Hello! Chapter 16 is here. Thank you to all those who have reviewed. Please enjoy my lovelies! :)

Chapter 16- Frozen Snow

"Well, I'm going now. Bye!" she said, trying to remain cheerful despite the gut feeling insider her. Kana knew Hajime could tell that her smile was fake, but what more could she do in front of Danzou?

"Kana, wait!" he said quickly. He grabbed her wrist. "Be careful out there. Don't do anything reckless. Keep warm, stay on guard, watch out for anything suspicious, and listen well at the summit."

She chuckled. "It's just like you to fret about me like this. Don't worry. I'll be fine. I've got Sai with me and he's much more level-headed than I am." She dropped her tone and moved closer. "But I do have a feeling inside me, that something's going on out there. It's sickening."

"That's not good." His brow creased with concern. "Just promise me, promise you will come back in once piece, Kana. Please."

"Sure."

Like it was the natural thing to do, Kana and Hajime embraced on the spot. She felt her cheeks flushing.

"Wait for me, okay?" she said into his chest.

He released her, and nodded solemnly. "Good luck," he replied, keeping one eye on a hawk-like Danzou.

And so, Kana, Sai and Danzou were off on the lengthy journey to the Land of Iron, the neutral nation ruled over by the samurai, the noble swordsmen. They refused to be involved in international conflicts and disassociated themselves with the 'kill or be killed' attitudes of shinobi, so Kana was incredibly curious to meet them.

The cool wind of the north of the land of Fire bit into her skin through the thick cloak, which flapped about and provided little warmth. The singular tie at the top was the only thing holding it together.

"Danzou," she complained, "How long is it until was actually get there?"

"We have been going for two days. There is still quite some time until we reach the land of Iron. Now be quiet. Do as Sai does."

Do as Sai does, indeed. He merely followed Danzou with a completely expressionless face, and he hadn't said a word since they had left. What had happened to that close friendship that existed between them? Sai, passionate about art, with the honest smile and even more honest words, awkward yet endearing… seeing him in this emotionless state reminded her of something. Yes, that time in the forest, on the mission with Hajime. Her mind had retreated into the safest place it knew. Maybe that was what was happening to Sai right now. Whatever it was, it was making this trip a whole lot more boring.

At last they came to a halt and were told to start the fire for warmth. They needed it. The air was bitter and swirling around them, mercilessly stealing any warmth they had remaining in their bodies. Danzou disappeared soon after, but Kana was grateful for that.

"Sai, are you okay?" she asked a little nervously.

He hesitated, checked around him, and breathed a small sigh of relief. "Yes. You don't need to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine."

"Is it making you nervous, being around Danzou again?"

"Like it or not, he is my superior still, and there is nothing that can change that fact. I can't get around the feelings I lose when given orders. It is all I've ever known."

Kana murmured something in agreement, but the sound disappeared with the wind that whooshed through the vicinity. The fire was instantly diminished in the freezing rush of air. Annoyed, she weaved the signs and said, "Fire style, great fireball technique." Great fireball technique indeed, but she allowed the tiniest portion of chakra to escape, just enough to light the fire again.

"I'll keep it going," she said to Sai. "Don't worry."

A curl of a smile entered Sai's lips.

The daylight was fading, and Danzou had still not returned. It wasn't as if she cared, but it did arouse her curiosity, just like everything else. Someone like him skulking around a foreign country, alone, when he was supposed to be journeying to a summit, was definitely suspicious. This wasn't to mention the fact that… yes, Danzou's chakra was gone. It was the trace of another presence that made her bristle.

This whole thing reeked of the masked man's chakra.

She'd done her reading in the Leaf Library, she'd asked Itachi sometime in her childhood, she's asked around. This man was not Madara Uchiha. Madara Uchiha was an ancient shinobi, bested by Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, at the place now known as the Valley of the End. He controlled the kyuubi, used the mangekyou sharingan, used the greatest eye techniques. It made sense for someone like him to go off the radar for a bit, but there was no way he was alive now, not like this. Hidden behind a mask? It wasn't godlike at all. So it begged the question: who the hell was the masked man? He had lied to everyone, deceived even the best, and he had some dangerous ideas…

Goose bumps rose on her arms, and a shiver coursed through her body. Something was coming…

"Sai, get down!"

She grabbed his collar and forced him down to the ground. Shielding him with her body, Kana reached for her kunai and held the glinting metal in her hand, ready.

"Whoever it is, come out and face me!"

This was nothing like his style. Not one bit. This was an all-out offensive attack, not the normal subterfuge. What the hell was he playing at? Had he disposed of Danzou?

Sai remained silent. He knew better than to question a person's reason for suspecting attack and reacting to it accordingly. He might have done the same, but without the shouting.

Someone began to emerge from the shadows, their feet biting into the snow. Kana narrowed her eyes and allowed Sai to stand up along with her. They were deathly silent, and remained in instinctively crouched positions.

A voice addressed her, "Kana… Where did all your bravado disappear to? That cocky smile you had when fighting at Itachi's side, the love of battle, where did it go? Seeing you look so solemn is strange, especially when I know how much excess chakra you have inside you."

"Move so we can see you, dammit!"

"As you wish."

That hideous orange mask came first from the darkness, standing stark against the black and red cloak. He needed no introduction to Sai, whose body tensed. It wasn't visible but the small amount of fear he had was obvious to her.

"What are you doing here?" her voice died; halfway through her sentence, she guessed the answer. "I knew it, I knew you'd come for me. How could I have been so stupid?"

