No excuses, I messed up. I should have posted this chapter at least a month ago but it's been one thing after another. One thing I learned was that it is much easier to write a whole story first and post it than it is to do it chapter by chapter, even if you already know how things are going to happen. I worked really hard on this chapter, I hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry this is so late in coming.

By the time I got to my feet he had already walked away. Damn he was a fast walker I thought. He was already halfway across the field. A dark haired blur of an individual detached itself from the group and moved towards him. Wait a minute... a group of four; one red head, one with dark hair, one with white and one with ...orange?

"Well Shit," I said

I watched as the figures met, converging on what I bet was the exact centre of the clearing. I couldn't see Itachi's face but I could see Sasuke's; it was as expressionless as ... well, as Itachi's usually was. Even so, his eyes were scarlet with the sharingan and the color alone made him look fierce.

The breeze rushed across the clearing carrying Itachi's voice back to me.

"Hello little brother."

"Are you ready to stop running now, you coward?" Sasuke responded

Itachi simply nodded and they both froze. I knew that they were probably engaged in a battle of genjutsu but to me it looked like the most epic staring contest ever. Were they really going to fight this out now? What happened to getting me back to Konoha? That bastard, he meets one long lost brother and forgets all about me.

"Hey!" I yelled and started running "Stop that! No fighting!"

I knew that my reaction was ridiculous. I was putting myself in the middle of a fight that simply had to happen. I even understood that it was what both men wanted but I just couldn't let it happen. It wasn't just my selfish desire to make it to Konoha alive and see my best friend again. Everything about Sasuke killing his brother, who had protected him the best he could, was simply wrong. I couldn't let it happen, not if I could prevent it.

I was within 10 feet of the two when a figure blurred into my path, blocking me. It was Suigetsu. I stopped and looked past him, panting. Taking deep breaths I felt for my chakra within me and sent it rushing into my legs. I didn't want to fight...okay, let's face it, Hidan aside, I couldn't beat a ninja much less one made of water.

"Uh, Suigetsu...no chance of you just moving out of my way, is there? I mean, this really isn't your fight." I said using my most reasonable voice.

He grinned at me, revealing pointy teeth. "No. Fight me!"

I frowned. What was it with ninjas and fighting? "I think not. I'm actually trying to stop a fight right now. You like Sasuke, right?"

It was his turn to frown. I guess asking a guy if he liked another guy was considered weird here too. "As a friend, you respect him as a ninja or whatever at least?" He reached back and drew Zabuza's sword "If you care about him at all, you won't let him fight his brother. Either he'll die and you guys will be leaderless and directionless again or he'll kill his brother and become an emotional wreck. I don't think you want either of those things to happen, so..."

"You're an idiot. I'll make this quick." He rushed me his sword swinging horizontally, angled to take my head off.

I pulled back so fast, I fell on my ass. No time to think, I rolled to avoid a strike that would have cut my chest open. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Why were people always trying to kill me? He was closer to me now than before, swinging his blade above his head, arms bulging with grotesque muscle growth. He swung down again, faster this time and I rolled out of the way in the opposite direction.

Whoosh, thud! I stopped my face inches in front of its reflection, his sword embedded in the grass right where my head would have been. The bastard was playing with me! Oooh, I hated ninjas! He was laughing now. I rolled unto my back and pushed myself to my feet. With slow deliberation he pulled the sword free and our eyes locked.

"I always thought the Akatsuki were supposed to be strong. You're disappointing me." He swung the sword up to rest the dull edge on his shoulder, the sharp edge glistened.

I panted. "No need for disappointment, waterboy, I'm not an Akatsuki. Hell, I'm not even a ninja."

"Really?" He swung suddenly, faster than I could see and faster than I could move to avoid. The blade stopped inches from my throat.

"How do I know you're not lying. You could wait till I turn my back and then slit my throat." he said. The giant blade was a still silent threat. Wrong answer and I was a goner.

