So! Now the story begins! I apologize again for it being really fast and whatnot. I think that's one of my problems. Lol!

I actually added a lot of stuff to this one. I've read through it, changed some things, removed some stuff, adding more....yeah... Just to put this out there now, though you'll probably figure this out as you keep reading, this hasn't really got anything to do with the main story plot of the series. It was an idea that popped in my head one day about after Sasuke left and I just started writing. But I still hope you like it.

Some basic stuff too about Ann and the characters. Sasuke is 22 whereas Ann is 17. Here's mini-profile of her too so that you can kind of imagine her.

Hair: Black, layered with long side-swept bangs to the right that's layered shorter in the back. Tis fairly thick.

Eyes: Big and brown

Skin/Body: Bronze colored, average female body, not too thick not too skinny

Fashion: Comfortable clothes, doesn't really care for matching, likes skirts and certain dresses, usually wears earthy colors, black, white, and dark red and sometimes blue depending on the shade.

Okay. So there's some information about Ann. Once again I hope you enjoy this chapter. I do not own anything or anyone from Naruto I do, however, own Ann. Please do not flame me, etc, etc. You saw that in the first chapter. XD

Chapter TWO: The Benefit of the Doubt

I don't know how long I was out for. It must've been a while because the next moment I opened my eyes I was staring up at a starry sky. I groaned and turned on my side only to stare into a cackling fire.

…

A fire?

I bolted up right only to regret it when I felt a heavy weight on my chest, the exact spot where that stupid pulling was coming from. It was like a hangover that was concentrated on my chest…or something like that. Actually, more like when you've been exercising a certain body part for a long time and it aches the next day? Yeah, it was more like that.

"You're awake." I turned to the voice. It was a man with dark hair and probably equally dark eyes from what I could make out from the faint light that touched him. He sat a little ways to my right but within arm's reach. Even though he was sitting I could tell he was much taller than me. Well…almost everyone I knew was taller than me but he had to be one of the tallest so far. I could only offer a slow nod to his obvious observation. "Good." He stood to leave. Panicking I reached out. He was just going to leave me out here!?

"Wait!" I said my fingertips brushing against his arm. He pulled away from my hand but did give me a second look. "Don't go." He smirked. Faster than I thought was possible for a normal human being, I was back on the ground the arm that was reached out towards him pinned over my head with his hand and his other circled around my neck.

"You want me to stay? Do you know who I am? Do you know what I could do to you? For all you know I could just kill you right now." Now that I had a good look in his eyes I was able to tell that he wasn't okay. There was too much conflict going on in them, an internal war where neither side was winning or losing but even when I saw that look in his eyes I wasn't scared for some reason. I felt that there was more than what he was putting off.

"Yes, I want you to stay," I said quietly and slowly. "No, I don't know who you are. I'm telling the truth. I don't know what you could do to me, but I know you won't kill me."

"What makes you so sure?" he hissed his grip tightening on my wrist but strangely not my neck.

"You could have killed me earlier when you found me or when I was asleep. And… I don't think you will. No, I know you won't because you're not like that." There was a flash in his eyes that came and left just as fast as he moved. What was it?

His grip loosened as he leaned away from me giving me space to sit up. As if deciding to forget the topic he changed it.

"You don't know who I am?" I shook my head. He watched me with curious eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha." There was a bitter smile and short laugh. "The last of the Uchiha clan." Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha clan…? How was I supposed to respond to that?

"Ann. Ann Finn," I replied with a yawn following shortly after. I was still tired even though I had just woken up. Maybe it was the after affects of whatever happened to me. He watched as I covered my mouth.

"You should get back to sleep. I'll keep watch." I observed him stand and move to the other side of the fire. Turning my back to him I let out a long drawn out breath as the reality began to dawn on me. I wasn't home anymore. I wasn't at school. Heck, I probably wasn't even in the same country anymore! So…

Now what?

What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? What about my family? Friends?

How was I going to get back home?

Sasuke moved across from her on the other side of the fire before he sat back down on the ground. He had been setting up a small camp when a bright light had flashed in this exact spot. Coming over to investigate the only thing that was left behind was this girl. He knew that he should have left her behind, but… something was different about her. She wasn't like the other people he ran into. Cautiously Sasuke looked over her to try to find the usual forehead protector that every ninja wore. She had none.

Was she really just an innocent civilian?

Or was she a ninja on an undercover assignment?

He'll be able to tell in the morning.

He looked back at her, watched the slow rise and fall of her body.

Images flashed through his eyes, sensations that he had thought he had escaped from.

Blood.

Averse pleasure.

Reluctant excitement and joy.

The feelings of being insane.

