Okay, I just wanted to say that I love you guys! Everyone that's reading my fic, you guys are like, my favorite internet people ever :) You just make me soo happy with your reviews that, no matter what, always put a smile on my face :)

And I also want to apologize about this chapter. It's not the best ever. Don't worry, the next will hopefully make up for it :) So enjoy anyways!

What a beautiful night it was. The clear night sky was covered by leaves and branches all around the millpond. A silence filled the air between two shinobi. It was peaceful for one. But for the other, it was a depressing emptiness.

Orochimaru held a heart-framed photograph in his hands, refusing to take his eyes off of it. So beautiful, so majestic…

He stuck out his bottom lip and then hugged the portrait against his chest. "Why, Kabuto? Why is it that the only two men that I've ever loved have so cruelly turned me down? What do the Uchiha's have against me?"
Kabuto didn't answer, but turned the knobs on the head of his acoustic guitar. Then, he began strumming a song, and then added his own voice.

"Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? Been here all along, so why can't you seeeeeeeee… you belong with meeeeeeeeee?"

"Kabuto, please answer me," Orochimaru said, looking back down at his framed picture of Sasuke.

"Standing by and waiting at your back door. All this time, how could you not know—"

Suddenly, Orochimaru leaned over and snatched the guitar out of Kabuto's hands. Kabuto looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Orochimaru, I was answering you through a song!" He said desparately.

"What does Taylor Swift have to do with the current situation!" Orochimaru snapped, standing up from the grass.

"Aww… Orochimaru-san…!" Kabuto's voice was starting to get high and girlish with hysteria. "Just… just FORGET it!" Then, without another word, he sadly, yet frustratedly stomped off into the forest and back to the lair.

"I will!" Orochimaru called after him. The pedo freak sighed and looked up at the sky. "Sasuke-kun," he muttered to himself. "Where are you?" He held the picture tightly against his heart.

A light descended on Orochimaru, shining through his eyelids.

"Is it morning already?" Orochimaru mumbled to himself. Then he blew it off, keeping his snake eyes closed.

"Orochimaru… Orochimaru…"

"Kabuto, go away, I'm having a moment."
"It's Sasuke, Orochimaru," a familiar, beautiful voice corrected.

Orochimaru's eyes fluttered excitedly open as he swung his head around, desparately looking for his loved one. "Where! Where are you, Sasuke-kun!"

"Haa, not really," said a crystal clear voice from behind. "I just wanted your attention."

Orochimaru spun around, only to be surprised by the most BEAUTIFUL creature of all time. Shocking blue eyes, shimmering silver hair that fell all the way down her long, curvy body to her feet, which were covered by a majestic Cinderella ballgown. A smile appeared on her red lips. "I've found you!" she exclaimed. Orochimaru jumped back.

"Why, you're… you're…" he looked her up and down, amazed at her indescribable beauty.

"I'm what?" she said, raising one flawless eyebrow.

"You're… you're…"

"What?" she asked again. Then she let out a giggle before asking, "Seriously, what am I? An angel?" and spreading out her magnificent wings, each several yards long and covered in blinding white feathers.

This shocked Orochimaru even more. He fell on his knees, staring up at the beauty before him.

She let out a laugh, crystal clear and ringing like a bell. "I was hoping that this wouldn't happen, actually. But what do you expect when you're the most beautiful, worshipped angel in heaven?" She folded up her great wings and kneeled at the pedo's side. "Listen, I've been looking for you for a while now. I understand that you were looking for a certain Uchiha?"

Orochimaru sighed and hung his head to the ground, reluctantly taking his eyes off the beautiful woman beside him. He felt her flawless arm wrap around his shoulders.

"Hey, listen," she said in a sweet voice, like she was talking to a lost child abandoned on the street. "I know a few things about Sasuke. Firstly, and he really doesn't know this, but you two… were destined to be together." The woman had to hold back a disgusted cringe when she said this.

Orochimaru's eyes brightened as he once again locked eyes with the angelic beauty. "I knew it! I knew it all along!"

"Secondly," she interrupted his celebration. "I know where he is and what he's up to."

Orochimaru drew in a sharp breath. "No…" he said in what would sound like a sarcastic voice, but he was serious.

"Mmhmm," she said, standing up. She began to circle around the snake man, who was still kneeling on the ground, and twirling her glossy hair in her fingers. "Now I'm going to tell you what to do and how to handle this, so stay put, or you'll be sorry," she threatened in a sweet sugary voice. "Sasuke is on his way back to your lair. He wants to come back to you. But guess who's also going his way?" She seductively swooped over and said directly into his ear "Itachi Uchiha."

Orochimaru felt like someone had just struck him with lightning. The world stopped.

