OKAY, here is the latest chapter! Be kind when reviewing the fighting scenes…I haven't written them for a while, but I like the way they came out. I hope you do to.

Glitter2126

(it begins with a flashback)

It had started raining, as he had fled Konoha.

His adrenaline was racing, as he glided through the trees, his heart pounding with emotion of the act he had just committed. His mind raced piecing together the events that had just passed; the blood on the floor, the terrified scream, his father marking him as a two-timer.

Itachi drew a deep breath, it had been the only way. It was either this, or the possibility of another war.

Yet, his mind could not erase the scene of his last few moments before he left the life which he had shared with his clan. The face of his brother angry and pained, bore into his mind. He had wanted nothing more then to tell him everything. But, of course, he couldn't.

The teen Uchiha had barely reached the border of Konoha and would have silently left, if it hadn't been for a slight movement a few yards away which caught his eye.

He knew he should have left, but he couldn't resist.

His pale black eyes turned a sickly blood red.

His vision was darting through the trees, trying to find the source of the movement. He finally came to a clearing, to which he knew to well to be the park in which he and his previous team met, whether it was for practice or leisure. It only took a few seconds to spot the chakra source. It was coming over from the swings, pale blues and purples emitting from their body. He had only seen one person with whisps of purple in their chakra. But, why was she out there at this time of night. The black haired man looked up to the sky, drops of rain falling onto his face, night was coming in steadily. No one would see him, them, which was good.

He smiled as he disappeared from the branch which he had been on, only to reappear a few meters away from the person sitting on the swings. He smiled even more, his face looking as if he was a small boy who was about to pull a prank. She hadn't noticed his presence. He walked, closing the gap between him and her back. Itachi saw the girls back tense, he knew he had been caught. He moved as she turned to face the 'supposed intruder'.

"Isn't it past your bed-time?" he asked, as the girl turned back.

She sat silent, her blonde hair completely drenched with water, head tilted down.

"What happened? Let's talk about it." he asked, eyeing the kunai in her hand.

The girl slowly lifted up her head, her eyes meeting his, her lip trembling lightly. Her voice cracked when she finally began to talk.

"I-I didn't mean to. I lost control. I was j-just so tired of the yelling and screaming and them h-h-hurting m-me." Her head bowed once again, and her hands began pulling at the black spandex on her legs, trying to cover them.

Itachi kneeled in front of her, lightly taking one of her arms. He pulled up the fishnet sleeve, revealing a series of purple, and yellow, bruises protruding up and down her arm along with a series of shallow cuts.

"Did you kill them all?" he asked lightly.

"Yes."

Itachi placed his hand in hers and pulled her gently to her feet. "Come with me."

Leara looked petrified. "You-you're going to turn me in aren't you?!" the blonde said just a little too loudly, her voice ringing around the two teens. She pulled her hand put of his, and griped the kunai in her other hand more tightly, ready to attack.

"No." the Uchiha replied calmly. "I want you to run away" He reached into his kunai pack and pulled out his konoha headband. It had a deep slash running through it. The blonde looked at it for a moment, her mouth slightly open. She shifted her gaze to her black haired companion.

Itachi replaced his headband out of sight, and once again held out his hand. "I can take you to somewhere you can be safe…"

Leara hastily placed her hand in his, her touch felt cold, yet warm.

He noticed a passer by watching them suspiciously.

He pulled her close to him, so that there faces were centimeters away from each other.

The stranger, contempt continued walking.

"But," Itachi whispered, his voice cold and serious, "You must promise to forget the life you knew here. Forget about our previous missions, and what used to be our team. Never tell anyone about this life. Understand?" he whispered the last word as more as an order, than a question.

The uchiha saw his companion consider this, before giving a slight nod. He turned, not letting go of her hand.

Together the two of them left Konaha's border in the pouring rain.

XXXXXXX End Flashback XXXXXXXXXXX

Itachi slowly regained his sight and his surroundings. The other members were looking at him suspiciously.

Turning his back to his comrades, he began walking down the corridor.

"God, how long was I out of it?" he asked himself.

He saw out of the corner of his eye that the other members had caught up behind him. Kisame strode into step beside him to his right. The blue mans beady eyes watching him, a hint of concern within them.

Itachi heard tobi attempting to whisper to Deidara.

"But, sempai, how does Itachi-san know who pretty lady is?"

"Tobi shut it, hmm. I don't know"

He was surprised to notice that someone else had fallen beside him on his left. He slightly looked; Hidan's violet eyes were looking directly at him, coldly.

