

"This is…this is the day Itachi…" His words caught as he was forced to remember himself. He looked up and looked from this girl that had taken him to this place and the little, bleeding and sobbing girl. Their faces bore an eerie resemblance if it weren't for the fact that her eyes were green and the younger girl's were a soft silver. As if he already knew it, he quickly made the connection that they were the same and this was her memory…. but why was he experiencing it?

Just as oddly as it had appeared, it disappeared and he was looking into those golden eyes again. "That…was your memory, —?"

"Kaida." She said, giving her name, "And yes. It was my memory…sorry for that, by the way, —?"

"Sasuke."

"Yeah. I guess…" She sighed and shook her head, "Kekkei genkais are a nuisance, to make it simple."

Every single cell inside of Sasuke's mind was screaming at him to kill her. The vision had been so realistic and even his Sharingan couldn't protect him from the hallucination, she could beat him with ease therefore should've been taken out first. But, he couldn't bring himself to… He had never met her before but he felt like he had known her forever from their connection in early childhood. Or was it perhaps the fact that he had seen what she had experienced and pitied her?

"How come I never heard of a Kaida, then?" Asked Sasuke, as he tried to piece it all together. She flustered.

"Kaida is who I am now. Does the name Amaya Maimu; youngest sibling of Nori and Misaki; daughter of Isamu and Cho Maimu ring a bell?"

"Faintly familiar." Replied Sasuke, "I heard of the Maimu line at school…and I think I heard Misaki before…"

Kaida frowned. School? He learnt about her ancestors at school? Probably taught him to hate her blood because of their power.

"Misaki was my older sister," Offered Kaida, "She was a rather high-ranking warrior. At only seventeen and mastering two of the four parts of the Maimu Kekkei genkai is supposedly remarkable."

"The first stage is Illusion-Weaver and able to create realistic visions." Recited Sasuke from his excellent memory, "After mastering that, they are able to heal up to 50 times faster than a normal human. The third technique is able to steal chakra from an opponent when low on theirs. Then, finally, they can copy and carry out a jutsu if they've seen it six times."

"Able to heal up to 100 times faster, actually," Corrected Kaida, "But, that's still impressive to remember that." She added.

"I remembered it mainly because I always heard my father boasting how Misaki would make a fine warrior once she mastered the other two techniques aside from Illusion-Weaver." Muttered Sasuke, "And how she and Itachi would make a great team."

"So, you did remember." Smirked Kaida. Now it was Sasuke's turn to look flustered but Kaida merely laughed. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, her hair shading her eyes; despite this, shimmering golden eyes peeked out from the shadows at him. Normally, this would've annoyed Sasuke, however somehow, the way she did it—something made it seem…normal. That reminded him of another question…

"How come I haven't seen you until now, then?" Kaida cocked her head at the question, "Why haven't I seen you since the…." His voice trailed out, as he wasn't quite sure what to call it. The murder-spree? The massacre? Either way, Kaida seemed to have understood it…and how her cocky air seemed to have disappeared at the mention of it, rather shamed of her action.

"I don't know what you were doing during it, Sasuke, but I was there. Home. I had to always stay there since the village your clan was allied with hated my blood from wars long ago. I heard it all…saw him as he killed each member of my family as they tried to fight him. Each failing. By a chance of luck, I was able to create a convincing illusion that he had killed me with his shuriken. I suppose it was also because he didn't think I could've been skilled enough to make an illusion at all. Either way, after it, I…I didn't know what to do. As far as I knew, everyone of the Uchiha clan was now dead and I had no clue where to go since they were the only people I had ever known. And if I went into the village, I'd probably be killed for revenge eventually. I fled…out of all of those countries that my line had been associated with before." Her tone of voice was dark in remembrance.

"I went to the Land of Shadows. Somehow…a few days after I got out of there…I" She sighed, having difficulty describing it, "Transformed, I guess would be the best word. My chakra became darker…fouler and how it is today. I became stronger, as if an inner storage of chakra had unlocked. I became devoted…obsessed with killing Itachi. I trained with a few senseis, but in the end, most of them… 'underestimated my power' with exercises. After two years of that…I saw him. I was only ten and I knew I couldn't beat him and I'm sure he probably realized that there were only three dead Maimu bodies instead of four. We fought." Kaida grimaced at the bitter memory, "As you can imagine, a mere ten-yr-old facing the 15-yr-old Itachi did not end up to my favor. However, he let me live…said I wasn't worth the time to kill." With a burst of unforeseen temperament, she jumped onto a lower branch of another tree and kicked it with such force that it moved a good five feet and stood crooked. From above, Sasuke didn't even flinch. So it had been true…their line reacted with emotion. It only made them more dangerous yet tamer. If you appealed correctly to them, you would have an almost unfair advantage.

