Chapter One

"Don't do this."

"I have no choice."

"You do, just please don't do this."

"This is the path that I have chosen to walk."

"Please, I'm begging you...you don't have to-"

"I do."

She could feel her heart pounding against her ribs as she stared up into his onyx eyes, wondering how it could've come to this. After all the years spent side by side, he was shutting her out. It wasn't like him to behave this way, she didn't know what had gotten into him but she knew that she couldn't just let him walk away. He'd come here for a reason, it wasn't just to say goodbye, she could feel it. She parted her lips, trying to control her emotions as best she could before she spoke again.

"I don't understand why you're saying these things...I thought you lov-"

Her voice cracked, she couldn't say it without losing the little control she had left. How could he just throw her away like he didn't care about her, like she didn't matter to him? After all these years. She felt tears slip down her cheeks at the thought, bowing her head as she wrapped her arms around her body, trying to hold herself together as best she could. She looked up through her bangs when his hand touched her shoulder, red meeting onyx.

"Please." she murmured; more tears slipped down her cheeks. The warmth she was so used to seeing was gone from his eyes, as if his emotions had dissipated overnight, what had happened to the boy she'd once known? "I don't understand." she repeated.

"In time you will come to realize that I've made the choices I have to protect you."

"I can take care of myself." she retorted. "I'm not some weak kunoichi."

"I care for you, that is why I must do this."

She felt her heart do a flip at the confession. She knew that was his way of saying he loved her, so why would he be telling her this if he was just going to disappear from her life? She blinked dumbly when his hand moved from her shoulder and his fingers brushed her cheek, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear before moving behind her head. She felt her body relax against his when he pulled her into a tight embrace, his fingers moving through her hair soothingly.

"Nakiro." She tilted her head up at the sound of her name, finding his onyx eyes again...the emptiness.

"Itachi." His lips brushed against hers in a light kiss.

"Goodbye."

The teenage girl jolted awake, her heart was pounding against her ribs as she looked around, trying to regain her bearings from the dream. She swallowed the lump in her throat and inhaled through her nose, trying to calm down her heart. How long had it been since that day? It seemed as though it were only yesterday to her, the constant flashbacks in her dreams continued to keep the healing process at bay. Would she ever be able to let go of him? Would she ever be able to let go of the love they'd once shared? A soft sigh escaped her lips as she raised her head from the ground, running a hand through her dark turquoise locks.

'Itachi.'

As difficult as it was for her to pull herself together, she knew she had no choice. Her fire had dwindled down to just a few embers, cool air rushing through the cave, it was time for her to pack up and move on...before he found her. The fourteen-year-old pushed herself to her feet at the thought and quickly began gathering up her supplies, mentally preparing herself for the long journey ahead as she packed. Did she have a particular destination in mind? Not at all, she just had to keep moving and not stay in any one place for too long. She knew the repercussions of slipping up one time and that was a chance that she wasn't willing to take.

She swung her backpack over her shoulder and moved closer to the dim embers, lightly stepping on them and fully diminishing them. She wasn't sure how thorough the shinobi following her were, but she could dally any longer, she needed to get with the program and start moving. She began walking towards the entrance of the cave, she could see a blue light reflecting off the floor of the cave as she drew closer. She knew it to be the moon, she never did travel during the day for fear of being unable to move stealthily. She stood at the cave entrance, observing her surroundings. Tall and towering mountains, cliffs, many different hills and trees, the trees were never ending in this place. She was somewhere around Yamagakure (The Village Hidden Among the Mountains) but she wouldn't enter the village, she didn't think she could chance it even though she was running low on supplies.

An inaudible sigh passed through her lips and she hopped down from the cave into a tree, focusing her chakra as she hopped tree to tree for her means of travel. Her dark turquoise hair flew behind her as she hopped, the light waves moving in a sort of ripple with each bounce. Her red eyes scanned the surrounding air, the ruby color reflecting everything she passed. She held a kunai loosely in her hand as she traveled, hoping she wouldn't have to use it as she waited for some sort of attack. She wasn't sure how long it'd been since she'd left her home, it felt as if it'd been close to a year and it reality, it had been. She hadn't wanted to leave Konohagakure but she knew she wouldn't be safe there, nor would the village be safe from an attack if she stayed there. If he had to destroy the whole village to have her, she knew he would without hesitation. She'd left to save the people, as well as the village itself, she hadn't wanted anyone to lose their life over her.