The Uchiha turned a corner…

(slight time skip)

The training arena was a fairly large sized piece of land, located a few kilometers away from the main hideout. This was so that if someone happened to come across the infamous group, AND happened to get out alive the so-called-person wouldn't exactly know where the criminal's hideout was exactly.

A red circle had been drawn, to mark of the boundaries of the training ground. At one end of the circle stood Itachi, and at the other stood Leara; she had been given a wepons pouch, courtesy of Konan.

Standing in various places around the circle were the Akatsuki members.

(Karinai had been taken to her room, with great protest, by Konan.)

Pein strode to stand in between them. "As soon as I leave this circle, you may begin. If you are knocked out of the ring, it doesn't matter. This isn't a tae kwon do match. Just come back into the ring before you resume your fighting. When I think the battle should end, I will create some sort of signal to let you know to stop." He turned to look at Leara "Failure to stop, will result badly." Pein turned quickly, his black cloak whipping around him.

As he walked out of the ring he muttered "This should be good." he closed his eyes and listened for the fighting. After a few minutes of silence, leader slowly opened his eyes

"He couldn't have finished her off already." But was shocked to see the opponents in the exact same position as when he had closed them. He narrowed his rippled eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Hidan asked, looking from Leara to Itachi. "Why the fuck aren't the doing anything, shouldn't they be like tearing each other apart?"

Kakuzu heaved a sigh "Hidan, not all people are idiots like you who go straight into tearing your opponent into sushi.-"

"TOBI LIKES SUSHI!"

Kauzu pressed on. "Some people like to size up who their up against. Know what their dealing with."

Hidan lifted one of his eyebrows. "So why aren't they moving? Can't they 'size one another up' while fighting?"

"They're waiting until one of them makes the first move, and crosses their line." Konan said lightly, from beside Pein. "It's an old way of fighting. The person in battle marks an imaginary line in front of them, and waits. If their opponent passes that line, then they'll fight."

"But we wanted to see blood shed!" said Zetsu impatiently.

"I'm gonna cheer Itachi-san on" said Tobi to no one in particular. "GO ITACHI-SAN!!!"

At that moment, several things happened. Leader stepped within the boundaries of the arena, Itachi shifted his gaze ever so slightly to Tobi, and Leara attacked. A dark mass speed past Pein; the pieced man being flung out of the boundaries.

A kunai held in her hand, Leara rand towards the Uchiha man. "Never take your eyes off your opponent!" her mind hissed. In a flash she was behind him, she swung the kunai blade. The blonde wasn't surprised that the kunai hit no flesh, but was surprised to see that she had cut a few black hairs from his head.

"Ether you've gotten slower, or I've gotten faster."

She felt someone grab her arm, but she was out of it before he had even fully grasped it. She darted from his grip twice more, before having enough. She spun around, producing a round house kick aimed for Itachi's head. It missed, but Leara countered it with a turning kick to his gut. That, she didn't miss. She felt her foot collide with Itachi's stomach. She tried to recoil it, but found that it wouldn't move. Leara tried again, but found that someone was holding it.

She looked Itachi in the face. His eyes were that same bloody red as the night she had tried so hard to forget about along with so many. Yet, they seemed to be in thought, his eyes.

"She has become a lot better since the last time we fought" Itachi thought "The last time I didn't need to activate my sharingan until the very end." He closed his eyes, making sure he had a firm grip on her ankle. "I guess I have no choice to fight you like I did all those years ago." Before he could reopen his eyes he grabbed Leara's other ankle which had attempted to hit him.

Leara gasped. "How did he even know I was moving? His eyes were closed."

Leara bent her back as she fell, allowing her hands to hit the ground before her actual body.

"No matter"

Leara paused before she pushed off the ground with her hands, as if completing a back-handstand. And Itachi, who had still been hanging onto Leara, was forced into the air. He landed on the ground with her heels digging into his gut and chest. Leara did another backwards handstand. This time Itachi's grip was loosened, and her ankle slid from his grasp.

Itachi watched as Leara smiled to herself. "She still has that same smile…" The smile, however, was quickly dismissed when Itachi was in front of her again.

Leara looked at him. He was to close to her. He hadn't been that close since.... He had kissed her. Gentle at first, but gradually getting more intimate…"Space! That's what I need, space!" she thought draining the memory from her mind.

