I do not own Sasuke Uchiha or the quote below. Any hint of OOCness of Mary-sueness is not intentional. Enjoy!


"It would be nice if something made sense for a change."

~Alice in Wonderland, The Disney Movie


Itachi had faith is his partner to finish his job. Of course, usually Itachi did not depend on another person, but seeing as it was Kisame's assigned target, the older Uchiha couldn't very well complain. Not to mention it made his shadow less complicated to deal with.

"Come out, Cheshire. Or do you have another name now?"

"You're not the type to complain," Cheshire said as she stepped out of the protection of the trees into the open territory. The Uchiha let a small smirk tug at the corner of his lips and nodded in agreement.

"You Uchihas are quite interesting, though," the girl continued and with an afterthought, she added, "Not to mention good looking." She threw a playful wink in his direction, which he ignored.

"Have you been fraternizing with my little brother? He questioned while walking over to a tree to wait out his partners fight. He leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes only to open them again when she answered, this time position in the branch above his head grinning down at him.

"How could I resist? He's just a little bundle of sunshine, you know!" Itachi blankly looked at her and replied,

"I haven't noticed."

Cheshire huffed and rolled her eyes at his response. "Of course you haven't," she reasoned, getting in a comfortable position on her perch, "You're far too busy setting up your little game pieces. Then again," she bent her knees over the branch in order to hang upside down, almost in front of Itachi, "he does seem to be your favorite piece." The man sighed and pushed himself up from the trunk once again returning to edge of the cliff to check the progress of the battle continuing below. Cheshire flipped back to solid ground, landing cat-like on her feet. She flashed the Uchiha a grin. "Not comfortable anymore?" Itachi chose not answer sparking a sigh from her. She moved to stand beside him and a beat of silence passed before she spoke again. "It would be quite interesting," She began, looking at Itachi out of the corner of her eye, "to see how strong the little Uchiha can become."

"And you've just now decided to help me with this?" Cheshire shrugged at his question.

"Boredom is a terrible beast. It has driven me into a corner. And as you're well aware of, wild beasts are extremely unpredictable when cornered." Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"And my brother? Why is he your solution?" She blinked and turned to blankly stare at him.

"Because I can't grow old with you."

In the distance, thunder clapped at the statement that they both already knew, making them even more conscious of the oncoming storm they were already aware of. Itachi broke the stare and the silence in one blow. "How exactly do you plan on making him stronger?" Cheshire, her grin once again set in place, began making her way back into the shadows of which she came.

"With words, Itachi, with words," he teased him, "I've already managed to pique the interest of one and soon more will rise to the challenge."

"Simply using words, "He questioned for clarity.

"The most powerful weapon," she corrected.

"And who is the first challenger?" He asked, watching as she went. The girl spun around on her heels and completed a circle before she faced him. She put her hand on her chin as if pondering over whether of not to tell him. She then grinned with her mind made and said before another wink, "You'll find out soon enough." Itachi sighed.

"You never did give straight answers."

"You're brother seems to find that annoying as well," she crossed her arms, pouting. "I give him one simple riddle and he has yet to grasp the meaning of it!"

"Riddle?" the older Uchiha questioned.

"Gaze past the looking glass and explore the land beyond," she recited as if telling a child a bed time story. Silence passed by slowly, only to be hurried along by the sounds of the battle below. Cheshire returned to pouting.

"You Uchihas and you're simple minds," she put her hands on her temples as if his 'simple mind' was giving her a head ache, "I assumed you were a genius, but to not even grasp the meaning of a simple riddle…"

Itachi ignored her and turned his attention below him, narrowing his eyes.

"You should go." He heard another sigh behind him, noting that the girl had been extremely moody in this exchange.

"I suppose I'll see you again, "Cheshire grinned, but it faltered. A vulnerable and childish look crept into her usually confident eyes as she turned hesitantly towards Itachi. "Right, Itachi?" He looked at the girl and turned his back on her.

"Goodbye, Allie."

Before the snarl could even reach his ears, he grabbed the hand that was aiming for his neck. His red eyes met wide, angry, blue eyes that also harbored insanity. Cheshire took a sharp breath.

"I told you to never call me that," she hissed, their faces inches apart, Itachi noticed she was shaking. A beat and then the thud of Kisame lading the final blow.

"It slipped."

The killing intent dulled as she regained the more human side of herself. She glanced around, too ashamed to meet his eye.

"I'm sorry, Love."

And with the apology, she was gone without even leaving him a grin to remember. Itachi Uchiha turned towards his oncoming comrade, his heart heavy (as it always and forever will remain) behind a well made mask. No matter how many times she appears before him as the monster she is, he will always see her as the small, shivering child with the hollow eyes and the empty grin that he had found long ago.


"Along with the threat Sasuke Uchiha could pose, we also need to be aware of Ghost."

