Aimi and Sasuke rode on the horses given them back to town. "Please don't tell anyone about this, Aimi… but thanks." Sasuke said softly as they rode. Aimi only nodded with a smile on her face. They rode into town. Immediately, they noticed something was wrong. Clouds had moved in. A chill was in the air. And no one was out.

"I think he has returned." Aimi whispered. Sasuke nodded grimly. "He has arrived." Sasuke and Aimi got off their horses. Sasuke began to walk into the town center. Aimi followed. Sasuke stopped. "Aimi… maybe you shouldn't come to this one." he suggested. Aimi stared at him. "No. I am coming with you. You won't be ok without help…" she began. "No. Go home." he replied sternly. "OK. But promise you wont get hurt." Aimi said. Sasuke was silent. "Promise me, Sasuke." she said again. He stayed silent. "Please. Promise me!" she cried. Sasuke looked into her scared eyes. "I promise." he said quietly. She nodded and they headed in their different directions. Sasuke ran into the town center and Aimi ran home.

When Sasuke reached the town center, there was Itatchi, lying in wait for his brother to arrive just like a spider waits for a fly. "Hello, brother." he said cooly. Sasuke glared at him. "What do you want, Itatchi?" he asked sullenly. "Where's the girl?" Itatchi asked. "What do you want with Aimi?" Sasuke replied, slowly beginning to circle Itatchi. "Nothing much," Itatchi replied with ease. "YOU aren't allowed near her." Sasuke growled.

"Why not?" Itatchi asked innocently."You'd kill her."

"Smart boy. But no, not yet. There is something I want from her first."

"No."

Itatchi grinned. "Well then. Goodbye to you." Itatchi raised his sword above his head, about to crash it down on Sasuke when a voice called, "NO!" Aimi ran into the square. "Aimi… I told you to stay away…" Sasuke pleaded. Aimi ignored him. "Take me. Just leave him alone!" she cried out. Itatchi lowered his sword to his side and grinned an evil grin. "Good girl," Itatchi said, grabbing her, then to Sasuke, "Looks like she saved you." Sasuke stood up. "NO! You will not take her! I wont let you!" Sasuke yelled. Aimi looked over at him from Itatchi's grasp. She shook her head. "Yes you will." she said. Sasuke stood there, staring that them. Aimi got one last look at him standing alone and confused while she was dragged away.

Sasuke waited a while before following them. Itatchi will not win.

()()()()()()

Aimi sat alone in a small room while waiting for Itatchi to come in. When he did, he told her to lie down immediately. She obeyed. Itatchi grinned and put his hand on her heart. His grin faded. "O fortuna, Velut luna. You love my brother." he said. Aimi glared at him. "So what if I do?" she asked meanly. "Silence! Now. I will take what I want." he said. He kept his hand over her heart. Then he pulled up his hand a little, as if he was pulling up her heart. Aimi felt like something was being taken away from her. Taken away from her and going into Itatchi. He stopped after about a minute. "There. I have the power." he said aloud. Then as if he didn't want anyone to hear, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "The power of love. Heh. You really think what you did will save my pathetic little brother?" Then he pulled away and left Aimi alone.

That was when Aimi noticed Sasuke climb in a window. "What did he do to you?" he asked urgently, rushing to her side. Aimi didn't look at him. "Aimi?" he asked, kneeling down beside her. She looked away. He turned her over to face him and pulled her closer. "Aimi… are you alright?" Aimi shook him off her. "Aimi?" his voice quivered. She shook her head. "He stole the power of love." Aimi whispered. Sasuke flared up in anger. Then he hugged her. Aimi hugged back. She saw Itatchi in the doorway. She felt like she was under his power or something when he mouthed the words, "kill him."

So she pulled out her dagger and held it up above Sasuke's back. Itatchi grinned. She cried. She moved the dagger closer to Sasuke. She imagined him on the floor, dead. She imagined Itatchi smiling. She imagined her horror at what she herself did. She cried. She shut her eyes… and dropped the dagger to the floor. "No." she whispered. "You hear me Itatchi? I won't!" she called out. Sasuke pulled away. "What are…" he began. But Itatchi moved in fast and angrily. "Then I will!"

He grabbed the dagger off the floor. He covered Sasuke's eyes with his hand and held the dagger to his neck. "The power of love cannot save him now! For you do not have it anymore!" he called evily. Sasuke did not fight back. He just stood there, waiting for the end. Aimi wasn't sure of what to do. Itatchi started by cutting Sasuke's chest a little. Sasuke gasped in pain. "Wait. It will be worse soon." Itatchi moved it back up to Sasuke's neck. Aimi jumped into action. "I love him!" she yelled. She attacked Itatchi. He fell back and hit his head, making him knock himself out.