Itachi watched as she gracefully jumped on an angle away from him. "You aren't getting away from me that easily" He smiled jumping along the same pattern as Leara had just seconds before. He came in front of her, and received a friendly punch to the face. A punch which, I may add, he gladly forwarded to his opponent's gut. Itachi threw another punch to her face, which she blocked. Leara countered it with a kick, which was also blocked.

Punch after punch. Kick after kick. Block after block. It seemed never ending to the two of them. They pulled out a kunai at the exact same moment and attacked, ricocheting of one another in opposite directions. Itachi began making hand signs in mid air. Serpent, Rabbit, Ox…

"Katon, Goukakyuu no justu!" Leara's voice rang out

Itachi looked down on Leara, who was now on the ground; her yes as red as the flames coming towards him. A giant ball of fire, flames attacking anything in its path, hurdled toward the black haired man. Before the ball had just collided with him he dodged it, making new hand signs. "So he did teach you fire style" " Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!"

Droplets of fire flew towards Leara.

"Let the games begin…" Itachi thought.

OoOoOoOoOoOo 2 ½ hours later OoOoOoOoOo

"THEY"RE STILL AT IT!" whined Tobi for the tenth time that minute.

"TOBI, hmm!" shouted Deidara, a vein pulsing on his forehead.

The Akatsuki seemed to heave a great sigh all at once. For the past 2 ½ hours they had watched endlessly as Itachi and Leara fought. Many of the members including Konan had received burn marks from standing to close to the ring, therefore getting burned whenever a stray fire jutsu happened to come their way.

Sasori actually had caught on fire.

…Twice…

…And was standing as far away as he possibly could.

Still the two opponents seemed to fight endlessly. They too had burns over their arms, and mouths. There were even tiny hole in their clothing from where the fire had scorched their clothing. Leara had received a cut running from her shoulder to just before her elbow. Itachi didn't have any cuts on him, but was feeling bruises erupting all over his body; including his groin, which Leara had given a swift knee jab, when he had grabbed her. All in all the two of them looked a little beat up.

Pein stood a meter away from the red boundary line, watching. He hadn't blinked or moved since he was flung out of the arena.

"Pein…" said a soft voice behind him.

"Yes Konan?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the battle in front of him.

"It's been over 2 hours. Don't you think it's time to put an end to this madness?" Konan said, coming to stand beside her partner. Her hair was slightly singed, and smoking around the loose ends of her hair.

"Not until he uses it." The pierced man said.

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"I want to see him use his sharingan on her. I want to see what will happen when he does." Pein said defiantly.

Konan looked down; she knew he had wanted this all along. "She has the sharingan to, you know." She spoke quietly.

"I know. I want to see how strong her sharingan is up against his."

"What?"

Pein sighed, impatiently. "Look at her Konan. She isn't exactly the spitting image of an Uchiha! Some one has obviously given her the eyes, and I want to see what she can do with them."

Konan looked at her partner, and friend, for a split second before mumbling, "I understand.", walking away to rejoin the rest of the members.

Pein continued watching "Leara's been cautious when handling him. She knows when and when not to look at him. She's been trained to fight the sharingan before. Still, I want to see how you handle yourself when you're trapped in it." The pierced, red haired male smiled wondering at what the outcome may be. "Come on Itachi, do it soon." He thought once more, watching the battle…

…Itachi had grabbed her at arms length away. His arms were longer that hers, so she couldn't punch him. Leara went to kick in order to push out of his reach, only when she hit Itachi's gut he pulled her close, so close that he wrapped his arms completely around her.

"Shit, I'm stuck!" the blonde though, looking up.

Then all went black.

Leara hadn't meant to look into his eyes. She closed her eyes quickly, hoping that there was still time, even though she knew it was too late…

"Mangekyou Sharingan"

…Leara opened her eyes…a sickly red tone was surrounding her and her surroundings.

She was standing in her old room. Leara took in a few deep breaths "Oh please, oh please let this not be what I think it's going to be." Leara looked around her old room; the room which she had spent so many years crying, bleeding, in.

The room was smaller than what she remembered. A single sized bed was over in the corner, beside a small bookshelf propped up against the wall. A few pictures hung on the wall; some of her family, but most of her squad and friends. A punching bag, along with a few training equitment was over in the corner. A closet was on the opposite wall from her bed. Leara was about to continue looking around her room when a noise caught her attention.

Drip…drip…drip

The noise continued. It was coming from her closet. The blonde took small steps, each one creaking in the floor boards, until she reached the closet. She grabbed the handle, took a deep breath, and slid open the door. The stench of bodies filled her nostrils. Leara let go of the door and used her hand to cover her mouth and nose. Three bodies toppled out in front of her; 2 males and a female. She looked down at the oldest of them all: Her father whose hair was dirty and greasy. You could hardly tell that he had been blonde. His eyes were open, as well as his mouth, and a deep slit ran across his throat.