"Before I knock you unconscious, I'd like to take some time to explain things to you, if you don't mind."

"Like hell I mind! What is there that has to be explained at a time like this?"

Yeah, right. My whole life needs explaining. I always worked everything out on my own, but not now.

"Before your power is used to benefit Akatsuki, I thought I'd tell you about yourself, those parts you had been dying to know, that no-one could ever explain to you." He sighed. "Why do you think you were even brought to Itachi in the first place? An ignorant village girl, devoid of any special traits apart from one. You see Kana, before I put my plan into motion, I'll do some explaining to Naruto, and to you. You need to know things."

"Why? What's the point?"

"A whim."

A mask concealed his features, but she noted with disgust that he must have been smirking underneath it.

"Are you going to listen to me, or not? I'm sure you'd like to know." He instantly dissolved into the air, and reappeared directly behind Sai. "This should be some motivation."

And he touched Sai's back, sending him reeling into the next dimension.

"Damn you!"

"If you want your friend to come back, you'll comply."

Kana had no choice. She straightened her back and allowed the feelings of hopelessness to snake through her body.

"Thank you. Shall I begin then? No interruptions, mind, or your friend will not come back." He sighed again, and cocked his head in thought. "I suppose the first place I should start is your birth, since you know nothing about it."

"I'm just a village girl… What more is there to know?"

"Silence," he warned. "You are no village girl. You are, without a doubt, an Uchiha."

OOO

"…Yes. It was sixteen years ago now, that you were born to the brother of the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha. Your father, Masajun, was a simple man, and despite being the older brother of Fugaku, was not named head of the clan. He lived an ordinary life, married an ordinary Uchiha woman, Suzume, and gave birth to what they thought was an ordinary girl. However, it wasn't to be so.
At your birth, you opened your eyes and revealed something that terrified your parents and all those around you. Your eyes displayed a sharingan, a sharingan with four tomoe commas around the centre. Such a thing had never been seen. A minority of the Uchiha received a sharingan pair of eyes, and even fewer possessed the cursed mangekyou, but a sharingan with four tomoe commas was unstable, untested, unseen.
It was an abnormality, something to be feared above all else. One of your crying fits could destroy a room, and it scarred your parents deeply. It was then that I once again decided to appear in the Leaf.
Your parents, who gave you life, were terrified enough to hand you over to me without a second thought. I sealed your powers, and gave you away to an ordinary village to live your life, planning to come back for you when it was time for the seal to weaken, when I could develop your power. When you turned eight years old, your village was attacked by ninjas, and I met you once again, after you had used your gifts to kill someone for the first time."

Kana momentarily stopped breathing.

"This is… It's all true?"

"Every word. Did you not wonder why you were different to the other children? Why you could always see a mere ghost of a smile, why you sensed a certain incompatibility with your family… Something wrenched in Itachi's heart the moment you met him for the first time. It's because he suspected the very thing that is true… You are Itachi's cousin, Kana, a fellow Uchiha whom he watched get given away. He buried it at the back of his mind, silently disregarded that you had anything to do with him. He rarely thought of it but it nestled in his mind for the whole time. Over the years… you grew fond of each other, did you not?"

"I… I don't know what to… So I've been used my whole life? Just because I was born with this weird sharingan?" She spat on the ground, her whole body trembling. "It's sick! How could you do that to a kid? I…" Her bottom lip trembled. "I could have been a normal kid! I could have grown up in the Leaf and been a shinobi like the rest… I hate you!"

"Your hatred is justified…Although, if you had been brought up in the Leaf, you would have been slaughtered by Itachi's hand." He shook his head. "I have to say though, that you were born that way coincided wonderfully with the plans that your power could be used for. You'll come with me tonight, Kana."

"Whatever you want with me, I'm not going! I refuse to be used anymore!"

"Foolish girl." His tone reached a new level of threat. "You'll not resist any more. You can't harm me, not while your powers are sealed, and don't forget… that I placed that seal on those eyes of yours. Though I'll admit it had weakened, it's strong enough so that your true potential is locked up. Now Pain is dead, only I know how to release it."

"Shut the hell up! Lightning style, lightning dragon jutsu!" A dragon of blinding white and blue light erupted from her woven signs and illuminated the night sky, reflecting wonderfully off the glistening ice. It roared into the darkness and launched itself at the masked man with alarming speed.

And it cascaded right through his body.

"Surely you realise you can't actually hit my body?"

Crap. Just bluff it. "Yeah, I've been told about the tiny time gaps in between your uses, too. Can't fool me."

She darted forward and tossed a kunai forward, and it careered through his head, as expected. After it went through, she smirked and twitched her finger; this kunai was attached to her index finger with a barely visible chakra string.

She contracted her finger and brought it back. Simultaneously, she gathered a huge amount of lightning energy in her palm.

The kunai passed back through his head. He used that space-time jutsu, letting it right through. Now was her chance.

"Now!"

She twisted her body around him and- yes- her fistful of lightning chakra slammed into the masked man's back. He convulsed, shuddered, and sank to the ground in a slow arc, seeming to leave a blur of afterimages despite the hazy, slow speed. Anticlimactic, at best. Kana sighed and laughed a little in triumph, but noticed something odd.

With a small rush of smoke, the substitution block of wood appeared in the place of his mangled body.
No, no… She shook her head, so sure she had it right. That meant that the odd sense of foreboding behind her was…

Something- a hand, maybe- smashed into the back of her neck and she fell into the blackness.