"God! That…that thing! I want him dead, I'd do anything to kill him!" In a second, she was on another branch, a few feet from the one Sasuke stood on and at the same height again. "Excuse my temperament…. That's the only subject I've ever been unable to contain anger on. I guess I'm just…afraid that if I someday am able to control anger on that, I might forget. Become weak. Easy prey..."

All the while, Kaida's words barely sunk into his mind…. She had fought him too…and she also shared his dream to kill his brother. Two ideas pestered him. If she wanted him dead, she probably wanted to do it…but he wanted to be the one to kill him damn brother himself. It was either they become enemies because of this and rival each other, or they helped each other to achieve their goal and put this hardship aside. He remembered the first test Kakashi, his first sensei, had put him through with Sakura and Naruto. Teamwork…that was what Kakashi had wanted in his team. Here was the golden chance…she had much chakra, he could already see that, and he knew he'd be able to kill Itachi quicker with her help. However, his vision of killing Itachi himself would be marred with her assistance.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Concluded Kaida, as she had talked and Sasuke had planned.

"A mission," He said blankly, "From Orochimaru-sensei." The lack of sleep was finally beginning to set in. Normally, he wouldn't have told a stranger in his right mind what he was doing and especially who his sensei was.

"Orochimaru, huh?" The syllables rolled off her tongue, "I've definitely heard of him. He lost his body and is trying to raise a new one, isn't he?"

Sasuke stood, stunned. What was she talking about? He already knew that Orochimaru was using another ninja's body but…raising a new one? His skin prickled at the thought. Was he the new one? A mere pawn in a game? However, he did not portray any of these darker emotions.

"He's…raising a new body? Who told you that?"

Kaida shrugged. "A village just a bit south of here, some high-ranking officers were talking about it before I killed them." She said it so casually…as if killing someone was something she did on a daily basis…

"You…just killed someone?" Clarified Sasuke. He had a sinking suspicion that she hadn't misspoken, though. This girl just kept getting weirder and weirder….

Kaida looked indignant, "No…" Sasuke let out a silent sigh of relief, "I killed the entire village."

"You…killed an entire village?" His voice seemed hallow and far off. It didn't seem possible…not a scratch was on her, on top of that, too.

"Well, I'm guessing I did," Replied Kaida looking rather cross, "I thought everyone was dead…why, did someone survive?"

"Don't you feel a bit of remorse?" He looked at her with new eyes. Could this mere girl have killed an entire village? How could she speak about it with ease? Was she that, excuse the pun, dead serious to kill Itachi?

"I already told you. I want him dead. I would do anything to make him that way." Her voice was dark and sober, "Besides, it's not like anyone knows," She added on a lighter note, "I didn't leave a note signed 'Kaida', and since there are no survivors, they don't even know what I look like. Unless…you're going to tell someone." She glanced over at Sasuke, her eyes critical almost analyzing to see if he was enough of a threat.

"You're playing right into his hands! He wants you to do that!" Nearly shouted Sasuke, remembering how he had concluded that after his battle with Naruto who had tried to prevent him from going to Orochimaru. "You're no better than he is."

"It's his fault for underestimating me than." Snapped Kaida, "If I play into his hands, I don't care, as long as he ends up dead. He's going to die. And maybe, I am no better than he is, but what am I supposed to do? Go train with a sensei only to fall into someone else's plans to use my kekkei genkai to their own advantage? If I become like him to some people, they don't know me. I'm not a bloodless monster…I'm an avenger." Sasuke felt his blood run cold for he thought of himself the exact same way, "This is my life's goal…I have no other purpose. After this, I could care less if I spend the rest of my life in prison. I accomplished what I wanted…it's as simple as that. I would be eternally content." She looked at Sasuke, straight into his gaze. Gold and garnet eyes met.

"Don't you want to see the man that destroyed your life dead, too?" She asked, softly.

"Why do you think I'm training with a sensei?" Scoffed Sasuke, "For the fun of it?"

Kaida smiled…a cold, dark smile.