Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: An anonymous reviewer had some concerns about where I took Itachi and Emiko's relationship in the last chapter. I don't want to make too much of a fuss over one bad review, but I do want to say that while I acknowledge their very young ages, in all fairness, if Kishimoto can have Itachi slaughter dozens of his own family members at thirteen, why is it shocking for him to have sex at the same age? Horrific violence is totally okay, but lovemaking is taboo? Sorry, not in my world. That being said, I hope if you're here, you enjoy this next chapter:)

Into the Dark

by Kristen Elizabeth

The time for sleep is now

It's nothing to cry about

"Did I hurt you?"

Itachi's question smashed the silence that had fallen over the clearing. The sun had long since disappeared over the dark edge of the forest, but there was still enough light for him to see Emiko's face when he glanced over at her.

Her fingers brushed against his, a surprisingly innocent touch after what they'd just shared. "No."

Shifting onto his side, Itachi searched her face for any hidden traces of pain or regret. "Tell me the truth." Emiko lowered her eyes briefly, all the answer he needed. His throat stuck as he tried to swallow. "I'm sorry."

He thought he heard her whisper, "I'm not," but it could have been the strong wind that upset the trees above them.

Another long moment passed. "What do we do now?" she finally asked.

"We forget."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Itachi wished he could take them back. But she had to hear them and he had to say them. Otherwise, he would grab her hand and run as far away from Konoha as they could get.

"You could do that?" Her voice was so small, yet so incredulous.

"It'll be easy because we shouldn't have done this at all." Before he could change his mind, he sat up, turning his back on her as he reached for his dark blue shirt. "It was a mistake."

The carpet of leaves rustled as she sat up behind him, but Itachi didn't dare turn around. "Then…why did you…?"

"Maybe I wanted to make a choice for myself for once."

When he heard a soft, unexpected chuckle, he glanced back at her. Emiko's hand was at her throat, absentmindedly playing with the necklace of silver rings she always wore. Although her eyes were downcast, she nodded. "I know what you mean."

Itachi wanted to reach for her, but he'd already done too much damage. Still, he couldn't make himself get up and walk away from her. "Emiko." He hesitated. "You might have heard things about me recently. But…."

"They're not true." He frowned at her absolute certainty. She looked up, meeting his stare with her amber gaze. "That you killed your best friend. That you've betrayed our clan." Emiko lifted her slender shoulders. "I don't believe any of it."

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because I know you." She smiled softly. "And I love you."

His throat closed up again and it took him a long time to speak. "That will change." Her smile faded as he stood up. "I just want you to know…when that day comes, I want you to remember…" Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. That's asking too much."

"Itachi?"

When he opened his eyes again, she was standing in front of him, her hand reaching out to brush a black lock of hair back from his face. He stopped her by grabbing her wrist with enough force to make her wince.

"If I told you to leave Konoha tonight, would you do it?"

"Leave?" Emiko shook her head. "Where would I…?"

"Anywhere!" he cut her off. "Sand, Grass, Stone...it doesn't matter!" Itachi seized her other wrist and brought her hands together. "Would you do it?"

"Itachi…"

There was a rustle in the forest around them that was too big and too concentrated to be the wind. Itachi whipped his head to the side, searching for the source. That was when he felt it. The masked man's unmistakable chakra.

They were being watched.

Itachi released her and took a big step back, away from the sweet scent of her hair. "Never mind. Forget I said anything. Forget this."

Emiko crossed her arms over her stomach as if holding herself together. "I don't think I want to." In the dying light, he could see a tear slip down her cheek. "But I don't have a choice…do I?"

"None of us do." It took all of his strength, but Itachi turned around and started running. He didn't even think about stopping until he was certain that the masked man had followed him, and that Emiko, for the moment at least, was safe.

Itachi came to halt when he reached the entrance to the Muromachi shrine. He shouldn't have been out of breath, but he found himself struggling for each lungful of air. He suspected it had nothing to do with losing his virginity to the woman he loved, but rather how the sudden appearance of the masked man meant that he was out of time.

Standing as tall as possible, he addressed the unseen man. "How long were you watching us?"

The man appeared on top of the red torii. "Long enough." He withdrew his hand from his robe long enough to shake a finger at Itachi. "Tsk, tsk. There are some things children shouldn't do."

"I haven't been a child for a long time," he replied. "Isn't that why you chose me?"

In the time it took Itachi to blink, the man disappeared from his perch and reappeared on the ground right in front of him. Instead of answering, he simply stared at Itachi out of the one eyehole in his mask.

"The time has come." When it became clear that Itachi had no intention of answering, the masked man continued, "Tomorrow. At sunset. I trust you'll have settled your affairs by then?" Again, Itachi said nothing. "Would you rather I take care of your girlfriend?"

"No." Itachi's tired eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Leave her to me."

