After begging on the streets for three days, I'd finally gathered enough coins to buy some essentials: A spool of tan thread, a needle, three feet of two different colours of fabric, five matches, a woven basket, and a small container of onigiri. I didn't know how to sew at all, but I figured I could attempt some warm, patched-up clothes out of it.

When I got back to the small hill where Itachi convinced me to live until I got everything straightened out, I saw someone had built a fire at the top. I smirked, thinking of Itachi trying to light a fire, and sat down next to it, taking the fabric, needle, and thread out of the basket. I began to cut and sew the baby blue fabric into a hood with a shawl attached to the bottom, like a shroud of some sort. Once that was done, I folded it and put it into the basket to swap it for the pale yellow fabric to sew a scarf. I was almost halfway done with it when I couldn't keep my eyes open and soon fell asleep.

I awoke in the late morning with the fire put out, and the finished scarf nicely folded next to me with the coloured Uchiha symbol stitched into the middle. I smiled, and wrapped it around my neck loosely where the symbol didn't show. Itachi seemed proud of his Clan, but I wasn't so stupid as to flaunt it around Konoha.

****

Two weeks later, I woke to rain, but I was completely dry. I looked around and saw I was now somewhere in the forest, a tall tree serving as my umbrella. All of my things were exactly the way I'd left them, but we were all just... moved. I hadn't seen Itachi since that day he convinced me to live independently in nature, yet he'd been here, doing all of these little things for me. I wished I could see him...

I stood up, the scarf he finished for me still around my neck, since I hadn't taken it off since I found it, and looked around. It was still night, and the eerie trees surrounded me from every direction. I heard a rustle from a nearby tree, and looked just in time to see a tall man jump from it landing in front of me. I looked up to see brown eyes glare back angrily. "It--?"

I didn't have time to finish before the man grabbed me by the neck and threw me against the tree. I sunk down to the ground, my scarf slipping off. He walked closer, and said, "Watcha' doin' here in the woods by yerself, girly?" He saw the Uchiha symbol on the scarf and hesitated, "A-an Uchiha?! No w--" At that moment, he was thrown a distance to my right, and another man with blood red eyes emerged from the shadows.

I shook with fear, his eyes boring into mine. His eyes were like daggers, like they could slit my throat any second. When I could see him clearly, I was shocked to see Itachi was the one in possession of those violent eyes. "Itachi?!"

"Did he hurt you?" he demanded. I nodded a little, and looked away, too scared to look into those death traps. He walked over to the man who was now trying to crawl away and lifted him into the air by his throat, saying, "Mangekyou Sharingan!" The man instantly stilled. A moment later, blood dripped from his lips, and his brown eyes faded to a dull sand colour. His body went limp, and Itachi dropped him, letting his blood form a pool on the damp soil.

Itachi finally turned to me, his eyes transforming back to their original deep black. He frowned slightly and walked over to me, kneeling and wrapping his arms around me. It was then I realized I was crying. He looked into my eyes and wiped a tear that was falling down my cheek. His eyes... were so kind. How could they hold something so terrible? I leaned over until my face was buried in his shoulder and sobbed. He hushed me softly, placing his hand on the back of my head. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore, and slowly pulled my face from his shoulder. I gazed up at him innocently, and he quickly captured my lips with his. My eyes widened in shock, but I kissed him back nonetheless. We stayed like that for a long time.

I finally broke it, a single tear running down my cheek and dripping off my chin, and I smiled a little, feeling reassured. I knew he wasn't going to leave me anytime soon.

There's chapter four for you! Don't forget to review...? And perhaps favourite...?

Thank you for reading! Check out my other stories, including the fic that this is a prequel to: Those Tainted Eyes.

New chapter out probably... mid-week? Stay on alert! :)

- Alice Rose