||| [T] h e [C] a f e |||^Itachi Uchiha^|||-Chapter Nineteen-
Chapter Nineteen: Emancipate
"To the world you may be just one person,
but to one person you may be the world."
~ Unknown
~*~
Scarlet eyes watched over the shaded green forest from the north east area of Iwa. The smell of firewood surrounded the bridged area. The air was crisp and thin as the Uchiha took a deep breath an inhaled.
Where was she?
Thoughts scattered around in his mind like leaves during a wind storm. He glared daggers down below at the grey waters. Two white birds were floating along the surface. He glanced back to the sky before hearing voices from behind him. He whipped his head behind him to see a silver haired shinobi.
"I guess I was the first one to find you, Itachi Uchiha."
Before the black haired man could react he felt a surge of pain flow from the right of his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing here out in the open anyways. I thought you were an akatsuki member?"
~*~
Mariko grabbed her chest and sat up, taking in a few deep breaths and wiping the crust out of her eyes from dried up tears. Murmuring a few words to herself she made a beeline for her washroom where she fixed herself up a bit and paced around in it finally convincing herself to go out and meet the Uchiha. She was obviously late but if he wasn't there then there was nothing to worry about and if he was, she would have some explaining to do. He would surely understand her reasons for being late. He wasn't that type of person to scowl and walk away.
That's one thing she knew for sure about him.
His sense of understanding.
She ran down the stairs letting out a few more tears from grieving and took a few nibbles off a muffin Kyou had brought her earlier that morning.
It was an hour after the specific time that was chosen for their meeting. She slipped on a pair of silver flats and reached out to grab the knob on the glazed mahogany door when there was a knock. She turned the wooden handle and was face to face with a beaten up Uchiha.
"Mariko...You were late...being late....when you're the one planning to meet...You...should not be the one to arrive late..." He forced the words out of his mouth as he grabbed for his stomach, "But...I...I told that before though..."
He staggered a bit on his feet before falling over, eyes shutting immediately, he waited to hit the ground but fragile arms wrapped around his waist and carried his up a few stairs to an area full of pillows. She laid the heavier body down and ran into the kitchen to grab a cup of water for the ex leaf nin. She held it to his lips but he moved his head over to the side.
"What happened?" Her eyes going teary.
She didn't want to lose another close-.
"Foolishness..." He huffed.
"But," She muttered as she went to lock her front door.
Distant voices in the background. She shifted the lock and stood their for a few seconds eaves dropping on a conversation.
"Ginta said that he saw one of them a few seconds ago in this area, he entered into on of the shoin zukuris." There was a pause before a female's voice took over.
"What are you waiting for! Check every house now. If anyone refuses..." Mariko took her ear off the door and went back to where the injured Akatsuki laid.
"You don't have to do this Mariko. I have no idea how to pay you back-."
"If you want to help me," She grunted as she wrapped his arm around her neck and snuck under his waist again before carrying him in a bridal style, "You gotta lose at least 200 pounds."
A smirk spread across him face.
There was a knock at Mariko's door.
Knock
Crap
Knock
Crap
Knock
Crap
"Here there is an area in my basement where I keep some old things. They won't look in here. You can hardly notice it's even here anyways." Mariko opened the small notch on the door, "Could you craw in?"
He nodded and did as she asked. She sealed the door behind him.
He noticed something in her eyes before she did so. A sense of sadness.
Was she sad for him?
Or something else.
He hadn't felt any care from another human being since he was thirteen.
That's when he was assigned that mission.
The mission that tore his life apart.
He felt so stupid at the moment. How could he let his guard down so easily? Mariko was right to a certain level, sometimes sleep could be over rated to a degree where you could be attack at any time. Hell he shouldn't even be in Iwa period. Well there goes one rule.
'As long as you keep your presence on a low ground.'
Itachi made a mental huff as he turned his neck to the left side. He hadn't noticed before but there was a small bit of light. The room was actually bigger then he expected. There had been a few portraits on the walls. One of a small brunette standing beside an older male. Like the girl he had brownish red hair and a pair of green narrow eyes. There was an uncomfortable feeling about the picture. The smaller girl looked up at the man as if in awed by his presence. He flicked his eyes over to another picture where it had a great open field and the same little girl dressed in a black kimono laying on the ground. Both pictures were collecting dust. Itachi felt himself slowly gaining strength and chakra. There was a stand of Katanas and a few scrolls. She told him she studied ninjitsu and attended the academy so the Katanas didn't make him feel at all curious.
There was a black stand with another portrait on it. This time covered in so much dust the Uchiha could barely manage to make out the picture. Searched over and held it in his lap, blowing away the grey fragments. It was a picture of the same man laying a gentle kiss on the top of an older figure that looked a lot like Mariko.
"Could it possible be her father?" Itachi thought as he placed the picture back on the shelf, "He looks more like an older teen then a man who carries a child. Maybe..."
There was a knock on the crawl space.
"Itachi?" Mariko called before a small flash of yellow light shown in. Mariko poked her head through the entrance and smiled at him, "Their gone. They said that I was a good girl for letting them in so easily, after that they suspected nothing. Man you must have used up so much of your chakra eh?"
Itachi said nothing as he crawled towards her. He looked behind him one last time and came out the crawl space. She held out her hand and he took it with a small smile, "Thank you for helping me."
She smiled back and lifted him to his feet, "I'll put on some tea and you can then explain to me what the hell happened."
"That's t he first time I heard you swear."
"Well I'm ticked off at the moment." Itachi scanned for any flaws on her face to prove any other emotions but only found the brunette extremely relieved.
'Could she really have a sibling?' He thought to himself. He was slowly growing impatient to find the answer.
__________
A/N; I had to redo the chapter :(
Sorry, hehe
Thanks for reading though.
& all the great reviews.
I love you guys!!!