Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: Apologies for the long delay, anyone who is reading this faithfully. I took a vacation during which...drumroll...I got engaged! So, early wedding plans gave me a bit of writer's block, but now that I'm all caught up with the anime (finally...although I'm not caught up with the manga), I am determined to finish this story. Thank you so much for reading it.

Into the Dark

by Kristen Elizabeth

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white

Just our hands clasped so tight

Waiting for the hint of a spark

In the days that followed, Itachi all but lost his appetite for anything except training. He spent hours in the endless forests that surrounded Konoha, honing his skills to a point so sharp that he wondered if he could even call himself a man anymore. He had become a living, breathing weapon.

He only slept to replenish his chakra, but it could hardly be called resting. His fitful bouts of sleep were haunted by the lingering images from the masked man's genjutsu. Almost every night he woke gasping for air, suffocated by the horrors of what would happen if he failed in his ultimate mission. Those terrible images would be real. They would be his fault...his burden to carry for the rest of his life.

One night several weeks after his solitary and fateful meeting with Danzo, Itachi was too restless to stay in the silent house, and even tucking in Sasuke after his little brother kicked off all his covers in his sleep brought him no peace. Clad in his nightshirt and loose pants, he walked all the way to where the Naka River crossed into the Uchiha compound. It was a cloudy night, nearly moonless, but even in the dark, Itachi knew he was being followed. He also knew, from the chakra signature, exactly who it was.

Too weary to play games, Itachi stood on the grassy edge of the river bank and looked into the inky water as he announced, "I know you're there, Akane."

His fiancee emerged from the shadow of a nearby tree, wearing tight shorts and a long tunic top with slits up to her hips. The last time he'd seen her had been at the Tanabata festival, the same night he'd officially met Emiko.

It might as well have been a lifetime ago.

She crossed her arms over her nearly-flat chest, and Itachi couldn't help but recall Emiko's tender curves. He didn't even feel guilty for thinking of one girl when he was with another; of all the sins in his life, that one hardly seemed worth mentioning.

"Are you having trouble sleeping, too?" he asked the girl he was supposed to marry.

"No." A wind fanned her black hair around her shoulders. "It's my night to watch you."

Itachi nearly smiled. He appreciated honesty. "Of course."

Akane hesitated before taking a step towards him. "They ask me to," she added, "but they never tell me why."

"That's the way it works." He looked back at her. "I'm sorry."

She frowned. "For what?"

Itachi shook his head. "Everything."

When he turned his back on her, Akane moved forward again. "Itachi-sama!" She paused, waiting for his acknowledgement, but when none came, she covered the distance between them in the blink of an eye and threw her arms around him.

Itachi barely reacted to the sudden contact. His own arms remained at his sides as she buried her face between his shoulder blades. He felt nothing, he realized. Her body was warm and she smelled sweet, but there was no twist in his stomach or ache below his waist. Nothing that even just looking at her sister caused him to feel.

"Itachi-sama," she whispered into his shirt. "I love you." Gripping him tighter, she went on, "I've loved you since the first time I saw you!"

He barely heard himself above the rushing river water. "You were three," he reminded her.

She lifted her head. "You remember?!" Lowering her forehead back down to the fan on his shirt, Akane sniffed happily. "I knew you would."

Itachi played along, "You were with your mother." He felt Akane nod. "And your sister."

A moment passed. "I don't want to talk about her."

"Who?" Without warning, Itachi turned around to face her. Up close, he studied her expression before asking, "Your mother or your sister?"

Her right eye twitched ever so slightly upon his last word, but she chose to change the subject. "I will be the perfect wife for you, Itachi-sama. Everything I have done since that day was to make sure I would be the one they chose for you."

"To beat your sister?" He didn't realize he'd lowered his voice or that doing so was the first step in the long and sordid history of ninja seduction tactics...until he felt her shiver against him. "You can tell me the truth."

Akane looked back and forth between his eyes. "She's not..." Abruptly, she stopped.

"Not what?" he prodded.

His fiancee opened her her mouth to reply, but before she could, his name shattered the silence.

"Itachi."

Recognizing the voice as Shisui's, Itachi stepped away from Akane. He scanned the darkness, but saw nothing but shadows. Shisui was hiding himself. He had no idea why, but there must have been a very good reason.

Itachi looked down at Akane. "You say you love me."

She nodded. "I do."

"Then...I need you to leave."

"But..."

He covered her lips with his finger. "A wife wouldn't ask questions or hesitate to do what her husband asks."

Akane smiled softly and nodded. Taking a few steps back, she made a sign with her hands and vanished.

"She's gone," Shisui said when Itachi looked around. "She really would do anything for you."

"That's her fault, not mine." Itachi looked towards the unseen origin of his friend's voice. "Have you been charged with watching my watcher, Shisui, or just me?"

His friend chuckled, but it sounded off. "How long have we known each other, Itachi?" He didn't need an answer, so Itachi didn't reply. "I remember your first day at the Academy. A foot shorter than everyone else, but you were fearless. By the end of the first week, even the biggest jackasses in the class knew better than to start something with you."