She ran to Sasuke. She saw his big cut. "Oh no…" she whispered. "Are you alright?" Sasuke asked Aimi. "Me? I'm fine. But you…" she trailed off, staring at his wound. "Oh this! Puh! I'm fine!" he replied. Aimi sighed. "No you aren't. You are losing too much blood. Now lie down." Aimi commanded. "But-" Sasuke tried. "DO IT!" He obeyed quickly. She slowly healed the wound despite Sasuke's complaints.

"Come on," Aimi said when she finished, "he'll wake up any minute now."

Aimi and Sasuke ran. The farther away from Itatchi, the better. "Should I take you to your house?" Aimi asked as they ran. "No! He'll look for me there." Sasuke called back up to Aimi. "My house, then?" Aimi asked back. "If that's ok." he called forward. They ran full speed to Aimi's.

Once inside, they didn't really know what to do next. "So… you're just going to hide out here until Itatchi leaves?" Aimi asked. Sasuke shook his head. "Itatchi will not leave until he has one, if not both, of us." he replied. "So… you're gonna hide out here for the rest of your life?" Aimi asked. Again, he shook his head. "I will fight until one of us gives up or is dead. I just need to stay here so he wont kill me in my sleep and so I can have a safe place to recover." Sasuke said. "I just hope you don't kill yourself." Aimi said sadly. "I wont." Sasuke said, standing tall. Aimi shook her head. "Whatever you say." she said. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked. "I'm just scared for you." Aimi said. "I wont die." Sasuke said, holding his hand over his heart.

"Don't make promises you cant keep."

"I never break my promises."

"You better not."

()()()()NEXT MORNING()()()()\

Aimi trotted down the stairs to find Sasuke konked out on the couch. He looked peaceful. Aimi sighed. "Why cant he be this way more often?" she said quietly as she tiptoed into the kitchen to have some orange juice. She chuckled as he snored. Aw, how cute… she walked out of the kitchen and sat down next to the couch. She watched Sasuke sleep. She didn't want to ruin this moment of peace, so she was very quiet.

Suddenly, in his sleep, he reached out his hand and felt around as if trying to find something. Aimi tried to suppress her giggles. She leaned back farther and farther as he tried to get her. He finally was able to get some of her hair. He felt it for a moment before his hand fell back to his side. Aimi tried not to burst out laughing.

After a few more minutes, his eyes fluttered open. "'mornin', sleeping beauty." Aimi said. "Merning." he said groggily. Aimi went to get a cold washcloth. She came back and put it on his face. "AK! Aimi! I'm awake! I'm awake!" he said, shoving the washcloth off. She grinned. "You are very different when you sleep, I'll say that much." Aimi said. "What? How?" Sasuke asked. "You snore-"

"No I don't!"

"Yah you do. You try to randomly grab things-"

"I do?"

"You do. And you look peaceful."

"Peace…" he whispered, closing his eyes with a dreamy look on his face. "NO! You aren't falling back asleep, young man!" Aimi yelled in his ear. His eyes shot open. "OK. Thanks for ruining that." he replied, getting up. "Well we have some work to do. In case you forgot, the only reason you are living here is because Itatchi has invaded and we don't want him to know where you are. Well we better get up and get going to finish him off." Aimi said quickly and sternly. Sasuke blinked. "Is it just me, or are you turning into my personality?" he asked, rushing around. "It better be just you…" Aimi said.

()()()()FAST FORWARD, LATER()()()()

Sasuke and Aimi ran into the streets. This should be the last fight they had. They ran into the town center. Itatchi wasn't there yet, so they relaxed. Kind of. They sat back to back, alert and ready. "I am not looking forward to this." Aimi said. "Ya think I am?" Sasuke said sarcastically. "Well… you did say you wanted to kill him…" Aimi said timidly. "…If he doesn't kill me first." Sasuke whispered under his breath. "What?" Aimi asked. "Nothing." he replied.

"Welcome to the end." a voice sounded. They looked up to see Itatchi over on Sasuke's side. Aimi turned and took her bow off her back. She slowly put an arrow inside and aimed at Itatchi. "Don't be so bitter, child." he scoffed. "Put the bow down." Aimi did not put it down. She kept it trained on him. "Put it down!" Itatchi yelled. Sasuke looked over at Aimi and nodded. "Put it down." he whispered. She lowered her bow giving the brothers a weird look.