Tears began falling at the thought, running along the creamy porcelain skin and down her cheeks. The tears bringing on the memory of her beloved family, may they rest in peace. She swallowed the lump in her throat and hopped off the tree branch, down to the floor of the forest. Her back collapsed against the trunk of one of the large trees after she threw her pack to the ground, her butt hitting the soft grass. She moved her knees to her chest and pressed her forehead against them, her arms wrapping around her legs. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks as she silently cried, no sounds coming out as she gasped for air. She should've been there, she should've been able to save them, how could she have let this happen, why was she the only one left?

As the questions ran through her head, the tears continued flowing strong, her silent cries of pain inaudible. Curse Orochimaru, curse him straight to the depths of hell for the pain he'd caused her. He'd taken everything from her, her home, her family and her freedom; she was all alone in the world. Not only had she went through the pain of losing her family, she'd went through the pain of losing her lover years before that. She swore that once she obtained enough strength, she'd make Orochimaru pay for what he'd done to her life. For now though, she had to pull herself together and keep moving, she couldn't let his followers find her.

Nakiro wiped at her eyes, finally raising her head from her knees and moved to her feet, her hair hanging around her hips. She'd decided she couldn't avoid going into this village, she needed to manage to gather as much information on the Sannin as possible. People talked, especially in the pubs and inns, she was sure she could find the information she needed in one of those places. In order to accomplish this, she would enter the village. The young woman looked around, finding the destination in question and adjusted her course accordingly, walking slowly in the direction of Yamagakure.

She didn't bother changing her appearance as she grew closer, there was no point in it, no one alive knew what she truly looked like after all...other than him. She bowed her head at the thought, looking up through her bangs when the shinobi on watch approached her. Without blinking, she moved her pack off her shoulder and dug through it, pulling out a small notebook. She leafed through the pages quickly before finding the one she needed, looking up at the sound of the guard's voice.

"Can I help you miss?" She nodded once and held the notebook out to him; he took it skeptically before looking down at the open page. She waited patiently while he read over the page as she adjusted her pack on her shoulder, he finally raised his eyes to meet hers. "Of course miss, the inn is right down the main road on the left." he told her, handing back the small book.

She nodded a thank you and walked through the gate, observing the village as she walked. It was quite beautiful from what she'd seen but nowhere was better than home in her opinion. She smiled slightly at the sight of some of the older children playing in the streets, moving around the people in her path courteously. She could see the inn at a distance, there had to be a pub somewhere close by then. She could check into a room for the evening and try to gather information at the pub afterwards, she hoped that someone knew something of value about the Sannin. Her eyes lit up when she saw the pub, it was only three buildings down from the inn, luck was definitely on her side. She passed the pub as she made her way to the inn, it didn't close for a good few hours, she had plenty of time. She quickened her pace, finally making it to the inn and entered silently.

She approached the desk slowly, leafing through the book in her hand as she looked for the correct page. She looked up from the book and took another step, coming to a halt at the front desk. The young girl behind it smiled brightly, she moved to her feet.

"Hi, how can I help you this evening?" she asked cheerfully. Nakiro held the book out to her, the girl took it without hesitation, looking over the page before her eyes moved to find Nakiro's. "Okay, how many nights will you be staying?" The teenager pondered over it for a few seconds before raising two fingers, she needed to make sure she left with what she yearned. "Alright sure, I'll get you a room key." She handed the book off to Nakiro and moved to the back wall, grabbing a key before returning to the desk. "Here you go, if you need anything let us know."

Nakiro nodded gratefully and took the key, heading down the hallway to room four. She unlocked the door and stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind her. She decided that she'd need a shower before going to the pub, it had been a long while since she'd had the privacy of a bathroom. She removed her pack from her shoulder and went through it quickly for a change of clothes, heading into the small bathroom after she'd found what she wanted. She went through the showering process slowly, wanting to enjoy the feeling of the hot water a little longer than she normally would. After changing into her clothes and fixing her hair, she determined that she was ready to go to the pub and see what she could find out about Orochimaru. If tonight didn't work out, then she always had another night to gather what she could and she could do that with each hidden village she came across.

She felt determination bubble up inside her at the thought and exited the bathroom, looking through her bag for her money and most importantly, her book. After grabbing both, she went to the door and exited the room, locking it behind her with the key. She placed the key in her pocket along with her money and head down the hallway of the inn, holding her book to her chest as she walked. She passed the check in desk as she left the inn, waving a short goodbye to the girl. She looked down the street, the streets were empty, it was around midnight after all, more than likely shinobi and travelers were the only ones awake at this hour. They were the perfect people to try to get some information from, she wasn't too keen on the idea of paying someone for it but she would if she had no choice.

