Disclaimer: Naruto and all the characters in the manga/anime are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Everyone knows that. Also, scenes and quotes in this chapter will be taken from specific scenes in the anime. Some of the characters' lines are slightly altered.

To say that she was disappointed with herself was a severe understatement. She thought she was done with fainting spells. She had gone for years, survived a handful of near-death experiences with her eyes wide open and her consciousness intact. And just as she had grown confident with her abilities, she face-planted on the floor. It was terrible. Fainting rubbed in her face the one embarassing fact that she had come to hate about herself: Without other people to help her, she was nothing more than a weakling who couldn't even watch her own back.

"Are you going to tell me why you passed out on me or should I take a guess?"

Sora sat by the foot of her futon. A well-placed frown camouflaged her worry with that of annoyance. Shiori turned her head to one side and looked at the calendar tacked on the cork board by the door.

'Has it really been two months? Damn.'

"Shiori!"

"Do you know what they do to the wards once their handlers die?" She slowly sat up and met Sora's gaze with a dead look. "I've seen it happen once to Hidan's and Kakuzu's wards. Let's just say it didn't look too promising."

Sora looked away as Shiori continued, "I can't help but think...you know, who's going to do it? Who's going to silence me?" She scoffed. "I guess that depends on who's left among them."

"Have faith in Itachi. He always has a plan, does he not?"

"Yeah well..."

She knew about his plan. Unfortunately even she could see that his plan had a gaping hole in it. It ended with the fight against his brother. There was no next move after that.

Shiori sighed and lied back on her futon. She then curled to her side and tucked both hands on her belly before dozing off into a fitful slumber.

In the middle of sealing the Sanbi and the Yonbi, Deidara declared to the remaining members of the Akatsuki that he was going to pursue Uchiha Sasuke to the death, much to Tobi's apparent chagrin. The masked man's protests fell on deaf ears and he looked like he had no choice but to accompany his senpai in staging an ambush. As the images of the two disappeared from sight, Kisame turned to his partner.

"Are you fine with that, Itachi-san?"

The Sharingan wielder kept quiet. Instead, he concentrated on sealing the remaining tailed-beast before the task took its toll on him. Truth be told he wasn't fine with it, but not for the reason that the other members thought. Should Deidara get his wish and end up fighting Sasuke, the youngest member of the Akatsuki was going to die. He was certain of it. If the cursed seal made Sasuke powerful enough to defeat Orochimaru then the odds were definitely in his favor in the fight against Deidara. What he was more concerned about was Tobi. He didn't want the bastard anywhere near Sasuke, not until after he was done with him and his otouto gained the Mangekyo. Itachi held on to the hope that Madara, who was disguising himself as Tobi, was too interested on Sasuke to make any major moves while his older brother was still alive.

The Uchiha prodigy didn't have to wait long to prove himself right. The next day, just after they finished sealing the Yonbi, Black Zetsu reported what Itachi had seen coming a mile away.

"Deidara is dead. He ended it with a giant explosion."

Kisame sighed in annoyance. "Looks like your otouto won, Itachi-san. And we have lost yet another member."

"Not quite," Black Zetsu pointed out. "It seems like Sasuke died too."

"Dragged him along, huh?" the swordsman mused.

"You should be grateful, Itachi," Pain said. "Deidara died while preventing unnecessary hindrance."

"I feel like we're forgetting something," Kisame added. It was the White Zetsu who answered him.

"Tobi died as well. Deidara decided to blow everything up indiscriminately."

"Oh right, Tobi. I thought he always seemed prepared to escape at a second's notice. Not so lucky this time huh? That must have been one hell of a jutsu."

"That's fine," Pain replied. "There are plenty of shinobi at his level around for the choosing. Deidara, however, was valuable."

Itachi barely stopped himself from scoffing. He couldn't figure out yet why Madara would fake his own death but he sure took extra steps to push the members into not giving much thought about it by letting Pain emphasize his worthlessness.

Kisame was sold but still couldn't stop thinking about their deceased comrade. "I quite enjoyed him, that Tobi." Deidara, on the other hand, got no sentiments from him.