"I don't know how to respond to that," I said

Behind him, Sasuke moved suddenly flinging shuriken at Itachi who leapt effortlessly out of the way. The shuriken came flying towards us. Suigetsu turned and deflected them with the flat of the blade. Seeing my chance, I moved to run around him and was suddenly airborne, strong arms wrapped around my torso. By the time I got my hair off my face, my feet hit ground and I was released.

"Erica!" then I was grabbed again, this time in a breath constricting hug.

"Sam?" I looked up at him and for a long moment I couldn't believe it was him. "Sam!" I sobbed and threw my arms around him burying my face against his chest.

"Erica, are you alright? Are you hurt?" He tried to look at my face but I clung to him like a starving leech. When I finally relented, he took my face in his hands and looked down at me. I looked up to meet his eyes. Before I could speak, his expression changed to puzzlement and then something that looked like rage. He glanced over to where Itachi and Sasuke were trading shuriken and kunai.

"Did he do this?" he asked

I was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about when he ran roughened thumbs over my cheeks, more specifically over the scar ridges on my cheeks.

"Oh those," I said but before I could explain there was a sudden rush of very hot air. I yelped and he pulled me to his chest and turned, shielding me from the heat with his body.

The blast stopped as suddenly as it started and he released me. Behind us between the Uchihas was a patch of charred grass.

"SASUKEEEEE! TEME BASTARD! I'M TAKING YOU BACK TO KONOHA!" came an ear splitting yell

I grinned automatically. Naruto sounded just like he did in the anime.

"Sakura, stop him!"came another familiar voice

I glanced over at the leader of Team 7 who had grabbed Naruto and was trying to keep him from rushing unto the field.

"Naruto, we talked about this," he said, his voice a tiny bit breathless. Naruto's eyes were turning red and the air around him seemed to ripple like heat. "We don't interfere unless Sasuke is in trouble. We have a plan remember?"

"But that bastard is fighting Sasuke! What if they disappear again? What if that bastard kills Sasuke!" He struggled harder and I could see why, Itachi and Sasuke were moving steadily (still fighting, of course) across the field and towards the western edge of the forest. Naruto managed to get his hands together and a clone appeared between him and Kakashi. He pulled away from his sensei but only made it a few feet before a small gloved fist collided with the back of his head. He face planted in a way that didn't look possible and the clone poofed.

"Sakura chan, I told you to disable him, not kill him. Will..."

"He'll be conscious in a few minutes. Nothing short of this will stop him from interrupting sensei."

"I know. Sam, you and Sakura tie him to that tree, it won't hold for long but maybe it'll give him enough time to calm down and see this rationally." Kakashi said pulling rope from his pack.

Sam said chuckled "Naruto... see Sasuke fighting Itachi rationally?"

For a moment I felt awkward. There was a sense of comraderie and friendship in this small group that I was not a part of. I looked at Sam, the same and yet so different and then away. I glanced back to the fight to see Itachi and Sasuke were almost at the edge.

"Um..." Kakashi turned to look at me but as my eyes met his ... eye, I realised that I didn't know what to say. "They're getting away." I added "Shouldn't we try to stop them or... catch up to them or something? What if someone gets hurt?"

"That's part of the plan actually." He said his voice light and completely at odds with the situation "There's nothing to worry about."

"Part of the plan?"

"Yeah," said Sam as he tightened a knot that effectively cocooned Naruto against the tree. "Let Itachi and Sasuke fight it out. When Sasuke kills his brother, we capture him and take him back to Konoha."

"We only intervene if Sasuke is in serious danger. Otherwise, we leave him to kill the bastard," Sakura finished darkly

"That's a terrible plan! You can't let Sasuke kill his brother! Are you insane!"

The three conscious members turned to look at me as though I'd grown a second head that looked like Nikki Minaj. "Sam," I said turning to him "we have to stop this fight. You have to trust me on this." I looked to Kakashi who was eying me speculatively. To my surprise it was Sakura who spoke.

"Uchiha Itachi is a murderer. He killed his entire clan. Sasuke deserves to kill him." She said earnestly.