The angelic devil didn't seem to notice, since she continued going on, standing up to circle him some more. "That's right. Both the Uchiha's will collide on that terrible path of fate if you, Orochimaru, don't do something to stop it. You can save Sasuke from getting killed. Only if you go as quickly as possible. And if you happen to run into Itachi Uchiha, then you had better kill him. Because he will not hesitate to slaughter his younger brother."

Suddenly, Orochimaru was on his feet, looking the girl desperately in her blue eyes. "Where is he?" he said taking her arms and shaking them a bit.

She looked down at him, a bit surprised at first by the quick action, then her lips curved upwards into a cynical smile. "Mmhmm," she laughed. "Very well. I'm glad to see that you accept. Let me show you where he is on this here map."

Out of nowhere appeared a map in her hand. She unfolded it and bent over to Orochimaru's height so that he could peer at the map as she explained. "Now, you're here," she said, tracing her finger over a point in the map, creating a red circle. "All you have to do is go twenty nine miles east, then fifty northeast. Here you will come across an intersection on the border of the fire country. It's a perfectly straight path, no kinks or turns. Just walk northwest along this path and you should run into Sasuke." Now there was a series of red lines, circles, and a large X where Sasuke supposedly was. The girl continued instructing him. "Once you manage to find Sasuke, then I want you to get him back to your lair as quickly as possible. You must do anything to get him back. Because coming from the other way is Itachi. If you see him, then like I have already said before, you must kill him immediately on sight. Do you have all that?"

Orochimaru gave one firm nod on his head, snatching the map out of her hand. "Thank you," he said.

The woman smiled. "Oh, it's no trouble sugar."

Before she could say anything else or do anything else, Orochimaru was down on one knee, holding her by the left hand as if he were about to propose to her. "Oh, thou beautiful creature," he said dramatically, staring piercingly into her eyes as she sweatdropped. "What be thy name?"

There was a short pause. "Uh…" the woman replied.

"Please tell me," he said, squeezing onto her feminine hand even more.

She just stared down at him like he were stupid.

"Thou art so fair and so delicate. I should love to know you better," the freak said. He unexpectedly leaned in and began to smootch her on the hand several times. The angel sweatdropped once again as he kissed her hand over and over again. Suddenly, it seemed that his kisses were starting to leave her hand. They traveled up her wrist, to her forearm, to her elbow. By this point, he was standing on his tippy toes.

It took a while for all this to process in the angel's mind. Finally realizing what was happening, she ripped her arm from creepy weirdo's grasp. "Ech! Get off of me you… you… YOU CHEATER!"

Orochimaru took a step back, putting his hand on his throat, furrowing his brow, and hanging his mouth open like a large O. "I am NOT!" he said, his voice cracking with offense.

"Yeah, you are! You are a cheater! A cheater, I tell you! Whatever happened to Sasuke!"

"HE DUMPED ME!"
"WELL THEN, WIN HIS HEART BACK, YOU DOH-NUT!"

"I love Sasuke," Orochimaru said quietly, turning his back on her to pick up the heart shaped portrait of him. "But he doesn't feel the same. It was the same with Itachi…" He turned back around with the portrait glued to his chest. "I can't win his heart back. I can't even win his heart period."

"Unless you rescue him," the girl pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

There was a silence as Orochimaru took this in.

The angel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Orochimaru," she uttered in a musical voice. A light descended upon her, far brighter than the sun. She spread out her enormous wings, and began to dissolve into the air.

"Wait! Wait!" Orochimaru cried desparately. "I still don't know your name! Will I see you again! WAIT!" He reached his hand forward, to where her hand was. But instead he took a handful of air where her transparent hand was, before it had fully disappeared.

There was a long, quiet, awed silence as Orochimaru stared at where the beauty once stood. Did that really just happen? Had he really been talking to an angel?

"Wow," was all he could say to himself. He looked around for proof that he wasn't dreaming, and found the map that was still grasped in his hand.

Tracing the path with his eyes, he found one word at the bottom of the page.

"Himiwari," it read.

"Himiwari," Orochimaru said aloud with a small smile. "What a lovely name."

:)

It was late. Konoha was sleeping. This would be the perfect time for an escape.

Itachi hid in a dark alley as two drunk men sang merrily all the live long night. Shut the f*ck up, Itachi wanted to tell them.

But he had to be stealthy. Like a ninja… Oh wait, he IS a ninja. Silly me! :P

But Itachi being out at this hour only woke a certain Hokage…

:)

Tsunade was sound asleep until she heard an obnoxious beeping noise in her dresser.

"AUGH!" she yelled as she awoke, startled. She tugged the drawer open and snatched the annoying radar, only to see where exactly her target was. In a dark alley.

Quickly, she grabbed her walkie-talkie and channeled it to reach a certain Hyuuga. "Neji, I need your help," she said.

:)

Finally, those darn drunk bastards were gone!