She walked down the street silently, her hair swaying around her hips with each step, her bangs bouncing every once and a while. She was so close, just one more building. She could feel her heart racing with anticipation, the mere thought of being able to take down Orochimaru had her stomach flipping, she would get justice for her family. She placed her hand on the knob and turned it, slowly pushing open the door as she stepped inside the pub. It was loud, people were talking or howling with laughter, there were all sorts of different conversations going on, where should she start? Nakiro shut the door behind her and moved across the floor, trying to stay invisible for the time being. There were some mysterious looking men talking over in a corner, they looked as though they were shinobi of Yamagakure and they were talking with a blonde male.

'This is probably it, those guys have to know something.'

Nakiro moved around some of the other men in the pub, making her way across it until she was sitting a couple tables away from the mysterious men. Now all she had to do was listen and wait. She pulled out her book, looking through the pages for a simple food order, she didn't want to appear as though she were listening in on anyone. She stopped at a page, glancing over it quickly and looked up when she heard a female voice.

"Hi there, I'm Aiko. What can I get for you?" Nakiro held out her book to the brunette, who took it and quickly scanned the page. "So some hot tea and an order of udon." she confirmed, handing back the book; Nakiro nodded once. "Alright honey, shouldn't be too long."

She nodded a thank you as the brunette waitress walked off and bowed her head, looking up through her bangs at the three men. They were deeply immersed in their conversation, she focused on trying to hear what they were discussing while blocking out the noise of the other people in the pub.

"That's right, the Adachi clan."

"The Yamakage needs them extinguished."

'An assassination of a clan?'

Nakiro blinked curiously, so the Yamakage needed a clan killed off inside the village, there must have been some type of civil war going on in other parts of the village then. Even though it wasn't the information she was looking for, she was still interested in the conversation, it had been a long while since she'd been part of the shinobi world, she wasn't even sure what was still going on in Konohagakure.

"Hmph, sounds easy enough." the blonde man snorted, not sounding interested in the least.

"We're willing to pay whatever is necessary."

"As long as it gets done, we don't care what the means are."

"Baka, my works of art deserve to be adored." the blonde snapped.

"Of course, that's why we thought of you."

"You're very well known among shinobi."

"I damn well should be." the blonde replied. "My creations are the true form of art, they deserve recognition."

Nakiro moved her eyes from the blonde, her cheeks flushing pink. Now that she'd actually studied him, he was quite the attractive man. He looked as though he were close to her age, if not a year older. His blonde hair was long, cascading down his back and pulled in a loose ponytail. His bangs were hanging over the left side of his face, hiding his eye from view. The visible eye however, was a gorgeous shade of sky blue, it was entrancing. She felt her cheeks growing warmer and lowered her eyes, a glass and bowl were placed before her.

"Here you go dear."

Nakiro nodded to the waitress and blew at the steam coming from her glass, sipping at it slowly as to not burn her mouth. She could hear the blonde agreeing to the terms with the other men as she ate her food, they had come to an agreement and were allies. They rose from the table some minutes later and exited the pub, the blonde stayed seated at the table and began playing with something in his hand. She watched him curiously as the minutes ticked by, wondering what he was doing but eventually shrugged it off, it wasn't important to what she needed. She cautiously looked around the room, scanning the faces for anyone that seemed as though they knew something of value. She quickly realized there wasn't anyone that looked remotely interesting, cursing her bad luck. She'd just have to come back tomorrow before she left the village.

She turned back around, blinking dumbly when she noticed the blonde man was gone. How had he disappeared so quickly and without her even noticing? She tried to ignore her nervousness and finished off the rest of her noodles, laying down some money for her meal and a tip for the waitress. She rose from her seat, her book in hand and walked across the floor of the pub, out the door. She shut the door and stepped out into the road, heading in the direction of the inn. As she walked, she could feel her stomach turning itself inside out because of her nerves, she felt as though she were being watched.

'Please, not them.'

She quickened her pace as she grew closer to the inn, perhaps entering a village hadn't been the best idea. They'd found her and she had to book it before the managed to capture her. She drew in a silent breath, trying to slow her heartbeat and almost smiled when she saw how close she was. She could get inside, grab her shit and sneak out before they found her in there. She swallowed the lump in her throat, her thoughts stopping when a hand wrapped around her arm. An inaudible gasp passed through her lips as she was pulled into an alleyway, her back slammed up against a wall. She clenched her teeth at the pain, looking up through her bangs when a hand was placed beside her head.

"You know, it's not polite to eavesdrop hm."

Author's Note: Hey guys and welcome to my newest masterpiece! Been a long time since I posted anything new so I hope it was good! I'm going to be posting a chapter every week of this so I really hope you all liked it! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews! Thanks and here's to another Naruto story!