"And that is why I chose you, Itachi."

As soon as the masked man was gone, Itachi slumped to his knees. Even though he'd watched all of the events unfold, he still couldn't believe everything that had happened over the past few months. Once, he had been the Uchiha's golden child. Now, with the hands that had been trained to bring honor to the clan, he would end them all.

All but one.

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut.

But it wouldn't be Emiko who was spared.

His parents were already asleep by the time Itachi arrived home, but a small stack of onigiri was waiting for him on the kitchen table. He tried to eat, but the rice felt like maggots in his mouth. He had to force himself to swallow.

His feet made no sound on the wooden floors as he made his way towards his room. As he passed the door to Sasuke's room, he paused. After a moment, he slid open the paper door and eased inside.

As always, Sasuke had kicked off all his covers and lay on outstretched on his futon. His little brother was sound asleep; his mouth was parted slightly and the soft sound of his breaths filled the room.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, neither of us is ever going to be the same," he said, keeping his voice low. "I wish I could tell you everything. I wish you could understand it." Itachi paused. "You will be a great ninja, Sasuke. You will hate me, no doubt, but that will fuel you. And one day…you will save us all."

With quick, almost undetectable motions, Itachi pulled the covers back up around Sasuke's wiry body. Before he left the room, he caught sight of the picture sitting on Sasuke's dresser. It was the last picture that would ever be taken of his family. For a brief moment, he considered grabbing it, but at the last second he couldn't bring himself to take everything away from his beloved brother.

When the sun set the next day, the blood began to flow.

The first people Itachi killed were the men who had come to his house, accusing him of murdering Shisui. He hated that each of them died believing they'd been right about him.

From there, he entered some sort of trance in which he took no note of who he encountered. If they were in the compound, they were an Uchiha, and they had to die. For the sake of the village. He had no tears, nothing to wash away the blood that spattered on his emotionless face.

It was only when he reached a familiar house that Itachi became aware of his surroundings. There was surprisingly little commotion considering the scale of the massacre, and apparently word had not reached Emiko's family. He scaled the outer wall easily and with blood dripping from his sword, he entered the house.

Akane and her parents were seated around the table, eating a meal that Emiko was serving. Upon seeing him, Emiko's mother screamed, her father leapt to his feet, and Akane froze.

Emiko stared at him, but he refused to meet her eyes.

"Itachi?!" Dropping any honorifics, Hideo thundered, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Why is she serving you?" Itachi pointed his blade at Emiko. "She is your daughter, not your servant." His tone was deadly cold. "Why do you make her serve you?"

"I don't," the man sputtered. Itachi lashed out, slicing him across the arm with the sharp blade. Blood soaked his sleeve as his wife screamed again. "It's her!" he cried, pointing to Isako. "She hates her."

"Why?"

"Because…" Hideo shook his head. "She's not her mother. Emiko…she belonged to…my mistress. We took her in after she died. "

It was all Itachi needed to hear. Not only had the man been unfaithful, he had brought his love-child into his home and allowed his wife to mistreat her. No amount of screaming stopped him from killing the man with one swipe across his jugular.

The blood was too much for Akane. She flew at Itachi, Sharingan blazing. But hers was no match for his and within seconds, the woman he had been promised to marry lay crumpled on the floor. He turned towards Isako. Moaning like the damned, she was almost too pathetic to kill.

"It wasn't her fault," Itachi told the older woman. "It was never her fault."

Isako's cries were cut off by a single blow.

The platter of fish Emiko had been holding fell from her hands and shattered on the floor. Itachi's head jerked up at the sound, and for the first time since he entered the house, he looked at his lover.

Although drained of all color and trembling violently, Emiko had not fainted during the slaughter of her so-called family. Twin tears streamed down her cheeks, but she managed to ask, "Am I next?"

Itachi's eyes glassed over. "I have a mission."

She nodded, barely moving her chin. "I'm glad it's you." Closing her eyes, she waited for death.

But all of a sudden, Itachi's sword felt too heavy to lift. Surrounded by carnage he had created, he simply couldn't do it. He could not erase Emiko from the world any more than he could kill Sasuke.

"Run." Emiko's eyes flew open. "Run," he repeated. "As fast as you can. As far as you can. Never come back. Never. Do you understand?"

"Itachi…"

"I said to run!" he shouted. "Now!"

If he looked at her any longer, he felt that his heart would stop. So Itachi never saw her flee from the house. It wasn't the last memory he wanted of her, anyway. By the time she lost herself in the forest, he had created a clone of her body amongst the real bodies of her family.

He wasn't entirely certain how long the clone would last or whether it would fool anyone, especially the masked man, but it would give Emiko a good head start and a chance to escape with her life.

Steeling himself and hardening his heart, Itachi started towards his own home.

To Be Continued