Itachi waited for him to go on. "Being your friend seemed safer than being your enemy," Shisui eventually said. "I didn't realize I'd actually grow to like you."

"What do you want?" Itachi asked after a long moment.

"Straight to the point." Shisui's chuckle turned into a cough. "All right." He paused. "Shimura Danzo. Are you working for him?"

A strong wind swept through the trees, giving Itachi just enough time to make up his mind. He wasn't armed, but that wouldn't matter. Shisui's chakra was low. "With him," Itachi said. "Not for him." Another moment ticked by. "Have you come to kill me?"

"Kill you?" Shisui emerged from the shadows, one hand over his right eye. Blood oozed through his fingers and down his wrist. As he came into meager light, he lowered his hand, revealing an empty, bloody socket. "No, Itachi." In spite of his obvious pain, he smiled at his friend. "I need your help."

Time. It was the one mystery Itachi knew he would never unravel. How he could seemingly blink his eyes and suddenly the baby he'd sheltered during the Nine Tails attack was attending the Academy, yet on the other hand, how two days could feel like two years.

That's what it felt like since the night Shisui had come to him by the river. All Itachi could do was count the painful seconds and wait for the inevitable fall-out. He had everything planned; he knew exactly what he would say when they came for him, because how could they not? He wasn't just Shisui's best friend or the clan member who was being watched like a traitor...he was also the last person to be seen with Shisui.

Of course they would zero in on him. He just didn't expect how angry he would become when they did.

That anger stayed with him long after his father calmed the hot-headed men who had always respected, even feared Itachi, but never liked him. He could feel his blood boiling beneath his skin. One outburst wasn't enough to purge everything he'd pent up inside of himself for months. Was this what it felt like to house a tailed beast? He wasn't sorry that he'd never know; the heat of his fury threatened to burn away every other emotion in his heart.

So, Itachi ran. Leaping over buildings and electrical poles, he put as much distance between himself and the Uchiha compound as possible. When he reached the walls of the city, he kept going, throwing himself into the forest without hesitation.

Only birds and ninjas had a view like the one he was too angry to enjoy. From above the green canopy of leaves, the world looked so small. Malleable. How easy was it to start thinking like that…as if being stronger made him better. The powers of a shinobi were capable of doing such good, yet they were so often corrupted, abused and manipulated.

Was it just as arrogant of him to assume he could do anything about that?

Upon reaching a break in the trees, Itachi was about to follow the curve of the forest when movement in the clearing below caught his eye. It was probably nothing, but rather than be seen, he stopped and swung himself into the protection of the foliage. What he saw when he focused on the lone figure in the woods nearly made him fall from his perch.

He'd known that Emiko was a gifted healer, but having been led to believe that her ninjutsu was subpar, he'd always assumed she would have little skill in taijutsu. He couldn't have been more wrong. Mesmerized, he watched her move around the mossy clearing, shiruken flying, her fists making contact with invisible enemies. Her long hair was tied back from her face, but her efforts had loosened the ribbon holding it in place and loose locks fell around her face.

Although his heart was pounding, just seeing Emiko made Itachi feel calmer than he had in days. When she turned away, unknowingly denying him the comfort of seeing her face, he shifted in the branches to get a better look…and only a second later, a shiruken flew up, embedding in the wood beneath his feet.

Itachi stepped back, allowing himself to fall all the way to the ground. As he picked himself up, Emiko swung around, this time with a kunai in her hand. Substituting himself for a nearby log, Itachi moved behind her and reached out to touch her shoulder.

But Emiko was in battle mode. She grabbed his hand and yanked, swinging him around with more force that he would have thought she possessed in her slender body. He could have fought back when she threw him to the ground, but he lay still, allowing her to pin him down.

It was worth it when her eyes grew wide as she realized who had 'attacked' her. "Itachi!" she gasped, nearly out of breath. She started to scramble to her feet, to let him go, but he grasped her waist, holding her on top of him. A shadow of confusion crossed her face. "What are you…?"

He sat up without warning and she would have fallen back to the ground had he not held her still, her legs on either side of his lap. Staring into her questioning eyes, Itachi decided to do something he'd never done before.

He decided to stop thinking.

Her lips were warm and sweet with her sweat, but it took a long second of him kissing them before she began to respond. When she did, though, she held nothing back. Throwing her arms around his neck, she poured herself into the moment. It was all he could do to keep up. His hands moved from her back to her shoulders, finally tangling in her hair as their mouths ground together.

Maybe he pushed her back onto the carpet of moss and leaves. Maybe she pulled him down. Either way, the end result was the same. They landed in a tangle of limbs, neither of them willing to break their kiss, like they were afraid that if they broke apart, one of them would come to their senses and put an end to what they both wanted.

They gave no thought to the great and mighty Uchiha clan as they fumbled with their clothes. He didn't care what his father would say. She didn't care what would happen with her sister. They were young, but the world into which they had been born considered them old enough to fight. Old enough to die.

Certainly they were old enough to love.

TBC