A/N- This chapter is dedicated to my first three reviewers. I love you guys!

The Keyblade Master Sora- Thank you for being my first reviewer and adding me to your favorites. I never expected to be put on any favorites list but it was a very welcome surprise.

Sakai-Chan- Thank you for reviewing and I look forward to reading more of your story Click Here: I reviewed it anonymously as Lauren because I was too lazy to sign in. lol

Kichou- Thank you for reviewing twice and putting this story on your alerts. It really made my day. Sasuke is a hottie!(note my penname)

Chapter 3

He stepped lightly on the trail not wanting to make any more noise that was strictly necessary. There was a rather large accumulation of parched leaves covering his path and the noise that came from crushing them was unsettling in the peaceful tranquility of the deep woods. He knew that once a certain female arrived any measure of tranquility would be trampled beyond repair so he chose to enjoy the moment of peace. Even if the aforementioned female was a calm woman he knew he would still find little peace it her presence when his mind refused to acknowledge anything besides her. It was as if every fiber in his being was tuned into her.

He cleared his thoughts as he arrived at the designated campsite. Leon had spoken to him earlier and Cloud had agreed to help him with setting up the necessary accommodations for the outing. Leon had sounded annoyed at the idea of setting up the camp and Cloud knew he was doing it against his will. Somehow, Cloud sensed Yuffie had swayed her brother into setting up the camp without his compliance. Blackmail possibly, or maybe she had the same persuasive power on everyone that she possessed over him. Whatever it was it appeared as if she had gotten her way in the end.

The sight that greeted him at the campsite made him choke back a laugh. Leon was standing in the middle of a halfway set up tent with a look of mixed confusion and annoyance on his face. It appeared as if half of the tent had collapsed and a few of the cords were wrapped tightly around Leon's body. Riku was standing nearby laughing to the point of hysterics.

"Leon, what did you do?" questioned a brown spiky haired boy that had just now appeared from another area of the woods. The brunet teenager ran to help Leon but failed to notice a rather large tree root protruding from the ground. When his foot caught and he lost his balance, it was blatantly obvious that this wasn't going to end well. The youth's thoughts went from worry for Leon, to worry for himself, and then lastly to worry for himself, Leon and the tent as the incident unfolded.

Cloud watched with raised eyebrows at the catastrophe that ensued. It seemed as if it was happening in slow motion. Leon had tried to prevent the crash but the cords tangled around him prevented all maneuverability. The end result was jumbled mass of limbs, cords and tent, the half of the tent that had been standing had fallen on top of them further complicating the entanglement. Riku was laughing so much that tears had gathered in the corners of his eyes and Cloud couldn't help cracking up as well.

After a few moments of yelling, squirming and cursing Leon had managed to disentangle himself and escape. The other boy had made it halfway out but apparently could not get any further. He then began to writhe like a mad man, his arms flailing in all directions in an ineffective attempt to free himself. Leon sighed and went back to help the teen separate himself from the loathsome tent.

Once freed, both chocolate-haired men proceeded to catch their breath while sending death glares at the fiendish tent. Cloud and Riku had calmed their laughing and waited for the other two to recuperate from their moment of inelegance. Once Leon had composed himself, he then advanced on the younger one who had turned his minor problem into a major predicament.

"What the hell do you think you are doing running around here like a mad man? You couldn't have walked over and calmly helped me with the tent, Nooooo…" Leon drawled out, "It's not like the tent was going to eat me Sora, you could have taken your time you know."

"It almost ate me," Sora muttered to himself. Leon rolled his eyes and looked over to his and Sora's spectators, namely Cloud and Riku.

"Nice that you finally joined us Cloud," Leon said turning to the blonde, "Not that we need the help but you are not getting out of this slavery or as Yuffie calls it, manual Labor," Leon said, the contempt dripping from his words like honey from a honeycomb. Cloud almost broke out in laughter again, he knew all this was Yuffie's doing.

"Yes Leon, I know that you have everything under control," Cloud paused to glance at the tent, "But I came anyways just in case."

"Well, that's good," Leon said contemplating a job for the new worker, "Why don't you and Riku gather some wood for the big campfire we're going to have tonight?"

Cloud nodded and turned to Riku who gestured for him to follow. Riku led them to another area of the forest that had an overabundance of fallen branches and underbrush.

"So, your name's Cloud right?" Riku asked while stepping over the stray foliage littering the non-existent path he was taking.

"Yeah," Cloud replied as he ducked under a low branch. He studied the way Riku moved; it was almost identical to him. It couldn't be coincidental, not with his hair and eye color. The thoughts would not leave him alone; a part of him was screaming that Riku had some kind of connection with Sephiroth.

