Viola! The next chapter! :D This story is so much fun to write, and I'm glad that so many people like it! The votes just keep hurtling in (yay!), and well...Itachi's winning by a freaking landslide. o.O So, yeah. Here's the votes!

Votes:

Itachi: 46

Deidara: 18

Hidan: 12

Draco: 9

Pein: 6

Fred: 5

George: 3

Madara: 3

Sasori: 3

Harry: 3

Lupin: 2

Kisame: 1

Ron: 1

Sasuke: 1

Suigestu: 1

Thanks to everyone who voted, and please don't forget to review! ;D

A dark streak flashed through the forest, sticking unconsciously to the shadows. Dapples of sunlight peeking through the canopy above splashed down on the figure, lighting up parts of its clothing. White. Black.

The forest was deathly silent, and a single leaf fluttered to the ground, slowly making its descent. Just inches from the forest floor, the leaf was thrown back into the air. Three more flashes darted by, in the direction of the first.

Finally left to its own devices, the leaf settled lightly on the ground, a thin beam of bright sunlight washing it a lovely jade-green.

The four figures continued on at a blindingly-fast pace. A lone raindrop slipped from the sky.

Oo o oO

Rain fell heavily in all directions, soaking all with cool water and an invisible trace of chakra. Two shinobi clad in dark cloaks stood upon a tall metal building, giving no care whatsoever to the wetness of their clothing. One stood with a hood drawn over his face, while the other was situated a few feet behind the first, staring blankly at the rain pattering on his hand.

"Pein."

Ringed gray eyes glanced up.

"Is he here yet?"

"No."

The only sound surrounding the two was the pitter-patter of rain. Thunder roared in the distance.

Suddenly, the second figure's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. The first figure glanced wordlessly over his shoulder at him, red eye blazing in anticipation beneath a single eye hole.

"He's here," the second shinobi murmured.

"Good. I'll send him a little welcoming party."

The gray-eyes man cast a suspicious glare at the masked figure. The red-eyed man laughed darkly.

"Now, Itachi will see his younger brother corrupted as he had always hoped wouldn't happen," he vowed, a smirk flickering on his lips. "Sasuke is mine, now, and there's nothing Itachi can do about it."

Oo o oO

Sakura stared blankly at the book before her.

She had received her schedule in the Great Hall when she went down for breakfast, and now she was sitting in her first class: Divination with Professor Trelawney. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Deidara were also in this class, but something was a bit off about the brunette. In fact, there's something a bit off about the teacher. A big something.

Since the four shinobi had been placed in different houses, she could only have a class with them one at a time. (Only two houses per class). And that still didn't mean that the other Akatsuki would be in her class; she just hoped they would. (And thank Kami Deidara was in this class, because there was no way Sakura wanted to be alone with this nutbar teacher.)

Trelawney had told them to partner up, so – naturally – Sakura and Deidara had stuck together. (Apparently, students from different houses weren't allowed to be partners, but the professors were going to turn a blind eye to the shinobi; it just made things easier.) Harry and Ron had paired up, but then Hermione was suddenly with them. Judging by Ron and Harry's expressions, she wasn't the only one who though that Hermione hadn't been there a moment ago.

Now, Sakura and Deidara were attempting to decipher the soggy brown mess on the bottom of their tea cups. They both stared blankly at pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. (And the books read backwards! They couldn't make any sense of them!)

"Hey, that one looks like the thing in your cup," Sakura mumbled, pointing to a dark shape in the book. Deidara stared at it.

"Sort of, yeah," he agreed. "And that one looks like your, yeah."

Sakura glanced at the picture and then the clump of dark brown stuff in her tea cup.

"Yep. I'd say so."

The two sat in an awkward silence.

"So, uh...what does it mean, yeah?"

"I have no idea."

They exchanged uneasy glances. Sakura raised her hand.

"Professor Trelawney?" she called.

The professor turned and looked at her, eyes magnified many times larger than normal, courtesy of her enormous glasses. She blinked.

"Yes, dear?"

"Um...we can't read the book..."

Everyone stared at the two shinobi. Trelawney was silent for a moment. Then, she spoke.

"...you can't?"

"No."

"Not at all?"

"Not at all."

She frowned.

"...oh. Well, that's not good."

Deidara smacked a hand over his face.

"Really, yeah?" he said dryly. "I never would have guessed, yeah."

Sakura slapped him upside the head. A few snickers ensued.

"Be nice."

Trelawney made her way over to the two, large eyes curious. "Let me see your teacup, dear."

Sakura passed her Deidara's cup. The professor looked at it for a moment.

"You will experience great suffering in your life, but you will become much stronger because of it. Your name will be famous some day, and the person you love currently does not know of your affections."

Deidara's face blazed red. A few people laughed, while a couple others wondered how he was going to be famous. Sakura looked at him blankly.

"...you're in love with someone?"

"Shut up, yeah! This is just some cheap crap that doesn't mean anything, yeah!"

Sakura's face was completely unreadable. "Deidara...now, I'll still be your friend if this is the case, but it'll be a little uncomfortable..."

Deidara swallowed hard. Oh shit, yeah. "N-nani, yeah?" he stammered, the redness on his face increasing. Many students watched on in fascination, wondering what the two could possibly be saying. Trelawney eyed Deidara with a knowing look.

"Are you...in love with Kisame?"

Deidara fell from his chair, head clunking against the floor. He gripped the table and lifted himself so that he could see Sakura. She was deadly serious. His face went white and a sickened expression took over.

