DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!

A place I can call home.

Chapter 2

Portal of Doom!

I woke up blinking sleep out of my eyes. Rays of morning light beamed down through the gaps of the forest roof. I got up groggily looking around the area and found Kisame sitting on the other side of where the fire was.

"Rise and shine Itachi-chan!" he said.

"We better get going now."

"But you just woke up."

"And?"

Kisame didn't argue. I guess he wanted to go home. We walked for about 3 hours now and I'm guessing it's roughly 8:30 am.

"Hey mister! You're a fish!" a little girl's voice appeared out of no where. She was tiny and she looked like she was looking for trouble. I was guessing she was around 5 years old.

"Where'd you come from? And I know I look like a fish." Kisame said obviously surprised.

"Where did you get that huge popsicle? Can I eat it? Can you give me a piggy back ride while I eat it? Why do you have nail polish on if you're a man? Why are you dressed weird? Where are you headed to? Can I come too?" she babbled on avoiding Kisame's question. She must have ADHD or something.

"My Samehada is not a popsicle and now you obviously can't eat it because it'll eat you! Run along squirt! Scram! We don't want you here." Kisame said obviously annoyed.

"Hi! My name is Anri! What's your name?" she said turning to me. I crouched down to talk to her.

"Hello there, Anri. I'm Itachi." I replied politely. Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Why are you out here all by yourself? It's dangerous for you to be out here." I told her.

"I came out here looking for something with my brother but then he ran off and left me out here by myself." she replied but she wasn't worried.

"What do you want to do take her home or something, I'm sure we'll be welcomed." Kisame said mockingly.

"We can't take her home unless you want to get beaten into a bloody pulp. I guess we just knock her out and leave her here or she'll follow us." I pointed out. Kisame wield his sword and had a huge grin across his face.

"I'm ready!" he mused.

"Are you crazy? We can't harm her!"

"Then what do you suggest we do about her, genius?"

"I'll just have to put her in a genjutsu."

Anri's eyes were wide with terror. "What? You're bad guys?" she asked.

"No no it's ok, we won't harm you." I calmed her down.

A moment later, she was asleep, trapped in a genjutsu. Eventually people are going to wonder where she is and come out to look for her. We just left her there and started walking.

We walked and walked until we reached an enormous cave. It was ominous as darkness descended beyond the mouth of the cave.

"We're here, well almost." Kisame broke the silence.

"Don't you think it's a little too exposed?" I asked staring disappointedly at the cave.

"Nah"

We went inside and walked a few yards inside. Kisame dad a few hand signs and touched the wall. Within moments the walls rumbled and the spot where he had touched the wall began to part creating a door. Behind it was a narrow passage way that lead deeper into the cave. It had torches with eerie green flames flickering and lighting the path. Just up ahead, was a flight of steps.

"And you say we're exposed." Kisame teased standing at the top of the steps with a wide grin of amusement across his face.

As I caught up, I felt faint and weak like something was draining the charka out of me. The air shifted instantly. It felt as if the air itself was vibrating and I started to feel dizzy because of it. My brain felt like someone was bashing a hammer against it.

"This is holy grounds. The stronger and eviler you are, the weaker you're going to be. Anyone who comes here, their soul will be purified of all sins. And even the most heretic soul can become a saint here but once they step out, they will be their old self again. This is what it's like in every border between the human world and another." Kisame explained looking and sounding as sick as I felt.

"You mean to tell me that the Akatsuki lives in a different realm?" I asked, my voice quivering.

"Yes."

I felt my legs shaking. You know the feeling when you carry your school bag that one day when you get a shit load of homework? Well, my situation is nothing compared to that. I fell down on my knees, my right hand on the wall for support. Kisame helped me up.

"You shouldn't be this weak." I sounded a little concerned.

"It must be because of Susanoo."

My body was starting to go numb. We managed to go down the flight of steps and all the way at the bottom was a huge ominous room. There were rows and rows of pews and 6 aisles that lead to a shrine in the middle with lit up candles all over it. There were open doors all around the edge of the room which lead to never-ending hallways. I didn't feel weak anymore and my body wasn't numb. But I still knew this was holy grounds. There was still a slight vibration air. A man in white robes emerged from behind the shrine. He must've been a monk.

"Greetings. So you've returned Kisame." the monk said with a kind voice but disgust in his eyes. I could tell he hated sinners even if their souls were purified. Something about him told me he wasn't human.

"We would like to go back home now." Kisame replied though I was surprised because he was so serious.

"I know, Lord Pein is waiting. Allow me to escort you to him." as the mysterious monk spoke, it only confirmed my suspicions of him not being human. It was like his voice itself shook the air a little more. There was some sort of inhuman energy emitting from him.

As we walked through the eerie passage way, my curiosity was growing. What was he? Well, whatever he is, he won't do any harm but I still shouldn't let my guard down.

"He's an angel. Angels guard this place and they never leave." Kisame whispered into my ear. No wonder he doesn't like sinners.

"I guess angels aren't as angelic as they say they are. They make it seem like they are loving, caring, and heavenly beings but they are no different than the Uchihas. They're just as hateful. How ironic…" I smirked in amusement as I thought to myself. As we kept strolling through hall, I heard a soft chanting. It was just a hymn. It grew louder and louder as we continued walking.

The angel stopped in front of an enormous wooden door.

"Lord Pein awaits you." he spoke in a humble tone.

"Thank you." Kisame replied a little disgusted. What did he have against the angel?

We walked into the dark room. It was empty all except for a huge glowing diagram on the floor. On the edge of the diagram, stood a figure of man with rinnegan. He was there but he wasn't there at the same time, it was like he was some sort of hologram. According to my sharing an, he was using the power of his ring. So this was the "Lord Pein" I've been hearing all about.

"So you've arrived. It sure took you long enough." he spoke impatiently.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." the blue Akatsuki member humble spoke before his leader.

"So we meet at last, Uchiha. Tell me, how does it feel to be the last of your clan after murdering them?" the man asked with amusement in his purple eyes.

"I detest being one of those foul beings but it surely doesn't feel any different." I replied calmly and emotionlessly.

"Fair enough, now Kisame, you know what to do. Itachi, stand in the middle of the circle." he ordered. I did as he told and Kisame stood at the opposite end of the diagram from lord Pein. They began doing the same hand signs and chanting along to which hand signs they were doing. Their voice mingled in an ominous way, the kind that will send a shiver down your spine and give u goose bumps. As soon as they finished, they bit their thumb do draw out blood and crouched down to touch the diagram. For a second, nothing happened, it was dead silence. A moment later, everything was spinning around and the room had disappeared and everything was white. We were only standing on the diagram. Suddenly, there was a screeching pain in my head. It felt as if my bones we're grinding against each other. I couldn't hold on any longer. Everything went black as I shut my crimson eyes.

…...

(Readers, I know this may seem boring and slow but I promise, in the next chapter, Itachi will meet the Akatsuki. I have a lot planned for this story and I might not be able to publish chapters so often. So, I apologize for that and I'll try to publish them ASAP.)