Now that that was finally over, Itachi stepped out of the alley. He looked left. No one. Right. The gate. No guards. He began to rush quickly, yet swiftly towards the gate. Perfect opportunity for an escape. Almost there. Just a little further…

"Sasuke!" A pale hand wrapped around the Uchiha's wrist like a death grip. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi turned around and squeaked a little when he saw what he saw. There was nothing more scary than an angry Hyuuga. "Uh…" he said hesitantly. "I, uh… noticed that there were no guards," he said quickly. "So I decided to uh… take over… yeah, that's it!"

"Then why were you just hiding in an alley?" Neji asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Wh— STALKER! HOW DID YOU KNOW!" Itachi yelled, stamping his foot on the stone path.

Neji motioned with his head towards the wrist he was holding. Oh yeah, that stupid bracelet thing that Tsunade had forced him to wear. The one that tracks him down.

"Tsunade sent me to stop you," Neji said after the pathetic silence. "Now tell me, why are you leaving this time?"

Itachi sighed. "It's none of your business," he said, looking out into the open world outside the gate.

"Sasuke, just tell me," Neji said, slightly annoyed."

"Nope," Itachi said, sticking up his nose like a two year old.

"Look, I don't want to pry, but does this have to do with Itachi?"

Itachi felt like he had been stabbed with a kunai in his stomach. "No…" he said quietly, obviously lying.

"Sasuke," Neji said, more quietly this time. "You don't have to get revenge. Everyone likes having you back in the village, and you know it. You're better off here."

"But, I have to!" Itachi said hysterically. "I simply MUST go and find Sasuke!"

"What? Did you say you have to find Sasuke?" Neji said, obviously confuzzled.

"Uh, did I say that! Nooo, I didn't say Sasuke, you dummy. I said Itachi… I mean, I said… I said… Susuka! I have to find Susuka!" Itachi was just making an idiot of himself.

"I know something's up, Sasuke," Neji said suspiciously.

Itachi sighed and looked away, unsure of what else he could say.

"So, do you want to talk about anything?" Neji asked.

Itachi looked back at the Hyuuga, who still had a death grip on his wrist. "Well, first of all, I don't want my circulation cut off again, so you can let go."
"Can I trust you, though?" Neji asked slowly.

"Yes, I won't leave. Only if you promise to listen to every word I have to say, without interrupting. And if you promise to believe what I'm going to tell you. Which I don't know if you will…"

Neji nodded his head. "I'll do my best," he said letting go of his wrist.

"Augh, free at LAST!" Itachi said, marveling at his hand in wonder, bending his wrist and fingers like they had just thawed from an ice block.

"Yeah, shut up," Neji said, sitting down at the empty guard table. "Now let's talk."

So, Itachi joined Neji and told him everything that had happened to him. From chapter one, all the way to where we currently are. All the while, Neji just nodded his head and jumped in short phrases like, "I see." Or "Interesting," or whatever other short understanding phrases.

At the end of the story, Neji leaned back in his chair. "So, you're actually Itachi," he confirmed.

Itachi nodded.

And the slaughtering of the clan really wasn't your fault.

Itachi nodded again. "I know, you probably think that I'm eccentric," Itachi said. "But I promise I'm not lying."

"Then tell me, Itachi," Neji said, "about that puppet guy."

"Who, Sasori?" Itachi asked. "Well, he's in the Akatsuki. He watches Pinocchio like, every single day. And he likes to make puppets out of dead bodies. He's been wanting to make a Sakura puppet forever now. In fact, he's obsessing over it. But he doesn't have her body. So it sucks to be him."

"What about the guy that fights with explosive clay?"

"Deidara," Itachi said with a face palm. "He gets on my nerves. He's always fighting with Sasori about what art is or whatever. He also owns a Youtube claymation series, and he's pretty much an internet celebrity because of it. Everyone loves his series, but it sucks in my book."

"Oh! That series? You mean 'Claysplodes?'" Neji gawked at Itachi. "I friggin' love that series!"

"What? Why! I friggin' hate it!" Itachi replied.

Anyways, their conversation went on like this. Neji asking about Akatsuki members, Itachi telling about them. After a while, Itachi decided to end this nonsense.

"Look, you know that I have to go now," Itachi said, looking into the sky at the sunrise. "I have no time. The sooner I find Sasuke, the better."

Neji nodded. "Okay, I'll just tell Tsunade… I don't know. But I'll think of something."

"Neji," Itachi said quietly, gratefulness filling his solemn eyes. "Thank you for listening."

Neji smiled. "Hurry up," he said.

Then Itachi was gone.

The climax should start next time. Once again, thank you all for being patient with my slothishness on uploading, lol. And I'm glad that you're all enjoying my fic! You guys are amazing. What'll make you even MORE amazing is if you review again! :D Lol hopefully the next upload shouldn't be as long of a wait. Thanks again! ^_^