"Are you NUTS, yeah?!?" he nearly yelled. "That's just–!!" He broke off, shuddering. "That's just SICK, yeah!!"

Sakura studied him calmly.

"Oh. Good. You aren't lying." Sakura didn't even notice that she had switched back to the other language.

"Of course I'm not, yeah!" he shot back, looking about ready to surrender his breakfast. "How did you even think of that, yeah?!?"

Sakura's expression remained cool.

"It's always a possibility."

"It will never be a possibility, yeah!"

Sakura held up her hands calmly. "I'm just say'n."

"Then don't say, yeah!"

Trelawney cleared her throat. The two shinobi turned their heads to look at her.

"What (yeah)?" they asked at the same time. Trelawney bit back a smile.

"It's time to get back to the lesson," she hinted.

"Oops. Gomen." No one understood the meaning of 'gomen', but no one asked.

"Now, as I was saying," the professor continued, glancing down at Deidara's cup once more. She began turning it counterclockwise. "Oh, my. The falcon...my dear, you have a deadly enemy." Deidara snorted and Sakura shot him a reprimanding look. "The club...an attack. Dear boy, this is not a happy cup." Everyone was silent. "The skull...danger in your path...The arrow...injuries. Oh, my. Dear, your cup doesn't look too bright."

"I've could've told her that, yeah," he muttered.

"Quiet!" Sakura hissed.

Trelawney sent Deidara a sympathetic look, but he brushed it off. Danger was the life of a shinobi.

"Here. Let me take a peep at your cup, dear."

Sakura handed over her teacup without hesitation, reclaiming Deidara's and setting it on the table. The blond pulled himself back into his chair.

"Let me see..." She began rotating the cup, just as she'd done with Deidara's. "The falcon, the club, the skull, the arrow...dear, your's is very similar to his." She frowned in confusion and looked up at the kunoichi. "Are the two of you close?"

"You could say that," Sakura replied. Deidara snorted again, and she glared at him. "All four of all are pretty close."

"I see..." She looked back down at the teacup, resuming with her devices. "Ah. Now here's something that he didn't have: you have the broken heart." Trelawney cast her a sorrowful glance. "You will have great pain because of someone you love."

Sakura blinked. "You mean...someone I love is going to hurt me?" Deidara cracked his knuckles, eyes narrowing. Sakura made a face at him.

"No, not quite," the woman disagreed. "More along the lines of...someone will hurt you because of the person you love." Sakura's face was emotionless.

"When you say 'the person I love', do you mean a very dear friend or someone I actually love?" Trelawney closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"I don't know." Sakura nodded absently, staring down at her hands. The professor continued. "Oh! What's this?" All eyes were on her. "I haven't seen this one in quite a while." She smiled up at Sakura. "The equally-proportioned cross: dear, you are going to save someone's life!"

Deidara snorted loudly.

"What's new, yeah?" he muttered. Sakura twitched.

"You ungrateful..."

"Do you mind interpreting?"

Both shinobi returned their attention to the teacher.

"You said 'what's new'. Do you mean to say that she has saved many lives before?"

Now, everyone was watching Sakura, but awaiting Deidara's answer.

"You answer that, and die," Sakura said coldly. The blond paled. "We're supposed to be inconspicuous, remember?"

"Oh, uh...nothing, yeah..."

Obviously, none of them bought it. After a moment of waiting, Trelawney was turning the teacup once more. It slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor. A few people gasped. Her eyes stared sightlessly at her hands where she had been holding the teacup just moments before.

"O-oh, my..."

Sakura and Deidara – along with the rest of the class – watched her in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked.

Trelawney raised her head, eyes widened and fearful. Her gaze bore into the rosette's, a haunted look taking over her expression.

"The Grim...you have the Grim..."

Oo o oO

Itachi sat silently in his Arithmancy class, completely ignoring the professor. He had no need to learn any of this. Therefore, he saw no need to pay attention. Kisame had decided the same, and settled for attempting to sleep in class. A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

Itachi wasn't foolish enough to try and sleep. The teacher was going to see Kisame any minute.

"Boy! Wake up!"

A long, thin stick slapped Kisame's hand, jolting him out of his dreams.

"What?"

The class laughed and snickered. The teacher scowled.

"Young boy, if you want to sleep, do it on your own time! You will not be dozing off in my class! Is that understood?!?"

Kisame peered blankly at the man. "Uh...yeah..."

The professor didn't look too happy at Kisame's choice of words, but he nodded anyway.

This time, a smirk appeared on Itachi's face. Like I said, Itachi wasn't foolish enough to try and sleep.

Oo o oO

A large, old house stood in the snow-covered land, a mile or so from any towns. Its roof was covered in thick white clumps, and a few windows were broken. Inside, it was completely furnished, but covered in many years worth of dust. There wasn't a soul around.

Around the back of the cold house was a frozen yard. Snow covered everything, blanketing he entire yard with beautiful white specks. Three smooth, rectangular stones stood in the middle, and dead flowers lay in front of each. Words were engraved into the middle dark stone.

Kikara Kirame

Loving mother and a beautiful person.

May her soul rest peacefully.

The snow covering the two side stones fluttered off, revealing words on them as well.

Akatora Furea

A good friend and a wonderful girl.

May her soul rest peacefully.

Tori Yuri

Older sister and life-long friend.

May her soul rest peacefully.