A's Notes: Ah the long awaited chapter. I'm really glad people are enjoying my story so far. I hope to continue to make things more and more interesting. I'm sorry it's kind of short, but it took a long time for me to find insight into both characters and try to write a dialogue true to their personalities. Itachi is especially difficult to write, but I think I have a better idea of his psychotic brain. Anyway, I'll be a lot later with the release of chapter 4 due to homework priorities. Bah. I'm hoping to have something by the end of the week, and if not, I apologize in advance for making you wait.

Disclaimer: All Naruto characters copyright Kishimoto and other respectful owners. Miya and Mrs. Narita copyright me.

Chapter 3

Miya spun around, face to face with a dark coat, red clouds embroidered on it. Slowly she looked up to see two red eyes peering at her through the darkness. She swallowed the lump in her throat, her heart thumping hard against her chest.

Words failed her, although she opened her lips to speak. He was the demon from her past, the horrible and vivid memory that haunted her. What does he want from me, she questioned. Why is he here? What happened to him? Her head filled with questions, but none she could force from her lips. Five minutes passed with silence between them.

"What are you staring at?" he finally asked her. Miya turned her face away from him. Fear began to prickle up her spine, but she forced herself to feign calm.

"…I don't know anymore," she said in a small voice.

"It's fortunate that you were never trained. You wouldn't last an hour with your demeanor," he said to her.

Miya looked down, then, noticing her arms trembling, and her body poised stiffly. Her feelings were too strong for her to cover completely. Her efforts discovered, she showed herself plainly. Fear lighted her eyes as she shakily rose to her feet. Itachi watched her expressionless.

"What do you want," she asked, her voice growing quieter as he began to move to the side of her. She watched him from the corner of her eye. His mind was an anomaly. He was a different person than she remembered. Maybe not even a person at all.

"There is only one thing I want from you," he said and grabbed her wrist. She winced about to pull her hand away, but his hold was firm. A kunai appeared in his other hand and he cut across her palm.

"Ah," Miya flinched, watching red well up and overflow from the laceration. My blood, she asked herself, looking up at him and growing uneasy at how intently he studied the fluid draining from her hand.

"You have the purest bloodline, therefore the most potentially powerful," he said, letting go of her wrist and looking to her face. "Unfortunately it's wasted on you."

She narrowed her eyes a little at the remark. She remembered she had made the choice not to be a ninja purposely. The sharingan was a powerful technique, and in her family, one could reach the full extent of that power and master it easily. No one should have that much strength, she'd thought back then. And even so, they are not without some weakness. She still believed it true now, although for some, the weakness was not so simple to find.

"There was a poison in Uchiha blood," Itachi began, rousing her from her thoughts. "I rid the world of it four years ago, but more importantly, I discovered a new level of my strength. Not one of those who stood against me deserved to face me." She stared at him, incredulously.

"How…how could you?" Miya shook her head slowly. For such a shallow reason, he killed everyone, she thought.

She stepped back from him, appalled and grieved. Her heart felt like a lead weight. She'd never reflected on the loss of her family, the kind faces that greeted her when she walked by, the children that played in the streets. But now knowing the reasoning behind their deaths, she was overwhelmed. And most of all because the single person she trusted, confided in, and cared for had done the deed.

Her legs weakened and she fell to her knees, tears burning from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. Miya sobbed, putting her hands across her mouth, the injured one staining the fingers of her other hand. Her body shook from her sobbing, a long needed release of emotions from her past flowing from her. Itachi, she thought, what have you done? But then it struck her. This wasn't the same Itachi. Her sobbing quieted. A boy with his talents was one in thousands. Uchiha had been a clan with great pride and reputation to uphold. Was that the poison he was speaking of?

Miya sniffed, rubbing her eyes to clear them. She felt weary. Her head ached, swimming with too many thoughts to sort out. It must have been this kind of confused state Itachi had been waiting for because he suddenly held out his hand to her. She looked up at it, then to his face.

"Come with me," he said. She furrowed her brow.

"What?"

"Come with me." How should she answer? She knew what he wanted from her, and even with the possibility that his new person was not of his own doing, that alone wasn't enough. She didn't have a chance to consider further before a gentle tapping sounded at her door. Miya turned quickly to look back at it. Itachi was unphased.

"Do you want to work on a farm around simple people for the rest of your life?"

Miya turned back to him.

"Miya? Are you all right, dear? I thought I heard voices," Mrs. Narita spoke from behind the door. Miya turned her head towards the door slightly once more, but then to Itachi.

He was silent, his hand still outstretched to her. She was torn. Itachi had become something she didn't trust, that she feared, and she had lived a pleasant life with the Naritas. It didn't bother her to work hard everyday, earning her privileges and making a place for herself there. Yet, looking into his icy, placid gaze, there echoed a fading soul whom she'd longed to see again one day. He's still alive, she thought. But if I'm not there, he'll die. That was the reason she needed.

"Sweetheart?" the voice at the door called to her. Miya stood slowly, the world slowing down around her. She kept her eyes fixed on Itachi's. The door began to slide open. She reached out and took hold of his hand. Mrs. Narita's eyes widened in terror when the door had opened completely. Miya felt herself pulled in to Itachi's side, his arm wrapping around her and holding her tightly. His gaze was straight ahead, his body turned towards the window. She looked away from his face just in time to see Mrs. Narita one last time. The poor woman's scream rung in her ears before it was lost in the roar of wind rushing by. Time resumed itself, a blur of green and black rushing by her as she was carried off. She closed her eyes. Thank you for everything, Rie, she thought. I'm sorry…goodbye.

Woo, I'm happy to have reviews!

Suna-Tsuki-Koinu: Ha, sorry, I'm a huge fan of cliff hangers. It keeps people coming back for more.
Silver Arrow112: Whoa, didn't know that the ending was that mean.

Temari-21: Yeah, I always thought it wasn't a bad idea to write on. I was wondering one day what Itachi must have been like as a child and kind of came up with a starting plot for this story.

silvya: Thank you!

candle-rain-chan: Wow, I'm flattered, thank you.