Hey guys, it's thursday and do you know what that means? Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!...oh and I have a chapter for you. I want to thank my Beta Wingedmercury (for being an awesome editor) and all the people who favorited and reviewed. This is actually the first part of a long chapter so look out for the second part next week or so.

BEHIND BARS

I lay in a room full of sunlight, listening to children playing and people talking on the street outside. I wore only a thin hospital gown, a crisp white sheet pulled up to my waist. Groaning I tried to sit up. My body felt strangely bruised. A faint rustle brought my attention to the bed next to me. I yelped and pulled the sheet right up to my chin. Lying at ease in the bed next to me was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

"What are you doing here?" He looked at me then turned to face the opposite wall.

I frowned at him as I got out of bed, yelping occasionally as I encountered sensitive areas of skin. WhydoIfeellikeanoverripebanana?I wondered. The last I remembered I was on Kakashi's back and then...nothing. Somethinghappened,didn'tit? Easing my feet to the cool floor, I pulled the sheet around me to conceal my exposed rear end and limped over to the window. Opening the curtain, I looked out over a sprawling village from behind thick iron bars. Omg!I'minKonoha!I reached out to touch them but pulled back when something like electricity zinged through my hand.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! The fuck!" I stuck my smarting fingers into my mouth "Shtupid freakin bars..."

Much as it hurt, the shock was a good thing; my brain seemed to start into thought. I turned to look at the room's other occupant. IwasinaroominKonohawithItachi...Thereareelectricbarsonthewindows. I turned and marched purposefully to the door and grabbed the handle, trying to turn it. Locked...shit!IwaslockedinaroomwithItachiUchiha,awantedcriminalinthevillagewherehecommittedaclan-fullofatrocityandIdidn'trememberhowIgothere...I glanced at Itachi who had pulled the covers over his head. Hewouldknowbutheclearlydoesn'twanttotalk...Whywasheevenhere?Wasn'thefightinghisbrother?Washeaprisonerhere...washetheprisonerKakashihadmentioned?Howcouldtheycapturehim...wait...ifhewasaprisonerandIwaslockedinwithhim...wasIaprisonertoo?I was about to go ask him (despite his obvious desire to be left alone) when the door behind me opened. I jumped back as two masked men entered, followed by Kakashi, Sakura, Sam and a tall blond woman who wore her hair in pigtails.

"Tsunade..." I muttered, drawing her bright blue eyes to mine

"Excuse me? I don't believe we've met much less given you permission to address me so informally!" she said glaring at me, hands clenched on the clipboard in front of her

"Uh...sorry...Hokage sama. I didn't mean anything by it, I just..."

"Never mind," she said suddenly brisk "Sam, take Erica to the kitchen."

"But I'm not dressed..."I said as Sam came over and took my arm.

"Don't worry about it, come on." He said leading me outside.

I looked back in time to see Itachi sit up and Tsunade open the chart before I the door was shut in my face. The dining room was small and unfinished-looking with a sturdy wooden table and two chairs. The walls were bare and the whole room felt freshly put together.

"Sam...?"

"I'll explain everything in a minute, eat something first." He said sitting opposite me and opening one of the two food cartons on the table. I opened my mouth to ask again but he shook his head, "Eat." HadSamalwaysbeenthisdamnbossy?

"Hn!" I said and picked up my chopsticks. I began eating stopping occasionally to smirk at Sam's clumsy attempts to get food to his face. When he felt that I'd laughed at him enough, he set down the box and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin.

"How can you eat with these things? I've lost 10lbs since I got here." He leaned back and folded his arms, waiting for me to finish. I used the time to study him more thoroughly. Sam had grown since I'd seen him all those weeks ago but that wasn't the extent of his changes. His curly hair had been trimmed almost to the scalp, giving his once babyish face a more hardened masculine look. He wore a short sleeved black t-shirt (it looked like a Tshirt but was probably ninja wear) and long black cargo pants. Beneath the table he tapped a sandal-clad foot. I had spent the last three weeks with ninja and I had read a shitload of fanfiction...Sam was becoming a ninja. I licked the ends of the chopsticks clean and tilted the empty box for Sam to see.

"I've been a good girl and eaten all my veggies, can you answer my questions now?"