I met their eyes in turn and saw only hardened determination.

"You don't understand..." I began

"Sam, I think you should take her to Mikan, Sai should be there by now. Go with him and make sure she gets back to Konoha safely. We can't risk her falling back into Akatsuki hands."

"Hai sensai, come on Erica." He held his arms open to me but i ignored him, instead I turned to Kakashi.

"This is wrong. Itachi doesn't deserve to die like this." His facial expressions simply switched off. Seeing my mistake, I tried to correct it. "Listen, Itachi isn't who he pretends to be. There's a lot more going here than what's on the surface. He's..." Sam was looking at me with a very strange expression and I realised that they thought I was...uh, seduced or something.

"Maybe we should leave now, Erica." Sam said reaching out to take my arm. I pulled away. "I'm sure everything will be fine but you're a civilian..."

"Sam, shut up. You need to know this." I met Kakashi's eye and took a deep breath. I needed to do this right. "Hatake Kakashi, ninja prodigy, student of the fourth hokage, also known as the copy ninja. You inherited your sharingan from Uchiha Obito, your team mate who was killed on your first mission as a jounin. Your father was the legendary White Fang and for a long time you were ashamed of him because he broke the ninja code or something." Okay, I thought, that was insensitive.

Kakashi looked at me blankly but that very moment Naruto's eyes popped open.

"But Saku...eh?" he had a dazed look and a bright red swelling on his temple. Unable to move, he turned his head slowly and spotted Sasuke and Itachi. His face hardened with determination.

"Sakura..." Kakashi said

She promptly walked over to Naruto and clonked him on the head again. He passed out. Sam, seeing my horrified expression, spoke.

"Don't worry about him, Naruto heals very quickly."

"I know that. It's because he's a jinchuuriki but that's not the point..."

"Sasuke!" came a panicked screech

I turned to the voice (Karin) and then looked to Sasuke and Itachi who had both stopped on the far edge of the clearing. Sasuke had drawn his sword at some point and Itachi had a kunai in each hand. They were both staring at a spot near where we had emerged from the forest.

"Oh my God, are they...?" Sam asked but I answered before any of Team 7 could.

"Yeah. Akatsuki members...Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame..."

Hidan spotted me and called out over the deafening silence, "Hey babe! Did you miss me?"

I couldn't help it. I took a step back. What were the odds that this would happen? A million to one? A billion? I looked back to the members of Team Taka. At some point, Suigetsu had rejoined his team mates so the three were huddled at the north edge of the clearing. All the same, I could see Suigetsu assessing the new group and showing special interest in Kisame. Karin looked terrified but her gaze flicked constantly from Sasuke to Itachi and then to the Akatsuki members. Juugo stood behind the other two looking weary but unafraid. I turned to Itachi to see that the brothers were moving apart. Sasuke was saying something to Itachi who, I think, nodded in response. Sasuke began moving away and towards his team. What the hell was going on here? Itachi turned to me his red eyes visible even from so far away. He looked at me for a long moment before turning towards his former team. I got the feeling that he had been trying to tell me something but I skipped meaningful glances in high school.

"Give us the jinchuuriki and the girl and you can leave." Kakuzu called moving towards us. Behind him, Hidan followed but Kisame stood leaning against Samehada his eyes fixed on Sasuke and his team. "As for you," He turned to Taka, his yellow eyes seeming more ...abnormal in daylight "Shoo!"

"Erica," Sam said taking my hand an tugging at it "We need to go and we need to go now."

His looked alarmed but not scared. Naruto was awake and casting glances at Sasuke. Kakashi was studying Kakuzu as he approached us. Sensing my gaze, he turned to me.

"We don't have much time. If you have something important to say, something that can help us, now would be the time."

Oh boy, I thought, where do I start?

There was a sudden gust of air that flattened the tops of the trees and sent their leaves whipping past us. High above us, riding a huge clay dragon was Deidara.

"You didn't think I'd just stay behind, did you, un?" he looked down at us and singled out Itachi "Today, I'm going to show you the meaning of true art!"