Pain excused himself, instructing the now dwindling number of Akatsuki members to mourn for Deidara in silence.

"In that case, I'll take care of Tobi's funeral," White Zetsu said. "It's our time off anyway."

As the last silhouette disappeared from view, Itachi and Kisame were the only ones left in the empty cave. They watched in silence as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path sank to the ground with a loud rumble. Once the tremors stopped and the dust settled, the cave floor became visible once again. It looked even and untouched, never once betraying the monstrosity that the cavern housed merely moments ago.

"I guess we're done here. Let's go, Itachi-san," Kisame said. The swordsman trudged towards the cave's entrance with the quiet Itachi right behind him. They were greeted by low, dark clouds and a heavy downpour of icy rain.

"It still hasn't stopped." Kisame clucked his tongue. "For it to be coming down like this in these parts is quite strange."

Rain seldom poured for this long in Ishigakure. It started right before they began sealing the tailed beasts. Now it still poured strong and showed no signs of stopping. He looked around the mouth of the cave, searching for a comfortable place to lie down on. With the way things were looking, they were likely going to end up spending the night there. Itachi, on the other hand, had another thing in mind.

Ignoring his partner's questioning glares, he walked right into the pouring rain, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to focus on every raindrop that pelted on his worn body. He deactivated his Sharingan and the world surrounding him blurred into indistinguishable grays. He looked up, allowing the rain to soak his face and flush away the salty tears which stubbornly made themselves known.

The time has come to pay for his sins. He had prepared for this moment before he even committed the crime, long before he had convinced himself that it had to be Sasuke who would avenge their clan's downfall. He had prepared for nearly a decade. And yet, despite everything he still felt fear grip his heart thinking of how his life was about to come to an end. He didn't want this, didn't want to die before he could even truly live. But he knew that not all people have that kind of shot at life. He had been sentenced to die young since he was a toddler. His only consolation was that he could use his death as a way to end the curse of the Uchiha. Sasuke would get his revenge, become hailed as a hero, and continue on living to do what he had sworn to do: to protect Konohagakure and the honor of their clan for the rest of his long life.

A couple of yards away, under the protection of the cave, Kisame called out to him.

"That's harmful to your body. I have no idea what a cold-hearted man like you is thinking right now but from here it looks like you're crying." He waited for a reaction from the younger shinobi. When he got none, he added, "What happened to your otouto sure is a shame. Looks like you're the last remaining member of the Uchiha clan."

"No. He didn't die. Also..."

"What are you talking about?"

Out of the blue, the heavy rain came to an abrupt stop. The two shinobi looked up as the heavy clouds broke apart, allowing a ray of sunlight to hit the exact spot that Itachi stood on.

"The rain has stopped," Itachi said, a small smile gracing his chapped lips.

Kisame walked over to him, meeting his partner's unreadable gaze.

"What exactly are you planning to do, Itachi-san?"

"I have no intention of running," he replied. "I'll wait until he finds me."

Kisame shook his head and gazed at the wilderness below them. "I had a feeling you were going to say that."

Author's Notes: Again most of these scenes are from canon. And if you're a die-hard Itachi fan like me, chances are you're way too familiar with these scenes. I was a bit worried that things would end up looking too rushed in these parts. Now that I think of it, most of what happened in Naruto shippuden in this timeline happened simultaneously. It would be tedious (and albeit a bit redundant) if I included all of them in these chapters so I had to pick a few scenes and kind of elaborate on it...well, I tried to anyway. Again, gauging Itachi personality-wise in these bits was tricky. In the series he looked stoic for the entire arc, showing little to know emotions even as he stared death in the face. But then again, when you think about it, nobody wants to die (four-year old Itachi figured this out, post jumping off a cliff; wanted to incorporate those musings in my version of the old Itachi). Dabbling his "hidden thoughts" were interesting as they were challenging. I wanted him to sound human without losing the hard edges he is known for. Anyway, I'm talking too much now. Please leave a review.