"Apparently, she goes by the name Cheshire now, Leader."

"Despite what she is called, she's still the same person. Now, with our recent losses she has become a greater aspect. It's important that we contain her. She may be a neutral force now, but if she decides to side against us… make sure she doesn't evolve into a problem, whether it ends with her alive or dead."


NOTE: This is just a flashback/memory of Cheshire "using words" to get "that person" interested in Sasuke. It isn't extremely important, but I really did want to write this to have these two react.

Title: The Topic is Art (and also a Uchiha)

Deidara was completely content with patrolling the area while his idiot of a partner was preparing the three tails to be transported. "As long as I get away from Tobi, yeah," was what he thought. Although when he ventured out on this little break, he did not expect to find a masked hitch hiker on his mode of transportation (especially since he made it himself). So it was safe to say he freaked out just a tad bit when he heard a feminine voice behind his purr,

"Pretty bird you have here. Well made too."

He reacted quickly and naturally; he sent small explosive bird missiles at her which created a cloud of dust around the bird. Breaking through the cloud, Deidara retreated to the forest below. Landing, he withdrew his bird and stuch his hands in his bags a clay, waiting for more clay to be prepared not knowing if he stranger survived or not.

"Is this how you treat a girl?" Behind him, leaning against a trunk, she sighed. "You'll never get laid with that approach." He spun around, annoyed that his clay wasn't ready yet, and instead yelled in defense,

"Shut the hell up, woman! What do you want?" He asked, attempting to stall.

"To talk, to inform. But since you don't seem to want to talk, I guess you don't want to know about the strong guy that everybody's starting to talk about." She casually informed him, turning to walk off. A few feet away from her a tree was demolished thanks to an explosion. The girl looked back to see Deidara, now readied with his creations flying around him, looking at her with a gleam in his eye.

"Who said you could just walk off after insulting a S-Rank criminal, hm?" She turned back, facing him completely with her arms raised. He nodded in approval. "Now that's more like it," he said as he stepped closer, sending two clay birds to sit on her shoulders. He drew closer and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "You were talking about someone strong, yeah? Name?" She out her hands casually behind her back.

"Sasuke Uchiha. You're familiar with his brother, no?"

His eyes narrowed. His hand rose to the egde of her mask, aiming to remove it.

"And who could you be, hm?"

Before he could remove the grinning cat mask, she knocked his hand away in an instant; in that same instant Deidara jumped back and detonated his clay birds. He smirked in the aftermath, only seeing a scar on the forest left.

"It's kinda pretty, you know? It's like art, the explosion, that is."

He whipped around, only to find the girl sitting in the branch of the tree behind him, swinging her legs.

"It's not 'like' art. It is art!" he retorted, trying to cover his surprise from her sudden appearance, "It is art, yeah!" She nodded in agreement.

"I can see why. But I don't know whether it would be able to beat an Uchiha, though. It might not even be able to kill Sasuke Uchiha." Deidara almost visibly flinched. He clenched his fist.

"Like hell it can't! My art is superior! Art… is an explosion!" He released and bird, creating a beautiful fiery piece of art for an example. "Beauty that dies in an instant; this is true art!"

"It's indeed art," she agreed, "but an instant is too short for my taste." Deidara's eyes shot up at her, outwardly offended. He regained him composure to pursue his point.

"But is all depends on how long you can marvel at that one instant. Sometimes, an instant can last an entire lifetime!" He finished with his hands raised, marveling at the instant he was reliving. The masked girl pondered his explanation, cocking her head. A grin sprouted, hidden behind another grin.

"Yes, I suppose it can." Turing her back on him, she left him with one last thought. "You know, it would be pretty amazing to see your art beat an Uchiha." Anger took him once more as he looked up at the mysterious girl.

"You bet it will, woman!" She laughed and with that, she was gone in the blink of a single eye. Strangely content with the idea of the girl that had first insulted him got away, Deidara turned to leave at well.

A witness to the entire exchange, the man behind the mask smirked.

"You always find the most interesting people, Allie."


AN: Hey guys! Did you miss me? I was only gone for like... a year or so, but now I'm back! I just had a lot of stuff and I got a job (Hurrah for me!) so to put it simply I was busy as a dead bee. Or to say, I was dead and I was busy.

Anywho, strangely, I had fun writing this chapter and if came really easy to me. I don't know how good it is, but you guys might be a little confused after this. But feedback is always welcomed! So, yeah, Cheshire and Itachi know each other. Can I tell you more? SPOILERS~ (anyone watch Doctor Who? Or Sherlock... and now I'm gonna go cry. *Shakes fist angrily* MOFFAAAAT!)

And thanks to everybody who reviewed, Favorited and followed! Sorry to keep you waiting again...

-Klu