"I forgot I threw their bodies in the closet after." She thought recalling the night so many years ago.

Leara felt like she was going to be sick; her stomach contracted and fell to the floor. Her hand fell from covering her nose and mouth. The stench of dried blood was overpowering. Leara felt an icy hand fall on top of hers, and she froze. She looked to her father, who seemed to be moving on his own. His moved up her arm and grabbed it with such pressure Leara might have thought her arm might break. Then, to her horror, her father began to speak.

"You filthy little ingrate!" his cold voice rang out.

Leara looked away from her father, but a hand grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at the man she hated, and feared, so much.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU." He shouted sternly. Blood poured out of the slit in his throat, and his mouth while he talked. The blonde haired man spit in her face, blood hitting her in the cheek.

"You are a disgrace to this family." He said pulling himself and his daughter up at the same time, bringing her close to him; the smell of his blood and bodily decay growing stronger with every second. "Why should we even keep you." He spat, sliding his hand down to Leara's throat, where he began to squeeze.

Leara gasped for breath "Stop it" she gasped. This only made her father grin and squeeze harder. A movement occurred behind him, and Leara watched as her brother and sister got up, throwing insults at the same time.

"You were the reason mother died!"

"You mean nothing to this family!"

"You deserve to be punished!"

"What kind of sibling would KILL their own family!"

"You are a useless shinobi, and a useless sister!"

"No wonder he left you and never showed who would want to care for you anyway!"

"STOP IT!" Leara shouted, a burst of chakra emitting from her. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT" she cried.

Then everything was gone. She slid to the floor, gasping for breath. She looked up half expecting to see her family reappear, but they didn't.

"Is it over?" she breathed "No it's not" she thought, and with a lurch, was lurched into a pain beyond belief.

"WHO IS HE?" a cold, snake like, voice screamed out.

Leara stood up, trying to grasp the pain, only to be struck down by a brutal force.

"I said, WHO IS THE FATHER?"

Leara looked up into the piercing eyes of Orochimaru. His eyes were cole and full of disgust. A white pale hand reached for her, and grabbed Leara by the hair. He pulled her to her feet with ease, before striking her down again with a kunai blade. Leara placed a hand over her stomach, only to feel a warm liquid surrounding it. She lifted her hand to see dark blood covering her hand. A swift kick to the stomack caused her to fall to her side. Leara lay in pain, crying heavily.

Orochimaru's face was suddenly looming over her. "If you wont give me the name. Then I won't give you your baby." He snarled holding up the kunai in front of her stomach.

"Please stop this." Was all Leara managed to say. Not to Orochimaru, but to the sharingan user who as the cause of all the pain.

Orochimaru's face became distorted, like a mixture of her father and her old sensei. "You sicken me" The orchimaru, father, figure spat, before plunging the kunai deep in her stomach. Then she heard a scream. It was the scream of her unborn child; Karinai. She looked to the side of her and saw her daughter lying in front of her, bleeding vigorously.

Not knowing what to do, she closed her eyes, collecting all her chakra within her body. She heard the voices of Orochimaru and her father jeering her on.

"GET OUT OF MY MIND!" Leara shouted, reopening her once blue eyes. They now were filled red with black designs growing around the eye.

Then it was over. She was out.

Itachi was still holding her, looking at her. His eyes staring into hers. Leara saw his lips slightly curve.

"Bet you enjoyed that" she hissed to him, preparing to attack again.

Itachi's smile faltered.

It was then the rain started pouring, and a kunai flew past them. Both of them looked to the source to see Pein standing in front of them. Itachi released Leara like she was a disease, and backed away. Pein moved, and stood in front of the blond, his rippled eyes staring into her red ones. He held out a cloak to her.

"Welcome to the Akatsuke. You will be sharing a room with Konan." And with that he turned, and walked away.

The rest of the members, including Itachi turned and walked away as well. Leara hesitated. This could be her time to escape, to bound through the trees to safety. She looked to the tree line, and then sighed before following after the members. Itachi was the last one to follow.

…The sound of their footsteps were barely heard over the rain as they escaped Konaha…

Leara blinked away the ever so familiar scene. "This is the second time I've run away with you in the rain." She thought before she ran and caught up with the other members, making sure to ignore Itachi's presence.