Sasuke looked back her, a sick grin gracing his lips. The exhilaration began to grow in his body. She was so close. All he had to do was…

With deft and quick hands he reached into a pouch and pulled out a kunai only to stab it into his arm. The pain quickly brought him back to himself if just for a moment. He almost slipped again. Letting go of the kunai he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Mm…" He looked back at her only to see her curl up in a ball. It had gotten a bit chillier and she was only wearing a thin tan shirt and forest green Capri's. Grunting he reached up back at the kunai and drew it out with a slight stream of blood following after. He'd have to get that cleaned and wrapped up sometime. With a flick of his wrist the kunai embedded itself in a tree a few feet away. Grabbing his jacket he moved over to her, carefully knelt down, and lay it over her body. Fingers reached up and gripped the edges to pull it closer.

Sasuke leaned nearer to get a better look at her. She let out a sigh.

"Hmm…" she mumbled while turning to lie on her back. Her face came to meet his an inch away. He stared at her trying to figure out what she was, why this was happening to him. This was odd behavior, different from even when he slipped away. Releasing another sigh of his, he pulled back. Sasuke moved to his previous spot eyes never leaving Ann. One question rang out in his mind.

What was he going to do?

Opening my eyes groggily I looked around pushing off a jacket that had found its way on me somehow. The fire beside me crackled lightly refusing to die. Rubbing my eyes I sat up to find that I was alone. I snapped wide awake. Alone? The panic began to arise once again.

"Sas-Sasuke?" I forced myself to my feet clutching his jacket by my side. I scanned the trees for any movement. "Sasuke!"

"Quiet down." I spun around to see the dark haired man enter the small makeshift camp with a line of fish. "I just went to the river to get some food." With a pounding heart I let myself fall to the ground my hand over my heart.

"I thought you had left," I said relieved that he didn't. I didn't know what I would have done if he had left me alone in such a strange world. He walked around me and towards the fire. I noticed that the fish had already been cleaned and gutted. I could never stand watching that happen. Throwing more twigs to feed the fire Sasuke skewered the three fish and stuck them in the ground leaning towards the growing flames to cook. "Oh!" Realizing I was still clutching his jacket I handed it to him. "Here." My eyes glanced at his left shoulder. It was stained with something dark. Was that… "You're bleeding!" I nearly screamed pointing at his arm. He paid no mind to it.

"It's fine, I've cleaned and wrapped it up. It's nothing but a scratch." The adrenaline dropped at his statement.

"Oh… Okay. That's good." A silence settled between us the only sound coming from the fire. He spoke.

"I'll be leaving after this."

"Can I come?" He looked up at me, his dark eyes meeting my brown ones.

"You don't even know who I am."

"You helped me."

"I could hurt you." Are we really going to go through that entire conversation again?

"You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I believe you won't. I trust you." That bitter smile crept onto his face again. I tried to brace myself for whatever he would do.

"Do you trust every person you meet?" I shrugged switching my gaze from his eyes to the fish.

"I give the benefit of the doubt."

"You shouldn't. You never know what kind of people you will meet."

"I'll take that chance." Even though I had braced myself, or at least tried to, he still surprised me with his supernatural speed. Once again my back was on the ground this time both my hands held above my head by the wrists with his left while his right slammed next to my ear. He straddled my waist using his legs to pin mine down.

"Not all people will be as kind as you believe. That 'little bit of good' you try so hard to find in people can't be found in some." He leaned closer to my face. "Take me for instance. I can do whatever I want with you right now." I met his intense stare with mine. Despite that fact, I was still mysteriously not afraid.

"But I know you won't do anything. You didn't do anything yesterday, you won't do anything today. Why are you trying so hard to push me away?" That flicker behind his eyes appeared again, the grip on my wrists loosened. This was the second time in two days that this had happened to me. Was this going to be a normal daily routine between the two of us?

"I…I'm sorry," he whispered. He rolled away in one smooth movement his back towards me. I used my elbows to lift myself off the ground.

"Don't worry about it. I don't know what happened to you, but I think I know what's wrong with you or might at least." There was no answer so I decided to go on. "PTSD. Posttraumatic stress disorder, right? Or at least something like it?" I pulled myself up so that I sat cross-legged. "A lot of my friends' parents had that. I've heard stories about what they had to go through. I was lucky enough that my parents never went through anything to suffer from it."

"What do they do?" I stared at his back; it was wide but well toned and muscled.

"They kind of…freak out. It could be noises or actions that just set them off. They begin to think that they're back on the warfront and they act accordingly. It could range between that to nightmares to depressions. I guess it kind of depends on the person you are. Very few of my friends' parents are like the first I described. My grandpa was lucky but he does have nightmares sometimes of the past though they're rare."

"That's close, but it isn't it exactly." No, I was getting the feeling that it was a bit worse. "I might… snap sometimes," Sasuke said abruptly.

"What, like you just did earlier?" I asked trying to joke. It didn't really come out as I intended though.

"Like that and perhaps much worse. It just… depends," he bit out. I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"I understand."

"If I do, get out of the way." I nodded once more.

"Right."

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else."

-Cardinal De Retz