"Riku, you have very a fascinating hair color," Cloud said casually, "Is it dyed or natural?"

"Natural," Riku said without looking at Cloud.

"Does anyone else in your family have the same hair color?" Cloud asked him and listened carefully for the answer.

Riku visibly tensed and stopped to turn and face Cloud. Cloud did the same and patiently waited. Riku seemed lost in thought for a moment but quickly snapped out of it.

"It's from my father's side of the family, he had this same silver hair but he is dead now," Riku said and Cloud noticed that he did not seem sad about his father being dead, "He died before I was born," Riku added, "The only other person I have ever seen with the same hair color is my brother."

This caught Cloud's interest, "Brother?" he asked. Riku nodded while breaking his eye contact with Cloud and looking at the ground in deep contemplation. "Do you see him often?"

Riku snapped his head up and Cloud could see the anger reflecting in their aquamarine depths. The anger was not directed at Cloud, however, but to an unseen being, perhaps a memory.

"No," Riku ground out through clenched teeth and Cloud could feel the hatred radiating off the boy in almost tangible waves, "He is no longer my brother, he is dead to me now." Cloud was on the verge of asking another question but was interrupted before he could voice a word.

"I really don't want to talk about him anymore," Riku said bitterly while turning back to journey down the path. Cloud let the subject drop for now but he was by no means finished with questioning the silver-haired youth. He was almost certain that Sephiroth was who Riku was talking about and if it was then this was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

The rest of the excursion to gather firewood was spent in silence with tension so tough a meat cleaver would fail to make a dent. When they had made it back to the campsite, arms filled to the brink with wood, they noticed the girls had already arrived. Cloud was quickly introduced to Leon's girlfriend Rinoa who Leon had told him about on many occasions before.

The evening was spent with roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over the bonfire. Yuffie and Sora were having a small fight with their marshmallows in the fire until Sora's burst into flames. He tried to put the fire out by shaking the stick rapidly but only succeeded in launching it across the campsite. The flaming marshmallow glided past Leon's head by only a few inches. Leon turned to the spiky haired boy with a look of sheer fury.

"Are you trying to kill me today or something?" Leon all but screamed at the terrified boy who was attempting to hide behind Yuffie. The others laughed humorously while the older brunet attempted to chase the younger around the site and strangle him.

During the commotion, in which everyone had been occupied, Cloud noticed Riku get up and walk down a secluded path that led to the nearby lake. Cloud followed intent on attaining more information from him. Riku had stopped at the edge of the lake and stared at the reflection of the moon, distorted from the slight choppiness of the lake water. Cloud approached him slowly, almost warily, as is he would suddenly turn into Sephiroth himself.

"So tell me Cloud, do you still work for the organization?" Riku asked him without turning his eyes from the lake water.

Cloud's surprise was clearly written on his face, 'How long has he known?' he thought to himself.

"No," Cloud ground out almost painfully, "I will never work for them again."

Riku then turned to him and made eye contact, "My brother told me about you, before he had gone crazy; he said you were the best assassin that Organization XIII had ever seen. The way he spoke about you was as if you were the answer to all problems."

"I was young then," Cloud said shaking his head, "I didn't even have the answers to my own problems."

"Whether or not you knew what you were doing at the time does not change the fact that you were the best. The admiration that my brother had for you had quickly turned to jealousy, he began to hate you and your talent with every fiber of his being. It was around that time that he killed our mother and attempted to kill me as well," Riku said solemnly, "After that he had completely lost all measure of sanity."

"That must have been around the time he killed Aerith," Cloud said, more to himself than to Riku.

"Tell me this Cloud, do you hate m brother as much as I do?" Riku asked him, his detestation of his brother was evident in each word he spoke. Cloud nodded his concurrence.

"If I find him for you, will you kill him," Riku then asked seriously. Cloud was taken back at how easily Riku spoke of his brother's imminent death but shook off the feeling and nodded again. Riku smiled at this, "Lets head back to the camp then, we can talk more about this when we're not supposed to be having fun," the silver haired youth said while walking back to camp.

Cloud followed him and watched as Riku sat next to Yuffie, placing his arm securely around her waist. Cloud looked on bitterly as Sephiroth's carbon copy embraced the woman that Cloud was infatuated with.

'We may be allies now,' Cloud though to himself, 'but when this is over, and Sephiroth is dead, we will be rivals again, rivals for Yuffie's love.'

A/N- Chapter 3 done! Review or calico colored guinea pig will eat off you other leg!