Itatchi grinned. In a fast blur, he was holding Aimi. He looked down evily at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped up and began to circle Itatchi. "What's wrong? Afraid?" Itatchi asked. Sasuke took out his sword. "Not even close." he growled. Aimi kicked Itatchi and struggled. Itatchi leaned over and whispered in her ear, "If you want him to live, do not move or speak." She immediately stopped everything and went limp. Sasuke pointed his sword at Itatchi. "Let go of her NOW." he growled. Itatchi just shook his head. "Brother, you really think she cares about you?" he asked menacingly. Aimi blinked and looked up at Itatchi. What was he doing? Sasuke also blinked and lowered his sword a little. "What?" he asked. "She doesn't love you. She doesn't even care about you. The only reason she was ever kind to you was because she needed some protection." Itatchi went on. Aimi widened her eyes. Sasuke looked over at her. "I-is that true?" he asked. Aimi shook her head. "No! He's lying!" Itatchi covered her mouth with his hand. "SHE'S the one who is lying. Who are you going to believe? Your brother, or this girl?" Sasuke looked at them and looked down. Itatchi made it sound so convincing. But it couldn't be true. "She says it's not true. It's not true." he said, looking back up and raising his sword again.

"Alright then. Onto plan B." Itatchi said. He flung Aimi away from him and approached Sasuke. Sasuke pointed his sword directly at him. Itatchi easily knocked the sword out of his hand and grabbed Sasuke. "Girl. Do as I say, or your boyfriend gets it." Sasuke attacked Itatchi with all the strength he had. Itatchi put his hand to Sasuke's neck and began to choke him. "NO! What?! What do you want me to do?!" Aimi yelled. Sasuke shook his head. "Don't fall for it, Aimi…" he said. Itatchi began to choke him again. "Don't speak." Then he stopped. "Girl. Come here." Aimi approached him and stopped right in front of him. "What?" she asked, glancing nervously at Sasuke. "Kiss me." he said. Aimi closed her eyes. "Ick. Why?" she asked. Because he knows it'll bother ME… Sasuke thought. Itatchi didn't answer. Aimi leaned over and gave Itatchi a kiss on the cheek really quickly. Itatchi looked at his brother, who, even though it had been short, had a pure look of disgust on his face. He laughed. Aimi glared at him and wiped her mouth. "Now. Kill him." Itatchi said as if it were normal. "No! You said you wouldn't kill him if I did what you said!" Aimi yelled. "But I never said YOU wouldn't kill him." Itatchi said. "NO!" Aimi yelled. Itatchi just shook his head. "Alright then." He began to choke Sasuke again. "NO! STOP! STOP!" Aimi yelled. She grabbed her bow and aimed at Itatchi. Too late. Sasuke had dropped to the floor. Itatchi stood over him, smirking. "He was nothing without you." Itatchi said evily as he walked away. Aimi shot her arrow and missed. But I never miss… "Ah. don't expect me to bother you anymore with him gone." Itatchi said as he walked farther away.

Aimi ran to Sasuke's side when Itatchi was gone. "Sasuke? You're OK, right?" she asked looking at him. He wasn't breathing. "Breathe. Breathe, Sasuke!" she said, shaking him. He didn't respond. "You aren't dead." she said. "You cant be. You promised, just like I promised you. And you wont break your promise, just like I didn't break mine." Aimi said. She bowed her head. "No…" she whispered. "You. Promised. And Sasuke Uchiha never breaks his promises." she said. No response. "This isn't fair…" she whispered. She lifted his head up. Dead… not possible. She layed her head on his chest and cried. She cried herself to sleep.

She awoke around seven at night. Sasuke was still lying there. She cried again. She leaned down and kissed him. She stood up. She sighed and lied next to him. She layed her hand over his heart and gave some strength and power to him. She felt herself getting weaker. She wouldn't die, no. but she wouldn't be as strong. Worth a shot. When nothing happened, she stood sadly and walked away. The end of Sasuke.

She heard something and turned. His eyes were open, and he was looking around. "SASUKE!" she cried, running back to him. His eyes widened as she tackled him in a hug. "Yah. Before you kill me again, get offa me." he gasped. She leaped off him. "Is he gone?" he asked. "Yah. For good I think. He thinks you're dead." she replied. He nodded.

"Lets get home."

TO BE CONTINUED…