"Were you always such a bitch Erica?" He asked smiling and handing me a canteen.

Taking it I drank before replying "No, I've been having a hard couple of weeks. I thought you were happy to see me? I got a hug and everything." I watched the bottle disappear into a pocket in his pants. Didthosepocketshaveblackholesorsomething?

"I want to ask you something, well two things actually. Are you still angry about me leaving you to go to Konoha? I felt guilty the moment..."

"Don't be silly Sam. I was upset but never really angry. I missed you, Sam. I missed you a lot." I said reaching over to take his hand.

"You did? Erica...I..."

"I mean, you're the only person I can trust here. You're the only person who really knows me... you're my best friend Sam. I love you." I scrambled up in a bout of affection and wrapped my arms around him, pressing his head to my chest. He turned red as a beet and fought to speak.

"I...I love you too...I think. Now stop suffocating me." He said pushing me off him, a strange expression on his face.

I glanced up and saw a face retreat from sight down the hall. We were being watched. IwonderifSamknows?He followed my gaze behind him and then turned determinedly back, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Forget those guys. They can't repeat anything they hear; it's part of the Anbu code." he said

"Sam, are you a ninja?" I asked, earning a shocked but pleased expression.

"No, not really...it's complicated. I'm in training but it's to control my ability not to go on missions. They only let me go with them last time because I knew you and they thought we wouldn't actually find anything."

I leaned forward, "You have an ability? What can you do?"

He smirked and leaned forward "Sorry, Demiblonde, I can't tell you. It's a secret." He leaned back and folded his arms, an infuriating smile in his eyes and a quirk at his mouth.

"Don't be irritating Sam, just tell me, I won't tell anyone. I mean, I don't know anyone, who would I tell?"

He turned serious immediately "How about that psychotic boyfriend of yours? I know you have bad tastes Erica but he killed..."

"Hidan is not my boyfriend and that kiss was disgusting!"

"...his entire family..." He finished looking struck "Erica, please say you didn't..."

"You had a second question, right?" I said, folding my arms and making it clear that I wasn't going to talk about it.

"Erica, that was my second question...kind of. I'm supposed to find out the exact nature of your relationship with Uchiha Itachi but I think I'd like to hear about Hidan while we're on the subject. You kissed him? The guy tried to kill me!"

"First of all, there is nothing to tell about Itachi. He's not a bad guy...it's complicated and I'm not really sure how much I should say and how much you guys already know. Is he talking? Did he tell them about the massacre? Do they know the truth?"

"Tell them what? That he killed his entire family to prove that he was better than them, to prove that he was more powerful? Do you mean that truth? Or the truth about how he drove his brother mad and is trying to kill Naruto? How about all the other..."

"Sam, you don't know what you're talking about." I said "As for Hidan, I don't think his mother kissed him willingly and neither did I, end of discussion."

"Erica!"

"Sam!"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. There was a thump and Naruto went flying through the bedroom wall and collided hard with the other wall of the corridor.

"Baka Baa-sama! I have to kill him! Once he's dead, Sasuke will come back. Now get out of my way!" He charged through the open doorway and sounds of a struggle ensued. Sam got up and ran to the room. I followed more slowly. By the time I got there, Sam had a blue Naruto in a headlock and Sakura was lecturing and punching him on the head.

"We went over this a thousand times! Sasuke will come back to Konoha because Itachi is here...alive! Bakayaro!" with a final thump she turned and stomped off and Sam released Naruto.

"I don't understand! He's a bad guy! A monster! He killed his parents! He's the reason Sasuke couldn't find any peace! He still calls himself Sasuke's brother for fuck's sake!" tears welled in his eyes and he turned to Itachi where he sat upright and emotionless "I'm a better brother to Sasuke than you ever were and when this is over and he's back, we're going to kill you together!" With that dreadful statement Naruto walked away.

Itachi didn't react at all during the tirade but as everyone watched Naruto leave I saw a small sad smile quirk his lips before his face went blank again.

"Uh...Erica?" Sam said as I shuffled back to my cot. All heads turned in my direction as I felt cool air against my bare behind.

"Shit!" I said. I'd forgotten my blanket at the table.

I like to hear what you guys think about what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Your opinion is important. Review if you can.